Ken Mascia on Mortgages and Finance

The homebuyer tax credit has been extremely successful and has really had a positive impact on the real estate market. Hundreds of thousands of homes have been sold as a result of buyers taking advantage of the tax credit. The credit was scheduled to expire on November 30th but has been extended and expanded! The [...]

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In February the government amended and improved the first time homebuyer tax credit. Just to refresh your memory: 1) First time homebuyers will receive a federal tax credit of 10% of the cost of the home with a maximum credit of $8,000. You get the credit when you file your tax return for the 2009 [...]

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Once again the Federal Government is making getting a home loan more difficult, time consuming and cumbersome. The Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act (MDIA) has good intentions, like many government mandates, it seeks to protect us, boneheaded citizens, from every possible harm because we are apparently not smart enough to make decisions on our own or [...]

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Mortgage loan modification is something that has been talked about a lot over the past year as financial hardships have made it difficult for some to manage their monthly payments. Loan Modification is when your lender agrees to make a permanent change to the original terms of your mortgage loan. This could be in the [...]

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Mortgage Market Update June 9, 2009 Well, it’s Wednesday, May 27th and I’m cruising along at the office working out various underwriting issues working towards closing a bunch of loans because for the first time in over a year, I’m really busy! Oh happy day! Until today. On the day I am writing about interest [...]

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Many potential Oakland County home buyers in today’s market are looking for creative ways to purchase homes. There are a couple of options which are widely overlooked but present opportunities to accomplish specific goals of buyers in the market. If you want to buy a house that needs minor repairs – perhaps a new roof, [...]

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I have been hearing people saying lately that foreclosure is so common now that being foreclosed really doesn’t have the same negative impact on credit and borrowing ability as it used to. Can this be true? Absolutely not. This article is directed at those folks who are considering walking away from a property they own [...]

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So, you own a house and are wondering if you should refinance? Can you get a new loan? Are rates low and are they going lower? Man, you’ve got a lot of tough questions! There has been a lot buzz lately about mortgage rates and mortgage availability; Rates are at 5% and the government is [...]

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Congress finally came to terms on this stimulus bill that we’ve been hearing so much about. This thing is very far reaching and is going to cost a boat load of money, but I am just focusing on the items that will affect real estate sales and mortgage finance. Mortgage Rate Reduction – There has [...]

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Well, there has been more interesting activity in the mortgage interest rate market this month.  The Federal Government has been busy trying to keep the economic ship afloat and they are doing OK in some areas and poorly in others (my editorial opinion, of course). I applaud the Fed’s for seeking to reduce mortgage rates [...]

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Each year limits are set on how much a conventional loan (non-government insured) can be and when a conventional loan exceeds the limit it is known as a jumbo loan.  Government loans (FHA insured) also have a limit and when a loan exceeds that limit the FHA will not insure the loan and therefore it [...]

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