Category: Mortgage Programs

Real Talk Ep 15 with David Battany: Unlocking Homeownership

Posted on by Evan in First-Time Homebuyer, Fixed Rate, General Mortgage Info., Housing & Real Estate, Mortgage Programs

Welcome to another episode of the Real Talk video podcast series! In this episode, we are thrilled to interview mortgage industry veteran and capital markets expert, David Battany. With over 30 years of experience as a leader in the field, David shares his invaluable insights on the significance of homeownership in our society.  Join us as David demystifies the true determinants of mortgage rates and provides expert advice on when consumers should consider locking in a rate.

His profound understanding and passion for the industry make this episode a must-watch for anyone interested in the mortgage market. Don’t miss out on this engaging and informative conversation with one of the brightest minds in the field. We’re honored to have David on the show!

Pfau Makes Case for Emergence of Reverse Mortgage

Posted on by Evan in Reverse Mortgages, Swanson Home Loans Blog - Mortgage Rate Updates and More

The prevailing reputation for reverse mortgages in our society is not healthy.  Stories of elderly abuse, high fees, and financial deceit are wrapped into the memories of many of our nations aging population.  However, over the past few years the Department of Housing and Urban Development has significantly overhauled the program by instituting measures that prevent financial abuse and reduces the fee structure on these loans.

Over the past couple years I have studied the reverse mortgage programs and given my financial planning background have recognized that the reverse mortgage could help solve many of forecasted problems with underfunded retirement plans by eliminating a mortgage payment for many Americans in retirement (studies show that today’s baby boomers are entering retirement with more debt and less retirement savings than any other age cohort in our history).

Wade Pfau, a personal financial planning expert who often contributes to the Journal of Financial Planning, wrote a piece back on November 30th for the Wall Street Journal making the case for how the reverse mortgage can help household bridge the financial gaps in retirement.  SEE HERE to read the entire piece.

If you have any interest in retirement planning then its worth a read.

Great article on end of life planning for reverse mortgages

Posted on by Evan in Reverse Mortgages, Swanson Home Loans Blog - Mortgage Rate Updates and More

Kiplinger Magazine posted a great piece last month entitled, “What Heirs Need to Know About Reverse Mortgages“.

HEIRS TO AN ESTATE WITH A REVERSE MORTGAGE SHOULD BE FAMILIAR WITH END OF LIFE DETAILS.
HEIRS TO AN ESTATE WITH A REVERSE MORTGAGE SHOULD BE FAMILIAR WITH END OF LIFE DETAILS.

Here are a few of the key points that I think consumers considering a reverse mortgage should take into account:

  • “At the death of the last borrower, though, adult children and other nonspouse heirs must pay off the loan. They can keep the property, sell the property or turn the keys over to the lender.“
  • “The good news for heirs is that reverse mortgages are “nonrecourse” loans. That means if the loan amount exceeds the home’s value, the lender cannot go after the rest of the estate or the heirs’ other assets for payment.“
  • “When the last owner dies, the estate’s executor should contact the lender.  Loan proceeds disbursed as monthly payments will stop. If the borrower took a line of credit, that line will be closed.“

If any equity exists in the home and the heirs elect to sell, the estate will receive the equity after the loan and other settlement fees are satisfied.

Will subprime mortgages make a return?

Posted on by Evan in Mortgage Programs

You can file THIS ARTICLE in your ‘proof that humans have short-term memories’ file.  Alyse Rzemek of themreport.com is reporting that there are a few companies out there raising capital with the hopes of making loans to applicants who don’t qualify for conventional mortgages.  Fortunately one company is going to at least require a minimum of 15% down.  We’ll have to see what develops.  I thought that at some point in the future lenders would create a product to serve the “non-prime” community but I didn’t have any inclination that it would be this soon.

Fannie Mae HomePath Summary

Posted on by Evan in Mortgage Programs, Swanson Home Loans Blog - Mortgage Rate Updates and More

If you’re curious to learn about Fannie Mae’s special Homepath loan product I have put together a quick summary of the program.  If you haven’t heard of the HomePath mortgage product it is a program put together by Fannie Mae to help unload some of the homes they have taken possession of through foreclosure.  It has a few nice features to make it easier for homebuyers to buy the homes.  Here are the pro’s and con’s of the program as I see them:

Pro’s

  • Allows for a minimum of 3% down payment (although the closing costs are much higher compared to a 5% down payment)
  • Allows the seller to pay all of the buyer’s closing costs
  • No mortgage insurance even with less than 20% down payment (however, the interest rates are higher)
  • No appraisal needed as a part of the underwriting process

Con’s

  • The property must qualify as a HomePath eligible home. Only Fannie Mae foreclosed homes are included in this list so the supply of homes are limited. You can search homes HERE.
  • Rates are about .50%-.75% higher than standard conventional mortgages

Other

  • HomePath also offers a renovation loan similar to the FHA 203K product (you can read more about FHA 203K HERE).

Depending on the buyer’s financial qualifications a standard conventional mortgage can often be a better option.  If you’d like to evaluate your options please contact me today!

Alt’s to reverse mortgages

Posted on by Evan in Reverse Mortgages

I got an email over the weekend from Terry Donahe, CFP(R), a financial planner in Lake Oswego and instructor at the University of Portland Pamplin School of Business.  He has put together THIS ARTICLE discussing alternatives to reverse mortgages.  It is a valuable read if you have thought about such a program.

Expansion of Jumbo loans may be on the horizon

Posted on by Evan in Jumbo

The WSJ published this article on Monday in which they report that investors’ appetite for risk is growing.  This is evident in the fact that many Wall Street firms are re-introducing complicated debt instruments to the marketplace.  Although this may sound like a risky proposition it may be a good sign for those stuck with mortgages greater than $417,000 who are unable to refinance.  This is because over the course of the past couple years jumbo financing (loans > $417,000) has been extremely limited as investors were not willing to buy mortgage-backed bonds that were not secured by the government (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae).   As a result, lenders offering jumbo loans were usually banks and savings & loans institutions who kept the loans on their own books. Due to their risk exposure underwriting has been restrictive and interest rates for these loans have been substantially higher.

Now that Wall Street is beginning to see expansion in risk taking again this may result in lenders packaging up jumbo mortgages and selling them to investors.  If this happens I expect some more competition in the jumbo space which means the terms on these loans should improve and the underwriting requirements should ease from the current conservative levels.

Elimination of interest-only fixed rate loans

Posted on by Evan in Credit Crisis, Fixed Rate

In another sign of the times Wells Fargo announced today that they were eliminating their 30 year fixed mortgage with interest-only payments for the first 10 years.

Because Wells Fargo is a bellwether in our industry other lenders are expected to follow suit.

Shared equity loans don’t seem like a good deal to me

Posted on by Evan in 2nd Mortgages, Debt, General Mortgage Info., Mortgage Programs, Personal Finance

Kenneth Harney wrote this article on the Washington Post regarding shared equity loans (I’m not even clear if this is the correct name for this).

From the sounds of it the loan would work kind of like a reverse mortgage where the lender would make a loan collateralized by equity in a home.  But instead of collecting interest in the form of monthly payments or through negative amortization (interest accrued that is added to the loan amount) the lender would instead take a cut of the equity in the home when it is sold in the future.

I’m pretty skeptical of this one.  On the surface it sounds like another way for lenders to appeal to undisciplined consumers who like the idea of not having monthly payments much like the negative amortization loans did during 2004-2007.

There are legitimate applications for this type of loan but I would advise that consumers consult with a financial professional they can trust before signing the dotted line.

Additional links-

–WSJ.com article on “shared-appreciation” loans

Reverse Mortgages and the 2008 Housing Bill

Posted on by Evan in General Mortgage Info., Mortgage Programs, Refinancing, Reverse Mortgages

As I’ve written about multiple times in this blog the 700-page 2008 housing bill has many differnet provisions embedded in the law.  Although I don’t do a lot of reverse mortgage business I wanted to at least provide a link to an article which summarizes how these loan products were impacted by the 2008 housing bill. 

Here is a link.