WealthWithMortgage.com

15 Year Fixed vs. 30 Year Fixed-Which is Better?

November 20, 2009

Pay More Per Month but Save Money in the Long Run For today’s home buyers and homeowners that can manage the higher monthly payments, 15-year fixed rate mortgage rates look attractive as compared to comparable 30-year products. The 15-year/30-year interest rate spread is near its 5-year high. Despite lower rates, however, homeowners opting for a 15-year fixed […]

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Good News for Sellers, Housing Starts Are Down

November 19, 2009

Home Prices Are Up Already in Some Neighborhoods A “Housing Start” is a home on which construction has started and, for the 4th straight month, national single-family housing starts held steady last month. When the demand for homes grows faster than the number of homes for sale, prices increase. As recent home sales data confirms, buyers […]

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What Are the New Mortgage Loan Limits for 2010?

November 18, 2009

Loan Limits Haven’t Changed Since 2006 A conforming mortgage is one that, quite literally, conforms to the mortgage guidelines set forth by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Each year, the government sets the maximum allowable loan size for a conforming mortgage, based on “typical” housing costs nationwide. Loans in excess of this amount are typically called “jumbo”. […]

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How Will Des Moines React to the Extended Tax Credit & Move Up Credit?

November 17, 2009

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing? Do you ever wonder how our real estate market is here in Des Moines? Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time listening to how rough things are in other cities around the country, but too often we don’t really consider what our real estate climate is like. I’m […]

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What is an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) ?

November 17, 2009

Your Interest Rate & APR Are NOT the Same APR is an acronym for Annual Percentage Rate. It’s a government-mandated calculation meant to simplify the comparison of mortgage options. A loan’s APR can always be found in the top-left corner of the Federal Truth-In-Lending Disclosure. Because APR is expressed as a percentage, many people confuse it for […]

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Rates Have the Potential to Rise This Week

November 16, 2009

When Market Rates Rise, They Rise Quick At 8:30 AM ET today, the government will release October’s Retail Sales report. This one should be closely watched for its ability to change rates. A weak report should drag rates down, and a strong one should push rates up. Then, on Tuesday and Wednesday, look for PPI […]

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Refi Boom Continues As Markets Improve For 3rd Straight Week

November 16, 2009

Holiday Shopping: Will it Fuel or Stall the Economy? Mortgage markets improved last week as foreign buyers of mortgage debt helped to push mortgage rates to a 4-week low. It marked the 3rd consecutive week that rates improved, breathing extra life into this year’s ongoing Refi Boom. Fixed-rate, conforming mortgage rates fell about 0.125 percent […]

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Foreclosed Houses Are Getting Harder To Come By

November 13, 2009

National Foreclosure Activity is Dominated by a Small Set of States As reported by RealtyTrac.com, more than half of October’s foreclosure-related activity came from just 4 states: California Florida Illinois Michigan The remaining Top 10 states in terms of total foreclosure activity included Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, and Maryland. Foreclosures are up 19 percent […]

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Banks Raising the Bar on Mortgage Qualifications

November 12, 2009

Approvals Are Getting Harder to Come By Despite the economy’s improvement and prodding from Congress, banks don’t seem ready to open their purse strings just yet. Nationally, mortgage approval standards are tightening. The data comes from a quarterly survey the Federal Reserve sends to its member banks. The Fed asks senior bank loan officers around […]

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