Question: Can I use my assets for income? Answer: Possibly. This question comes up from time to time with high net worth individuals who do not have a lot of income—perhaps they get retirement income or other payments that are not enough to qualify for a mortgage, but they have significant funds in investment accounts. […]
Question: Should I get a Home Equity Line of Credit, if so how does it work? Answer: This question has come up frequently in the last few months, usually as part of a bigger question regarding remodeling your home and how to pay for it. Last January I discussed options for paying for a remodel […]
Question: What were rates when past Presidents took office? Answer: This is a question I asked myself this week. Unfortunately my records for the Weekly Rate & Market Update only go back to 2005 due to a computer melt down in late 2004 that resulted in the loss of a lot of past files at […]
Question: How different is your job when helping a client with a refinance versus a purchase? Answer: This question came up in conversation with some real estate agents who find themselves subject to greatly increased solicitation from lender representatives in the past several weeks looking for referrals. Why the increase in solicitations? Because interest rates […]
Question: No question this week as we are finishing up our vacation week in Scottsdale [email protected] Remember, with Dennis it’s not just a mortgage, it’s your complete financial picture. December’s employment report is mixed. Only 156,000 new jobs (144,000 private sector) were created in December, which is low. However those who are working saw a […]
Question: What were the highs and lows of mortgage rates in 2016? Answer: As you can see by the chart below we are ending 2016 with interest rates just below the highest rates we saw all year. The year started with conforming rates starting to fall from near 2015 highs, dropping from 3.875% to 3.75% […]
Question: What should I do if I think someone stole my social security number? Answer: This question came up this week when my father in-law had someone break into his home and steal financial documents, including tax returns and his passport. What to do? Thankfully in the age of the internet it is pretty easy […]
Question: Does the Fed raising interest rates Wednesday affect me? Answer: The last time we answered this question was last December, the last time the Fed increased its Federal Funds Rate. The answer on how the rate hike by the Fed earlier this week is no different than the answer when the Fed raised the […]
Question: How come my lender sent me a notice that my payment is going up, don’t I have a fixed rate mortgage? Answer: This is a rather lengthy answer today, but very important information to anyone who has purchased a home in the last year, or have someone close to them that has purchased recently, […]
Question: What are the new loan limits? Answer: For the first time since 2006 the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) which governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has increased the maximum loan limits for conforming loans and FHA has followed the FHFA’s lead and matched the new loan limits. For single family residences in high-cost […]
