by Irene Moustakas | Feb 26, 2009 | 1st Time Homebuyers
Part of Homebuying 101 is what your payment responsibilities are as a homeowner. There are either 3 or 4 items, depending on how much you have to put down. Your Mortgage Payment Mortgage Insurance (not necessary when you have 20% or more as a down payment) Homeowners...
by Irene Moustakas | Feb 23, 2009 | General Market News, Industry News
Part of Obama’s attempt to stabilize our housing market is the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. There are two initiatives that are included within this plan. One is for homeowners that have between an 80% and 105% Loan-to-Value ratio in their home...
by Irene Moustakas | Feb 16, 2009 | General Market News, Industry News
Many of you know that the high balance conforming loan limit decreased from $729,750 to $625,500 in January 2009. This has hurt many people whose loans fall into that bracket. But there is good news! The House and Senate passed the American Recovery and...
by Irene Moustakas | Feb 11, 2009 | 1st Time Homebuyers, Tips
Many home buyers take a look at their proposed total homeowner payment responsibilities (mortgage, property taxes, insurance and Mortgage Insurance, if applicable), and think, “There’s no way I can make that payment; I barely have enough take-home pay from...
by Irene Moustakas | Feb 6, 2009 | 1st Time Homebuyers, Miscellaneous
I’ve added a new page! “Mortgage Terminology” can be found in the sidebar underneath “About / References.” I’ll add terms periodically and as they come up. If there’s anything missing that you’d like me to define,...
by Irene Moustakas | Feb 4, 2009 | 1st Time Homebuyers, Industry News, Loan Programs and Products, Tips
I received a lot of additional questions to my January 26th post regarding the 5% down payment option, so I would like to go over down payment requirements for other property types and loan amounts. The following is limited to conventional loans. Down payment...
by Irene Moustakas | Jan 30, 2009 | Loan Programs and Products, Tips
I’ve received many calls recently from referrals and new clients asking about refinancing out of their ARM and into a Fixed Rate Mortgage. Depending on the value of their house, their credit score and qualifying, sometimes I can help them, sometimes I can’t. But...
by Irene Moustakas | Jan 26, 2009 | 1st Time Homebuyers, Industry News, Loan Programs and Products, Tips
UPDATED JANUARY 13, 2010: Please refer to my most recent post regarding minimum down payment requirements. They are based on loan amount range as well as property type....
by Irene Moustakas | Jan 20, 2009 | Loan Programs and Products
California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) is and has been an excellent option for first-time homebuyer financing. Unfortunately, it has been temporarily suspended. CalHFA provides its loans through state-issued bonds, but because of our state budget crisis, there are...
by Irene Moustakas | Jan 14, 2009 | General Market News, Industry News
I wrote a blog post on this subject in September. To get a better understanding of its foundation, see my previous post: http://loansbyireneblog.com/2008/09/02/for-better-or-for-worse-new-appraisal-process-come-january-2009/ Essentially, the Home Valuation Code of...