Category: Mortgage
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Owning a Home Just Got More Useful. AI Speeds Up HELOC Lending
At the year’s end, it’s fun to pick out the best innovations to appear during the past 12 months. What about the role of artificial intelligence in home lending? More people might take out home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) to put their home equity to work — if only it weren’t such a drawn-out…
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What Is “Subject-To” Home Buying? AKA: Taking Over the Mortgage Payments
Ever heard someone say they got a “subject-to” offer on their home? Or maybe you or someone you know is contacted with a subject-to offer. Maybe you saw a sign saying “We buy homes!” and wondered what’s going on. Subject-to is a little-known strategy in the world of deed transactions. It comes in many forms.…
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Update! Fed Signals 2024 “Pivot” on Interest Rates. What Should Home Sellers and Seekers Know?
As we’ve all noticed, deed transfers really got stuck in a rut in 2023. Too few owners are selling their homes. Supply is down. Prices are up. A core issue? The Federal Reserve. Over the past two years, the Fed has hiked rates in order to banish inflation and to tighten up the economy. So,…
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Fannie Mae Was Going to Save Mortgage Borrowers Thousands by Dropping Its Title Insurance Requirement. Never Mind.
The Biden administration was working with loan backers to delete title insurance charges from closing costs. The move would have saved quite a few home buyers hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Noting that the plan had been silently scuttled, the Wall Street Journal said pressure against it came from “an obscure industry.” The obscure…
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“Mortgage Companies Are Desperate”: What’s Next for Homes and Mortgages in 2024?
In February, Zillow said home prices had bottomed out. Was the market about to rally again? Zillow predicted that U.S. home prices would climb at the healthy pace of 6.5%, from August 2023 to August 2024. Of course, home prices usually do go up over time. Now, Zillow economists have slashed their predictions. Their new…
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The Big Tease: Look Out for Rising Interest on a Home Equity Line of Credit
Once you get a deed to your own home, you have special wealth-building powers. Pay off the mortgage faithfully month by month, and you own increasing home equity. This is how your home turns into value you can tap when you need or want it. A home equity line of credit (HELOC) gives you an account…
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Fall of Florida’s Champlain Towers South Prompts Changes in Condo Loan Rules
Conventional mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have solidified updated policies for loans to condo buyers. There are a few new requirements now going into effect, to be part of these loan-backing giants’ permanent rules. They’d only been temporary provisions until now. Here’s a Q&A to answer some basic questions on the new rules.
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Our Mortgage Loans: How They Became What They Are Today
Those were the days? Before the New Deal in the 1930s, a well-paid working person had to put somewhere around 40% down to buy a home. It would be up to a building and loan association (B&L) to say yes to the loan. The borrower made large loan payments twice a year. The lender would…
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Mortgage Forbearance, Continued: Is Pandemic Assistance Still Available?
In 2020, a federal law called the CARES Act offered support for homeowners and renters coping with the impacts of a pandemic. Millions of homeowners requested and received mortgage forbearance. Most recently, in March 2023, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac renewed and enhanced their plans that let hard-hit homeowners defer up to six months of…
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Small Mortgages for Modest Homes: Where Are They?
Many renters, facing rising housing costs, feel stuck. They would love to buy a modest home. They’d love a modest loan to go with it. But… Try finding a mortgage to buy a home under $150,000 these days. Where small mortgages are available, the people who want them get turned down more often than people…
