USDA Loans – Rural Housing Loans     The Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (USDA Loans) will likely be exhausted by the end of April, 2010. This is a message that was delivered from the National Office in Washington D.C. as of today.   It was then stated that once funding is exhausted, the Agency will not issue Conditional Commitments “subject to receipt of appropriated funds.”  This is because the agency is not certain when additional funding will be available. And this might not be known until October, when the new budget comes out.  This is important to know and to understand.     This is a good reminder for all borrowers, realtors, and loan officers that aren't aware of this.  If you are a buyer that has been pre-qualified for a USDA loan, you need to speak to your l... 03/10/2010

  An important question about ETHICS     Advertising and Statements :  We know that we like to sound the best in front of our client. Many like to market themselves as the best, the cheapest, the quickest, etc, etc. But many of us know that these are generally catchy headlines to attract more business.  Just another way for that person or company to get in front of their competition. I am sure many of these misleading statements are true to a certain degree. But do they make you believe that it's 100% true 100% all of the time?  In my opinion, yes they do.  In my opinion, I think this is sneaky when one uses these tactics, knowing damn well that it is not clear adverting and for a reason. Overall, I am sure many of you are thinking... "so what"... who am I hurting? It's true to a certai... 02/19/2010

    Mortgage Interest Rates - When people shop for mortgages, one of the first things they want is to know the interest rate. Not only that, they want the best and lowest rate. When your average loan officer hears this, they usually don't want to lose you as a client, so they might low ball the rate a little.  It doesn't matter if they put this quote on the good faith estimate. It's just an estimate on a piece of paper that until you have a property and have locked into this rate, some loan officers won't honor this estimate. And in order to secure this rate, you should have been given an interest rate lock-in agreement. Overall, what you think might be the best, might not be the best. Shopping and comparing is not always easy and needs to be done on the same day. What I want to talk ab... 07/20/2009

  FHA Hope for Homeowners has finally arrived. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 amended the National Housing Act to authorize a new temporary FHA mortgage insurance program called HOPE for Homeowners. This is also know as the H4H program. This program, even though introduced on HUD's web site over a month ago, takes effect October 1st, 2008. This is all included in Mortgagee Letter 2008-29. It's very detailed, with 13 pages of details and guidelines which I am about to explain the important basics.     Eligibility is always important and determining this has many facets to the FHA Hope for Homeowners program. Determining Eligibility : Borrower Eligibility Any borrower can be current or delinquent to refinance for the FHA Hope for Homeowners if they :   have made a minimum o... 10/09/2008

  Forget that we are in a gloomy economy. Forget the fact that many of you might be struggling. Forget about the Presidential election that is fast approaching or those politicians that are trying to bail out our current real estate mess. How about focusing on yourself, and not always following those gimmicks that show you how to pay off your mortgage in 10 years. Can it be done?  Yes, but with most of your pay check. Let's explore a simple concept. Just the other day, A.J. Nisen wrote this post :  Maximizing Wealth by Minimizing Mortgage Debt?  He did an excellent job of breaking down how to use your home in order to build wealth. One thing that wasn't mentioned though was that you should look at your actual debt load before considering taking your extra money to either pay down your m... 08/14/2008

As many of you are aware, the mortgage industry has been going through some major changes in the last 6 months. Well, get ready for some more changes. In my honest opinion, many of the changes are for the worst. Sorry, but it's reality and we need to pay attention more than ever. I am going to list the important changes next. I will list from the most important to least, but based on my opinion.   1.  Seller funded downpayment assistance programs - Know as DPA's or Downpayment assistance programs. Seller's can't participate as of October 1st, 2008, unless the borrower is approved prior to this. FHA confirmed the definition of "borrower approved" by stating that cases run through the FHA scorecard, eligibility will be determined by the date of the last scoring time. For manually underwri... 08/08/2008

FHA loans are becoming a vital part of todays financing when it comes to buying a new home or refinancing. You will still hear from some lenders or realtors that FHA financing is not the way to go. Here are some reasons why and the rumors mentioned : They are old school and dont know about the new appraisal changes that have taken place in the last 5 years. Truth : FHA appraisals are now done the same way as conventional appraisals. The lender is not FHA approved or understands how FHA mortgages work. Some loan officers advertise FHA loans as 100% financing. Not true at all. Some lenders or loan officers have said that the down payment assistance programs (DPA) are dead. The reality of it is that FHA loans are more in likely the best option for many consumers if their credit scores are... 05/04/2008

  You are a seller that lists with a real estate agent, and one of you decides that you will not accept FHA financing as a means of a potential buyer purchasing your home? Why is this? Have you been misinformed by the general public? By a real estate agent that doesn't know any better?  By an agent who is remembering issues with FHA appraisals from the 1990's?  What about the lender that the previous buyer was using who was helping them with a FHA mortgage.  And the loan didn't close. Was is it because it was a FHA loan?  Was it because of the incompetency of the lender or the loan officer? Overall, are you willing to shunt away a better buyer who might just be using FHA financing, just because of the rumors of the past?       So, how bad do you think FHA mortgages actually are......  W... 04/13/2008

     FHA has always allowed a buyer to get the help of a relative to help them qualify for their purchase of a new home, without that person living in that new property. This would be known as a non-occupant or non-occupying co-borrower.  On the conventional side of things, this is known as a co-signer. But there are more restrictions and guidelines when going conventionally. Keep in mind, a the co-signor or non-occupant co-borrower is not their to help you qualify based on your credit. The sole purpose is to help you qualify you with your income. Many think that if you have bad credit, that the co-signor is also able to help you qualify if their credit is excellent. That scenario is not allowed. You still need to qualify on your own credit worthiness.  FHA Credit -- Understanding what ... 04/10/2008

  I had received an e-mail from a consumer yesterday, who has been reading a few of my blogs. She told me that they were suppose to have gone to settlement on the purchase of a new home on March 11th. They went with the realtors suggestion of using their lender. This happens to be a national real estate company. To their surprise, they were told the night of the 10th that they were denied for the loan. They had been in process for a month and the lender blamed it on the issue that she owns a house with her sister. She is moving out and buying a home with her fiancée. Every time that she spoke to this lender, everything was fine. After finding this news out, the buyer panicked because they really wanted the house. She had spoken to a few other lenders in the last few days that all said ... 03/15/2008

Realtor Who Cares about thier clients !! 10 Tips to Home Buying -Call 856-404-5222 to see the difference        Working for you 7 days a week !!! or Unitl the job is done !!Catherine McKendry ,Realtor BUYERS CALL ME TODAY !! JUST CLICK ON THE PUSH TO TALK AND YOU WILL BE CONNECTED TOLL FREE DIRECTLY TO MY CELLWeichert Realtors5070 Route 42 Turnersville New Jersey 08012Cell :853-404-5222 Office: 856-227-3428 x 214                                                                                    Top 10 Tips to Successful Home BuyingTip #1: Research Is The Key To DiscoveryHome sellers won't call you with an offer to buy a maintenance-free home with a wonderful mortgage. You have to find the gems yourself! Only by reading available materials, talking to friends and experts, and spending ti... 03/07/2008

    Fears in the market.... ??  Are you hiding because of such fears in today's market place? I think many of us were scared 6 months to a year ago. The media was talking about how bad it was out there. We had the so-called mortgage meltdown.  But was it really that bad? I think it all comes down to how sure of yourself, that you feel comfortable in buying, when it comes to purchasing a new home. May you be a first time hombuyer, someone moving up, or an investor.  I have said this many of times, but you need to speak to a mortgage professional and a real estate professional, those that are looking out for your best interests. If these people don't take the time in understanding your needs and wants,  actually help you make a plan, and walk you through that plan, then seek someone else... 01/31/2008

LEGOS Lego -- How many of you remember these as you were growing up. Sure, they become popular in the 1970's. But I don't care what your age is, because the modern Lego brick as we know it was patented on January 28, 1958. Today is Lego's 50th anniversary and the bricks from back then are still compatible with the bricks today. Google has just been an amazing company to learn from in the last year. For any of you that follow my blogs, I have been following Google's logos for the last 13 months. Today, Google taught me something other than just changing up your web sites and your blog sites front pages, to keep the general public on their toes.Take a look at LEGO and how Google uses an anniversary as part of the logo campaign. What about you realtors that service a specific area or loca... 01/28/2008

We all know that the economy is in the tank in one way or another. The Senate passed the bill of raising the FHA loan limits across the country back in December of 2007. What so many people didn't understand is that it had to go back to the House floor to decided what the new loan amounts would be. And after this is decided, then the President would sign off on this new bill.  In all honesty, I thought that this would have taken place by the end of January. Now, I am being contact by realtors and consumers asking what these new loan limits are, because there are talks on the street that they were raised. This is not the case as of yet. It's still speculation, because they are still working out the numbers. And what has been thrown into the mix of things, is that there is a plan to rais... 01/27/2008