Negotiating On Mortgage Rates Most of us will go out of our way to save a few bucks on groceries, or a few cents a gallon on gasoline. But what about that mortgage? The wrong deal on a mortgage can cost you thousands of dollars! Stacy Johnson explains: Questions or comments about this report on […]

Mortgage Rates: Locking In Shopping for a mortgage doesn’t just mean shopping for the best interest rate, you need to be aware of locking in the best mortgage, and what that time and date could mean. Stacy Johnson explains in this short video… Questions or comments about mortgage rates, or locking in your mortgage rate? […]

How to Buy a Foreclosure Think buying a foreclosure is the way to go? Not necessarily! Learn how to buy a foreclosure without watching an infomercial, but ready for the pitfalls. Questions or comments? Click the comment link below. Your email address will never show up here. We hate spam as much as you do, […]

Balloon Mortgages Explained A balloon mortgage is a loan that is provided for a short period of time for a set amount of money. Balloon mortgages will often involve periodic payments that are made at a fixed interest rate. During this period, the loan may not be amortized. The balance of the loan has to […]

FHA Mortgages Increase in Popularity FHA Mortgages keep getting more popular. In June, the share of applications for government-insured mortgages reached its highest level since November 1990, with government-insured loans accounting for nearly 36% of all mortgage applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Most of those loans are made by the Federal Housing Administration, […]

Reverse Mortgage: Is It Right for You? With housing activity improving in most markets, the time is right for homeowners age 62 and older to see if a home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) might work for them. The loans have been controversial, and they are complicated, which is one reason that consumer counseling is a […]

FHA Backs Away From No Down Payment Loans After announcing a plan that would have allowed first time homebuyers to use a special tax credit to cover the 3.5% required down payment on an FHA-insured loan, the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development apparently had second thoughts. HUD recently released a newly remodeled plan that […]

VA Loans: A Forgotten Resource With all the news about mortgages being harder to obtain, and rates going up and down and requiring different amounts of down payment to qualify, one of the seemingly forgotten resources for financing that new home purchase is the VA Loan to qualified veterans. VA guaranteed loans are made by […]

Mortgages: What’s Wrong with Prepaying? When it comes to mortgages, this may be the most asked question there is when it comes to savings, taxes and retirement – “Should I pay off my mortgage early?” Your home is not an asset like a car where you pay a certain amount, it depreciates, you pay it […]

High End Mortgages Easier to Get Things are looking up for buyers and owners of higher-priced homes: The jumbo-loan freeze is thawing. After the bank scare began last fall, jumbos — mortgages bigger than what the government will buy or guarantee (between $417,000 and $729,750, depending on the location) — dried up. Jumbo rates have […]