Conventional VS FHA

We are seeing a few signs of the loosing of loan criteria. The main one is from the PMI companies. You may not know but several of them went out of business during the credit crunch we have experienced. The ones that are left have just been making things difficult. Now one of them has emerged and decided to go after business. They are cutting rates and making the guidelines a little better. That should start forcing their peers to adjust also. Let’s hope so. In the meantime we are using one time upfront mortgage insurance a lot. If someone has good credit scores and 5% for a down payment it is a better option than FHA.



If you want to check it out more, or would like to talk about what we can do for you..email me at george.margrave@migonline.com for more info or give me a call at 777-4663.

Pimco Housing Bear Kiesel Says It's Time to Start Buying

By John Gittelsohn-May 4, 2012

Mark Kiesel, the Pacific Investment Management Co. managing director who sold his home in 2006 when he deemed the market a bubble, says it's time to buy.


"I was one of the most negative on housing," Kiesel said in a telephone interview. "I finally came to the conclusion housing is looking pretty decent."


Kiesel said he bought a house in Newport Beach, California, where Pimco is based. Today he published a credit market note titled, "Back In" on the firm's website in which he writes, "I'm not sure U.S. housing prices have bottomed--only time will tell--but there are many more positives today than there were six years ago when I sold my house."


Home prices that have fallen 35 percent from their mid-2006 peak and mortgage rates of less than 4 percent are helping make it a good time to buy, said Kiesel, who is global head of the corporate bond portfolio management group at Pimco. Other signs the housing market is turning around include forclosure filings dropping to levels last seen in 2007 and sales of new and existing homes that have begun to increase as rising rents boost the relative affordability of purchasing, he said.


"For those of you renting or on the sidelines, I recommend you at least consider getting 'back in' and buying a house," he wrote in the note. "The future is hard to predict, but U.S. housing is healing and is probably close to a bottom."


http://www.bloomberg.com/


If you want to check it out more, or would like to talk about what we can do for you..email me at george.margrave@migonline.com for more info or give me a call at 777-4663.

Is It Hard to Get a Mortgage?

I know that you have all heard that it is tough to get a mortgage approved. Well it is, but mostly it is common sense regulations that are designed to create good mortgages for good borrowers and home owners. The kicker is that so many of my so called peers at my competitors don’t know what they are doing. They are driving their clients insane. They don’t answer their questions and if the news is not good they don’t deliver the message, much less solve the problem.


I and my team pride ourselves in recognizing and solving issues. We don’t bat 100%, but we do well if I do say so. Every month we wind up saving someone’s purchase or refinance when some other lender just didn’t know what to do. My 27 years is good for something. :)

Email me at george.margrave@migonline.com or call me at 615-777-4663 for more info or to chat about it.

Your Dream House is Calling....

The house of your dreams is out there. You just have to find it. This coming weekend the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors will host the largest number of open houses that Middle Tennessee has ever seen. House inventory is high and mortgage rate are at record lows making this the PERFECT time to buy. You could be settled into your new home just in time to host the next big cookout.




Visit Tennessean.com/openhouses for more info or give me a call at 615-777-4663.

Whew! Tax Day Was Yesterday!

Since tax day has passed, I feel compelled to advise those of you who are getting a tax refund and do not own a home a piece of free advice. That refund (on average $3000) can help you get into a new home of your own. The payment will likely be less than your present rent if you get a home of comparable size. You may not even have to use your refund, but even so you will probably need new drapes a new grill and will have moving expense. You may not have to use it because in spite of what you have heard on the media, you might get into a home for little to no cash. I am reading everywhere that the housing recovery is here. That will most certainly drive interest rates up.


Here is a surprising statistic. The P and I on $150,000 at 3.75% (today’s FHA rate) is $696. If rates go up 1% which is a good probability that same payment will only finance $133,300.

So it doesn’t pay to wait to see if prices might drop some.

These payments are Principal and Interest only, not the total payment. Call me at 777-4663 for details or email me at george.margrave@migonline.com . 

QUESTION: Property taxes too high?

ANSWER: We may be at the height of income tax season, but hoping you'll be getting a refund isn't the only thing you should be thinking about this time of year...especially if you're a homeowner. That's because the National Taxpayers Union (a nonprofit citizen group) estimates that between 30 and 60 percent of properties are assessed for too high of a value, resulting in an incorrectly larger property tax bill.


Taking the time to review your property tax bill could save you a nice chunk of change. And the good news is that submitting an appeal can be a fairly simple process, but make sure to take the time to fill out all forms in advance and be prepared with your documentation if there is an in-person hearing that needs to take place. To help you out, the National Taxpayers Union offers a checklist that walks you through some important steps in the process.

~~Mortgage Market Guide

If you have any questions that I can help with at this time, please call or email today. It will only take a few moments to discuss what's going in the markets and how it impacts your unique goals and situation.

You can reach me at 615-777-4663 or via email at George.Margrave@migonline.com .

T-Minus 5 Days to FHA MIP Increase....

It is T minus 5 days (in reality 2 days) to get an FHA case number for refinances and purchases.  I know I have been over and over this.  Next week it won’t be an issue any more. It will just be what it is.  But for now I don’t want anyone to pay more than they have to.   If you don’t know what MIP is, here is a short explanation.  There is more risk to a lender when the down payment is less than 20%.  So to make up for that risk the MIP is charged and supposedly put in a pool to pay for losses.

Call me, 615-777-4663, check out my website http://www.mignashville.com/ or email me at george.margrave@mignonline.com let's get you taken care of!