Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Case Shiller Home Price Index Shows Rising Prices For May 2013

Case Shiller Home Price Index Shows Rising Prices For May 2013The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index (HPI) released Tuesday presented solid evidence that the housing recovery continued during the month of May.

The Case-Shiller 20-City Index showed increasing home prices for all 20 cities.

Highest Year-Over-Year Gains Included Theses Cities:

  • San Francisco, CA 24.50 percent
  • Las Vegas, NV 23.30 percent
  • Phoenix, AZ 20.60 percent
  • Atlanta, GA 20.10 percent
  • Los Angeles, CA 19.20 percent

In surprising news, Dallas, TX and Denver, CO posted record year-over-year price gains that surpassed their pre-crisis peaks.

Year-over-year home prices in Dallas increased by 7.60 percent and Denver home prices increased by 9.70 percent year-over-year in May.

Home prices grew by 12.20 percent on a year-over year basis in May; this reading fell short of expectations of 12.40 percent, but moved slightly ahead of April's reading of a 12.10 percent year-over year increase.

The Case-Shiller HPI is based on a three-month rolling year-over-year average of home prices in the cities surveyed.

Cities Post Month-To- Month Price Gains 

On a seasonally-adjusted month-to-month basis, home prices rose by 1.00 percent in May as compared to April. Expectations were for a 1.40 percent increase over April's reading, which came in at 1.70 percent.

Top Gains From April To May Were Posted By These Cities:

  • San Francisco, CA 4.30 percent
  • Chicago, IL 3.70 percent
  • Atlanta, GA 3.40 percent
  • San Diego, CA 3.10 percent
  • Seattle, WA 3.10 percent

Analysts noted that home prices for two metro areas in Florida surpassed year-over-year gains in Washington, D.C.; this illustrates home values shifting geographically.

Miami home prices posted a month-to gain of 2.00 percent and a year-over-year gain of 14.20 percent.

Tampa, FL home prices posted a month-to-month gain of 1.80 percent on a year-over-year gain of 10.90 percent.

Washington, D.C. home prices gained 2.00 percent month-to-month in May, but only gained 6.50 percent year-over-year.

Rising Mortgage Rates Could Slow Price Momentum

It's important to understand that the data in the Case-Shiller HPI lags a couple of months behind current market conditions; the latest numbers were compiled prior to mortgage rates spiking. Economists expect that the impact of higher mortgage rates won't be seen in home prices until fall.

Higher mortgage rates are expected to slow home sales. If the demand for homes falls due to higher mortgage rates, inventories of available homes would expand, which would create competition among home sellers and potentially lead to lower home prices.

For any questions regarding your mortgage rate and buying a home feel free to contact your trusted mortgage professional today.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Secrets Of A Mortgage Loan Officer

Some experts believe that consumers could have prevented the sub-prime mortgage fiasco … if only they were better educated about how mortgage financing works.  

But who wants to school themselves on ratios and amortizations and securitizations when there’s another type of homework to tackle—like picking out paint chips and light fixtures? Of course, before you can hit the Home Depot to canvas the paint aisle, you have to get the right financing.

So we talked to a veteran in the industry, Joe Parsons, a senior loan officer at PFS Funding in Dublin, Calif., to get his advice on the key things that home buyers need to know—from where to go for your loan to how you can up your chances of being approved for a mortgage.

What does a mortgage loan officer do?
Joe Parsons: A loan officer at a bank or a credit union is typically just the smiling face of the institution—the officer’s job is to accept an application that the borrower has filled out, and then hand it off to the underwriting department.

An independent loan originator, on the other hand, typically renders more service to the borrower, including things like advising the client about the best loans available for their purposes, gathering documentation throughout the process, ordering the appraisal and communicating directly with the underwriter to ensure that the loan gets approved.

So what happens if you don’t use a loan officer?
A large bank or credit union relies on the underwriting department to handle all of the above tasks—and these departments aren't working as representatives for the borrower. The takeaway for the consumer: Mortgage rates available at an independent loan originator, whether it’s a broker or a small banker, won’t be higher than those offered through a big bank. In fact, in many cases, the rates are somewhat lower, partly because independent mortgage brokers typically have more loan sources available to them compared to the big banks, which usually just have a handful of loan products to offer prospective homeowners.


Why are mortgage rates constantly changing?
Virtually all mortgages are sold on the secondary market—this is the function of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. So once a lender has funded your loan (given you the money), they’ll sell it to the investor for cash at a small profit. That loan will then be bundled with thousands of others into a bond called a Mortgage Backed Security (MBS), which is bought and sold by investors just like other bonds and stocks. The price of these securities fluctuates daily based on market activity, so when the price of the MBS goes up, the lender will get more for the loan if they sell that day. And that means they can give you the money at a better price.

The market for MBS typically fluctuates about .25% from one day to the next. If the MBS price went up .25% (25 cents per $100 of bond value), the lenders would improve the pricing on their loans by that amount, which would show up in the form of a larger credit to the borrower for the interest rate chosen. So an improvement of .25% in the bond market would mean that a $300,000 loan would be $750 less expensive, if the borrower chose to lock in the rate at that time.

What’s more important: rates, fees or points?
It depends. If someone plans to have a loan for a very short time (two years or so), trading a slightly higher rate for a larger rebate may make sense. As a general rule, raising the rate .25% will increase the rebate from the lender by 1% of the loan amount. Conversely, someone who expects to have a loan for a very long time may benefit from a lower rate attained by paying “points” (one point is 1% of the loan amount). Mathematically, paying 1% of the loan amount to reduce the rate by .25% will break even in about four years, but it seldom makes sense unless the borrower plans to use the lower rate to pay off the loan faster.

As far as fees are concerned, you have to make a distinction between lender fees (underwriting, document prep, processing, etc.) and third-party fees (title, escrow, appraisal, recording, notary). Some lenders and brokers have very high lender fees, while others may have higher rates instead. For this reason, the consumer should get a written estimate of all the fees involved in the proposed transaction, and then compare the options. Case in point: One lender may have $1,000 in underwriting and processing fees, while another has none—but if the “cheaper” lender has rates that are .125% higher, it may be a false economy to go “cheaper.”


What top factors determine if someone gets a loan?
The most important thing is the debt-to-income ratio (DTI), which is calculated by taking the total house payment (principal and interest, taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance, if applicable), adding all “long-term” debt payments (any that will continue for more than 10 months), and then expressing that sum as a percentage of the gross monthly income. For a conventional loan, 50% is the maximum value, but some loan programs may allow a higher DTI.

The lender also looks at the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) or the loan amount expressed as a percentage of the home’s value. If it’s a purchase, the lender will use the lower of the appraised value or the contract price. And if the LTV is higher than 80%, the borrower will have to pay mortgage insurance.
Next, the lender looks at income. Is it stable? Has the borrower been in the same line of work for at least two years? If self-employed, can the person document income from tax returns? Lenders will use the net income from the tax returns, not the gross, plus they typically average the last two years’ net income.

Finally, borrowers have to document that they have adequate liquid assets for the transaction. If there are any large deposits appearing on their bank statements, they will have to show the source. Many buyers get gifts from relatives or family friends, and they must be documented in a very particular way.

Is there anything that you can do to improve your chances of getting approved for a loan?
Buyers’ finances should be reasonably well organized before applying for a loan. If they have credit issues, it’s far better to get them resolved beforehand. Credit card balances over 30% of a credit limit, for example, will reduce the credit scores—sometimes drastically. If there are tax liens, unsatisfied judgments or other public record items, deal with these ahead of time. A good loan officer can provide advice on how best to accomplish this.

What are the most common reasons why people get turned down for loans?
We don’t see very many declines, because we prepare our clients before we submit their loans to underwriting. But the most common problem we see is that the DTI is too high—they’re trying to buy more home than they can qualify for. For example, a would-be buyer may be self-employed and just beginning to earn a good income. That applicant may be making $100,000 a year now, but if he earned $35,000 in 2011 and $75,000 in 2012, the lender will average his income over the two tax years—and that may not be enough to qualify for the loan he’d like to have.

If you've been denied a loan, what can you do to increase your chances with another lender?
If prospective borrowers have been turned down because of their credit profile, they can fix those items—but that may not happen overnight. If they have open judgments, past-due balances, late payments, etc., they may not be ready to take on the responsibility of a mortgage right now. It’s absolutely in their best interest to get their finances cleaned up before they buy.

How can I tell if it’s really worth it to refinance?
If you can recover the real costs of the loan within what you consider to be a reasonable amount of time, it’s worth doing. If the “non-recurring closing costs” (title, escrow, underwriting fee, document prep, etc.) amount to $3,500, a borrower might recover those costs in, say, three years. At that point, they are “playing on the house’s money,” so to speak. They have gotten back the $3,500 to do the loan, and from that time forward, the savings are net to them.

A very simple calculation would be to find out what the real cost of the loan is, and then divide that cost by the monthly reduction in payment. If the cost is $3,600, and the payment drops by $200 a month, it would take 18 months to break even (3600÷200). One thing to be aware of is that part of the reason the payment goes down in a refinance is that the term is being extended. So if you got a 30-year loan five years ago, you now have a 25-year loan. Extending the term back to 30 years will account for part of the drop in payment.


Any tips for finding the right mortgage lender?
Since all lenders have essentially the same rates, a consumer should select a mortgage professional based on their perception of the loan officer’s experience and diligence. Does the person answer questions in clear, understandable language? Do they talk about the available choices? Do they respond to email and answer or return phone calls? There is a certain amount of “gut feeling” involved too: Does the loan officer seem interested, engaged and friendly?

There’s also the issue of the competence of the lender. Some lenders advertise heavily, with jaw-dropping low rates, but they have no one on staff who can deal with challenges to loan approval. In today’s world, there are no more “cookie cutter” loans—every transaction has challenges. If the lender’s “loan consultants” are call center employees, the chances of getting a loan approved and funded are much slimmer than with a lender whose representative is licensed and registered.

More From HMC


The article How to Know if You Qualify for a Home Mortgage Loan originally appeared on learnvest.com.

The Mortgage Expert Who Almost Couldn’t Get a House

In January of 2009, as the housing market collapsed, I took a job blogging for a law firm that specializes in predatory lending and wrongful foreclosure lawsuits.
I read case after case about borrowers who signed documents for loans that came with interest rates and other costs that were far higher than what they believed they were getting. Even when the correct documents were provided, borrowers had trouble understanding them—especially when lenders rushed them through closing.
When those loans ended up in court, many judges had no sympathy for the borrowers because they couldn't see the power imbalance between the lender and the borrower. Unlike with business contracts, the vast majority of mortgage borrowers don’t have attorneys, aren't qualified to understand the contract and have no opportunity to negotiate changes. In my opinion, too many courts dismiss these factors, saying that borrowers are legal adults who aren't under duress, so they knew—or should have known—what they were signing.
Public opinion is even harsher. No matter how clearly an article lays out the bank’s role in a foreclosure, online commenters tend to blame the borrower’s lack of “personal responsibility.” Looking back, I see that I was also guilty of thinking that the key to avoiding predatory lending is a matter of education and careful reading.
Last fall, I realized just how wrong that thinking was when my husband and I decided that we were ready to buy a home.
I felt confident going in: I was plugged into the legal world, understood typical predatory lending and had plenty of lawyer contacts who could help. But, by the end, I was convinced that not even a well-informed layperson like me has a good chance of understanding loan documents—and the system needs serious reform.

Why You Really Can’t Shop Around

When we were looking to buy, it was a seller’s market in our area. In this climate, buyers’ chances substantially improve if they first get “pre-approved” for a mortgage by a lender before they make an offer because the seller knows that the deal won’t fall apart over lack of funding.
To get pre-approved, the lender asks for documentation on all of your assets and debts, and pulls your credit score. It’s not real loan underwriting—that comes later, which I’ll explain below. But, in a seller’s market, your real estate agent will probably pressure you to get pre-approved long before you’re ready to make an offer.
This process—and the accompanying time pressures—makes it hard to use a lender other than the one who pre-approves you. Plus, lenders expressly warn that the pre-approval may not look like your final loan—when your offer is accepted, the lender checks your financial situation again to make sure that it hasn't changed.
Unfortunately, this means that there’s risk in getting more than one lender’s opinion because, depending on the formula that the credit-requesting company uses, your credit rating could actually be harmed if several lenders pull your credit score over a “shopping period” that exceeds 14 to 45 days.
A mortgage broker can help you compare several lenders, but the loans still aren't guaranteed to stay the same—and brokers can also be predatory. During the height of the housing bubble, some brokers failed to disclose that banks would pay them extra if they sold a loan that cost more than what the home-buyer had qualified for in the vetting process. (The federal government outlawed the practice of paying these so-called “yield-spread premiums” in 2010.)
Once your offer on a property during a seller’s market is accepted, you need to have the loan funded within a specified number of days (ours was 17) or the deal could fall through—and you’ll lose your earnest money. Unfortunately, the bulk of the loan underwriting is done after the buyer’s offer has been accepted, and these days, the bank takes as long as it needs to feel comfortable about granting a mortgage. Even our underwriting, which had no surprises, went past the deadline.
Our loan officer was very responsive—but her company kept sending out documents with obvious mistakes.
This is yet another reason why it’s tough to truly “shop around.” Sure, you can always turn down the initial lender, and find someone else once you see the loan details. But if you do this, you’re probably going to go over the deadline—and your deal can fall through, unless the seller is nice enough to extend it. Luckily, we had very nice sellers.
Sloppy Mistakes Can Lead to Tense Moments
Our loan officer was very responsive—but the problem was that her company kept sending out documents with obvious mistakes. For example, one listed the closing date on a day that had already passed. I had read so much about predatory lending that this sloppiness made me nervous. When the loan officer said, “trust me,” I thought, “That’s exactly what I've just spent the past few years learning not to do!”
In one case I read during this time, the borrower testified that she trusted her loan officer’s assurances that she could refinance the loan within six months—but she couldn't. Her initial paperwork illegally failed to disclose several of the final loan’s major features, some of which were very expensive.
Instead of blindly trusting my loan officer, I called on resources that not everyone is lucky enough to have: the law firm where I worked and a lawyer relative. I also did online research about the lender, and decided that it probably made mistakes because it rushed through its loans.
The main thing my client told me to watch out for was a substantial difference between the loan I thought we were getting and the loan described by two major documents: the final Truth in Lending Act notice and the Housing and Urban Development Settlement Statement. The federal government issues these forms to help borrowers understand what they’re getting. Our final documents didn't differ substantially from the initial ones—but my husband and I are native English speakers with good credit. People without these advantages were especially likely to be victims during the bubble.

How Busy Lives Affect the Loan Process

Another factor that prevents people from understanding their mortgage documents: Life gets in the way.
My loan documents totaled well over 100 pages. When I had childcare, I was rushing to meet work deadlines, and when I didn’t, I was taking care of the baby. My husband’s father also had a heart attack hours before we received the loan documents. We were scheduled to sign them the next day.
My advice to future home-buyers: carefully scrutinize the HUD settlement statement and the TILA notices—and don’t sign until you understand everything. Although I think that these documents aren’t as consumer-friendly as they could be, they’re the best chance you have for a clear explanation. If necessary, use the explanations distributed by federal agencies. You can also hire an attorney (required in some states) to review your documents.

Making the Process More Transparent

My loan had no actual wrongdoing—as far as I know. Still, if homeownership is to be safe for everyone, I would like to see a few changes.
I support a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to create two “Know Before You Owe” forms that clearly lay out the total cost of the transaction, as well as how high costs could get in the future. A three-page loan estimate would be provided soon after the loan application is approved, and a five-page closing disclosure would have to be provided three days before the loan closes, so people have a better chance to review it thoroughly. This should also be backed up by a tough penalty for violations, such as cancellation of the loan, which is the penalty for TILA disclosures. I also support another CFPB proposal to ban certain high-cost loan features, such as balloon payments, which are high payments that are due at the end of a loan’s life. This was a feature of some subprime loans that were made during the bubble, and the CFPB rightly says that it “can trap consumers in high-cost mortgages.”
To solve the challenge of shopping around for a loan, laws (probably at the state level) should forbid parties from contracting for an unreasonably short loan contingency period—the deadline by which the loan must be funded. Fortunately, these deadlines are often ignored when the parties are agreeable. But when the parties are not so agreeable, they cause lawsuits. Why let people set themselves up for trouble?
I’d also like to see a federal requirement that mortgage contracts be written in the language used to negotiate them. A few states already require this, and judges have the discretion to void contracts when it’s clear that the borrowers didn't have the opportunity to read what they signed. A nationwide law would extend that protection to everyone.
And while I know it’s not likely to happen, I’d like more kindness to victims of predatory lending—especially in the courts. If you’re already a victim of predatory lending, suing is one of the few ways to redress it. But when those contracts are challenged in court, far too many judges gloss over the issue by reasoning that the borrower had an opportunity to understand what was signed. My experience has left me more convinced than ever that they’re wrong.


The article How to Know if You Qualify for a Home Mortgage Loan originally appeared on learnvest.com.

7 Top Mortgage-Shopping Mistakes to Avoid

Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions you can make, and it’s likely the largest purchase you will ever make. So it’s no surprise that there are multiple ways you can trip up.
Getting a mortgage is about more than having your offer accepted and signing on the dotted line. (Or hundreds of dotted lines, which is what it feels like at the closing table.)
Here, our experts reveal the top seven landmines in the mortgage process and how to avoid them.

1. Neglecting to check your credit before starting the process.

Approaching mortgage lenders without having some idea where your credit lies is like going to an important job interview without checking for spinach in your teeth. “I’m amazed at people who apply for a mortgage and they’re shocked at things on their credit report,” says LearnVest Planning Services certified financial planner™ Ellen Derrick. “They say, ‘I had no idea that I forgot to pay my Best Buy card!’”
Mortgage lenders are going to go through your credit report with a fine-toothed comb, and they’re going to make decisions based on how creditworthy you appear to be, including whether to offer you a loan at all … or at what rates. If you don’t check your credit score first, you stand to lose money, or your potential dream home.
What to do instead: Ideally, you’ll check your credit well before you begin hunting for a home, and work to increase your score if you need to, or dispute errors on your report, since those can take time to rectify. You’re entitled to a free credit report from each of the three bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) once a year, and you can pull those from AnnualCreditReport.com. If there are errors, fix them. (Some examples: Any accounts listed that aren't yours, accounts incorrectly listed as being in collections, incorrect large balances reported, or incorrect late payments reported.) The bureaus have 30 to 45 days to investigate the issue and fix it accordingly. Use free resources, like Credit Karma or Credit Sesame, to get an estimate of your credit score for TransUnion and Experian. If you want to see your actual FICO scores for each credit bureau, buy them outright (about $15 to $20 each) instead of committing to unnecessary and expensive monitoring when you sign up for a free trial.

2. Applying for new credit simultaneously.

When you’re applying for a mortgage, your credit is under serious scrutiny. Apply for a new credit card and your credit score will dip temporarily due to the application credit check, which counts as a hard inquiry on your account for about 12 months. The same goes for closing an old account—it will affect the amount of credit  you have available, which will negatively affect your score. (Note: For car or home loans, all credit inquiries made within about two weeks of each other count as one inquiry, so when you’re shopping around for mortgage brokers, be sure to submit all of your loan applications around the same time.) 
What to do instead: While applying for a mortgage, hold off on opening up a Macy’s store card or applying for a car loan. “You really have to watch where you step in terms of your credit,” says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “You don’t want to open up any lines of credit and you don’t want to close any out. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing.” And of course, continue making on-time payments and chipping away at any debt.

3. Choosing a mortgage lender without shopping around.

You’ll want to find a mortgage lender early in the process so you have a relationship with him or her when you find the home of your dreams. By doing so, you’ll be able to kick-start the mortgage process by getting pre-approved, which means you can put in a serious offer quickly (should the need arise), and once you sign a contract, applying for the mortgage itself will take less time. Even if interest rates and loan terms are similar across different lenders, final costs and fees at each lender might not be. “Ask them about the fees for title insurance,” Derrick says. “What are the attorney’s fees? Document prep fees?” Because lenders are eager for your business, some will even offer a cash incentive for going with them, such as $1,500 back to you at closing. In fact, if one lender is offering cash back but another one isn't, ask the lender who’s holding out—he may change his tune if it means earning your business.
What to do instead: Ask home-owning friends and co-workers whether they had a good experience with their mortgage lender. “I can tell you which ones I would not recommend,” Derrick says, “because they never close on time, they’re always late with paperwork, and that kind of stuff can cause deals to fall through.” Then check in with at least two or three lenders so you have an idea of what’s out there.  In addition to the interest rate and loan terms, have each furnish you with a breakdown of your total costs so you can compare.

4. Skipping pre-approval.

Pre-approval means basically going through a mortgage application process with a lender—filling out paperwork, verifying income—in order to be pre-approved for a loan of a specific size even before you've found a house to bid on. It’s a great way to find out how much house a lender thinks you can take on, and it will give you some real specifics to work with—including an interest rate—while you’re house hunting. Plus, “getting pre-approved is the best way to tell a potential seller that you’re serious,” Derrick says. “Not getting pre-approved doesn't mean you won’t be able to get a mortgage, but the pre-approval sure makes the process go a lot easier.”
What to do instead: Just tell your mortgage lender you’d like to get pre-approved. You’ll have to provide paperwork, which can include pay stubs, W-2's, bank statements, tax returns, and relevant loan documents. Once you've had an offer accepted on a house, you’ll merely have to give the lender the address and details of the offer to move forward with the mortgage process. (You could also decide you don’t love that lender and want to go with a different mortgage lender after the pre-approval. If so, you’ll have to go through all the paperwork again and it will require another hard credit check.)

5. Taking on a loan that’s too big.

It may seem like you’re comparing apples to apples when you trade rent for a mortgage payment. But there are more expenses to consider when you buy a home, and you have to make sure you can afford to pay for them all. “I’m still seeing people who aren't even in the right ballpark when it comes to looking for a mortgage,” Derrick says. “Mortgage lenders are going out of their way to qualify people for more than they can truly afford.” If you bite off more loan than you can chew, you may find yourself eventually facing the sale of your home (or foreclosure) when you can’t make the payments. 
What to do instead: Along with your mortgage payment, make sure you've accounted for costs such as property taxes and homeowner’s insurance. Maintenance costs alone average about 1% of the home’s value every year. Have home sellers furnish copies of 12 months of utility bills. And when you’re pre-approved for a mortgage, Derrick recommends taking the lender’s top number and lopping 20% off of it so you aren't stretched to the limit. Another good metric? Find out what payments would be for a 30-year fixed mortgage on the house. “If you can’t afford a house based on a fixed-rate mortgage at today’s low rates,” McBride says, “you don’t need a different mortgage, you need a different house.”

6. Signing loan documents you don’t understand.

“People don’t ask enough questions,” Derrick says. “They just walk into it and think it’s as simple as taking out a loan to buy a sofa at the furniture store. But it’s very complicated.” A mortgage is about more than just the monthly payment. It’s about how much you’ll pay over the life of the loan and what your interest rate will be throughout. For instance, the monthly payment will be lower on a 3/1 adjustable rate mortgage, a common loan in which the first three years of payments are fixed and for the remainder of the loan the interest rate adjusts annually. That means your interest rate could go down or up in three years—and so could your monthly payment. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Derrick says. “But you should know what it means.”
What to do instead: Make sure you understand what kind of loan you’re getting, what the payments will be from beginning to end, how much interest you’re paying, and whether you’ll have a fixed interest rate, or whether it will be fixed for a limited time before becoming variable. Also, do you know how much money you’ll have to bring to the closing table with you? Many lenders require you to pay property taxes and insurance up front, and it could be a big check. “The fees are something people don’t think about until they get to closing,” Derrick says, “and the numbers on the page may look very different from what they looked at two weeks before.” 

7. Trying to time the market.

It can be tempting to try to time your home purchase so you lock in the lowest possible rate on a mortgage, either by dragging the process out if rates seem to be headed down, or jumping in before you’re ready. “People are waiting for rates to get absolutely perfect before they do something,” Derrick says. “But if you actually run an illustration over a 30-year mortgage, the difference between an interest rate of 3.75% and 3.70% is minute.”
What to do instead: If you’ve found a house, and you love it, and you can afford the mortgage, go for it—don’t worry about chasing after a mortgage rate that’s ever so slightly lower than what you can get now. On the other hand, if you don’t have enough money for a good down payment, don’t leap into a house before you’re ready, just because rates are low.


The article How to Know if You Qualify for a Home Mortgage Loan originally appeared on learnvest.com.

7 Top Home-Buying Mistakes People Often Make

Insanely low mortgage interest rates—and the knowledge that they’ll eventually go up again—make a lot of people feel like it’s time to buy a house right now. And maybe it is … if you go about it the right way.
Buying a home is a major purchase (to put it mildly), and there are plenty of ways to trip up. But don’t worry—we've got your primer right here.

1. Don’t … buy a house if you’re planning to move again soon.

If you’re a renter, it can be frustrating to write that rent check every month and have no home equity to show for it at the end of the year. But if you aren't certain that you’re going to stay put for a few years, it’s probably not the right time to buy—equity or no equity. “Some people tend to buy a house knowing that they’re going to be relocating after a few years,” says LearnVest Planning Services certified financial planner Ellen Derrick. “Don’t buy property and automatically assume that you’ll be able to rent it out or sell it when you move.”
What to do: If you aren't in an area with a strong rental market that would allow you to cover the mortgage on your home if you move elsewhere, then stick with a rental for now.

2. Don’t … bust your budget.

Shopping for houses can make you a little giddy. Look at this one! And this one! For a little bit more, you could get granite counter-tops, plus an office nook! You’re dealing with such large numbers when you’re browsing real estate that it might not seem like such a huge deal to stretch another $10,000 or $15,000 to get the home you really love. But that’s not a game you want to play. “People look at the top end of their affordable monthly payment, and they don’t really think about what happens if their income goes down or they have to change jobs,” says Derrick. 
What to do: Get pre-approved for a mortgage. Not only will this prove that you’re serious to your Realtor and to home sellers, but it will also give you an idea of your upper limit. “Remember that the lender is there to make you a loan, and the more money you borrow, the better it is for them,” Derrick says. “They want you to max out. I would take the pre-approval number and cut about 20% off.”

buying a home

3. Don’t … forget about added costs.

Buying a home isn't just a matter of replacing a rental payment with a mortgage payment. There are also maintenance costs, utilities (which will likely cost more) and property taxes. “People tend to forget about both property taxes and insurance when they’re thinking about how much house they can afford,” Derrick says. “The actual monthly payment could end up being well out of your price range when you figure those things in.”
What to do: Ask the homeowners about their average utility costs and property taxes, get a homeowner’s insurance quote and budget about one percent of the home’s purchase price for annual maintenance. Then run the numbers to see if you can afford the home. (And don’t forget about closing costs. The average cost to close on a $200,000 mortgage is about $3,754, according to Bankrate.com, but your broker should be able to give you an estimate.)

4. Don’t … put down a nominal down payment.

Even with lenders tightening requirements to qualify for a mortgage, it’s still possible to buy a house with as little as 3% down. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that you’ll have very little equity in your home when you first move into it. So if something comes up, and you have to sell, you’ll end up owing more than you can get out of the sale once you factor in closing costs. It puts you in a precarious position. Even if that doesn't happen, you’ll have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) every month until your equity in the home exceeds the 20% mark—and that could take years. (If you can’t put 20% down, your loan is technically considered risky—PMI is insurance that protects the bank if you default on your mortgage.)
What to do: Consider whether it’s prudent to buy a home now if you’re nowhere near having a 20% down payment. Yes, interest rates are low, but if you have to borrow thousands more because you don’t really have a great nest egg, it may be a wash in the end. You could avoid years of PMI, and owe a lower monthly nut, if you spend a year or two saving aggressively toward a down payment.

5. Don’t … neglect to get everything in writing.

You wouldn't be the first home buyer to assume that the kitchen appliances come with the deal—only to discover an appliance-free kitchen on the final walk-through. “I’ve heard of buyers going ten rounds because the seller took the drapes down, and the buyer expected them to be left,” Derrick says. “I’ve seen all kinds of deals blow up over stuff like that.” Common points of contention: window treatments, hot tubs, light fixtures, shower and bath fixtures, ceiling fans and big appliances, such as washers and dryers. Replacing something you thought was staying could cost hundreds, so it’s not a small thing.
What to do: Go through your contract with a fine-toothed comb. If the item that you expected to be there isn't, ask about it—and get it added in writing.

6. Don’t … skip the inspection.

Even if the home looks like it’s in winning shape, it would be foolish to skip a thorough once-over by a professional. “People tend to think that the inspection and the appraisal are the same thing,” Derrick says. “They’re not.” An inspector is there to spot the things you don’t know to look for, like if the chimney is in great shape or whether those little cracks in the foundation are a big deal. He’ll look for signs of water damage and check the insulation in the attic. If there are conditions that will need repair, you may be able to negotiate with the seller to drop the price. In other words, the inspection is worth every penny.
What to do: Get recommendations from your Realtor or friends who've bought in the area, and have a professional inspection done before you close on the house.

7. Don’t … think a brand-new home entitles you to brand-new everything.

“A lot of people buy this nice house, and then look at the ratty car sitting in the driveway and think, ‘We better buy a new car,’” Derrick says. Or you suddenly have a formal living room but no formal living room furniture—so you buy some! It’s a mistake to feel like you suddenly have to upgrade all of your stuff to match the shiny new home. “You don’t want to get yourself into a pile of credit card debt just so you can keep up with the house,” Derrick says.
What to do: Live in your house for a while, so you can figure out what you really need. Then save up for it!


The article How to Know if You Qualify for a Home Mortgage Loan originally appeared on learnvest.com.

10 Top Credit Mistakes to Avoid

Want to save thousands of dollars on all your biggest purchases?
Then there’s only one thing you need to do: maintain good credit.
Your credit is used to determine what rates you’ll pay for big life purchases such as auto loans and mortgages. It will also influence your credit card limits and interest rates. It could even affect whether or not you get a job, as some employers do check your credit report when making hiring decisions.
For all these reasons and more, you want to keep your credit as stellar as possible. Read on to find out the top credit mistakes you must avoid.
credit mistakes

1. Don’t miss a bill payment.

Making late bill payments, or not making them at all, can reflect negatively on your credit. In some cases, there’s a grace period, during which you won’t be penalized. In others, you may get a derogatory mark on your credit report for being 30, 60 or 90 days late. This will negatively affect your percentage of on-time payments, a significant factor of your credit score. If your payment is severely delayed, your debt may be sent to a collections agent, which will be indicated on your credit report.
What to do: Use Certified Financial Planner or set up mobile or calendar alerts to keep track of your bills and other debts owed, including credit cards, student, auto and mortgage loan payments, cable bills, medical bills, and any other regular debt obligations you have. If you aren't prepared to make your payment, contact your creditor to find out your options. You might be able to negotiate a longer grace period for your payment. Also, some credit card companies will remove a late payment if you just ask. Write a goodwill adjustment letter, using this example at Bargaineering. 

2. Don’t max out your credit cards.

An important factor of your credit score is your credit utilization rate, or how much of your available credit you’re using at a given moment. When you apply for credit, creditors consider 30% or less a healthy utilization rate; you’re using enough credit to prove you’re responsible, but not so much that you’re relying too heavily on it.
What to do: First of all, make sure you know your limits, on each card, that is. Then, calculate 30% of your total limits. For instance, if you have two credit cards, one with a credit limit of $2,000 and the other with a limit of $1,000, your total limits would be $3,000, and 30 percent of that is $1,000. To maintain an optimal credit utilization rate, you should never charge more than $1,000 total on your cards.

3. Don’t take out cash advances.

Did you know that you can take cash out of the ATM using your credit card? This so-called cash advance is a quick cash loan from your credit card issuer. While convenient, it’s also expensive. You’ll usually pay a fee per cash advance plus an interest rate higher than your credit card’s purchase interest rate by 1 to 7 percentage points. The other problem is that it can hurt your credit, depending on how much you take out. If the outstanding balance on your credit card is already high, taking a cash advance could push your credit utilization rate into territory that is bad for your credit score.
What to do: Try at all costs to avoid taking out a cash advance. Do the math to see how much you’d really be spending just to get a little extra cash to tide you over. Take a look at your credit card’s cash advance interest rate (and how much higher it is than your purchase interest rate) as well as any fees you might pay. Also consider how you can make money on the side rather than take out a short-term loan.

4. Don’t chase rates.

If you have debt, you may be tempted to open a new account with a 0% interest rate (or at least one lower than your current rate) and transfer the balance. The idea here is that you can take that time to pay off the debt without incurring extra interest (or less interest than you would have otherwise). The problem with this can be that you’ll be opening a new account, which is a “hard” inquiry on your credit report, and too many of those can lower your score. Plus, you’ll also get hit with a balance transfer fee, which is usually 3% to 5% of your transfer amount. And, if you don’t pay off the transferred balance during the introductory period, many cards require that you pay the interest rate on the entire transferred amount.
What to do: In some instances, a balance transfer could be right for you. But making repeated transfers is not a long-term solution to paying off your debt. Instead, if you have debt, create a serious plan for erasing it once and for all.

5. Don’t stop using your credit cards.

Some credit card issuers will mark unused cards as “inactive.” While they’ll remain open, the issuer might stop reporting the activity to the credit bureaus, potentially shortening the age of your credit accounts and increasing your credit utilization rate—both of which factor into your credit score.
What to do: Make small charges on your credit cards each month, and pay the balances in full and on time. Or, set up a small, recurring payment on your credit card—perhaps a monthly gym membership payment—then set up mobile or calendar alerts so you pay your bill on time. If one of your cards isn’t showing up on your report, contact your credit card issuer to make sure they are reporting your card’s activity. Then, make sure to start using the card again, a little each month.

6. Don’t apply for lots of credit cards at once.

When you’re shopping around for credit cards, each application will result in a hard credit inquiry on your credit report. Each inquiry will only ding your score by a few points, but several will multiply that effect. Also, creditors who see a lot of hard inquiries on your report will suspect you’re desperate for credit, so they’ll be less likely to approve you.
What to do: Research to find the card you want before you start applying. Read credit card reviews to help guide your search. If you've already made this mistake, just wait: The negative effects of hard inquiries will lessen after about two months.

7. Don’t spread out mortgage or auto loan applications to protect your credit.

We talked about how a lot of credit card applications during a short period of time is bad for your credit score. The opposite is true when you’re applying for an auto loan or mortgage. Creditors understand that you need to shop around for the best loans. As long as your loan applications occur during a short period of time, they’ll be counted as just one hard credit inquiry. Unfortunately, there’s no standard for how much time constitutes a “short period of time,” but if you stay within a 30-day period, you should be fine.
What to do: Use a service like UApply to compare rates on multiple loans at once. You should be able to narrow your search and minimize the time you spend researching by using a rate comparison website.

8. Don’t co-sign someone else’s loan.

When you co-sign a loan, you’re essentially using your good credit score to help another person get approved for a loan they couldn't get on their own. And your credit will be affected by how that other person pays back the debt. If they default on the debt, your credit will suffer as well … which is why there are lots of horror stories of people co-signing friends’ or family members’ loans and having their credit ruined as a result. 
What to do: Don’t be talked into co-signing on a loan. It can be hard to say “no” to a family member or close friend, but remember that derogatory marks, like accounts sent to collections and late payments, stay on your credit report for seven to ten years. These marks will decrease your credit score and hinder your chances at getting approved for your own credit in the future.

9. Don’t forget to monitor your credit to catch errors or fraud.

Credit monitoring can help alert you to identity theft before it escalates. If you receive an email alert for a new account that you didn't open, you’ll know right away that someone else is accessing your credit, and you can take quick action to stop the damage. However, many credit monitoring services charge $15 or more a month, which means you’re shelling out almost $200 a year for a service that isn't entirely necessary, but an extra safeguard.
What to do: You can monitor transactions across all your accounts daily by checking them in the Money Center. Additionally, Credit Karma offers free credit monitoring, which will track your credit report daily and alert you to important changes that you wouldn't see in the Money Center, such as new credit accounts, new credit inquiries, delinquent payments, improved payment history, new public records or updates to personal information.

10. Don’t pay for a credit repair service.

In most cases, credit repair services that promise to remove all negative marks from your credit are dishonest. Credit repair companies cannot remove accurate negative information from your credit. As for inaccurate negative information, you can dispute that yourself, without paying someone else.
What to do: Use Annual Credit Report to check your own credit report for errors and to dispute them.


The article How to Know if You Qualify for a Home Mortgage Loan originally appeared on learnvest.com.

Can You Buy Again After a Foreclosure or Short Sale? Yup.

Storms never last.
And so it is with many families across America who have gone through either a short sale or a foreclosure in the past few years. Sure, going through a foreclosure or a short sale can be a little stormy, but after a period of time the storm will clear, and it will be time to buy a house again.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal popularized a catchy name for people who have gone through the storm of a foreclosure or short sale and are now ready to buy a house again—boomerang buyers. According to the WSJ, 729,000 foreclosed borrowers are now eligible to apply for an FHA mortgage, up from 285,000 in the same quarter in 2011. This number is expected to rise to 1.5 million by the first quarter of 2014.
Which means it is safe to say that millions of people in the next few years are going to ask the question: What is required in order for me to get a mortgage after a short sale or foreclosure?
Some lenders have special financing programs for people who fall into the boomerang buyer group, but the most common types of financing are FHA, VA and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac conforming loans. Here are the requirements for these popular types of loans if you have been involved in a short sale or foreclosure:

Buying a House After a Short Sale

If you went through a short sale and are ready to buy a home again, there are different rules depending on which type of loan you are considering, how much you are planning to put down as a down payment and whether or not you had late payments on your old mortgage before the short sale was completed.
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac MortgageVA MortgageFHA Mortgage
Wait Time4 years with 10 % down or2 years3 years or
2 years with 20% down orImmediately
2 years with 10% down and extenuating circumstances
You may be wondering about the *Immediately part of this grid. Yes, it is possible for someone to buy a home with an FHA loan right away if they were current on their mortgage payment at the time of their short sale or if they went into default for reasons beyond their control.
While it is possible to buy again after a short sale immediately depending on the above circumstances, the more common scenario is to wait for two years and get a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan with 20% down or waiting three years and getting an FHA loan with 3.5% down.

Buying a House After Foreclosure

As with a short sale, the waiting periods are different when buying again after a foreclosure based on which type of financing you are seeking.
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac MortgageVA MortgageFHA Mortgage
Wait Time7 years or2 years3 years
3 years with extenuating circumstances
For most lenders, an extenuating circumstance is a non-recurring event that was beyond an applicant’s control that resulted in a sudden, significant and prolonged reduction in income or extreme increase in financial obligations. Such events are unpredictable, temporary in nature, out of the borrowers control and unlikely to happen again.
Using that definition as a guideline, it will be up to an underwriter to decide whether your particular situation qualifies as an extenuating circumstance.

Credit Considerations

When it comes time to apply for a mortgage after a short sale or foreclosure, the waiting period required by FHA, VA or Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac guidelines is one thing—having the credit score to qualify is another, and you need to meet both requirements.
A short sale generally has less of an impact on someone’s credit score than a foreclosure. The biggest impact is caused by late payments, and the foreclosure process usually will take longer than a short sale — so there are more late payments for the credit bureaus to count. Also, how the foreclosure or short sale shows up on your credit report can make a difference. If your loan was “settled,” it will not be as harmful to your credit as if it was recorded as a “default.”
There are a few simple things you can do to clean up your credit after a foreclosure or short sale — including paying off your credit card debt, making all of your other monthly payments on time and keeping records of your on-time payments and monthly budgets showing that you have cut back on spending.
The good news is that storms never last, and depending on what kind of storm you have been through, there is a pathway to follow where you can buy a home again.