A recent forecast for the Austin, Texas real estate market suggests that home prices could rise by a historically "normal" pace of around 3% over the next 12 months. This would follow above-average price gains that occurred over the last couple of years, suggesting that the hot Austin housing market... read more →
Jul
15
Mar
28
Reader question: "I recently ordered my credit scores from two of the reporting agencies, TransUnion and Equifax. Then I read somewhere that mortgage lenders don't even look at those scores, that they use the FICO numbers instead. Is this true? Do mortgage lenders use FICO scores to approve borrowers?" The... read more →
Feb
24
Home prices in Phoenix, Arizona rose significantly during 2016. Additionally, mortgage rates are higher now (February 2017) than they were at the same time last year. This means that the average monthly mortgage payment in Phoenix has risen as well. Based on current home prices and mortgage rates, and factoring... read more →
Oct
22
Atlanta housing market forecasts for 2017 call for continued home-price increases, though the gains might be smaller than what we've seen over the last year. Mortgage rates, meanwhile, are expected to remain below 4% well into next year. Learn more about these and other Atlanta real estate market predictions below.... read more →
Apr
04
When it comes to mortgage marketing, companies today are highly concerned with compliance. And rightly so. Violating compliance rules within a marketing campaign -- whether inadvertently or otherwise -- could land your mortgage company in hot water. Federal regulators probably won't accept "I didn't know" as a valid excuse. Fortunately,... read more →
Dec
14
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published the 2016 FHA loan limits for the Dallas / Fort Worth metro area. In response to rising home prices across the DFW metro area, HUD has increased the FHA loan limits for Dallas in 2016. This means home buyers who... read more →
May
03
Atlanta FHA loan limits for 2015 are slightly higher than last year, and slightly higher than the median sale price for the metro area. This is based on HUD's current loan limits for FHA-insured mortgage loans, as well as recent analysis of the Atlanta real estate market and home prices.... read more →
Jan
22
Reader question: "We are thinking about using an FHA loan due to the 3.5% down payment option. We also want to use a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage because we will only live in the home for about three years, or four at the most. So I have two questions. Does the... read more →
Dec
02
When the housing market collapsed in 2008, cities and metro areas across the country turned into buyers' markets. Inventory levels skyrocketed as homes were foreclosed on in record numbers. Meanwhile, there were very few buyers willing to purchase a home in such troubled times. Sellers had to slash their prices... read more →
Nov
22
When buying a home, there's a good chance you'll have to negotiate the house price with the seller. Why? Because many homes are overpriced when they first come onto the market. It's a common pricing "strategy" among real estate agents and homeowners. It goes something like this: "We'll come onto... read more →