The Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, was instituted in March, 2009 and became a moderately successful tool for homeowners in the Gulf Shores mortgage market as well as other markets all across the United States. Help for Gulf Shores Mortgage Borrowers Because of fairly conservative loan-to-value restrictions, HARP was improved to HARP 2.0 in […]

One of the most important components to obtaining a good Gulf Shores mortgage is the down payment. Unfortunately, many homebuyers have misconceptions about down payments and how they impact their ability to obtain home financing. Let’s examine some of the down payment myths that are prevalent in the Gulf Shores mortgage arena. 4 Gulf Shores […]

Congratulations! After a few weeks of gathering documents and waiting for your mortgage loan to be processed you’ve finally been approved! Soon it will be time for the loan closing, the culmination of the process. Now it’s time to think about Gulf Shores loan closing costs and, more importantly, minimizing them and keeping more money […]

When it comes to the Gulf Shores mortgage market, these days the choices can be a little confusing. Mortgages typically fall into one of three categories: fixed rate, adjustable rate (or ARM) or hybrids (a combination of features of both fixed rate and adjustable rate offerings.) No matter which type you choose, it’s best to […]

A Gulf Shores mortgage is probably the single largest monthly obligation you'll ever have if you own a home here. Everybody likes saving money, whether they live in Gulf Shores or another American city! And whenever you're able to save money it's especially satisfying. There are, among potential others, at least a half-dozen ways you […]

There are some expensive Gulf Shores mortgage mistakes you need to avoid at all costs. Scoring the best deal on a mortgage or refinancing involves shopping around. Yet 77 percent of borrowers applied for a loan with a single lender instead of checking out several to compare costs. A recent study by the Consumer Financial […]

Since the mortgage crisis when loans became almost impossible to obtain, Gulf Shores mortgage lenders have begun to loosen standards again. This begs to ask the question, will lenders ever learn their lesson from loose lending practices? Recently, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced changes they hope will encourage banks to give more home loans […]

During the days of the housing boom, "sub-prime mortgages" — aka 'home loans for people with bad credit' — were very popular. After the housing bust and the financial crisis of 2008, most banks stopped issuing sub-prime mortgage loans, and it became much more difficult for people with bad credit to qualify for a loan […]

Gulf Shores mortgage rates have topped 4 percent for the first time in over a year, while at the same time, mortgage applications fell more than 11 percent. Diana Olick reports on how rising Gulf Shores mortgage rates may impact the housing recovery. Economists are still cautiously bullish on real estate for two main reasons. […]