Loft New Development, FP3 is Now Fannie Mae Approved
FP3, one of Boston’s hottest loft buildings, now passes the Fannie Mae standard for mortgage guidelines as the number of units sold is now more than 51 percent. In the past 6 months, FP3 gained great momentum and sold over 24 units!
“This is a great opportunity for buyers to procure conventional financing, which is much [...]
No RESPA Violation for Closing Discount
Many Boston Developments, such as The W, The Clarendon and Battery Wharf have their own preferred lenders, mostly to assure financing of a new construction development with less than 50% sold or under agreement condos. The buyer always get to choose who the lender will be and the developer may ask, just in case that the buyer’s lender cannot obtain the loan, to apply with the developer’s preferred lender. In my opinion, it is a win-win situation for both the buyer and the developer; the buyer gets the unit he wants (and sometime a discount) and the developer gets a peace of mind knowing that financing will go through with no problems.
MA Yearly Home Sales Rise First Time Since 2004
According to Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks local real estate data, sales of single-family homes in Massachusetts rose 3 percent in 2009 – the first year-over-year increase since 2004. Prices also showed signs of stabilization, with the median home price at $295,00 in December 2009, up 10.4 percent from December 2008.
What savvy Massachusetts [...]
FHA Toughens Down Payment Rules
The Federal Housing Administration will raise the minimum down payment for its least credit-worthy borrowers, the agency announced Tuesday.
The change is among a number of major changes the FHA is making to ensure its long-term financial soundness.
Borrowers with credit-rating scores below 580 will be required to put down at least 10 percent. Those with a [...]
39% of Recent Buyers Used FHA Loans
According to the most recent REALTORS® Confidence Index, 39 percent of recent buyers purchased a home with a Federal Housing Administration-insured loan. REALTORS® who took part in the November survey also reported that the number of first-time home buyers continued to climb to 51 percent.
“FHA helps provide affordable mortgage financing to home owners, particularly first-time [...]
Mortgage Delinquencies to Improve by Year-End 2010
National mortgage loan delinquencies — borrowers with loans that are 60 days or more past due — will drop by nearly 3 percent by the end of 2010, according to the annual credit forecast by TransUnion. The projected decrease would reverse a trend in which mortgage delinquencies posted year-over-year increases of 54 percent between 2006 [...]
One-Fourth of Borrowers are Underwater
According to a recent report by research firm First American CoreLogic, more than 23 percent of U.S. homeowners with mortgages owe more on their properties than they are worth. Another 2.3 million homeowners are within 5 percent of being underwater. About 5.3 million U.S. households have mortgages that are at least 20 percent higher than [...]
Bank of America now top lender
Wells Fargo relinquished its title as the top mortgage lender in America during the third quarter of this year. Bank of America jumped into the top slot and Wells Fargo slipped to number two as its loan origination volume dropped 25 percent from the second quarter. JP Morgan Chase secured the third spot, despite a [...]
House Committee Weighs Revamp of HVCC
We all remember last May when the new appraisal system imposed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sent shock waves through the real estate market. Well, the Washington Post recently reported that the new “Home Valuation Code of Conduct” could already be on its way out. The code could be terminated by the proposed Consumer [...]
Important: Extended Tax Credit Not Yet Approved
In response to current media reports, please note no formal vote has been taken on the floor of the U.S. Senate regarding extension of the U.S. home-buyer tax credit.
Thus far, only U.S. Senate leaders of both parties, key Senate Finance Committee members, and tax credit sponsors Dodd-Lieberman-Isakson have agreed on extending and expanding the housing [...]
