Forbearance – you should only do it if you absolutely have to. Some people are taking a forbearance on their mortgage as a way to take a break on their mortgage payment when they really do not need to.
Forbearance does not mean you can skip mortgage payments and never pay them back. You have to repay any missed or reduced payments in the future. So, if you’re able to keep up with your payments, keep making them.
Taking a forbearance will also impede your ability to refinance. Having a forbearance on your credit report means you cannot get a new mortgage. You have to bring the loan current to do so. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Forbearance, mortgage forbearance
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When you buy a new home, you need a mortgage to purchase it. And before you get a mortgage, you need to determine how much mortgage you qualify for. Different sources may qualify you for different mortgage amounts. And how much you qualify for does not necessarily equate to how much you can afford.
How much you can afford is based on your personal budget. When a mortgage lender tells you how much you can qualify for, that is the highest mortgage amount they’ll approve you for. But this may not be the mortgage size you end up closing on. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: affordable, mortgage, preapproval, prequalification
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People spend a lot of time looking for the perfect home. There are the countless hours spent poring over real estate listings, the weekend trips to open houses, and the days of driving with your realtor from showing to showing. However, choosing a mortgage lender or broker is often treated as an afterthought—many buyers simply go with their own bank or a broker/lender recommended by their realtor without researching competitive rates and looking for lenders who will also educate them.
This is a critical mistake. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: choosing a lender, mortgage broker, mortgage lender, mortgage loan officer
Posted in Home Buying Process, interest rates, Loan Process, Loan Types, mortgage, Refinance | No Comments »
Prior to 2020, veterans could borrow more than the Veteran’s Administration (VA) Loan Limits capped amount, but had to have a down payment of 25% of the difference between the maximum loan limit and the sales price. As of January 1, 2020, the VA has started to allow $0 down loans that exceed the county loan limits.
So now, if a veteran wants to buy a home for $1,000,000 with no money down, they can. $2,000,000? Sure thing. $3,000,000? No problem! However, there are rules and guidelines that come with this new change. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: VA down payment, VA mortgage, VA mortgages
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I often get asked to get a potential buyer pre-approved to buy a new home, without the mortgage being contingent on the sale of the current home that they own. While this is possible, it is difficult.
GETTING THE CASH FOR THE DOWN PAYMENT ON YOUR NEXT HOUSE
First, you have to have the cash for the down payment and closing costs for the new home without the benefit of the sale of the current home. Then you would have to be able to qualify to carry the debt of both mortgages at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: contingent offer, home buying, home selling, non contingent offer
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I have clients who are buying a rental property or who are buying a primary residence and already own rental property and think they need to provide a copy of a current lease for the rental property as part of the loan application. But, that is not always the case.
The borrower may be able to document rental income by providing tax returns, rather than leases. In either a purchase or refinance the borrower should have a history of renting property. If the request is for a refinance, the borrower needs to have owned the property long enough to qualify for this option, typically a 2 year history is needed.
If the request is for a loan to purchase a new rental property, then having existing rental property with a 2 year track record income may allow them to use the tax return option.
If the borrower does not have a history of renting the subject property or if the borrower’s tax returns do not reflect the accurate income or expenses, then a mortgage lender may require one of two things: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: mortgage, rental income, underwriting
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Jumbo mortgage loans are usually confusing to the average mortgage consumer. No one seems to know what defines a Jumbo mortgage loan, and no one realizes that there can be different underwriting guidelines for Jumbo mortgage loans than for non-Jumbo (also called Conforming) mortgage loans.
Jumbo loan amounts may vary county by county.
It is first important to know that there can be three different loan amount categories. There are:
- Conforming loans, which in 2019 go up to $484,350
- Conforming “High Balance” loans, which can go from $484,351, to as high as $726,525 if you are in a high cost area.
- Jumbo loans (also called Non-Conforming loans) are loans higher than the county Conforming loan limit.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Jumbo, Jumbo loans, Jumbo mortgage, Jumbo mortgage guidelines
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Here at Capital Bank Home Loans we have a new dynamic loan application that we use. Being dynamic means that it can potentially verify your assets and income during the application process, allowing you to avoid having to upload any documents. And of course we all love to avoid paperwork!
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Tags: mortgage application, pre-approval
Posted in Loan Process, mortgage, Refinance, Sales, Underwriting Rules | No Comments »
When is an approval really an approval? When is an approval only a conditional approval? Below are the different levels of “loan approval” you can get for a mortgage:
1. Pre-Qualification:
This is done before you make an offer on a home. This is only a loan officer analysis, and supporting financial documents are not required. This is a review of the applicant’s income and debts using standard methods of determining housing and debt ratios to indicate the maximum loan amount for which an applicant would qualify, subject to the satisfactory appraisal, further verifications of income, employment and credit history. This is the lowest form of analysis you can have done.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: approval process, mortgage approval, pre-approval, pre-qualification
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Conditional Approval Mortgage
So you’re applying for a mortgage, you think you have everything lined up right, you get pre-approved. Great! And then you get… conditional loan approval? What is that? What are the conditions? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: conditional approval, credit report, loan approval, loan process
Posted in Home Buying Process, Loan Process, mortgage | No Comments »
