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Relaxed student loan guidelines makes qualifying easier

Student Loans and Mortgage Approval. What are the guidelines?

Minneapolis, MN: Student loan debt is at an all time high, and has been noted as a contributing factor to why may people have been unable to purchase a home, especially first time home buyers.

Recent changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines have made it easier for some, but not all with student loan debt to still qualify for home mortgage loans.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not do home loans. Rather they buy loans from lenders after that fact. Both Fannie and Freddie have set underwriting guidelines that if lenders follow, makes the selling of loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac much easier.  While the number moves, at any given time, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac control +/- about 60% of all home loans.

Student Loans. How do lenders calculate?

Student loans can be in active repayment, some sort of reduced repayment (which is typically an income based repayment), or completely deferred.  While a student loan may be deferred for the next year or two, your mortgage loan is typically a 30-year loan. It only makes sense that lenders take current or future student loan payments into consideration when calculating debt ratios and affordability.
To avoid confusion, I’ll just talk about current guidelines for how lenders currently deal with your student loan debt for debt-to-income ratio purposes.
These guidelines are current as of this article (Dec 1, 2017 (updated)).

FHA Loans:

FHA loans must use the greater of 1% of the outstanding balance, or the payment listed on the credit report, unless you can document the payment is a fully amortizing payment. No income based repayment, graduated payments, or interest only payments allowed.

Fannie Mae Loans:

For deferred loans, must use 1% of the outstanding balance. For loans currently in repayment, use the payment listed on the credit report. If payment is listed as $0.00, but $0.00 is an active income based repayment, we must verify with the student loan company that $0.00 is the income based repayment.

Freddie Mac Loans:

For loans in repayment, use the amount listed on the credit report, or at least .50% (1/2%) of the outstanding balance, whichever is greater.
For deferred loans, must use the amount listed on the credit report, or 1% of the outstanding balance as reported on the credit report.

USDA Rural Housing Loans:

For USDA loans, if the loan is deferred, income based payment, graduated payment, or interest only payment, must use the greater of 1% of the outstanding balance, or the amount listed on the credit report.

VA Home Loans:

For VA loans, if payment is deferred at least 12 months past the loan closing date, no payment need be listed.
If payment will begin within 12 months of closing, use the payment calculated based on:
  a) 5% of the outstanding balance divided by 12
  b) The payment listed on the credit report if the payment is higher than calculated under (a).
  or
If payment on credit report is less than (a), a letter, dated within the last 60-days directly from the student loan company that reflects the actual loan terms and payment information is required to use the smaller payment.

More people with student loans now qualify

These updated guidelines primarily help those currently in repayment, but with income based, graduated payment, and interest only payment student loans obtain conventional loans.
 Regardless of your student loan status, I always suggest that people never assume you can’t buy a home.  Always talk with a professional licensed Mortgage Loan Officer to get the facts regarding any financing options.  I offer all this loan option and more for properties in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and can be reached at (651) 552-3681, or www.MortgagesUnlimited.biz

Mortgage Interest Rates are AWESOME

mortgage interest ratesIn terms of standard conventional 30-yr fixed mortgage rates, the BEST we’ve ever seen was for just a few days in 2012, when the best clients could get 3.125% – 3.25%.

Mortgage interest rates dipped back to 3.25% for a brief time back in July 2016, but since then have been hovering in the 3.375% to 3.50% range.

So what does all this mean for home owners?

It means if YOU ACT NOW, congratulations, because other than one week this past July, and one week back in 2012, you are getting the most awesome interest rates of all time right now TODAY!

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I provide Home Mortgage Loans in MN, WI, IA, ND, SD and I can be reached at (651) 552-3681.

Of course rates effective at this time of this post and subject to change.  Not everyone qualifies, etc. Not an offer to enter into an interest rate lock agreement

Get pre-approved, not just pre-qualified

Everyone knows it is smart to get lender Pre-Approved before starting to look for a home, yet many people are actively looking at homes thinking they are Pre-Approved, when in reality, they are only Pre-Qualified.

Pre-Approved or Pre-Qualified? So what is the difference?

welcome2_FTHB_1As a Loan Officer for over 20-years, I can tell you story after story of people who thought they were Pre-Approved, signed a purchase agreement, gave notice on their apartment, only to be told a week before closing that they were denied.  The vast majority of these people, calling me to see if I can magically help them had two big items in common:

  1. They applied at a bank or credit union
  2. They NEVER supplied the lender with all (or even any) basic supporting documents up front.

Simply put, if you didn’t supply current pay stubs, bank statements, W2’s, and Tax returns, YOU ARE NOT PRE-APPROVED – No matter what they tell you!

Looking to buy a home in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or South Dakota? Don’t have your dream fall apart at the last minute, get properly Pre-Approved for a home loan today.

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Finding the Best Mortgage Loan Officer

Minneapolis, MN:  Buying a home for most people is the largest financial transaction of your life. Finding the Best Mortgage Loan Officer  that is licensed, educated, experienced, professional and ethical is probably the most important decision you’ll make next to actually picking out that perfect dream home.

Most people these days pick their mortgage company one of three ways:

  1. Calling the bank where they have their checking account
  2. Going with whomever the Realtor suggests
  3. Online search (but usually only for the person quoting the lowest rate)

None of these in and of themselves are right or wrong, but here are some tips to know and understand:

First, understand that the mortgage company or bank that you choose in most cases has little to do with the success of your transaction. Essentially all mortgage lenders have and offer the same basic programs with the same underwriting guidelines. FHA loans for example are FHA loans no matter who you call, so in most cases, there is nothing special that one lender has over another.

Yet for others, there can be some differences, especially if you are on the edges in terms of loan approval. For example, a big bank with the stagecoach in their logo will not offer FHA loans over a 45% debt ratio, while some mortgage brokers (like us) will go to 50% debt-in-income ratio. This is a good example of why a mortgage broker may be a better choice, as they offer the products of multiple lenders, as opposed to just their own.

Using this one example, you may have lost out on your dream home simply because you chose the wrong lender.

Licensed Loan Officer Versus Simply Registered:

All mortgage Loan Officers must have a tracking / registration number known as an NMLS number. But having this number does NOT mean the Loan officer is licensed, or experienced.

Loan Officers at banks, credit unions, or mortgage lenders owned by a bank or credit unions can be, but are NOT required to be licensed in any way. Loan Officers at non-bank mortgage companies or brokers ARE REQUIRED to have an individual mortgage license.NMLS Consumer Access

You can check if your Loan officer is simply registered, or fully licensed by searching them on this public web site:  www.NMLSconsumerAccess.org.

At the bottom of the page, under licenses and registrations, there will either be one or more states listed, which means the person is licensed. If it indicates something similar to “Federal National Mortgage Originator”, this is a fancy name that means they are NOT licensed.

Being licensed versus simply registered does not automatically indicate if a Loan Officer is a good choice or not, but if one was doing the largest financial transaction of their life, I’d probably lien towards someone who has had to take schooling, pass state and federal testing, and is required to complete continuing education each year to be licensed, versus someone who didn’t have to do any of those things to simply be registered. Heck, even your hairdresser needs a license!

Using this example, you may have lost out on your dream home because of the the unlicensed, and inexperienced Loan Officer you chose.

Understanding Closing Costs and Interest Rates

Not only do most lenders only offer the same underlying loan products as everyone elsemortgage closing costs (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA Loans, VA Loans, USDA Loans), but they all have the same underlying closing costs,  get the money to lend you from the same source, and interest rates are based on the same bond market everyday.

This is why you’ll notice all standard rate quotes are almost identical. This is why you’ll notice all closing costs quotes are almost identical.

All lenders have the same actual closing costs; appraisal, credit report, state deed taxes, county recording fees, title company charges, underwriting, origination fees, etc.  However, how lenders charge them to you can vary, and this is tied directly to your interest rate.

For example,  assume your shopping, and one lender says your closing costs are $5,000, and the next says $3,500. The lower price sounds good, and that would be true if the rates were the same. But they almost never will be.

More overhead equals higher rates

Advertising and buildings are expensive. The previously mentioned “Quick” lender for example advertises all day everyday on all TV channels, and radio stations all across the country.  You can’t go anywhere on the internet without seeing one of their advertisements.

How much does all that cost?  Must be millions. You are foolih to think that higher cost isn’t passed along to you in terms of the interest rate they charge you.

Sames with the big lenders with branches everywhere, and paying hundreds of millions for stadium naming rights.

Lender Credits

Lender credits towards your closing cost is a tool lender use to lower your out-of-pocket closing costs up-front by slightly increasing your interest rate. Mortgage interest ratesBy doing this, the lender requires less initially because they make it up by collecting more in interest over time.

Some lenders start right out of the gate by saying they don’t charge origination, or maybe they will pretend to pay for things like your appraisal. Someone is paying those items, and it is always you.

Now there is nothing wrong with taking a slightly higher rate to lower costs today. We do it all the time. But just understand that you are still paying for those costs, just in a different way.

Look at this 30-yr fixed screen shot from today for a $200,000 loan. At 3.875%, lender would charge $750 in discount points to “buy” this lower rate, but at 4,125%, lenders would reduce your closing costs with a lender credit of $2,250. The monthly payment difference between the two rates is $29.00.

Internet Lenders

There is nothing an internet lender can offer you that the local mortgage lender down the street can’t offer. They do not have lower rates, they do not have lower closing costs. But there are many things the internet lender can’t offer.

One big item is local knowledge, and dedication to the community. Some kid working in a cube in Detroit, MI could care less about my back yard or Minneapolis, St Paul, MN.

I constantly get phone calls from people who started a mortgage application with a big internet lender, who is “Quick In” mortgage.  They complain about high pressure sales, lack of product knowledge, mandatory up-front fees, failed closings, and more.

I also get a lot of calls from people who filled out an inquiry form at places that “Lend from a Tree”. Funny and cute commercials about applying in your underwear, but this place isn’t even the lender.  Rather, they take your name, then sell it to as many real lenders as possible for around $40 a lead. You are then inundated with calls from all these lenders trying to one up the other with false and misleading promises to get you to use them.

Big out-state internet lenders also NEVER have the ability to offer any state of local first time home buyer, or down payment assistance programs.

Using this example, you may have lost out on your dream home because you picked an out-state internet lender who doesn’t offer all the loan products available in your area.

Realtor Referrals

In theory, a Real Estate Agent referral to a Loan officer should be something of value, but not always. This is essentially because there are two underlying types of referrals.

A referral because the Real Estate Agent has worked with the Loan Officer for a long time, and knows them to be a licensed, knowledgeable, experienced mortgage professional looking out for your best interests. This is a good referral.

A referral because the Loan Officer works for the same company, or otherwise is heavily influenced by the owners of the Real Estate Company to refer to a specific lender or internal Loan Officer simply because it makes someone else money regardless of the qualify of the Loan Officer.

While not automatically bad, the second type of referral is highly suspicious. Tips to this type of referral are that the Loan Officer works for the same company, they share office space, or if you have already told your Real Estate Agent you have a lender you are happy with, and they become pushy or start talking negatively about your choice to get you to go to their choice.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, your Loan Officer choice is important. Ask questions, get answers. Just because someone refers, they advertise a lot, or appear to be quoting a super low rate or closing cost doesn’t mean they are the best for you, or that you shouldn’t shop or get a second opinion.

Take the time to pick a great lender, just as you take the time to pick the perfect house.

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Joe Metzler is a Senior Mortgage Loan Officer for Minnesota based Cambria Mortgage. He was named the 2014 Minnesota Loan Officer of the Year, and #98 of the Top 100 Loan Officers in the Nation for 2015 by Origination News. He provides Home Mortgage Loans in MN, WI, IA, ND, SD. He can be reached at (651) 552-3681

Mortgage loans. Why all the paperwork?

Mortgage loans – Why all the paperwork?

Loan PaperworkAs a Loan Officer serving Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, I am constantly asked why is there so much paperwork required to get a mortgage loan today. It seems that the lender wants to know everything about you these days, and you would be correct. Your mortgage lender does want to know a lot about you.  If you were to give a complete stranger a huge loan, for a 30-year commitment, what would YOU want to know about them?

To make it feel worse than it really is, from about 1999 until 2007 during the housing boom, there were many programs available that allowed for limited documentation, or even no proof of income. Many people took advantage of those programs. Unfortunately, a large number of those people were allowed to bite off more loan than they would have been allowed if they proved income, contributing to the real estate collapse starting in 2007.

Loan Documentation Requirements Today

No one wants foreclosures and bad loans. It isn’t good for the home buyer, the neighborhood, or the economy.  For that reason, mortgage companies need to verify and double check everything on the application, and to make sure you are a good risk.

There are three very good reasons that the loan process is much more onerous on today’s buyer than perhaps any time in history.

  1. The mortgage industry was a bit too trusting in the past. Lenders for example asked for a pay stub, but we took what you provided at face value, and there was no double check. This allowed fraud to become rampant. How hard would it be to scan a W2 that said you made $30,000 a year into a computer, then use Photoshop to change that the 3 to an 8, and now you make $80,000 a year income.
  2. Even without fraud, during the run-up in the housing market, many people qualified for mortgages that they realistically could never pay back. The government has mandated new guidelines that now demand that the mortgage lender  prove beyond any doubt that you are indeed capable of affording the mortgage. The rule is called ATR, or the “Ability to Repay” rule. So no more stated income, or limited income loans.
  3.  The lenders have never wanted to be in the real estate holding business. Since the collapse, lenders suffered huge losses that came close to destroying the economy, and were were forced to take on the responsibility of liquidating millions of foreclosures,  and negotiating millions of more homes in short-sales.

The Good News About Mortgage Loans

The friends and family who bought homes ten or twenty ago experienced a simpler mortgage application process. If you got a loan ten to 20-years ago, yes, it was easier. But at the same time, if you never experienced that in the past, your fame of reference is that it really isn’t all that difficult today.

Instead of complaining about the paperwork required, be thankful that that you can get a loan, and get it at these amazingly low mortgage interest rates.

How Mortgage Rates Change

Minneapolis, MN:  Many people believe that if you call around to enough lenders, that you will find someone offering a great deal.  The reality is that it doesn’t really work that way.  We generally say that if you call around to enough lenders, you might find the biggest liar.

Are All Lender Essentially The Same?

First understand that for all your traditional loans; FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac loans, which encompass the vast majority of all mortgage loans done in this county, every mortgage lender follows the same rules, have the same underlying costs, and set rates based on the same thing.  If my rates go up, so do theirs.  If my rates go down, so do theirs.

worth_balanceEver notice that most of the time, when purchasing the same item at Target or Walmart, the price is virtually the same thing.  Maybe just a tiny difference?  The same thing goes with mortgage loans.

Are there minor differences in mortgage companies rate?  Yes, but generally, the difference between the best and the worst on any given day is about .25%, and really only has to do with overhead, not one being able to really offer something better.

If my cost is the same as their costs, but they have to pay for advertising on all TV channels, radio stations, and all over the Internet.  If they have to pay for stadium sponsorships, and the brink and mortar buildings on every corner, but I don’t… Who do you think can then offer better deals?  Yes, it is that simple.

So What Changes Mortgage Rates

Long term fixed rate loans, like Conventional fixed rate loans and Government back VA Loans and FHA Loan lenders all set their rates based on the pricing of Mortgage Backed Securities.  These mortgage bonds are traded in real time, all day in the bond market.

This means rates or loan fees (mortgage pricing) moves constantly throughout the day, being affected by a variety of economic or political events.  The bond market most days trades in a small zone. So the mortgage rate the lender sets in the morning, is usually good all day long.  But sometimes, the bond market has bigger changes though out the day, meaning a mortgage lender could potentially change rates during the day, sometimes even multiple times in one day.

This can be very frustrating for mortgage shoppers.  You call this morning to get a mortgage quote. Quote in have, you talk to your spouse about it, calling back in the afternoon, just to get a different quote.  Sometimes this change is in your favor.  Sometime it is not.

Therefore tracking these securities in real-time is critical. When MBS pricing goes up, mortgage rates or pricing generally goes down.  When they fall, mortgage pricing goes up. Click this link to track our live mortgage rates for MN, WI, IA, ND, SD.

Working with a mortgage loan officer who knows and understands the mortgage back security market, someone who can help you understand when to lock your interest rate, or if you should float your interest rate it critical.

I am one of those Loan Officers, not just your typical Loan Application Clerk.  I lend in MN, WI, IA, ND, SD.