07 Feb 11 VA Mortgages the Best Military Financing
Military borrowers continue to have an edge over the rest of U.S. consumers regarding VA home loans and refinancing. VA mortgage rates have fallen to epic lows with a once in a life time opportunity to get discounted interest rates on zero down loans. Whether military borrowers are looking for a 100% mortgage with no-down-payment or a 100% refinance that requires no equity or appraisal, they have a significant advantage that they have earned for their services in the armed forces. Take a minute and discuss your goals with a VA loan officer, because VA rates won’t stay this low forever.
VA Mortgage Lenders Offering Unique Alternative Financing With No FICO Requirements
- No FICO Requirement!!
- No Minimum Credit Score!!
- DU Approve/Eligible VA Underwriting
- Manual Underwrites possible with additional overlays
- Debt To Income Ratio Over 46% Allowed
- Declining Credit Profile is allowed on a case by case basis
- Isolated late payments in the last year OK with strong letter of explanation
- Gift Funds Allowed with VA Mortgages
19 Jul 10 Great Year for VA Loan Origination
Few mortgage insiders would argue that 2010 has been a worthy year for VA lending companies. Most VA lenders have posted positive results in VA loan origination in the first and second quarters of 2010 because current VA mortgage rates have declined to record lows. On Saturday Reuters reported that the thirty-year home loan rates remained at 4.57% for the week ended July 15, matching the prior’s week’s all-time low. This report released by Freddie Mac covers the interest rate for conventional, FHA and VA interst rates. A year ago, the VA interest rate averaged 5.14%. Read the original article online > VA Mortgage Lenders Selling Record Low VA Rates.
Tags: VA lenders
14 Jul 10 3rd Week of Record Low Mortgage Rates Drive Refinancing
For the third consecutive week mortgage interest rates fell to shatter records for the lowest rates in our era. Borrowers across the country seemed optimistic that conventional, FHA and VA home mortgage products were meeting their refinance needs. No one can say that the Federal Reserve, mortgage lenders and the government haven’t made a concerted effort in 2010 to aid the housing recovery nationwide.
Affordable Home Refinancing with Record Low Interest Rates
Most industry insiders believe that home purchase loan market will stay weak over the next few months as the housing market adjusts to the end of government incentives. According to Jerry Mlinar of Woodfield Planning, an Illinois mortgage lender said, “First time home buyers are motivated by low rates, but existing homeowners have a huge incentive to refinance because they stand to save significant money monthly immediately.” Mlinar confirmed that his company saw an increase in home refinance applications, but cautioned that guidelines for refinancing had tightened over the last few years. The lender said that the stated income and no equity mortgages are no longer available.
The average 30-year mortgage rate was little changed in the week ended July 9th, dipping to 4.49%. The mortgage rate rested just below the record low of 4.61% set in March 2009, according to the MBA’s records that date back to 1990. Fifteen-year mortgage rates dipped to 4.08% last week from the record low 4.06 % set the prior week. FHA and VA rates posted a rate reduction as well and more borrowers requested rate and term refinancing rather than cash out loans.
Tags: Illinois mortgage lender, Jerry Mlinar, no equity mortgages, VA home mortgage products, Woodfield Planning
01 Jul 10 FHA and VA Get Exemptions in Finance Reform Bill
According to a report from the American Banker, the Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs were awarded exemptions in the finance reform bill that passed last week. From a loan origination perspective, VA and FHA lenders would be getting an unfair advantage. The reality is that in today’s mortgage market loan companies are offering FHA or VA or both loan products so will this have a dampening effect? This could pose more of a risk of defaults on FHA and VA home loans. So FHA and VA home loans Former MBA chairman David Kittle thinks FHA is getting a pass from Congress in this bill.
How will the Exemptions Effect the Non Government Mortgage Companies?
Under the final mortgage reform bill, federal banking agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Federal Housing Finance Agency will draft rules establishing underwriting standards and allowable product features for these fully documented loans. Qualified home loans also have to meet a new and tougher “ability to repay” standard in the bill along with a 3% limit on points and fees and a separate 2% limit on bona fide discount points. Regulators have the flexibility to set risk-retention requirements lower than 5% for residential loans that don’t meet the qualified mortgage test.
Balloon, negative amortization, and most interest-only notes will be excluded from the definition but debt-to-income ratios and verification practices must be defined by regulators and could change. The bill, as expected, gives little boost to a revival of the private-label securitization market. “Time and time again we keep hearing that we need the private sector to jump in, yet all the regulations that are being passed are keeping them out of the game, on the bench, on the sidelines,” said Sylvia Alayon, senior vice president of national operations at due diligence firm Capital Markets Assessment Corp. “We do need the private sector because many loans, like jumbo loans, can never be absorbed by the government agencies, and they represent a significant part of the market.”
Still, mortgage insiders were relieved that the mortgage reform bill will not force them to retain risk on all securitizations, regardless of loan characteristics, as in the initial language they had lobbied against. “It’s nice to win one,” said Lewis Ranieri, co-inventor of the mortgage-backed security. Read the original mortgage reform article online. > FHA Loan Program is Exempt from Risk in Mortgage Reform Bill
