 Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 We hear lots of advice these days about how to improve a credit score. However, not all advice is good advice. Here are nine credit score myths that could actually do more harm than good:
Myth #1 – Closing out old, inactive accounts will help your score.
Thirty percent of your credit score is based on your utilization rate – your total balances versus the total amount of credit available to you. Canceling old accounts reduces the total amount of your available credit, changing that ratio. Any balance will utilize a higher percentage of your credit, which will hurt your score.
Myth #2 – Opening (but not using) accounts will help your score.
To improve their utilization rate and, theoretically, their credit scores, some people open as many accounts as they can. According to Rod Griffin, director of public education for the credit bureau Experian, “Your score is affected by how well you manage the credit you do have over a period of time, not by how many credit cards you have or the available balances.”
(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”) Continue reading “Nine Credit Score Myths“
By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on January 3rd, 2014 Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has made some changes for 2014, which took effect January 1 and affect FHA home loans. First and foremost, you will see a drop in the maximum allowable loan. In the St. Louis metro area, for example, the new max loan amount for a single-family home has been lowered to $271,050 from $281,250.
Other items of note regarding FHA have not changed; so as a refresher let’s look at FHA qualifications and rules:
- Borrower must put 3.5% down based on sales price. 100% of the buyer’s contribution can be in the form of a gift. There are no reserve requirements; however, reserves can help to build a stronger case for a “tight” loan.
- The seller can contribute 6% of the sales price towards closing cost, points and pre-paid items.
- There is an up-front mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) of 1.75% for all loan terms and amounts added to the base loan amount.
Some underwriting items include: Continue reading “Important Changes to FHA Home Loans Now In Effect“
By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on December 13th, 2013 Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 On January 10, 2014 the mortgage world is going to go through some changes. These changes will affect consumers and their ability to qualify for a home loan. Is it doom and gloom? Not really.
A “Qualified Mortgage” or QM, is something we at Paramount Mortgage have been doing for a while. It is all about the consumer having the ability to repay the loan and verifying, to the best of our ability, through paperwork, all the facets of a loan approval. It is very possible additional paperwork may be requested from the borrower to accomplish verification going forward. Is it the end of the world? No. We as a team, agent and loan officer, need to relay that information to the client.
We, for the most part, have already been doing that.
The biggest change will be the stringent enforcement of the debt-to-income ratio at 43%. This will be Continue reading “What is QM?“
Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 St Louis Mortgage companies were not making many 30-year, fixed-rate jumbo mortgages a year ago, but now many St Louis Mortgage companies are offering fixed jumbos – with very competitive rates, including my firm, Paramount Mortgage.
As interest rates start to rise, homeowners are thinking they may not see rates this low in the future and if their ARM is maturing a couple of years from now, they could be in a tough spot.
 Continue reading “St Louis Mortgage Companies Seeing Fixed Rate Jumbo Mortgages Make Comeback“
Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 Since the real estate market crash, millions of homeowners have lost their homes in a foreclosure, been forced to do a short sale to get out from a home they were underwater on or file bankruptcy as a result of financial hardship as a result of the the market crash and general economic downturn. Many of these homeowners have resorted to renting or living with relatives but, as time passes and the financial wounds heal, are now wanting to buy a home again prompting the question, “how long do I have to wait after a foreclosure, short-sale, deed-in-lieu or bankruptcy before I can get a home loan again?”.
Fortunately, it is possible for former homeowners who have faced financial hardships to obtain a home loan again, but it does take time and effort on their part. Before obtaining a home loan after a foreclosure, short-sale or bankruptcy, the borrower will have to reestablish credit and establish a stable income that will support the home loan they wish to obtain. In addition, time will have to pass as (see the chart below), no matter how well the borrowers situation has improved, there are still some minimum timeframes that will have had to pass in order to be eligible for most types of home loans. There is no “one size fits all” answer though, so I highly suggest if you are in this situation and want to know what your options are, to use the form below to contact me, I’ll be happy to help. Continue reading “How Long Do You Have To Wait To Get A Home Loan After Foreclosure, Short Sale or Bankruptcy?“
One-third of Homebuyers Surveyed Are Ill-prepared to Get a Mortgage
Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 According to a survey recently conducted by Zillow, many homebuyers are really not armed with the information they should have before attempting to obtain a mortgage. For example, over one-third (34 percent) of the prospective homebuyers surveyed did not know that a qualified borrower can obtain a home loan today with less than a five percent downpayment.
In addition, many homebuyers have misinformation that can prevent them from obtaining the best possible mortgage interest rate. For example, 26 percent of the homebuyers said they thought they were obligated to obtain their home loan with the lender that pre-approved them, and 24 percent believed that all lenders are required to charge the same amount for credit reports and appraisals.
Continue reading “Survey Shows One-Third Of Homebuyers Lack Info Needed To Get Mortgage“
Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 “The (real estate) recovery has been much more like the tortoise than the hare,” said Stephen Blank, a senior resident fellow of the Washington-based Urban Land Institute. “We’ve become used to slow relief. But we have finally turned the corner.”
Real estate markets on both coasts in places like; New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston were the first to emerge from recession and will pick up their pace of recovery through 2013, said Blank, a principal researcher for Emerging Trends. He was the main speaker at the annual outlook presented by ULI’s St. Louis chapter.
Big investors scared away by the high prices in coastal cities will look more closely at properties in secondary markets, including St. Louis, experts predict. David Griege, executive vice president at Paramount Mortgage, believes home sales will be much stronger this spring and summer than in past years. Continue reading “Real Estate Recovery "On Its Way"“
Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 Housing Boom Era Type Home Buying Tactics Reappearing in St Louis Real Estate Market
During the home buying frenzy of the housing boom, which peaked in 2006, it was common to see home buyers, in an effort to beat out other buyers fighting for the same home, include price escalation clauses in their offers and make “naked” (contingency-free) offers. It was also common for a seller to purposely price their home low in an effort to rein in multiple buyers and pit them against each other in a bidding war. We are now seeing this all again as buyers compete to buy homes from an inventory of homes for sale that has shank dramatically in the past year.
Continue reading “Housing Boom Era Home Buying Strategies Returning“
Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 Home Prices Nationwide Shooting Up Faster Than Anyone Thought Possible Not Long Ago
The US housing market has broken out of a deep slump, and prices are shooting up faster than anyone thought possible a year ago.
Prices of existing homes rose 10% in February nationally from a year ago. What is causing this increase?
Continue reading “Home Prices Set To Rise, Thanks To The Fed“
Tyler Frank,
Paramount Mortgage
NMLS ID 942420 Free Credit Scores are Not Part of the Free Annual Credit Report Consumers Currently Receive
Consumers currently have the right to request their free credit report once a year, but a credit report does not include free credit scores. These two items are often confused to be the same, which they are not.
You generally must pay to see your credit score. It’s a three-digit grade that predicts how risky you are to a lender.
Earlier this month, bills were introduced in the House and Senate to allow all consumers free access to credit scores once a year. The Free Access to Credit Scores Act was authored by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee.
Continue reading “Free Credit Scores As A Result of New Act“
|
Recent Articles
|
