Mortgage
Foster City, Calif. (PRWEB) February 15, 2012
Rates on the most popular types of mortgages moved in slightly different directions in the past week, according to HSH.com?s Weekly Mortgage Rate Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by 3 basis points (0.03 percent) to 4.03 percent. Conforming 5/1 hybrid ARM rates decreased by a single basis point, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 2.95 percent, a new record low.
“Even with the slight rise in fixed rates this week, it’s hard not to love mortgage rates holding at these levels,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. “Right now, there’s not a lot of economic news to push them around much.?
?Low rates are of course good for homeowners looking to refinance, but the fact that rates also remain stable is important for homebuyers, since it can take months for a purchase transaction to go through,? Gumbinger explained.
Sharp moves in rates, especially upward, can change the terms of a real estate deal. “A bump in rates lowers the mortgage amount that can be borrowed,? said Gumbinger. ?If the bump is large enough, it can ruin a potential transaction. On the other hand, a sharp drop in rates might bring more bidders for a given property,? increasing the asking price.
Average mortgage rates and points for conforming residential mortgages for the week ending February 14 were, according to HSH.com:
Conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
Category : Mortgage
Deerfield Beach, FL (PRWEB) February 13, 2012
Within the next few months, HARP 2.0 is expected to create a huge wake in the mortgage market. HARP was designed to bring relief to borrowers who are locked in high interest rate loans and unable to refinance due to lack of equity, but have good credit and have not made any late payments. Titan List & Mailing Services Inc., a leading advertising firm in the mortgage industry, discusses the impact of HARP on the housing market and economy.
The first version of HARP implemented in 2009 was designed to help over 5 million underwater homeowners, but proved unobtainable to the majority, due to the stipulation that the borrower needed to have a LTV (loan to value) ratio between 80 to 125 percent. HARP 2.0 has been remodeled to virtually eliminate the LTV stipulation, with the primary requirements being a good credit history and no late payments. HARP 2.0 was launched on December 1, 2011, and there are now over 11 million households underwater that may take advantage of this program.
According to Titan List & Mailing Services, Inc., homeowners previously unable to refinance, should have very high response and conversion rates to direct mail and targeted marketing campaigns for the new HARP program. ?Loan officers may be hesitant to sink marketing dollars into a HARP direct mail campaign due to the majority of borrowers that didn?t meet the LTV ratio of the first version of HARP. HARP 2.0 has virtually eliminated the LTV requirements. Using the right data list, qualified borrowers with good credit and no late payments can be targeted, which not only meet the requirements for HARP 2.0, but are begging to refinance to a lower rate. In addition, we leverage proprietary selects that use educated modeling to identify prospects with the highest likelihood of conversion. HARP 2.0 has the potential to revive the housing recession and become the next great re-fi boom of this generation,? says Jared Braverman, Director of Marketing at Titan List & Mailing Services.
Although HARP 2.0 was launched on December 1, 2011, the majority of applicants won?t be eligible until March, 2012. From December until March, only applicants with LTV ratios less than 125% will be eligible. After March, anyone with a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan with good credit and no late payments will be eligible. The flood gates will be open to loan officers armed with the best marketing strategies. HARP 2.0 has the opportunity to bring relief to millions of homeowners that have been struggling with high interest rates, and revive the stagnant housing economy that has struggled with high interest rates since the financial meltdown coined as the ?Great Recession? of the late 2000s.
About Titan List & Mailing Services, Inc.
Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house – Data Lists, Design, Printing, Mailing, and Postage.
http://www.TitanLists.com | 800.544.8060.
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Category : Mortgage
(PRWEB) February 03, 2012
Security America Mortgage, Inc. recently announced released the VA Loan calculations on YouTube to grow the knowledge base for American Veterans and Military War Heroes who are purchasing a home in 2012. The VA home mortgage company also launched an additional ?VA Home Loan? websites . These changes were done to reflect more location specific challenges coming this year. With a proactive and supporting role, Security America Mortgage, Inc. announced the 2012 calculation changes to all of their connected military members in Florida as well as launching new location websites that support the need to spread the word to all military service members about how the VA Purchase in Florida will be affected.
For example, as of January 1, 2012, the Department of Veteran Affairs changed a few of their standards for how calculations can be made to VA loans by lenders, which are the methods used to calculate the VA loan maximum amounts/minimum amounts. But what will these changes really mean for veterans and active duty military members who are ready to buy a home using a VA Loan in Florida? It means that Veterans buying a home in cities like Miami, Orlando, and Tampa will need to re-learn what to expect (and how much they can receive) from their VA Home Loan.
The VA Home Loan experts take a unique approach to showing how much better VA Loan amounts will be in the year going forward by reminding military members how easy buying a home can be with simplified examples of the VA Loan Process and VA Refinance.
The good news is that the loan amounts are funded by lenders, like Security America Mortgage, Inc., and the amounts are all calculated by the mortgage company ? not the VA. The VA only insures the VA guaranty loan up to a certain amount ? which is kind of like a ?promise? to the lender to pay a home loan for a veteran if they ever default on a loan for any reason. For expert mortgage companies like Security America Mortgage, Inc., who specialize in VA loan and Real Estate services for Florida home buyers, they can still offer VA loans that provide the lowest rates possible in 2012. Since the 2012 VA loan calculations do not alter the great VA benefits, VA loans can still be obtained by eligible members in order to:
1. Purchase or build a new home
2. Purchase a residential condominium unit
3. Purchase a residential cooperative housing unit
4. Repair, alter, or improve a residence owned by the veteran and occupied as a home
5. Refinance an existing VA or conventional home loan
6. Buy a manufactured home and/or lot
7. Install a solar heating or cooling system or other energy-efficient improvements
The 2012 calculations also make it easier for Security America Mortgage, Inc. provide better Florida VA loan services to pre-approve VA home and refinance loans for military members buying a home in Florida cities like Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. In fact, there are actually the three different VA Refinance options available for military individuals who want to save money by lowering monthly mortgage payments significantly.
The Florida VA Refinance Loan options are as follows: VA Loan Refinance Option #1 – VA Streamline Refinance – Interest Rate Reduction Loan (IRRL), VA Loan Refinance Option #2 ? ?Cash-Out? or Debt Consolidation Refinance, VA Loan Refinance Option #3 – Conventional to VA Refinance Loan.
GET STARTED WITH A VA HOME LOAN BENEFIT WITH SECURITY AMERICA MORTGAGE EXPERTS NOW!
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Category : Mortgage
Rochester, New York (PRWEB) October 31, 2011
Dr. Robert D. Manning, distinguished consumer finance scholar (author of CREDIT CARD NATION and link to http://www.creditcardnation.com) and founder of the nonprofit Responsible Debt Relief (RDR) Institute, announced the release of his company?s pathbreaking, online mortgage underwriting, home refinancing, and housing counseling assessment system last week in Salt Lake City, Utah. During his luncheon address at the Utah Housing Coalition conference, Dr. Manning, one of the earliest forecasters of the Consumer-Led Recession and collapse of the US housing market, reported on the current state of the U.S. economy, the perilous condition of the housing market, and the failure of the banking industry to adjust to the realities of current risk-management standards.
According to Dr. Manning, ?public policy-makers made the fatal mistake of assuming that the 2007 recession was propelled by a traditional business-cycle that would last 3 or four years rather than a consumer debt bubble that would require drastic household debt relief through loan forgiveness and low-interest loans.? The problem is that financial institutions have not adjusted to the new reality of their faulty underwriting methods. Individually-based FICO scores and related retrospective financial measures are much less reliable assessments of consumer financial capability in the current environment of consumer credit scarcity. As a result, banks are reluctant to offer loans to creditworthy households that have encountered financial difficulty during this turbulent economic period.
During his presentation, Dr. Manning asserted that a new paradigm for assessing household credit capability must be explored if the nation is to avoid a deeper and more prolonged recession. Otherwise, fewer mortgage and loan applications will be approved which will reinforce falling housing prices and lead to more families abandoning their ?upside-down? mortgages. Dr. Manning then explained the key features of the RDR net cash-flow algorithm/software that calculates net, after-tax household income based on such factors as federal, state and local taxes, household structure, tax filing status, regional cost of living, home ownership status, federal approved deductions such as retirement and charitable contributions, and court-mandated payments such as child support and garnishments.
This proprietary algorithm is the basis of a webservices-based data management system whereby lenders, counselors, and individual consumers can conduct a preliminary, online assessment of the affordability of a mortgage modification, home loan, and even an auto loan.
Following the presentation, Dr. Manning demonstrated the ease and speed in using the RDR online financial assessment system?beginning with a budget assessment based on the net cash-flow software. The assessments can be calculated for individuals and for households. The unique ?Credit Capacity? score provides a quick assessment of the financial situation of a household. Similarly, the online mortgage underwriting, home loan modification, and auto loan assessments estimates the size of the loan that is affordable, whether the borrower should qualify for a prime or subprime loan, and the total cost of the loan. Additionally, RDR offers a unique tenant screening score that estimates whether a person that has experience financial distress such as foreclosure or bankruptcy can afford a particular rent without being rejected due to a low FICO score.
Dr. Manning concluded that, in the short-term, the pace of the US economic recovery will depend on the stabilization of the housing market. Without new risk management tools to a guide recently foreclosed and/or bankrupt families into the rental housing market and more precise underwriting tools that are not dependent on flawed FICO scores, the US will face a decade of declining economic prosperity and widening social inequality.
For more about RDR, its pathbreaking net cash-flow tools, and Dr. Manning, please contact us at 585-563-7675.
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Category : Mortgage
HSH.com Weekly Mortgage Rate Radar: Mortgage Rates Higher Again, But Sustained Upward Trend Unlikely
Foster City, CA (PRWEB) October 19, 2011
Rates on the most popular types of mortgages increased for a second week in a row but remain near record lows, according to HSH.com’s Weekly Mortgage Rate Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by 8 basis points (0.08 percent) to 4.26 percent. Conforming 5/1 hybrid ARM rates increased by only 3 basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 3.11 percent.
?Economic news continues to brighten, pushing mortgage rates upward somewhat,? said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. ?But despite the increase this week, there are few reasons for rates to continue to climb.?
With plenty of challenges still facing the economy, Gumbinger notes, ?There should be ample opportunity for mortgage rates to ease again. The cumulative rate increase in recent weeks has been barely an eighth of a percentage point, so it?s not enough to warrant much concern.?
Average mortgage rates and points for conforming residential mortgages for the week ending October 18, according to HSH.com:
Conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
Category : Mortgage
