Should you increase your homeowner’s insurance deductible? If you own a house, you need homeowner’s insurance. You may be able to lower your premiums significantly and save money each month by raising your homeowner’s insurance deductible. But before you do so, weigh the pros and cons.
Looking for ways to improve your credit score? Pay your cards and bills on time! Don’t open new cards and don’t close old cards. Wait until after closing to make big purchases, or shift debt from one card to another. if you are applying for a mortgage to purchase a new home, you want to improve your credit score – and at a minimum avoid hurting your credit – so that you can get the best rate possible.
A home warranty is different than homeowners’ insurance. Is a home warranty something you should buy? Your lender insists that you have to buy homeowners’ insurance but do you need a home warranty?
Trended data. a credit scoring model used by Experian, benefits homebuyers who have a better credit history over a longer stretch of time than a shorter one.
There is a difference between the interest rate and APR (annual percentage rate.) It is confusing when you start looking at rates from different lenders because each lender may present the rate differently. How do you shop for the best rate if they are different? When comparing loan offers from multiple lenders, it can be helpful to look at the Total Interest Percentage (TIP), which is the amount that you would pay in interest over the life of a loan
You choose the right lender by asking questions – lots of questions! Here are some questions to ask your lender. Looking at homes for sale can be the fun part of buying a house. The real work comes when you’re picking a mortgage lender that can give you the best loan for your circumstances. Remember, you make your profit when you buy your home – not when you sell it. Get it right by picking the best lender with the best product for you!
Here are some questions to ask your lender as you comparison shop for your mortgage:
Condo insurance is an important part of buying a condominium. How do you know what you should buy as a consumer? What kind of condo insurance does your new association require? Buying a condo can be a smart start to being a homebuyer, without many of the maintenance hassles of owning a detached home but it does come with extra considerations.
Insurance through the homeowner association, or HOA, covers some areas of the complex, though each homeowner must have their own insurance to cover certain parts of their property and their belongings. This is also known as HO-6 insurance.
Here’s a breakdown of how HO-6 insurance works:
The Maryland Market Update for December 2020 shows a strong market due to tight inventory and low interest rates. Maryland’s December housing market ended the year with strong sales volume and an increase in average sales prices. increased 11.2%.
Did you know there is a Maryland Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit Program? The State of Maryland has developed a program which allows credits against the homeowner’s property tax bill if the property taxes exceed a fixed percentage of the person’s gross income. In other words, it sets a limit on the amount of property taxes any homeowner must pay based upon his or her income. This not based on the age of the applicant – just the income. However, an application must be filed each year that a credit is requested.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) recently announced that effective September 1 there would be an Adverse Market Refinance Fee, which applies to all mortgage refinances serviced by government entities. The so-called “Adverse Market Refinance Fee” (Fannie is also calling it a “Loan-Level Price Adjustment,” while Freddie’s alternative label is a “Market Condition Credit Fee in Price”) would assess a 50-basis point fee for both no cash-out refinance mortgages and cash-out refinance mortgages. This means lenders will pay an extra 0.5 percent of the loan amount as a one-time charge. This would add as much as $1400 to refinances. That was the bad news.
The better news is that on Tuesday, August 25, the FHFA announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would delay the implementation of the controversial Adverse Market Refinance Fee. The fee will now be applied starting December 1 rather than September 1. Along with this news, the FHFA said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will exempt refinance loans with balances below $125,000 along with Home Ready and Home Possible products. Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Robert Broeksmit said, “We welcome today’s announcement from the FHFAamending the recently announced Adverse Market Refinance Fee from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Extending the effective date will permit lenders to close refinance loans that are in their pipelines and honor the rate lock commitments they made to their borrowers, ensuring that economic relief in the form of record low interest rates will continue to flow to consumers.”
If you are thinking of refinancing to take advantage of the truly historic low rates we are seeing right now, then please give me a call. I can recommend a good lender – either one we work with constantly – or one who works for your current bank. I want to make sure that you get the best rates and best service possible and I am happy to share my contacts with you to make that happen!
Lise Howe
519 C St NE
Washington, DC 20002
© 2017-2025 Lise Howe
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