Arizona Home Talk

Why You Should Rent And Pay My Mortgage

Buying a home vs. renting is a big decision that takes careful consideration. For many years, purchasing real estate was considered an extremely profitable investment. Over the past view years many have held off, due to the Housing bubble burst and the declining market values due to the historic credit crisis.

4.5% Mortgage Rates Culmination Opportunity

While the mortgage market continues to generate a lot of chatter in both the media and in Washington, interest rates are currently near or at all-time lows. If you or anyone you know are looking to take advantage of these low rates, let me explain why now is the time to act. Lately there has been [...]

New Mortgage Help from Gov’t

Nov. 11, 2008 09:48 AM Associated Press WASHINGTON - In the most sweeping effort so far to help troubled homeowners, the federal government and the mortgage industry on Tuesday will announce a plan to streamline the assistance process for hundreds of thousands of delinquent loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which [...]

Three Big Mortgage Loan Changes effective Jan. 1, 2009

Potential Home Buyers: BE AWARE that several loan programs will change on January 1, 2009.  The FHA minimum down payment goes up from 3% to 3.5%.  The FHA maximum loan amount goes from $346,250 down to around $318,550 (in Arizona).  Once a buyer has a purchase contract, a mortgage lender can establish an FHA case number [...]

What is PMI? Is it tax deductible?

The federal government’s Private Mortgage Insurance legislation is great news for the Real Estate Industry! Enacted on January 1st, 2007, the bill makes Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) tax deductible for new borrowers whose personal adjusted gross income is $100,000 or less. For millions of home buyers, the bill creates an amazing opportunity to finance a more [...]

Need to Refi but have no Equity?

Q: What if I need to refinance but have no equity? Well, this is when you call the mortgage company that gets your monthly check and ask for mercy. Mercy usually looks like one of the following:  a portfolio refinance, a loan modification or a hardship adjustment.  Basically, these are just different ways of improving the terms [...]

New Housing Bill Signed into Law

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act Last week, President Bush signed the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008″ into law. This $300 Billion rescue plan is aimed at helping struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure, as well as boost confidence in the housing market. Although the bill is several hundred pages long and contains a number of [...]

No More Downpayment Help from Sellers

The new housing rescue  bill President Bush is expected to sign this week will really change things for buyers needing help with their down-payment.  Currently, there are FHA loan programs out there that allow the seller to contribute to the buyers down-payment (providing instant equity for buyers, and less out of pocket costs for buyers).  That [...]

Mortgage Interest Rates Up

By Holden Lewis at www.bankrate.com Mortgage rates took a big jump this week, to their highest point in a year. There’s no single explanation for the rise. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 35 basis points, to 6.77 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. [...]

New ‘08 Loan Pricing & Your FICO score

TODAY’S RATES ARE AS FOLLOWS 30 YR FIXED @ 5.625% 30 YR INT ONLY @ 6.625% 30 YR BOND PROGRAM @ 6.55% 30 YR FHA @ 5.75% Did you know…starting in 2008 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have started to implement loan level pricing adjustments based solely on FICO scores.  Here is the following breakdown if your credit scores [...]