Happy Friday! Time for more Q&A! Please always feel free to send in your questions, I am happy to address them immediately. I hope you find this information to be a true resource. Let's get started...
- I found a great home to purchase! It is totally renovated. The seller bought the house a couple of months ago and has done a bunch of work to it! It's like a whole new house. I am going to make an offer on it, and I would like to know what my financing options are? When did the seller purchase the home? Is it listed with more than a 20% increase in price? Or how long has he/she had title? If less than 6 months, the property is considered a flip. There are specific guidelines for this type of transaction. It has nothing to do with the borrower and everything to do with the property and, what we term, seasoning of title (how long the seller has had title). Conventional guidelines will require that the seller provide documentation for the improvements to the property - receipts. FHA requires a 2nd appraisal, not paid by the buyer, and home inspection ordered by the mortgage company.
- We are interested in purchasing a home using VA eligibility. We did have a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure almost two years ago. Can w go ahead and get pre-qualified now? Yes. VA guidelines require that either 2 years from the date of completion has passed, or there must have been extenuating circumstances two act before the two-year anniversary.
- What in the world is going on in the market? We have been looking at purchasing a home, but we just don't know what to do about the rate, where we were initially, isn't where we are now. Recently the Feds announced they would begin backing off of purchasing Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS). For the past couple of years, they had been purchasing them in large volumes pressuring investors to keep the mortgage rates low. So, the rates we had been experiencing were not truly created by market influences but instead by the actions mentioned. The markets have been reacting much stronger to economic indicators driving rates upward. Most statisticians are trying to figure out where the interest rate should really be. It is believed the current market volatility will steady, but we have probably seen the last of rates in the 3% range for a while.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I look forward to working with you and your clients.
Jennifer Keenan, Senior Mortgage Consultant
NMLS# 101837, Tidewater Home Funding (757) 366-8690