Phoenix Heritage Real Estate Group Blog

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Displaying blog entries 1-10 of 151

Mortgage Update 07-08-10

Rates based on a 200k Primary Residence Purchase (or a no cash out refinance), 720+ Credit, Full Doc Income Verification, paying one "point."  Please note, this information is intended for Real Estate Professionals.
 
80% 30 year Fixed = 4.375%
95% 30 Year Fixed = 4.375% (Requires PMI)
80% 15 Year Fixed = 3.875%
96.5% FHA 30 Year Fixed = 4.5% (Requires MI)
100% USDA/Rural 30 Year Fixed = 5.25% (No PMI required)
100% VA 30 Year Fixed = 4.75% (No PMI required)
80% 5 Yr ARM = 3.375%
70% 5 Yr Jumbo ARM up to $1M = 4.875%
80% 30 Year Fixed Jumbo up to $1M = 5.75%
Refinances up to 105% of appraised value are available

For more information contact:

Ryan Halldorson
Smart Financial Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Consultant
3131 E Camelback #120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602.793.7204
E-Fax: 602.889.2258
ryan@hsmove.com

National Licensing Requirement for Loan Officers

Beginning July 1, 2010, all loan officers working for mortgage brokers must have their national license in order to conduct business.  Licensing required 20 hours of classroom education and then successfully passing both a National and State Exam.   Loan officers also had to pass a criminal background check and submit a credit report to the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions.  The best part of the new licensing system is that complaints can now be filed against an individual's unique national license number that will stay with them from company to company and state to state.  The weak part of the law is that loan officers employed by federally-regulated institutions (the big banks) are completely exempt from these licensing and testing requirements.  At last count, there were still 1100 loan officers that waited until the last minute who were still waiting for their application packages to be processed and approved by ADFI.
For more information contact:
Ryan Halldorson
Smart Financial Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Consultant
3131 E Camelback #120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602.793.7204
E-Fax: 602.889.2258
ryan@hsmove.com

Mortgage Update 05-27-10

Rates based on a 200k Primary Residence Purchase (or a no cash out refinance), 720+ Credit, Full Doc Income Verification, paying one "point."  Please note, this information is intended for Real Estate Professionals.
 
80% 30 year Fixed = 4.75%
95% 30 Year Fixed = 4.75% (Requires PMI)
80% 15 Year Fixed = 4.25%
96.5% FHA 30 Year Fixed = 5% (Requires MI)
100% VA 30 Year Fixed = 5% (No PMI required)
80% 5 Yr ARM = 3.75%
70% 5 Yr Jumbo ARM up to $1M = 4.875%
80% 30 Year Fixed Jumbo up to $1M = 5.875%
Refinances up to 105% of appraised value are available

For more information contact:

Ryan Halldorson
Smart Financial Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Consultant
3131 E Camelback #120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602.793.7204
E-Fax: 602.889.2258
ryan@hsmove.com

VA Loans

The only 100% loan left in lending is a VA Loan.  VA loans have good rates and carry no monthly Private Mortgage Insurance even at 100% all the way up to a loan amount of 417k.  Many veterans do not realize that VA loans can go up to $1.5M but they require a down payment if the loan is above 417k (for example, a $700k purchase price would require a 10% down payment).  Another seldom known fact about VA loans is that a veteran can get a 2nd VA loan if his existing VA loan is less than $144k.  VA loans are only allowed on primary residences.  There are certain closing costs that a VA borrower is not allowed to pay which need to be included on line 79 of the AAR purchase contract.  The amount of the "VA non-allowables" varies between $600 and $1500 depending on the title company and the purchase price.  The seller is allowed to contribute up to 4% of the purchase price towards a VA buyer's closing costs and prepaids which would include the VA non-allowables.

For more information contact:

Ryan Halldorson
Smart Financial Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Consultant
3131 E Camelback #120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602.793.7204
E-Fax: 602.889.2258
ryan@hsmove.com

Mortgage Update 05-07-10

Rates based on a 200k Primary Residence Purchase (or a no cash out refinance), 720+ Credit, Full Doc Income Verification, paying one "point."  Please note, this information is intended for Real Estate Professionals.
 
80% 30 year Fixed = 4.875%
95% 30 Year Fixed = 5% (Requires PMI)
95% 15 Year Fixed = 4.5% (Requires PMI)
80% 15 Year Fixed = 4.375%
96.5% FHA 30 Year Fixed = 5% (Requires MI)
100% VA 30 Year Fixed = 5.25% (No PMI required)
80% 5 Yr ARM = 3.625%
70% 5 Yr Jumbo ARM up to $1M = 4.875%
80% 30 Year Fixed Jumbo up to $1M = 6%
Refinances up to 105% of appraised value are available

For more information contact:

Ryan Halldorson
Smart Financial Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Consultant
3131 E Camelback #120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602.793.7204
E-Fax: 602.889.2258
ryan@hsmove.com

Claiming your tax credit

The deadline to secure purchase contracts for buyers wishing to get the tax credit has now passed for everyone except for military members working outside the US (they have until April 30, 2011).  Recent buyers will now want to know how to claim their money from the IRS.  They can either wait until next tax season or they can file an amended return to claim their money this year.  The IRS requires this to be done in paper via mail and a final HUD-1 settlement statement needs to be included.  Here is a good link to forms and details on how to the claim the tax credit http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=218698,00.html

For more information contact:

Ryan Halldorson
Smart Financial Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Consultant
3131 E Camelback #120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602.793.7204
E-Fax: 602.889.2258
ryan@hsmove.com

10 Markets Where Prices are Still Falling

Interesting to note that the Phoenix Area is NOT on this list!!

Daily Real Estate News  |  May 5, 2010  

10 Markets Where Prices Are Still Falling
While the overall housing market appears to be on the mend, there are some Metropolitan Statistical Areas where prices are still falling.

Forbes magazine asked Local Market Monitor, a real estate research firm, to examine all 315 MSAs and identify those where home prices are still at least 10 percent above the point where home prices should be based on economic fundamentals.

Many of these locales have higher than average home prices because they are relatively small and their economies are dependent on a few businesses or a single industry. When those businesses run into trouble, the communities feel the pain.

Here are the top 10 places that Local Market Monitor identifies as most vulnerable to continued price declines:

  • Atlantic City/Hammonton, N.J.
  • Provo, Utah
  • Portland, Vancouver, Oregon, Ore.
  • Glen Falls, N.Y.
  • Bellingham, Wash.
  • Flagstaff, Ariz.
  • Charleston/Sommerfield, S.C.
  • Eugene/Springfield, Ore.
  • Salisbury, Md.
  • Salt Lake City, Utah


Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy (04/27/2010)

Mortgage Update 04-29-10

Rates based on a 200k Primary Residence Purchase (or a no cash out refinance), 720+ Credit, Full Doc Income Verification, paying one "point."  Please note, this information is intended for Real Estate Professionals.
 
80% 30 year Fixed = 4.875%
95% 30 Year Fixed = 5% (Requires PMI)
95% 15 Year Fixed = 4.5% (Requires PMI)
80% 15 Year Fixed = 4.375%
96.5% FHA 30 Year Fixed = 5% (Requires MI)
100% VA 30 Year Fixed = 5.25% (No PMI required)
80% 5 Yr ARM = 3.625%
70% 5 Yr Jumbo ARM up to $1M = 4.875%
80% 30 Year Fixed Jumbo up to $1M = 6%
Refinances up to 105% of appraised value are available

For more information contact:

Ryan Halldorson
Smart Financial Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Consultant
3131 E Camelback #120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602.793.7204
E-Fax: 602.889.2258
ryan@hsmove.com

Rates Remain Low

Interest rates have remained low even after the Fed ended its Mortgage Backed Securities (referred to as MBS) purchase program on March 31, 2010.  In a knee jerk reaction, interest rates initially increased by roughly .25% in early April but they have now settled back down to the nice, low levels of the past several months.  The worldwide demand for MBS has remained strong even without the Fed purchases which have kept interest rates low.  The massive debt problems in Greece and several other European nations have caused many worldwide investors to move their bond money over to US MBS which they still view as a safe haven.  Interest rates will inevitably rise back to "normal" levels in the not so distant future but for now we continue to enjoy some of the lowest rates in history.

For more information contact:

Ryan Halldorson
Smart Financial Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Consultant
3131 E Camelback #120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602.793.7204
E-Fax: 602.889.2258
ryan@hsmove.com

Mortgage Update 04-15-10

Rates based on a 200k Primary Residence Purchase (or a no cash out refinance), 720+ Credit, Full Doc Income Verification, paying one "point."  Please note, this information is intended for Real Estate Professionals.
 
80% 30 year Fixed = 5%
95% 30 Year Fixed = 5.125% (Requires PMI)
95% 15 Year Fixed = 4.5% (Requires PMI)
80% 15 Year Fixed = 4.375%
96.5% FHA 30 Year Fixed = 5% (Requires MI)
100% VA 30 Year Fixed = 5.25% (No PMI required)
80% 5 Yr ARM = 3.875%
70% 5 Yr Jumbo ARM up to $1M = 4.875%
80% 30 Year Fixed Jumbo up to $1M = 6%
Refinances up to 105% of appraised value are available

Ryan Halldorson
Smart Financial Mortgage
Senior Mortgage Consultant
3131 E Camelback #120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602.793.7204
E-Fax: 602.889.2258
ryan@hsmove.com 

Displaying blog entries 1-10 of 151

Contact Information

Phoenix Heritage Real Estate Group
HomeSmart
17235 N. 75th Avenue, Ste. F-110
Glendale AZ 85308
602-253-4030
Fax: 866-940-8468