We finally experienced the long anticipated short-term interest rate hike by the Fed. Now, what happens? There are all kinds of speculation. Some say it will help while others say it might hurt. When might the fed do it again? Much depends on how the economy reacts. We shall see. The stock market sure liked it, at first, now it’s…
Some experts believe that a slight rate hike may actually increase lending by loosening credit standards (Rate Hike). They believe the higher rates will entice lenders to make it a little easier for people to get mortgages. Is that because the higher rates may restrict some at the lower end of the scale from affording a home? So, in turn,…
Fannie Mae and Equifax have announced that Fannie will be incorporating credit trending information, provided by Equifax, into Desktop Underwriter. In addition, lenders will be able to verify an applicant’s income and employment through DU using either Equifax’s “The Work Number” product or through a manual verification service offered by Equifax (Verifications). Both Fannie Mae and Equifax tout this as…
Fannie Mae continues to make changes to their products, pricing and processes in attempts to help lenders provide financing to more home buyers and homeowners. They rolled out their 97% financing, eased some of their underwriting guidelines, modified reps and warrants and recently expanded their eligibility for high balance loans to better serve creditworthy borrowers in high cost areas. What…
A recent survey of senior loan officers (are there any others?) shows that credit standards for mortgage loans are loosening up a little. This easing is not in the government or subprime loan markets but rather in the areas of QM jumbo loans (Credit). Many banks shy away from FHA lending and sub-prime loans. Although Independent Mortgage Lenders believe these…
In the never-ending pursuit of more ways to increase homeownership, we now come to another segment of the population which may be deprived of this opportunity. The “Credit Invisibles”, those without a standard credit score (Credit Invisibles).It seems there are between 30 to 35 million consumers who may fall into this category. That’s quite a large number of people being…
