There are many people in the current market who are struggling to pay mortgages or facing foreclosure. Even those who are still managing to make their mortgage investments on time and in full often worry about the fact that their home’s value has likely fallen dramatically since the housing bubble burst. However, it is important  … Read more

Strategic default is a term coined to describe borrowers who are willfully (or passively?) allowing their mortgages to enter default because their homes are underwater. Why do people strategically default on their mortgages? People strategically default for many reasons, but mostly because they no longer want to throw money out the window. A few borrowers  … Read more

Private mortgage insurance is insurance a lender takes out on less than prime or higher risk loans. This insurance protects the lender in the case of default on the part of the borrower, like foreclosure or a short sale. As a borrower, you can make less of a down payment, which is usually 20% of  … Read more

Foreclosures and bankruptcy will be on your credit report for years. That doesn’t mean that you have to suffer for it indefinitely. The quickest way to rebuild credit is to take on new debt. Unfortunately, there aren’t many lenders who are willing to do this right after a bankruptcy. But you can reasonably expect that  … Read more

If you are a current Federal Housing Association (FHA) borrower and interested in refinancing, now may be the perfect time to do it with a streamlined refinance. A streamlined refinance removes a considerable deal of time and work from the refinance process, and could potentially save you a small fortune during this time of historically  … Read more

It is hard to overstate how far banks will go in the pursuit of solvency and profitability. You can hardly blame them—they are institutions that would perish if it weren’t for their unshakeable devotion to the bottom line, and the US economy wouldn’t be what it is today (in a manner of speaking). Here are  … Read more

The only thing certain during periods of pronounced economic uncertainty is that bean counters and lawyers at banks are hawkishly protecting their own interests. If you have a home loan and intend on pursuing a mortgage loan modification, you should know the letter of the law in your state. Here is another outstanding bank practice  … Read more

In order to qualify for the standard mortgage, you must have a credit score around or above 700. If it is below that, you are considered a subprime borrower, and not attractive to banks. Subprime mortgage lending was a popular financial instrument in the heady lending days preceding the housing crash in 2007. Essentially, banks  … Read more

Which is better? It depends. Generally speaking, a 15 year fixed has a lower rate than the 30 year fixed. The drawback of course is that the borrower has half the time to pay it off and the payments are higher. If you experience a financial setback, a 15 year mortgage payment is going to  … Read more

Low mortgage rates aren’t enough to boost new home sales, say economists. There are insidious factors to blame for sluggish growth in the housing industry: national home foreclosure forecasts and high unemployment. The net effects of the housing crisis in 2008 persist. New and old neighborhoods and home developments continue to be subject to the  … Read more