FHA Loans Are About to Get More Costly
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) just announced changes to its loan insurance, which is popular among home buyers who don’t qualify for conventional financing. FHA loans are common among first-time buyers because they require just 3.5% down and allow more leniency for individuals with lower credit scores and higher debt-to-income ratios, but FHA borrowers pay… Read More
Don’t Just Borrow Where You Bank
We all want life to be simple, especially when it comes to our finances. So it’s no surprise that many people, when they need a home loan, turn to the bank where they already have a checking or savings account. However, Redfin data shows that lesser known lenders are often a better choice for homebuyers…. Read More
Over the weekend, the U.S. stopped guaranteeing big loans in expensive cities, and ever since the folks in real estate have been holding our breaths to see the market’s reaction. Now Redfin has released new data showing which areas are most vulnerable to the policy change. First, some background. The reason the government began backing… Read More
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has been a veritable beehive of policy change over the past month. We’ll be discussing the impact of a lot of these changes in the next few days, but we’re starting things off with the changes to the condo approval process that went into effect on February 1st, 2010. Essentially,… Read More
Did anyone see today’s Wall Street Journal article by Bob Hagerty about Countrywide’s efforts to battle bad publicity? The cast of characters includes a former San Diego Chargers offensive lineman screaming “NOW IT’S PERSONAL” on a conference call with managers, an executive earning $120 million a year describing himself as a “poor kid from the… Read More