Dec 23, 2015
There’s been a lot of concern about the fact that the Fed raised rates. This is true, but instead of making mortgage rates go up, they went down. Why? Mortgage rates are not directly linked to the Fed rates. To explain in simple terms, the Fed raised rates for the amount of interest they charge banks on funds they lend to financial institutions “overnight” or… Read More
Dec 11, 2015
Now that Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced that its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMI) has returned to solvency we may see relief. The fund was at risk due to the collapse in housing prices and huge numbers of delinquencies. This is good news as FHA has not been the go-to loan since changes were made to fees four different times in the past four… Read More
Dec 10, 2015
Each and every year, USDA qualified Areas are reviewed by congress. We have been using 2010 census bureau information for qualifying those areas and this has allowed us to include “expanded areas” that have grown beyond what would typically be allowed. In Oregon this has given us many options and there are only a few excluded areas in the state. Since Oregon is largely a… Read More
Nov 17, 2015
Great News! Fannie Mae has added back the 3% down option, allowing 97% loan to value conventional loans. With this option available, it would only make sense to use FHA if there is another compelling reason. As of 2013, putting less than 10% down on an FHA causes the Annual (monthly) Mortgage Insurance to be permanent to the loan. Federal Housing Administration an option to… Read More
Nov 11, 2015
USDA 100% Financed Home Loans require household income limits by county be verified prior to loan pre-qualification. We can assist you with this process, so make sure you apply through www.USDALoanOregon.com and allow the specialists to get your loan pre-approved for this special loan program. We are local to Oregon, Salem, Portland, Linn, Marion and Polk counties as well as any other city or county… Read More
Oct 3, 2015
Effective October 1, 2015, USDA Rural Development has increased their funding fee (MIP or Mortgage Insurance ) from 2.00% to 2.75%. This is a fee that gets added to your loan amount and amortized over the 30 year term of the loan. This is higher than the FHA funding fee of 1.75% but USDA still maintains the lowest monthly mortgage insurance of .50% vs. FHA… Read More
Sep 14, 2015
As the Fiscal year for USDA Rural Home Loans – October 1st of each year – Rural Development will be issuing “conditional” commitments on these 100% financing loans. Lenders can continue to issue the loan packets and close loans as scheduled, but eligible loans are “subject to the availability of commitment authority”. We will continue to work diligently to close all loans we have, with… Read More
Aug 18, 2015
USDA Rural Home Loans do not allow for an income producing property. They will not finance a duplex or triplex. Even if there was just a “dual living” possibility, the home would not be allowed to be financed through USDA by the Oregon USDA office. Mixed use or business type properties are also not allowed. There are many issues that may come up on a… Read More
Jun 11, 2015
April saw the highest number for pending sales in nearly nine years the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said today. The market in Oregon was really hot as well. Portland and Bend have been leading the state with record sales figures the last couple years now. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) increased 3.4 percent compared to a slightly upwardly revised March number, 108.7. The… Read More
Nov 22, 2014
Best use of the land USDA had distinct rules regarding the “Best use of the land” which means that if you are trying to buy a farm, commercial property, or any income producing property it would not be a good fit for USDA Guaranteed Home Loan. These types of properties do have programs specifically for them, such as a farm loan, commercial loan, or FHA,… Read More