New “covered bond” concept to help U.S. mortgage marketTreasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveiled guidelines for “covered bond” which are issued by the banks. These bonds are issued to finance home mortgages. Four big U.S. lenders - Citi (C, Fortune 500), Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) offered their support to the new guideline. Though, none of the banks mentioned about any plan to issue the bonds now.

The concept of covered bond is present in the Europe, but hasn’t been used in the U.S till now. How it works? […] Continue Reading…

 Lock in your mortgage rate to save loads

If you find a reasonable mortgage rate just lock in because the mortgage rates are increasing very fast. If you can lock in at a lower rate, then you will be safe from the increasing rates and may ultimately save thousands of dollar.

The scenario during the housing boom was different. At that time, you had a lower mortgage rate in between 5.5% to 6.5%. The fluctuation was very less and offers were enough. So you really didn’t have to bother at that time. But, now the market is very volatile as it […] Continue Reading…

New York has in its tally one of the highest numbers of foreclosures and also highest numbers of sub prime mortgage fraud.A recent investigation revealed that scammer defrauded homeowners and lenders in the state taking advantage of the loopholes in the lending laws of the state. The fraud has happened everywhere in the state.

According to the New York State Commission of Investigations, the borrower should be given more protection through regulation from the predatory lenders.

In 2007, New York of all the foreclosures, 59% involved subprime loans. It had 39,000 foreclosure filings in 2007 which made it to the eight […] Continue Reading…

President Bush has signed the bill which will try to help borrowers, provide support to Fannie and Freddie and strengthen housing market.This new bill has become a law after high signing it. It will try to help the housing market to make things better for the borrowers. Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are also will be supported. First the house passed it and then the Senate passed it with 72-13 votes.

The new authority will improve stability and confidence in the housing market, expects the White House. The FHA (Federal Housing Administration) will start implementing the new […] Continue Reading…

Continuing from the last post about the benefit and eligibility to get a FHA-backed housing loan…………You will need approval from the FHA to become eligible for the mortgage under the new housing rescue bill. The total money that you can get under this scheme cannot be more than 95% of the appraised value of your home at the time.

How can I apply?

You can do two things-

Contact your current mortgage servicer or

Contact an FHA-approved lender. The names of such lenders are available on the website of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

What does it cost?

As a borrower, you need […] Continue Reading…