What Is A FHA Streamline Refinance

Transparency in Lending – The Art of Lock Renegotiation

Why Mortgage Rates Are Back To All-Time Lows
Home affordability improved this week after the Federal Reserve released its November 3-4, 2009 meeting minutes. The FOMC Minutes is a companion to the Federal Reserve’s post-meeting press release. It’s released 3 weeks after the Fed adjourns and details the internal debates that shape our nation’s monetary policy. As compared to the press release, the minutes can

Mortgage Rates This Week : November 23, 2009
Mortgage markets worsened last week on a mixed bag of economic data.  Inflation data came in soft, but so did the start of the holiday shopping season. For the first time in a month, mortgage rates worsened last week, adding roughly 0.125 percent on conforming fixed-rate products, and a little bit more on ARMs. Despite rates worsening, there was still some good news for home buyers and would-be refinancers. Mortgage rate volatility was markedly lower

Mortgage Rates This Week : November 16, 2009
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 on the week. ARMs did about the same. There wasn’t much data to move mortgage rates last week; investors worked mostly on momentum and trends. However, the Friday University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey release garnered some attention. After worsening in August and September,

Underwriting Hurdles Increase Banks Raise Mortgage Qualification Standards
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 the country whether “prime” residential mortgage guidelines had tightened in the last 3 months. For the pe

FHA Streamline Refinance Program Updates
Consider this a last call for FHA Streamline Refinances.  Starting next Tuesday, the popular rate-lowering program gets strict on borrowers. There’s 5 days left. Under the current streamline refi guidelines, FHA homeowners have minimal program eligibility requirements. FICO scores must be 620 or higher The refinance must provide a “tangible benefit” No mortgage lates allowed in the last 12 months Beyond that, everything else goes, practically.  There’s no income, asset, or job verification with the current FHA Streamline program. Neither is there an appraisal requirement.  It doesn’t matter i