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1. What the market is doing.  The market for interest rates moves on a minutely basis and most interest rates rise and fall with the sale of mortgage-backed securities.  The market is open 8-5 on business days.  Because rates constantly change, it’s possible to lock interest rates after you have a signed purchase contract on…

First off, what is a refinance?  A refinance (refi) is where you take out a new loan, with new terms, and use that money to pay off your old loan.  You are “re-financing” your home. You would refinance for the following two reasons: To save money. This is a rate and term refinance, and the…

To protect against losses on low-down-payment loans, lenders require mortgage insurance for any loan-to-value higher than 80%.  This is applicable for all conforming conventional Fannie/Freddie loans.  In case of default, a mortgage insurer would pay a claim to the holder of the mortgage.  Because of the cost of foreclosure, a mortgage insurance claim helps reduce the…

On a conventional one unit Primary or Secondary residence (loans originated after 1999): The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 requires mortgage insurance to be canceled automatically when your loan balance is scheduled (based on the original amortization schedule) to reach a value of 78% of the purchase price. Canceling mortgage insurance outside of that is…

1. Pre-qualification: A pre-qualification is the first step and answers the following questions: What is the best loan type for me? How much money will I need to put down? What kind of payments should I expect at the sales prices I am interested in? How much cash total will I need to buy? And…