Can You Refinance To The Lowest Mortgage Rate?

January 1, 2012 by 7 Comments

refinance to low mortgage ratesMortgage Interest Rates are at ALL TIME lows, and many of the people calling us want to know if it’s even possible to Refinance these days!

The answer is maybe.  If you are looking for a “rate term” meaning no cash out – and you haven’t missed any mortgage payments in the last 12 months and you think you have at least a 600 credit score - call me.  We can possibly figure this out.  There are some cool guideline changes coming out between now and the beginning of March 2012 that don’t have any “Loan To Value” requirements for refinances!

If you are getting a divorce – and you have never worked, and you need to use the alimony your spouse is SUPPOSE to start paying you in September to qualify for a home… well, call me… because we need to talk about how this is going to work and what documentation we are going to need.

Every situation is different… don’t GIVE UP before you ASK US what we can do.  Just be realistic, and know that in most cases, cash out – unless you have really good credit scores, documentation and equity in your home, is a difficult loan to close right now.  That doesn’t mean we are not doing them – it just means you might as well load up the suitcase with documentation, cause we’re gonna to need it! [Read more...]

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Qualifying For A FHA Streamline Refinance

December 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

FHA Streamline refinanceFHA changed it’s guidelines so that VERY little is required to qualify, however, in North Carolina, we have our own State mandated standards, so again – many of the NC Banks can not offer this program the way FHA intended for it to work – WE DO!

FHA says that to qualify:

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Refinance Options For FHA Mortgages

December 12, 2011 by 1 Comment

fha refinanceIf you currently have an FHA Mortgage, we might want to peak and see if you’re eligible for an FHA Streamline Refinance.  This is a great program, that differs GREATLY from other mortgage programs!  Under the updated FHA guidelines, you can refinance to lower payments with No Income Verification, No Appraisal… it’s pretty simple!

The FHA Streamline Refinance program is only available to folks who currently have an FHA home loan mortgage.  Even if you are not currently occupying the property, we MIGHT be able to do a Streamline refinance!  This is not a program designed for those who want to take equity out of their home, only for those who currently have an FHA mortgage on their home, and want a lower mortgage rate!  It’s one of the easiest, fastest ways to get your payments down!

One of the biggest differences between the FHA Streamline Refinance, and a VA Streamline Refinance (or a USDA Refinance for that matter) is that the program does not require an updated home appraisal. [Read more...]

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Mortgage Interest Rates are HIGHER!

December 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Mortgage Interest Rates have gotten higher, not lower as the Fed said it was hoping would happen with this latest round of activity.

So, when you look at the Mortgage Banker’s of America’s (MBA) refinance index (looks at refinance activity on a month over month basis) and the the 30 year fixed rate mortgage interest rate that’s printed each week from the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey®… the following release of information from the MBA is not surprising.

The Refinance Index decreased 1.4 percent from the previous week. This is the fourth weekly decrease for the Refinance Index which reached its lowest level since June 2010.

December mortgage rates are currently hovering for a 30 year fixed mortgage at above 4.75% APR. Although mortgage rates haven’t risen very far – and are still below 5% – it takes lower and lower rates to get people to refi (at least lower than recent purchase rates).

With 30 year mortgage rates now about 0.75% above the lows in October, this is the end of the recent surge in refinance activity – unless rates drop sharply again.  It also seems unlikey to “excite” any buyers out there looking for a bargain.

The Fed Stated Policy is for mortgage Interest rates to be LOW with the QEII policy… we’re waiting… and waiting… for that to happen.  When and IF rates head lower – I’m hoping buyers realize this could be the last opportunity they get!

If you have questions about mortgage interest rates, and qualifying for a mortgage in NC, please call Steve and Eleanor Thorne, NC Mortgage Loan Experts 919-649-5058.  We have the best mortgage rates available.

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Mortgage Update 10-05-2010 (L-O-W)

October 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

As you might know, I work with my husband, Steve.  Occasionally, I sit in his office waiting to talk to him – while he’s on the phone with a customer.  Today, I listened as he explained where mortgage interest rates are, and what the best interest rate was for the customer on the other end.

Have you ever bought tires?  Well, you know how when you are looking for tires there’s all these ads that say that tires are $25 each?  When you get in the tire shop, and the guy starts adding for valve stems, alignment, balancing… rebuilding tire pressure sensors and pretty soon the tires for YOUR car are $45 a piece.

Well, that’s kinda’ how I look at mortgage rates today. In general, rates are around 4.25%. You can get lower with a little more cost – or you can get a little higher rate with fewer costs.”

I thought that was pretty clever! It made me wonder though, how low COULD I really get a mortgage loan? Let’s say the seller is willing to pay closing costs, and I can pay a 1% origination fee and .25% in a discount fee.  If that was the case – what could I do??

On a conventional loan you could get a 30 year fixed rate today at 3.875% (with great credit and a 20% equity gap an APR of 4.064 refinance or purchase)

A 15 year mortgage interest rate is even lower!

On a Government loan (FHA or VA) you could get a 4.0% mortgage loan (4.562 APR) 30 year fixed rate!

If you get that 3.875% rate – does that mean you are getting the lowest possible rate? Someone said, getting the best mortgage rate takes research and LUCK.  I believe that’s true.  Mortgage interest rates don’t just change daily – they change by the HOUR, sometimes 2 or 3 times within 30 minutes!  You could research rates right now, and call back in the morning – and find a difference of an 1/8th or more!

The real purpose in researching all of this is (especially if you are shopping for a refinance) finding a loan officer that has YOUR best interest at heart.  You want to work with someone who is going to ask you important questions, like:

  • How long do you expect to live in your home?
  • Do you have a second mortgage or an equity line on the home?
  • What are the financial changes your family is going to experience in the next 3 – 5 years? (do you have children going to college, someone getting married, expect to have new children in your family/)
  • What is your debt and spending situation?  Have you been saving for retirement?

Besides the best mortgage interest rate, you are looking for a realistic idea of what it will cost to refinance your mortgage loan. If one person quotes you title insurance of $300 and another quotes title insurance of $378… well ask the $378 guy why his is higher.  Chances are, he’s given you an EXACT number, and the $300 guy gave you a “guestimate” on the cost to refinance your mortgage loan.  If one person quoted you $700 for hazard insurance and you know yours is $633 a year, tell them!

The insurance, title, recording, attorney, taxes appraisal, credit fees are generally NOT fees a loan officer has ANY control over.

The bottom line here is this… work with the loan officer that has your best interest in mind. If one person charges you $700 in fees and saves you $115 a month in your mortgage payment when you are refinancing your mortgage loan, I’d be happy!

BUT… if the loan officer asks the RIGHT QUESTIONS, and saves you $280,000 with a refinance on your mortgage loan by giving you a shorter term, or pays off consumer debt… THAT’s something to stand up and dance for, do a Whoot! Whoot! and tell your friends about!

If you are considering a REFINANCE, or the purchase of a home - call Steve and Eleanor Thorne, 919-649-5058 we have the best mortgage interest rates and the lowest fees available! If rates were at ZERO, would that make you want to buy?

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FHA Adding Capital Fast Enough?

September 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment

David Stevens, the head of FHA answered questions last week about weather or not his agency would need a “Bailout” from taxpayers. FHA doesn”t make loans, but they insure them, and with so many people without jobs, and properties being foreclosed on… that insurance fund has been tapped into pretty hard.

That’s one of the reasons FHA requested a change in the way MIP is charged.  Those latest, changes go into effect next week.

“If the fund has not gone negative and continues to remain positive it will be thanks to the quick actions of this committee and Congress giving us more authority and actions of this administration,” Commissioner David Stevens said in response to a question at a hearing of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

He went on to tell the Committee:

The FHA is “running on its own. It is financially sound. It is below the minimum capital requirement, so we need to increase that capital but it is not (now) requiring a bailout. We will know more when the actuarial study is complete,” later this fall.

If you are considering a FHA Mortgage Loan in NC, call Steve and Eleanor Thorne, NC FHA Experts 919-649-5058  These changes could definitely make a little less attractive for some folks considering a FHA Streamline Refinance

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Is It Time To Refinance?

September 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Many of the people we are talking with WANT to refinance – but they figure it’s probably not worth it. Generally those sentiments run from two different camps, either the homeowner is concerned that they have no equity in the home to refinance (and don’t want to pay closing costs out of pocket), or they just figure they have a pretty good rate now, and don’t see a big difference from 5.75 to “whatever the mortgage rates are down to now.”

So let’s talk about what you SHOULD consider with a refinance…

The most fundamental consideration in whether a homeowner should refinance an existing mortgage is the break-even point, which means how soon the cost of the refinance will be recaptured through lower monthly payments. In general, most homeowners are looking for a three year recapture period.  If you are not going to recouperate in that time period… it might not make sense. [Read more...]

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Does Obama Know Something We Don’t About the Economy?

September 3, 2010 by 1 Comment

I read a TON of Economic Newsletters, watch CNBC, and Congressional hearings… I’m an economic junkie who misses Louis Rukeyser!  I’m always looking to see if I can figure out which way rates are headed.

So when the President came on the news this week to announce that the war in Iraq was over, and the pundits started asking why it was only a 15 minute address – I was kinda’ let down, because I had also been expecting that he would take this chance to give folks a “Positive Message” when it comes to the markets.

Without that Presidential Guidance, I’m back to the Economic Numbers for insight.  And here’s what they are telling me:

  • “… the public is no longer investing in stocks, but rather in bonds.  So far this year through July, bond mutual funds have attracted $224.4bn in net inflows including reinvested dividends.  ” — Ed Yardeni, September 1, 2010.” Which means a Consumer Spending spree is not going to get the Economy going.
  • “The Fed terminated the purchases of $1.25 trillion in GSE mortgages and mortgage-related paper in March.  Simultaneously, the housing-purchases credit subsidy ceased in April.  Housing went into relapse, as most economists expected.  Simply put, subsidize something and you get more of it; remove the subsidy and you find that you have borrowed economic activity from the future, and now you get less of it.” Cumberland Advisors  Which means ANOTHER Tax Credit is not going to get the Economy going.
  • Case Shiller Numbers indicate that the Housing PRICEs actually went UP during the 2nd quarter.  “While some may see these price gains from the trough as a sign of bouncing along the bottom, most experts believe home prices nationally will fall again, but not necessarily immediately.”  Which means the Housing Market is not going to get the Economy going.
  • Private sector employment decreased by 10,000 from July to August on a seasonally adjusted basis…  and today’s non-farm payroll job’s numbers showed 54,000 jobs lost in August (many of those from the Census Jobs that are gone).  So there’s not a surge of Employment to get the Economy going.

So was it just that the President didn’t have any positive news… or does he know something we don’t know? One of my favorite charts is the Four Bad Bears.

Permission from D Short

As you look at this chart – this “Bear” looks just like the other three. Maybe we ARE heading into a little dip – but it’s not really that’s alarming!  When you stop just looking at the headlines, and you look at the long term trend… things are not sky rocketing up, but they don’t look that bad! We are going to have a slowly improving picture!

Mortgage Interest Rates typically get LOWER when there’s BAD NEWS in the Economy… and they go UP when there’s good news. Believe it or not – the last three days we’ve had higher rates!  The Dow is Happy!

That’s not good news if you are waiting to Refinance!  NOW is probably the time to do it!

If you are considering a Refinance, call Steve and Eleanor Thorne, 919-649-5058  We have the best rates available, we offer FHA Streamline Refinances, Conventional financing, USDA Home Loans and VA Mortgage Loans!

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FHA Streamline Refinance When You Do Not Occupy Property

May 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

FHA allows you to Streamline Refinance when you do not occupy property.  This was actually news to me, because we always tell folks that FHA is ONLY for use as a Primary Residence!

So we have a borrower who owned a home in Ohio (financed via FHA), moved to NC – but could not sell the home in Ohio. They purchased a home in NC while renting the other one out.

The rate on their home in Ohio is 6.25% – which is a good rate… except that FHA rates have DROPPED so much right now, they wanted to see if they could get a little better position!

Turns out we can save them $275 a month, AND keep it a FHA Loan! Yeah!

Here’s the deal – must be a Streamline Refinance, meaning:

  • no appraisal
  • no increase in the base loan amount
  • must pay the closing costs out of pocket
  • the lender CAN par price the loan to pay some of the costs
  • can NOT remove a co-signor

This is seriously good news if you have what is now Investment Property that has a FHA loan on it!  If you want to see if we can help you lower your payments with a refinance, call Steve and Eleanor Thorne, Mortgage Banker in Cary 919-649-5058

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Refinancing FHA Loans and Cash Back

April 6, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Head ScratchingWe’ve been in the mortgage business for a couple of decades, and with all of the changes that have happened, month after month… we sometimes get asked a question that you would think was a SIMPLE question… and we scratch our head and ask for time to research it.

When you are refinancing a FHA loan, you can get a CASH OUT loan, meaning you take cash out to pay for Education, or to Consolidate loans – or you might opt for a Streamline FHA loan.  With the Streamline FHA loan – you are limited to a small amount of cash back at closing, usually less than $500.

You still have to pay your closing costs, although some of those costs can sometimes be rolled into the loan, paid out of the escrow refund you get from the original mortgage holder, or covered in part by the Mortgage Loan Officer (that would be us!).  Having a “No Cost” refinance mortgage loan, however, is VERY DIFFICULT to coordinate with today’s lending requirements!

If you are considering a Refinance in Raleigh or Cary – please call us Steve and Eleanor Thorne, Mortgage Banker in Cary , 919-649-5058.  We have the experience and the best mortgage rates!

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