USDA Guarantee Fee Update 8/23/2010

The Single Family Housing Origination Department of the USDA Home Loan Program announced yesterday that they should have their computer systems up and running to accommodate the changes required by Congress in their fees. Since the end of May, USDA has been issuing “Conditional” approvals… and because of that, Wells Fargo, Bank of America (and [...]

DRATS! FHA is Getting More Expensive!

As we reported in April, Washington is trying to offset the costs of FHA foreclosures… and so it appears that FHA mortgage Loans are going to get more expensive. Many folks don’t realize that FHA doesn’t really MAKE loans… they just INSURE them. Last week, the House of Representatives gave the FHA power to raise [...]

Better Move Fast Premiums Going Up

April 3rd is the last day to get the cheaper mortgage insurance premiums /financing rates for FHA loans. As of April 4th, MIP, or FHA’s version of  PMI/ mortgage insurance, rises from 1.75% to 2.25%, for any application submitted for loan approval. Buyers have 75 days after application to go to settlement to have the [...]

FHA PMI update

This is an update to an earlier post reagarding FHA’s version of Mortgage Insurance (which is sometimes referred to as PMI). As we mentioned, FHA mortgages have a one-time mortgage insurance premium, known as upfront mortgage insurance. The cost of this insurance has bounced around alot this year – and is NOW 2.25% of the [...]

What is FHA PMI??

THERE IS AN UPDATE TO THIS INFORMATION – Please click here for CURRENT MIP information… We are leaving it here, in case someone received MIP before 1/1/2010, and wants to check on that or the refund… If you are a potential new homebuyer, you are wading into a brand new world – with it’s own [...]

Mortgage Insurance vs Default Insurance

Mortgage Insurance and Default Insurance are virtually the same thing. They are called by different acronyms, dependant upon the mortgage loan program you are using to finance your home. It was put into place in the early 1970s to protect lenders against giganitc losses created by large numbers of foreclosure (like the economic conditions we find ourselves in today!) Mark Flanders, of Spokane wrote a great article on potential ways to AVOID paying PMI – although these options are quickly going away.