The economy's improving but lending standards are not. Nationally, banks are making mortgage approvals harder to come by. Underwriting guidelines are tightening. The data comes from the Federal Reserve's quarterly survey to its member banks.  The Fed asks senior bank loan officers around the country to report on "prime" residential mortgage guidelines over the most recent 3 months and whether they've tightened. For the period October-December 2009: Roughly 1 in 4 banks said guidelines tightened Roughly 3 in 4 banks said guidelines were "basically unchanged" Just 2 of 53 ...

VA mortgages are a great way for those who served in the United States Armed Forces to purchase a home.  Many Southern California sellers have rejected offers using VA financing because they believe they are required to pay certain closing costs for the buyer.  We call those closing costs “non-allowables” because the VA won’t insure the loan if the veteran pays them. Those VA non-allowable closing costs are not limited to but include: Underwriting Fee Processing Fee Mortgage Broker Fee Administration Fee Tax Service Fee Wire Fee Escrow Fee If the VA won’t allow ...

A number of important changes were announced today by the FHA to reduce risk and improve its finances: The upfront mortgage insurance premium (MIP) will be raised from 1.75 percent to 2.25 percent The minimum down payment will climb from 3.5% to 10% if your Fico score is below 580 Allowable seller concessions will be reduced from 6% to 3% The FHA also plans to request legislative authority to increase the maximum annual mortgage insurance premium so it can reduce upfront costs for prospective home buyers. The proposed changes, which apply to all FHA loans, are expected to go into effect in ...

A number of important changes were announced today by the FHA to reduce risk and improve its finances: The upfront mortgage insurance premium (MIP) will be raised from 1.75 percent to 2.25 percent The minimum down payment will climb from 3.5% to 10% if your Fico score is below 580 Allowable seller concessions will be reduced from 6% to 3% The FHA also plans to request legislative authority to increase the maximum annual mortgage insurance premium so it can reduce upfront costs for prospective home buyers. The proposed changes, which apply to all FHA loans, are expected to go into effect in ...

New for 2010! The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is rolling out a series of new changes surrounding RESPA, the Good Faith Estimate, and the HUD-1 settlement statement all borrowers receive at closing. Below is an outline of some of these changes. RESPA Background The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, also known as RESPA, was passed by Congress in 1974 to give borrowers a clear estimate of fees that would be incurred during the mortgage process. RESPA is overseen by HUD. The purpose is to simplify forms for borrowers so they know what costs they can anticipate ...

One of the more popular questions that people often ask me is “how long will it take to close my loan?” and many of them are surprised at my answer: “Probably about 30 days, but a lot of that depends on you getting the requested documentation the underwriter asks for quickly.” There are many steps to the loan process, but as a general rule these are the highlights of the mortgage process: You first complete and sign application, get initial documentation to your loan officer Loan officer submits your file to the processor who then processes the file Processor submits ...