The new credit score is said to bring improved access to credit, giving the consumer more control, more flexibility, and more convenience in the credit scoring process. Lenders and FinTechs are set to pilot the program. Most Americans have been subjected to the FICO credit scoring system for a measure of their creditworthiness. The score has traditionally been calculated based solely on information from a person’s credit report. The precise...
How to Get a Mortgage If You Are Self-Employed
Most people who are self-employed think that getting a mortgage is out of reach for them, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have to forego the idea of owning your own home. Many self-employed people earn a good living; but without a regular paycheck to depend on, most of them may have a hard time trying to prove their income. What most lenders are primarily focused on when...
Mortgage application rates hits the lowest as interest rates continue to rise
Mortgage application rates dropped for the third week as the interest rates and high home prices take their toll on mortgage. The total mortgage application rate volume decreased 2.6 percent from the previous week according to a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Market Composite Index, which is a measure of the mortgage loan application volume, fell 2.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week. However,...
Student debts weigh down on the housing market
Student loan debts in the country have been a menace to most first time home buyers in the United States, who have to deal with the intricacies in the mortgage lending environment and the heavy debts flaunting on their portfolio, all of which seem to damper their American Dream of Homeownership. With the recent Independence Day celebration, you have to wonder when the country will ever achieve the true meaning...
Rising costs of housing cited as a root of lagging homeownership rates among the young adults
Freddie Mac estimates that the Homeownership rates will likely trail the historical levels through 2025 There is no doubt the cost of housing in California is on an upward surge, which presents the biggest hurdle for the young prospective homebuyers to overcome, this is according to a research done by Freddie Mac. The trend is, home prices, not only in California, but the rest of the nation are rising...
Mortgage rates near highest Average of the year
Mortgage rates on June were rising steadily after weeks of decline and for the second time in a year, the rate reached its peak level. However, this month, we see mortgage rates on a steady decline offering a slight degree of relief to the would-be homebuyers. The 30- year fixed rate mortgage dropped to 4.52% from 4.55 percent a week earlier. In the five or six weeks that have passed,...
Latinos are underrepresented in Mortgage Loans Applications
Latinos became the largest ethnic minority group in the US in mid-2000s. They currently make up nearly the 17% percent of the US population and contribute up to $2.13 TRILLION to the economy. However, it would be hard finding evidence of these numbers by looking at mortgage applications. In the state of California, Latinos are highly underrepresented in the mortgage market. In fact, Latinos represent nearly half of the population...
Improving Credit Score without a Credit Repair Agency
You see the ads in newspapers, on TV, and online. You hear them on the radio. You get fliers in the mail, email messages, and maybe even calls offering credit repair services. They all make the same claims. Do yourself a favor and save some money, too. Don’t believe these claims: they’re very likely signs of a scam. Here is how you can repair your credit score without a credit...
Mortgage Interest Deduction
On September 27, 2017, President Trump vowed to bring us a simpler tax code that would cut taxes for the middle class, and to bring back the wealth that has left our country. When that tax plan was revealed in October, the housing industry was shocked to see that the mortgage interest deduction was being eliminated. For years lauded as part of the path to homeownership, the deduction has been...
How FHFA Is Working Hard to Broaden Access to Mortgages
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which was created during the worst days of the 2008 crisis by then-President George W. Bush, has been giving new homeowners easy access to mortgage loans. The subprime mortgage bubble of 2008 destroyed many homeowners’ dreams as millions of foreclosures and bankruptcies resulted in a financial crisis that spread globally. As a result, the U.S. government was forced to make one of the largest...