Financing | Mortgage rates

A small but critical omission has been corrected on the Property Details pages of LakeandCityHomes.com. First, some background info to put things into context:

Recently I added Lot Size to the search criteria for all the available searches on the site, however when a site visitor looked at the Property Details page for any given property, Lot Size/Acreage was nowhere to be found in the information displayed. But thanks to a very observant visitor to the site, this was pointed out to me and I corrected the issue as quickly as I could. My heartfelt thanks to Jessica for her valuable feedback!

Below are screen shots showing where you can specify one or more Lot Sizes to your property searches, as well as where you can now see Lot Size/Acreage displayed

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I wanted to share something with you in the event that you may still be on the fence about buying a home in Madison (or anywhere in Dane County). As we've seen over the past two weeks, the historically low rates that we've been witnessing are not going to last forever and, in fact, have already started rising. And while it is true that Madison house prices may continue to soften (although it must be pointed out that, overall, they have held up quite well), from a buying perspective there may never be a better time to buy a house in Madison and here's why:

But before I launch into an explanation of why now is such a good time to buy, please know that I am not trying to “talk you into” buying a home in Madison; on the contrary I'm assuming you're already

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Purchasing a new home is an exciting time in anyone's life. Still, before you take the leap into homeownership, it is important to have a clear idea of how much you can afford to pay for a home. After all, you don't want to pay so much for a home that you are unable to keep up with the payments. As such, it is essential for you to have a good idea of how much home you can afford before you start looking at available properties. One simple way to make this determination is to have a better understanding of the debt-to-income ratio and how it affects the loan process.

How Your Debt-to-Income Ratio Affects Your Loan

The first step toward determining how much how you can afford is to get a good idea of your debt-to-income ratio, which is the relationship

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There is suspense surrounding the future of residential home sales. The driving forces include: the loss of tax credit for first time home buyers, interest rates increasing, and the new short sale guidelines known as H.A.M.P. (Home Affordable Modification Program).

The tax incentive may be ending but there are still many fantastic government programs available on a national, state, and municipal level. Fannie Mae foreclosures will guarantee 3.5% towards closing costs and appliances with a two year home warranty included.  FHA insured HUD homes can be purchased for $100 down in many cases.  There are tons of programs that are out there to help real estate recovery.  One just needs to go the
right sources such as a Realtor or Loan Officer to see what they

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For those who have been considering buying a house, the month of April is shaping up to be the best time to do it. In fact, those who purchase a home in April are poised to save thousands or possibly tens of thousands of dollars when compared to those who wait until May. Therefore, for anyone who has been thinking about purchasing a home, April is the month to make it happen.
 
There are many reasons to seriously consider purchasing a home in April, but perhaps the biggest is the Home Buyer Credit. For those who qualify, the program can provide up to $8,000 worth of tax credits. Although the program has been extended through the month of June, homebuyers need to sign a purchase contract by the end of April in order to receive the credit. Since most buyers

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In the past year, the mortgage industry has implemented changes that will help provide customers with the essential information and enough time to understand their home purchases and refinance options. Some of those changes have included the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) changes in May 2009 and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) requirements that came into effect July 30, 2009. The newest addition to those changes is the RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) Reform, which became mandatory for all lenders and mortgage brokers on January 1, 2010.

Here's what you need to know about the RESPA Reform as a consumer and an industry colleague.

What is RESPA Reform?

RESPA Reform was enacted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

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As of January 21, 2010, the FHA is changing their upfront funding fee from 1.75% to 2.25%. This is the fee the borrower can finance directly into their loan without making any changes to the purchase price. It doesn't affect the amount of cash required to close a loan and it won't change borrowers' mortgage payments very much but the change is getting a lot of attention nonetheless. Here's what's really going on:

The FHA is essentially going back to what it used to charge consumers years ago before it lowered its fee from 2.25% to 1.5%, and then increased it to the current 1.75%.

 So while this is definitely an increase, it's not really that big of a deal. Also, it won't impact very many borrowers because few lenders are doing loans with credit scores

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An unpleasant scenario is starting to emerge regarding the mortgage rate picture for 2010. All my lender friends are telling me that the Fed is going to be winding down their purchase of mortgage-backed securities and will be all finished with the buying by the end of March 2010. Ouch. The experts don't see the Fed extending their buying spree so, although we aren't exactly sure what that's going to mean for mortgage rates, logic would seem to dictate that when you suddenly get dramatically decreased demand prices will have to drop in order for supply and demand to get back into equilibrium. As you may know, when it comes to mortgage-backed securities rates and prices move in opposite directions. So when demand for mortgage-backed securities diminishes and…

Things are about to get harder for first-time home buyers who have their sights set on an FHA (Federal Housing Authority) home mortgage. Borrowers will soon be required to have "more skin in the game", according to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. Donovan is scheduled to announce the following FHA policy changes when he testifies next Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee:

1. increase up-front cash paid by FHA borrowers from the current 3.5% (one lawmaker is proposing 5%)
2. raise the minimum credit scores for borrowers who receive FHA-backed mortgages to protect the FHA from the riskiest borrowers (the current minimum credit score requirement is a mere 500 out of 850)
3. limit the amount of money sellers can kick in from

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You may or may not like the song or even the band (seriously though, who doesn't like R.E.M.?), but we're sure you're gonna love our new MLS data feed!

Starting today, instead of new property listings hitting our site every 24 hours, they're going to hit our site every three hours. That's right, LakeandCityHomes.com now receives data (new listings, photos, price updates, etc) from the South Central WI MLS every three hours rather than once a day! How do you like that frequency?!

Why is that important, you might be asking yourself? Simply put, if you're looking to buy a property in a popular neighborhood or sought-after area, you're going to have some stiff competition, even in a buyer's market. But now that the listings on our website are updated

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