FHA loan limits have dropped as of October 1st, 2011

FHA, the government Mortgage program that has been the preferred program for most home buyers these last few years, has lowered its County Mortgage loan limits as of October 1st. These are the maximum amounts that FHA will lend for a new home Mortgage in each County. Changes in the Detroit/Ann Arbor/Flint market are as follows:

Wayne County – Was $297,500, is now $271,050

Macomb County – Was $297,500, is now $271,050

Oakland County – Was $297,500, is now $271,050

Livingston County – Was $297,500, is now $271,050

Washtenaw County – Was $345,000, is now $271,050

Lapeer County – Was $297,500, is now $271,050

Genesee County – Didnt change from $271,050.

Paying off past collections actually hurts your credit more than it helps

 Collections…. most of us have been there. Whether it’s an old cell phone, or medical collections because of a bad insurance company (imagine that), or maybe an old college credit card that mysteriously didn’t get paid, these things can haunt you for years. I come across a lot of potential home buyers that call me and say “I’m just working on my credit right now on my own, I am trying to pay off my old collections before I get serious about getting a Mortgage for a new house”.  Stop right there. Believe it or not, this will hurt you in most cases when trying to get a Mortgage. Think of a Volcano that is dormant. It hasn’t erupted in a long time, and its much, much better that way. Well, each old account on your credit is like that; make it active, and it can erupt. You see, when you pay an old collection off, you are basically making a bad account active again, which in turn will hurt your score. Does it make sense to pay these things off when it comes to long-term, and future credit?  Absolutely. But, when it comes to a quick fix, or if you need your credit to improve quickly, don’t do it. Again, it is simply making an old, dormant account active, which is just another way to remind the credit agencies (computers) that you didn’t pay your bills at some point in your life. It makes the account current again, which is bad news for your credit in the short-term.

Do you really want to wake this bad-boy up?

 

The dust has settled. New company, new contact info!!!

It wasnt too long ago that I blogged about joining Gold Star. I am happy to report however, that I have made a new home at Cross Country Mortgage inc. With all of the new changes, and new regulations to the Mortgage industry, it took quite a while for the dust to settle, and for me to figure out what was going to be the right fit. Many people have been switching companies lately. The Frank/Dodd bill was passed in April, and that basically regulated how loan officers are paid industry wide. Companies were scrambling to come up with compensation plans that fit the new regulations, while still trying to stay competitive with interest rates, and also trying to make sure that they could keep their employees happy. Cross Country Mortgage had the complete package for the business model that I am currently employing. Great rates, great underwriters, appraisers…the whole nine yards. I truly feel that this is the best career move I have made to date. It has been extremely stressful these last few months, but now I can finally breathe easy. Anyway, I plan to write on a lot of topics in the coming days/weeks, so please check back for important blog posts. Please refer to my new contact info as well.  Just click “About me”.   Call/Email me for anything. Thanks.

Having credit troubles? Score too low? It’s not that difficult to fix.

Are you finding that your credit score is too low to obtain a Mortgage? Feel helpless? Many people shy away from facing their credit problems. It can be embarrassing, and very stressful. It doesn’t have to be. Bad things happen to good people all the time. Divorce, Bankruptcy, Foreclosure, job loss are all things that can damage credit. Little things like medical insurance companies dropping the ball on paying claims can also have an effect. For those ready to take on the challenge of fixing their credit will quickly find it very time-consuming and frustrating dealing with the credit bureaus on their own. Let me put it to you this way, there are 300 million people in the United States, which means that paperwork sits for months and months if you don’t have the right people, or channels to go through. That is where I come in. I work closely with my Account Executive from our credit company to fix my client’s credit for FREE if possible. That is the first step. She has inroads to all of the 3 major credit bureaus, and can get things done within hours, or days. I have raised clients credit scores by almost 70 points with one phone call. Sometimes its just a matter of correcting errors within the system to raise your scores. If you think your credit is much more than simple errors, my company also has a more extensive program at a low-cost that can take anywhere from 30-180 days. Credit reports are like snowflakes, every one is different, and sometimes it takes a little longer to get the bigger jobs done. The moral of the story is: Dont be embarrassed or stressed about it. You would be surprised at how many people have credit issues. Just call me, and we can start slow and hopefully get your credit cleaned up quickly, and with zero cost. Cleaning up your credit can do a lot of things for you in the short, and long-term. Having higher scores means better rates on almost everything: Mortgages, car loans, Insurance, credit cards, you name it. It will literally save you thousands of dollars. Not to mention the piece of mind, and stress relief. Just pick up the phone and call me. I’ll do whatever I can to help. 810-623-8826

She obviously hasn't called me

USDA Rural Development Mortgages. No money down!

Many home buyers out there are under the impression that FHA (3.5% down), or Conventional (5-20% down) are the only options to buy a new home. This is not the case. The U.S Department of Agriculture has a program called “Guaranteed Rural Housing”, or “Rural Development”. This is a program designed to get people into homes with little to zero money down in Suburban/Rural areas. I have done many of these loans for clients, and I can vouch for the program 100%. They will loan you 100% of the purchase price on this program. What you may want to find out first and foremost is if your household income qualifies you to be eligible for the Rural Development  loan. As of now, the household income limits are different for each county. The following link will guide you in determining your income eligibility for each household. Just plug in the state, and county you would like to check, and the rest if pretty user friendly.  http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/incomeEligibilityAction.do?pageAction=state&NavKey=income@11     Once you find out that your eligible as far as income goes, you want to check the property eligibility. The USDA has maps, and an address lookup tool to check each property. You would be surprised at some of the areas the USDA calls “Rural”.  Here is a link to guide you in determining if the property is eligible. http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do

You can click on the map to find the general areas, or run the actual address to check the property. Remember, when you check the maps, it will give you the IN-elligible areas. Read carefully.

As far as financing, the USDA will let you do 100% Loan to Value on Purchases, and will allow unlimited seller concessions/contributions. Most, if not all lenders however, allow up to 6% seller concessions. That basically means that the seller will pay up to 6% of the purchase price to cover your closing costs. The USDA does also charge an up-front financed fee of  3.626%. That means if you have a purchase price of 100K, they will loan you 100% of that, and then add the 3.626% to the loan amount. If you want to pay the up-front fee yourself, it is 3.5%. On a purchase price of 100K, your loan amount will actually be  $103,626 if you finance the up front fee.

Again, this program gives you the opportunity to buy a property with no money down, at a great interest rate. Please call me at 810-623-8826 to discuss further.

Happy New Year!

 

I would like to thank everybody. Clients, referral partners, friends, family, and everybody else that made 2010 a great year! Looking forward to a MUCH more prosperous 2011.

Dont be afraid of slightly higher interest rates.

Were much more comfortable here, but thanks.

So rates have gone up about .5% in the last few weeks. Who cares? It frustrates me that this actually paralyzes people, and they dont want to refinance. Rates are still at all time lows, and NOBODY should be on the fence. My advice? Get your lower rate and move on with your life. Save some money. Its comical how many people were on the fence when rates were really, really low just a few weeks ago. So many clients wanted to wait, and risk saving any money to maybe lower their rate an extra 1/8th of a percent. Did you know the payment difference on a 30 year fixed, at 200K is only $14 dollars a month between 4.875%, and 4.75%? On 15 year loans, the payment differences are even smaller. Yet I still have plenty of potential clients who would rather be at 6.25%, and waste a few more payments just in case they can get an 1/8th better, and save $14 per month. Far too many people want to play the broker themselves, and don’t want to listen to me at all. What a shame. For all you people on the fence, take a step back and think about how ridiculous it is to risk saving $200 per month, to save an extra $14.