Joe LaVallie's (joelava) Blog

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Mortgage and Lending - HomeStreet Bank
RECENT BLOG POSTS
Today we are going to look at the mortgage insurance options with conventional loans. There are two basic options: borrower paid monthly and borrower paid single premium with no refund. The borrower paid monthly is the traditional approach to mortgage insurance. Usually one month is collected at ...
11/01/2012
FHA Vs. Conventional: Round 2 is all about mortgage insurance. This is where these two programs are very different. Mortgage insurance is insurance that protects the lender if you default on the loan. If you default on the loan and the lender loses money on the loan they are able to submit a clai...
10/31/2012
Based on the number of emails that I received we are not ready to move to round 2 of our competition. There are many people that are not aware that Fannie Mae offers 3% down on purchases. The maximum loan to value for single family purchases is 97%. The minimum amount down for FHA purchases is 3....
10/30/2012
FHA Vs. Conventional: Round 1. Who will come out on top for the best loan? Who has the lower rates? Who has the lower fees? The back-story: The conventional 30 year fixed is sponsored by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two big power player. FHA just has one sponsor; Federal Housing Authority. Each ha...
10/29/2012
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Let's play Beat the Banker. How do banks make money on the money your borrow on your mortgage? Interest. The less interest you pay the less the banker makes the more money you save. The initial period of you loan is mostly interest and the last part of your loan is mostly principal. The faster yo...
10/26/2012
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I have a HARP 3.0 wish list. HARP is a the Home Affordability Refinance Program designed to help homeowner refinance their mortgage. HARP 1.0 didn't help many people. HARP 2.0 helped more people but not enough. Will we get HARP 3.0? I don't know but I do know what changes need to be made to the p...
10/25/2012
There are a couple of VA refinance tips and tricks that you should be aware of. One that catches some people is that the VA rollover can only increase the term of the existing loan by 10 years, upĀ a maximum of 30 years. So, if you are refinancing an existing VA loan that is over 10 year old, make...
10/24/2012
Meet my friend IRRRL. Interest Rate Reduction RefinanceĀ Loan. This is a special refinance loan for borrowers that have VA loans. VA loans are for veterans that have served 181 days during peacetime,90 days during war time, or 6 years in the Reserves or National Guard. Spouses may also qualify if ...
10/23/2012
It is complicated secret but you can save money refinancing your FHA on a streamline when you factor in the mortgage insurance. In my previous posts I reviewed the benefits of the FHA Streamline program: Easy qualification guidelines and no appraisal. But wait there is more! You could save more m...
10/22/2012
With the FHA Streamline what you must know is that the loan amount can't be increased to cover loan costs. This one little detail causes more trouble than you can imagine. With most refinancing you can increase the loan amount to cover closing costs and reserves-not so with the FHA Streamline. Th...
10/19/2012
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Joe LaVallie

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