Ken Mascia

There has been a lot of bad press over the past year about real estate values declining, home loans being hard to get and foreclosure troubles with homeowners and lenders.  I have to admit it’s a very challenging time in the mortgage lending business.  In times of trouble there are also opportunities that present themselves [...]

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I hovered over my crystal ball all night last night trying to figure out what the universe has in store for Southeast Michigan real estate. That darned thing was cloudy until about 3am but by that time I had had about 3 martini’s and things started to happen (besides the headache and blurred vision!). The [...]

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Yesterday President Bush signed the economic stimulus bill into law. One of the key points in the Bill for the real estate industry was an increase in conventional loan limits. The conventional loan limit has been set at $417,000 for the past 2 years. Loans over this amount are Jumbo Loans and are generally subject [...]

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The Federal Reserve Board cut the federal funds rate today by three quarters of a percent – the largest single reduction since 1990 and the first between meeting rate cut since September 2001.  The Fed wasn’t scheduled to meet to discuss interest rates until next week and it is quite unusual for them to reduce [...]

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Turmoil and challenges generally result in change and there sure have been some significant changes in mortgage lending over the past year! I’ve been working in this business for over 15 years and have never witnessed anything like it. However, it’s not all bad. Sure some loans are not being made that would have been, [...]

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The government may actually do something here that’s actually going to help us! We can all agree that one of the reasons why the real estate market is so soft right now is excess inventory. Foreclosures are only adding to this problem as banks list and sell distressed properties below market prices. Slowing foreclosure rates [...]

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Great News! Mortgage rates are as low as they’ve been in over 2 years!! 30 Year Fixed rate loans have been as low as 6% this week for conventional loans up to $417,000 with zero points (2 points would buy you down to 5.5%). Some of you will also be thrilled to hear that Jumbo [...]

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There has been so much talk this year about foreclosures and it seems like most people really don’t understand the foreclosure process.  There is also an alarming mindset right now in that a lot of people seem to be willing to just throw up there hands and say “I’ll just give it back to the [...]

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The Federal Reserve Board met today and reduced the Federal Funds rate by ½ % but what does that mean for mortgage rates? The Federal Funds Rate is the rate of interest that banks are charged for short term loans and has a direct impact on the Prime Rate. Many variable rate credit cards and [...]

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Ken Mascia, the mortgage guru from Oxford Financial, is back today with the lowdown on Good Faith Estimates. Comparing Lenders, rates and closing costs can be as confusing as driving in a foreign country where you can’t read the road signs. It’s sad but true. Many lenders actually like it that way because they got [...]

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Ken Mascia, the mortgage guru from Oxford Financial, is back today with the lowdown on Good Faith Estimates. Getting a mortgage loan can be very confusing and a lot of Lenders like it that way. They get you lost in the numbers and make you believe that you’re getting a better deal when they are [...]

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