Why is it that a home loan applicant is politely shown the door by a branch of a national bank yet is approved for the same amount of money by another lender? The answer is that lending institutions are not all created in the same image.
Home buyers and owners have the challenge of acquiring and managing what will likely be the most expensive asset they will ever own. An intelligent approach to this involves careful monitoring of cash flow and an accurate assessment of home value.
If you are a veteran of the United States Armed Forces, an active duty servicemember or an eligible surviving spouse of a veteran, you may be eligible for a Veteran Affairs (VA) home loan.
Although the real estate market was not immune from the effects of business shutdowns and curtailments in 2020, neither was it hobbled: unprecedented low mortgage rates; strong millennial demand; and the flight from city to suburbs hastened buying and selling in America.
On February 16, 2021, President Biden announced the mortgage forbearance program would be extended through the end of June. This announcement has taken immediate pressure off millions of American homeowners that have been adversely impacted by the pandemic.
Although it has its own set of problems -- and has not become widespread as quickly as advocates had hoped -- cryptocurrency, exemplified by Bitcoin and others, is nevertheless making inroads into world and U.S. commerce. It is even closing in on mortgage finance and property conveyance.
As the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to close and employees to take refuge at home last March, the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System took unprecedented action, lowering the benchmark interest rate to functionally zero percent.
Realtors estimate there are currently over 10,000 tiny homes here in the good old U.S.A. This housing trend seems to show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
Private mortgage insurance, or PMI, is in essence just like other forms of surety. The insurance company agrees to cover the risk to the lender if the borrower stops making monthly payments.