– 90 DAY FLIPPING RULE SUSPENDED FOR 1 YEAR!! –

Great news for investors!  Admitting that it is in fact possible to buy, rehab, and sell a property in less than 90 days, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has suspended it's infamous 90 day seasoning requirement!  This is also great news for home buyers, as this suspension should effectively allow quite a few more houses onto the market that otherwise would be just "seasoning" (aka sitting) on the market for 90 days.  Before we get into this too deep, lets first get an idea of what this seasoning requirement originally entailed.  Basically, since 2003, the FHA has required that a house is "seasoned" on the market for 90 days before it is allowed to be resold.  This means that an investor or any other person who purchased a property had to wait for approximately 3 months before they were allowed to sell the house to an FHA insured buyer.  More than anything, this was done to prevent people from buying a house and immediately selling it at an inflated price to a naive or uninformed buyer.  Luckily, over the past several years, most of the riff raff has been weeded out of ...

– USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOANS OFFER 100% FINANCING FOR SURROUNDING AREAS OF DFW!!! –

Over the past several years, the Government and the Mortgage Industry as a whole has continuously tightened the rules and regulations when it comes to buying a home.  It has gotten to the point where even people with stellar credit and a solid borrowing history still need a hefty down payment before they can purchase a new house. Fortunately though, there is a new program available from the United States Department of Agriculture that offers 100% financing for people that live (or are looking to live) in rural areas. Why would they do this?  Is it too good to be true?  Well, long story short, the government offers the option of “zero money down” so that people who live in rural areas (who may have always been renters) can finally have access to affordable mortgages. Consequently, this type of loan is often the best scenario for people who live in the country and want to find a place they can call home.  Another amazing feature of this loan is that 100% of repairs that ...

$8000 TAX CREDIT – TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!

Attention Dallas Fort Worth first time home buyers!  Time is running out! As of now you have less than 3 months to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit offered by the Federal Government.  If you are still planning on buying a house and taking advantage of this historic opportunity you must make your home purchase by December 1st of 2009 (in order to qualify). Here are some of the basic guidelines to see if you might qualify for the tax credit.  First of all, a "first time home buyer" is considered to be someone who has not owned a home for the past three years.  As for the limit you can receive, just look at the purchase price of the home and take 10%.  The max is  capped at $8,000, and is subject to income limitations, meaning that if you are single you would need a modified adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less to qualify for the full credit.  Married couples need a gross income of $150,000. If you happen to make more than that, you may in fact be eligible for reduced credits.  The last main requirement is that ...

- CLOSING COSTS EXPLAINED -

When it comes to purchasing a house there is one thing that will shock a first-time home buyer more than anything, and that is the total cost associated with closing a loan. To be totally honest, closing costs can be quite earth-shaking to someone who isn't ready. If you are planning to buy a house anytime soon it is strongly recommended that you get your budget in order ahead of time. Some of these costs are charged by the mortgage company itself, while others are payable to various parties. Here's a little breakdown on some of the fees you may be charged, and who's getting your money. One of the first fees you're going to run into is the Application Fee. This is charged when you fill out your initial application (the 1003) and is non-refundable. This covers the costs your lender pays in regard to paperwork, or maybe even your credit report when you got pre-approved. Next is the Loan Origination Fee, which is charged by the lender to cover all the costs that are associated with processing your loan. This also covers their administrative costs. This fee is generally ...

- QUALIFYING FOR A MORTGAGE -

Unless you find yourself in the rare situation of having a few hundred thousand dollars laying around (or stuffed under your mattress), you're going to have to take out a mortgage if you want to purchase a house. There just isn't a way around it. So here's some tips for getting the process started, or as we call it in the mortgage biz, "getting pre-qualified." The first thing you are going to need to do is make sure all of  your finances are in order. If managed early (and correctly), this can help so there won't be any inconvenient roadblocks at the last minute that might prevent you from buying your dream home. Long story short, lenders are going to look at a few specific things before they give you the green light to go shopping for your first mansion.  Here they are: 1. Your credit history. Pretty much the first thing the banks will do when they see your name is pull a copy of your credit report and check it very thoroughly.  Banks do this because ...

- TOPIC O’ THE WEEK: BIWEEKLY MORTGAGE PAYMENTS -

If you have the pleasure of owning your own home, your loan servicer probably contacts you all the time trying to get  you to change or update your mortgage in some way.  Some of these changes may include refinancing your current loan, taking out a home equity line of credit, or converting your loan into a biweekly mortgage. While the thought of changing your mortgage may seem as a major annoyance, it is definitely worth the time to see if any of these changes could benefit you. So let's get started. The folks at the bank claim that switching to a biweekly mortgage can cut the total length of your loan by 5 to 7 years, and at the same time save you thousands of dollars in interest.  Of course this sounds amazing, but is it TRUE?  Is it worth pursuing?  Will the Rangers slump after the all-star break?  Fortunately for you, the former questions are easier to answer. Overall, the process of converting your existing loan into a biweekly mortgage works quite simply.  In fact, by switching to a biweekly mortgage you aren't even really changing anything ...