My Mind on Mortgages

When a home buyer takes out a new mortgage and has less than 20% down often times they will be required to provide mortgage insurance to the lender (exceptions exist when we’re able to provide “combination loans” which are fairly uncommon these days). Mortgage Insurance (also known as “mi” or “pmi‘) is insurance which covers [...]

What is a 2nd mortgage/ home equity loan? A 2nd mortgage is a loan that is originated and subordinated behind a first mortgage. 2nd mortgages are also referred to as home equity loans, junior liens, or combination loans. These loans can take on various forms. The two most popular 2nd mortgages are the Home Equity [...]

As mortgage lenders continue to restrict their lending guidelines in response to the “subprime fallout” it is no wonder that mortgage originators are increasing their reliance on FHA & state sponsored first time home buyer programs to fill the void. In Oregon we have the Oregon Bond program (http://www.oregonbond.us/). This particular program is offered through [...]

The most common ARM products we originate are hybrid ARMs. With a hybrid ARM the interest rate is fixed for an initial period of time before it reaches an adjustable rate period. 3/1, 5/1, 7/1, & 10/1 ARM’s- The most common hybrid ARM’s are the 3/1, 5/1, 7/1, and 10/1 ARM’s. With these loan products [...]

With a 7/1 interest-only ARM the loan will carry a fixed rate for the initial 7 years of the loan. After that, the interest rate will adjust on an annual basis. For the first 7 years of the loan the borrower may make interest-only payment on the outstanding balance. At the end of 7 years [...]

I am often asked by customers whether or not signing up for a bi-weekly repayment plan is a good idea.  So that this post doesn’t exceed 10,000 words I am going to ignore the first question to ask which is “should I be in a hurry to pay off my mortgage?” given that you probably [...]

A HELOC is a line of credit much like a credit card that is secured against the equity in a home. These are most often originated after a person has owned a home but can also be originated as a part of a purchase transaction. HELOCʼs have extremely flexible terms and is an excellent financial [...]

I originate very few 15 year mortgages. The reason? I believe that cash is king. Given that mortgage rates are at historical low levels I would rather see my clients take out a 30 year amortizing mortgage and invest the difference instead of potentially creating a cash-trap with a 15 year loan. Here’s an article [...]

This loan program carries a 30 year fixed interest rate with a 10-year interest-only payment period. With this program your interest rate remains fixed for the entire 30 year term of the loan. What makes it different from a standard 30 year fixed rate mortgage program is that for the initial 10 years the lender [...]

For most of our clients, the idea of a “no closing cost” (NCC) refinance seems too good to be true. We think that these loans are great tools for helping our clients save money; but it is critical that our clients understand how they work. The purpose of this posting is to explain how we [...]