by Irene Moustakas | May 3, 2023 | Uncategorized
If you purchased or refinanced your home and put down less than 20% (or had less than 20% equity), then you are most likely paying Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). PMI is charged as an insurance policy for the lender against you defaulting on your mortgage, since you...
by Irene Moustakas | Mar 20, 2023 | Uncategorized
It is not an unusual situation to want to buy a new home prior to selling your current; the biggest reason is that you save the hassle (and fees) of moving twice. Although the market is becoming a little more buyer-friendly, there still is enough demand (coupled with...
by Irene Moustakas | Feb 28, 2023 | Industry News
GREAT NEWS! FHA has announced that they are reducing their mortgage insurance premiums across the board by 30 basis points. Mortgage Insurance can often be a dealbreaker in securing an FHA loan, depending on down payment and credit score, but this will help immensely...
by Irene Moustakas | Jan 27, 2023 | Uncategorized
When you apply for a mortgage, whether to purchase or refinance, the three major credit bureaus have record of the inquiry into your credit and unfortunately will sell that information in the form of a lead to lenders and banks. This has been dubbed a “trigger...
by Irene Moustakas | Jan 19, 2023 | Uncategorized
Check out this 30 Year Fixed rate HELOAN (Home Equity Loan)! You can use it for any personal reason; however, the homeowners that have most recently taken advantage of it had accumulated high credit card debt, which the HELOAN paid off in full at a much lower rate...
by Irene Moustakas | Dec 20, 2022 | Featured, Loan Programs and Products
If you need to tap into your home equity and you have secured an interest rate in the 2% and 3% range of yesteryear, then it would be quite difficult to relinquish that amazing rate by doing a cash-out refinance on your 1st mortgage. Your alternative option to access...
by Irene Moustakas | Dec 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
There are two definitions in the mortgage industry for a buydown. One is most common and simply means the borrower pays points to buy the rate down for the life of the loan (a one-time upfront cost for a longer-term benefit). You can refer to my blog post here where I...
by Irene Moustakas | Nov 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
A Fixed Rate Mortgage is the most common type of loan: The rate and payment is fixed for the life of the loan, depending on the fixed term you choose, with no opportunity for adjustment. An ARM is fixed for a set period of years (typically 5, 7 or 10) and then...
by Irene Moustakas | Oct 4, 2022 | Uncategorized
Today is my 21st anniversary in the mortgage business! I’ve been through quite the ups and downs, from rates being 8.0% when I started, going through the credit crunch era/housing bubble burst of 2008, the wildly low 2%/3% rates of 2020 and 2021, and now the...
by Irene Moustakas | Aug 30, 2022 | Uncategorized
Have you lost out on a home because the seller chose an all-cash offer over yours? It can be quite frustrating, but one of my lenders is now offering a solution, called the “cash compete” loan. This will allow you to offer all cash on a property you would like to...