Renting

Chase Now Requires a 700 FICO and 20% Down to Get a New Mortgage

Following in the footsteps of many other mortgage lenders of late, JP Morgan Chase has upped its minimum requirements to get a home loan. Once again, it has to do with COVID-19, which has led to a flood of unemployment filings and a general fear that many homeowners will begin to default on their mortgages. [&hellip

The post Chase Now Requires a 700 FICO and 20% Down to Get a New Mortgage first appeared on The Truth About Mortgage.

Is Mortgage a Good Debt or a Bad Debt?

You may have heard that mortgage is a “good debt,” in that it’s okay to carry a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar loan for decades on end. While that may sound counterintuitive to the many anti-debt folks out there, such as Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey, there is actually some real truth to it. Why Mortgage Is a Good [&hellip

The post Is Mortgage a Good Debt or a Bad Debt? first appeared on The Truth About Mortgage.

COVID-19 Is Pushing Home Buyers to Move Sooner

Sometimes you need a little push to get things going, especially when it’s a big something like purchasing a home. Well, it turns out a pandemic can be that driving force, as evidenced by a new survey from real estate brokerage company Redfin. The company said 25% of the 1,000 home buyers it polled are [&hellip

The post COVID-19 Is Pushing Home Buyers to Move Sooner first appeared on The Truth About Mortgage.

HELOC vs. Credit Card: Why the Plastic May Work Out Better

You may have heard recently that “tappable” home equity has reached an all-time high, thanks to rapidly appreciating home prices and conservative borrowing on behalf of existing homeowners. If you haven’t, know that some 42 million homeowners have around $5.4 trillion in equity at their disposal, assuming a maximum 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV), this according [&hellip

The post HELOC vs. Credit Card: Why the Plastic May Work Out Better first appeared on The Truth About Mortgage.

What Mortgage Rate Can I Get With My Credit Score?

A reader recently asked, “What mortgage rate can I get with my credit score?”  So I figured I’d try to clear up a somewhat complex question. With mortgage rates now at new all-time lows, again (sigh!), borrowers looking to refinance a mortgage or purchase a home seem to be increasingly curious about the possibility of [&hellip

The post What Mortgage Rate Can I Get With My Credit Score? first appeared on The Truth About Mortgage.

18 Reasons to Refinance Your Mortgage

There are many reasons to refinance your mortgage, some obvious and some a bit more obscure and/or different. I figured I’d compile a list of the many reasons I can think of to refinance. Some of the situations are complete opposites of one another and will depend on your unique financial goals and/or risk appetite. [&hellip

The post 18 Reasons to Refinance Your Mortgage first appeared on The Truth About Mortgage.

Homeowners in Forbearance Plans Have Lower Credit Scores, Higher DTI Ratios

The latest weekly Forbearance and Call Volume Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) revealed that 7.80% of outstanding home loans were in forbearance. That number was up slightly from 7.74% a week earlier, putting roughly 3.9 million homeowners in forbearance plans. Much of these are COVID-19-related, thanks in part to a very liberal CARES [&hellip

The post Homeowners in Forbearance Plans Have Lower Credit Scores, Higher DTI Ratios first appeared on The Truth About Mortgage.

Use These Mortgage Charts to Easily Compare Rates

One of the things prospective home buyers and existing homeowners seem to care most about is mortgage rates. And for good reason – the interest rate you receive on your home loan dictates what you’ll pay each month, sometimes for as long as the next 30 years. That’s 360 months! The rate you receive can [&hellip

The post Use These Mortgage Charts to Easily Compare Rates first appeared on The Truth About Mortgage.

You Can Buy More House If You Put More Money Down

I was reading through the latest quarterly home price report from the National Association of Realtors yesterday and stumbled upon an interesting nugget. It might seem obvious, but it’s worth pointing out to prospective home buyers who might be lacking in the income department. Simply put, if you are able to come to the table [&hellip

The post You Can Buy More House If You Put More Money Down first appeared on The Truth About Mortgage.