Home buyers are looking for ways to whittle down their mortgage rates. As a result, a once-popular home-selling tactic is making a comeback. It’s called a temporary buydown, and it was widely used when mortgage rates were zooming upward in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The revival of the temporary buydown is timely, as…
As mortgage rates continue their stomach-turning rise and serious shoppers compete for a limited supply of homes, would-be home buyers may be struggling to make a successful offer before their mortgage preapproval letter expires. According to Zillow, more than half of home buyers this year reported making two or more offers before closing on a home —…
As interest rates fell and home prices rose last year, Carlette Duffy of Indianapolis applied to refinance her mortgage and got a gut-punch of a surprise when the appraisal came in. Duffy estimated her home was worth $185,000, but the appraisal ordered by the lender valued her home at $125,000. She purchased a market analysis,…
Mortgage rates won’t change much in August, but they’re more likely to edge down than to go up. I wouldn’t be surprised if the average rate on the 30-year fixed dips to 2.75% annual percentage rate at some point in August. The monthly average should end up somewhere between 2.8% and 2.9%. The COVID-19 pandemic…
Andy Hill discovered he was house poor soon after he bought his first home in 2004. When Hill put 10% down on the 1,200-square-foot house in Royal Oak, Michigan, a suburb outside of Detroit, he was surprised to find out he had to pay private mortgage insurance, which initially was $158 a month. Heating the poorly…
The COVID-19 recession shriveled the bank accounts of countless homeowners. If you entered mortgage forbearance last April or May because of the pandemic, you have plenty of company: Almost a million people will reach their 12-month forbearance anniversaries in those months of 2021. In total, more than 2.5 million remained in forbearance plans as of…
When Philip Weiss, a systems engineer in New Jersey, saw the rustic house on a four-acre lot in the Poconos, it was love at first sight. He was preapproved for a mortgage, placed an offer on the home and the seller accepted. Nearly one month later, the unexpected happened. Weiss says despite having a 700+ credit…
If you’ve served in the military, a mortgage backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs may be your ticket to home ownership. VA loans don’t require a minimum down payment or mortgage insurance, and they often have lower interest rates than other mortgages. But applying for and using a VA loan involves steps other mortgages don’t,…
Is using your kitchen table as an office-slash-kids’-classroom making you long to upgrade your home? You’re not alone. Sixty-one percent of American homeowners have taken on home improvement projects since March 1, 2020, according to NerdWallet’s 2020 Home Improvement Report. But before you can join them, you’ll have to decide how to finance your project. Refinancing…
Getting approved for a mortgage is never easy. Even with great credit and a big down payment, the process can be cumbersome. In 2020, the process has become even more difficult. Lenders have tightened standards in response to the economic uncertainty during the coronavirus pandemic. Borrowers, hoping to buy a home while interest rates are…
