A VA loan is a mortgage loan guaranteed by the Veterans Administration. There are numerous mortgage guidelines for a VA mortgage. I wanted to list some of the more important ones below, but you always need to speak to an experienced mortgage loan officer and have them discuss your specific circumstances as there are many other things to consider in addition to the below. Read the rest of this entry »
Often a client will start a mortgage loan conversation with, “I need to get the best rates.” And that often confuses me. What does the “best rates” mean? Does that mean you won’t work with a lender who doesn’t have the very lowest interest rate on the day you are ready to lock-in an interest rate? Does it mean you won’t give any consideration to experience, execution, responsiveness and delivery?
Would most people work with a mortgage lender willing to lose money? Read the rest of this entry »
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:
The 10 Year Treasury Bond was at 2.08% as of last Friday*. This is the lowest it has been in a long time.
QUESTION: But what does this mean for mortgage rates?
ANSWER: In general, mortgage rates are flat recently, but down over the last few months.
QUESTION: Do mortgage rates rise and fall in lockstep with the 10 Year Treasury Bond?
ANSWER: No.
QUESTION: What variables affect mortgage rate quotes.
ANSWER: Loan size, loan type, property type, credit score, down payment, debt ratios, and more.
Where are the 10 Year Treasury Bond, and more importantly mortgage rates, headed next? Check back here to see!
*The source for the 10 Year Treasury Bond quote comes from here: https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/bond/tmubmusd10y?countrycode=bx
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!
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.
The 10 Year Treasury Bond is at 2.73% so far today. This is slightly higher than the last time I posted 10 Year Treasury Bond data in early January.
On 01-03-2019 the 10 Year Treasury Bond was 2.55%.
The direction of the 10 Year Treasury Bond is a good gauge on Read the rest of this entry »
I am going to post numbers on the 10 Year Treasury Bond on a regular basis. The 10 Year Treasury Bond is not a direct correlation to mortgage rates, but it is a good number to know.
As of 01-03-2019 the 10 Year Treasury Bond was 2.55%.
Below are some interesting numbers*:
In 2018 the average yield of the 10 Year Treasury Bond was 2.91%.
In 2017 the average yield of the 10 Year Treasury Bond was 2.33%. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
When you’re buying a home or thinking of buying one, you’ll need to factor in many costs other than the home loan. If you’re not making a 20 percent down payment, and most people don’t, private mortgage insurance, or PMI, is at the top of the list of costs to consider. Read the rest of this entry »
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