Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, home loans, Lane County Real Estate, Lending Standards, Loans, Oregon Real Estate, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, Springfield Real Estate
We hear about the difficulty getting loans these days, so in an attempt to get the straight scoop on how things have changed, I recently talked with Tom Freitag of Pacific Crest Home Loans, at 44 Club Road in Eugene.
In the old days (last year and before) stated income loans were common. This meant that you were taken at your word for how much money you made. Not any more. Lenders are now pulling a copy of your tax returns, through the use of a 4506-T form, to verify your income.
After the mess we’ve gotten into, it’s hard to blame the lenders for not wanting to make bad loans. I’ll be doing a series of postings on what the new loan landscape looks like.
Tom can be reached at: 868-1855
Tom Freitag, Loan Broker
Filed under: Eugene Realty Listings, Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, Lane County Real Estate, McKenzie River, Oregon Real Estate, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate Listing, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, Springfield Real Estate, View property
I just finished listing this beautiful property up the McKenzie, RMLS # 9000721. It’s 5+ acres with a filtered river view. It’s very close to both public land and Martin’s Rapids. The McKenzie River is legendary for both its fishing and beauty.
The property fronts Goodpasture Road, which is a very desirable area. There are a lot of very expensive houses nearby, and the McKenzie is across the road. The property is hillside with some pretty trees and great views.
In a flat area, there’s a nicer, newer mobile home, which is currently tenant occupied. If it were me, I’d rent the mobile for a while then build a nice house up on the hill, assuming the County won’t throw a fit.
I think it’s well priced at 239K.
If you’d like to see it, give me a call at 517-6543 and I’ll be glad to show it to you.
McKenzie River View
How's this for storybook: You cross this cool covered bridge
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, Real Estate, Uncategorized | Tags: Craig Tomlinson, Eugene Real Estate, Federal Reserve, home refinance, Lane County Real Estate, mortgage rates, Oregon Real Estate, Real Estate Blog, Real Estate Information, Real Estate News, Real Estate Resource, Springfield Real Estate
The Federal Reserve Board announced it’s going to buy ½ trillion dollars worth of mortgage backed securities by June of this year, according to the 2 January 09 WSJ. So what?
This means low mortgage rates should continue in the first half of 2009. The Fed will start buying this month. Our government is in effect purchasing all of the mortgages that banks will make to home owners in the next few months.
Why? The Fed thinks it has to; last year investors shunned CMO’s (collateralized mortgage obligations), turning instead to US Gov. Notes, Bills and Bond, which had the effect of destabilizing our mortgage system. The US Treasury has also recently purchased these mortgage backed securities, so far to the tune of $50 billion dollars.
So, it works like this: you get a mortgage issued by your bank. They in-turn, sell the mortgage to Freddie Mae, who bundles your mortgage with others into a CMO. The CMO is then sold to the Fed and other investors.
So far, it’s working. Current mortgage prices are around 5% for a 30 year, and in the high 4% range for a 15 year mortgage.
Our Federal Reserve Building. Photo by Dan Smith.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, People and Business, Uncategorized | Tags: Home loan Eugene Oregon, Home Loan Springfield Oregon, Kim Rathbun, low down, OnPoint Credit Union, Zero Down
“Home ownership is within your reach, ” says Kim Rathbun at OnPoint Community Credit Union at 207 Coburg Road, in Eugene. She lights up as she talks about a couple of programs OnPoint is offering right now to help buyers purchase a home.
The first program is designed to reward teachers and school employees for their service to our community. 100% financing is available at fixed terms for 30 years for owner occupied residences. These property types include single family, PUD, condominium and manufactured homes.
The second program is similar, but is available to first time home buyers or those who have not purchased a home within the last three years. The current program provides up to 100% financing “I’m very excited about these two wonderful programs,” she says.
You may need to have a checking account with OnPoint, as well as meet OnPoint’s membership requirements, and of course not all applicants will receive approval.
Kim was born and raised in Eugene, loves to hike, garden (she even grew a cantaloupe here once), and spend time with her family, which includes two small dogs, Rocky and Jackson. She has been with OnPoint for about two years, and was in the banking industry before then.
“It’s all about building ongoing relationships and providing a service to people,” Kim tells me. “I enjoy giving people the information they need to help them reach their goals.”
Kim can be reached at 868-8095. She would be happy to explain in further detail the two programs mentioned above or any other options available to help you achieve your dream of owning your own home.
Kim Rathburn of OnPoint.
Filed under: Loans/Financing/Credit, People and Business, Uncategorized | Tags: back end, Credit Scores, Debt to Income, DTI, FHA home loan, FHA loan, front end, Infinity Lending Solutions, Jared Helton, Loans Eugene Oregon, Loans Springfield Oregon, low down loan, Mortgage guaranty insurance, Mortgage insurance
With low down payment loan options decreasing, FHA insured loans are increasingly popular. I recently posed a series of questions about FHA loans to Jared Helton, one of the owners of Infinity Lending Solutions, located on the corner of River Road and Irving, in Eugene. Jared can be reached at 345-7827.
Q. What are the FHA loan limits and when do they take effect?
A. January 1, 2009. The FHA limit for Lane County dropped to $271,050.
Q. How strict are the credit score requirements for FHA loans?
A. FHA is not as score driven as conventional loans. We’ve recently closed FHA loans with FICO scores in the 500s.
Q. Is it difficult for a property to qualify for an FHA loan?
A. Not really. For typical homes, FHA appraisers check for a few more things than on a conventional loan. For manufactured homes, however, FHA requires a engineer’s inspection for the foundation, which is not required on conventional loans
Q. Does it take longer to get an FHA loan?
A. Currently, there is little difference in the time required for an FHA loan and a conventional loan.
Q. How do FHA interest rates compare to conventional rates?
A. FHA rates on lower FICO scores are better than conventional loans. At higher FICO scores they are around the same. When mortgage guarantee insurance is required, FHA is much lower than conventional loans.
Q. Can you tell me more about mortgage guarantee insurance (MGI)?
A. Conventional loans require mortgage guarantee insurance when the loan to value ratio (LTV) is too high. In general, LTV ratios greater than 80% require MGI, for a conventional loan. The insurance is part of your monthly payment. Insurance costs are based on “factors.” Typical factors are: LTV 95%, factor 0.94%; LTV 90%, factor 0.62% LTV 85%, factor 0.38%.
Q. What kind of addition to monthly payments does that translate into?
A. For example, a $200,000 conventional loan with a LTV of 95%, is: $200,000 x .94% = $1,880 per year. Divide by 12 to get $157/month.
Q. What kind of LTV ratios trigger mandatory mortgage insurance with FHA loans?
A. All FHA loans require mortgage insurance. Even a LTV of 25% will require the insurance. It takes at least five years before you no longer need the insurance.
Q. How does mortgage insurance work on an FHA loan?
A. There are two components. There’s an up-front fee that currently is 1.75% of the loan amount. So, for a $100,000 loan, the fee is $1,750. This is added to the loan and $101,750, in this example, is the amount that is used to determine your payments. There is also a monthly component of 0.50% to 0.55% depending on the LTV.
Q. What is the minimum down payment required for an FHA loan?
A. 3.5%
Q. Does it matter where the down payment comes from?
A. Yes. The borrower either has to have the money for the down payment, or it can be a gift, but only from acceptable sources.
Q. What sources are acceptable?
A. For example, family members, employers and approved grant programs such as HAP and SHOP.
Q. Can the seller contribute to the down payment?
A. Generally, no. This ceased in October 2008. However, this is different if the seller is a family member; gifts for down payment may be allowed in that case.
Q. What kind of ratios are you seeing approved on FHA loans these days?
A. Approval takes two paths: Automated (also called system generated) and manually underwritten. Interestingly, the ratios have been different depending on the way in which approval is sought. Automated approvals with DTI ratios of 49% (front) and 65% (back) are possible. Manually underwritten FHA loans are typically limited to 43% back end DTI.
Q. Are there extra costs for the seller associated with an FHA loan?
A. No. This used to be the case, but isn’t any more.
Q. How many FHA loans do you write?
A. About 50% of our loans were FHA in 2008.
Jared Helton, Partner, Infinity Lending Solutions
