First-Time Buyers Face Rosier Prospects in 2015

Real Estate News

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Jan 9, 2015 January 15th, 2015Jonathan Smoke

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By: Jonathan SmokeJanuary 15th, 2015 

  

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It’s official: 2014 was the best year for total job growth since 2000. The housing market now has a confluence of several important demand-boosting factors that should make 2015 a big year for growth in home sales.
First, mortgage rates remain—at least for the time being—at near historic lows. The latest reprieve from higher rates is thanks to the bond market’s reaction to global economic concerns. Yet, as the jobs data indicate, the U.S. economy is on much better footing than the rest of the world.

Key factors for first-time buyers

But the key issue for first-time buyers has not been rates, which have been historically low for several years. Their employment situation, overall level of confidence, ability to qualify for credit and ability to afford the down payment have been the larger issues.
December data show that employment for younger households, in particular, has improved dramatically in the past year. For example, more civilian jobs for 25- to 34-year-olds were created in 2014 than in any other year since 1987.
Mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac clarified their credit qualification standards in the fall, which had been murky since 2009 legislation enacted in reaction to the housing bust. This should make it easier for many would-be home buyers to get a loan with slightly lower FICO scores and slightly higher loan-to-income and debt-to-income ratios.
The new low-down-payment programs announced in December from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will make conventional mortgages more accessible to first-time buyers.

con't.... http://www.realtor.com/news/first-time-buyers-face-rosier-prospects-in-2015

Save Me Money and I’ll Be Your Friend

By Dona DeZube, Chief Content Officer at HomeActions

Once you've helped someone buy a home, you quickly fade from their lives unless you give them a reason to stay in touch with you. Since everyone likes to save money, sharing articles about reducing homeowners' ongoing costs is a great way to make your clients keep opening your emails.
I see how well that strategy works when I look at which articles were clicked on by the more than 1 million homeowners who received the HomeActions e-newsletter in August.
The most-opened HomeActions article in August was Will Shutting Vents Cut Your Energy Bill?
The article, based on a blog from one of my favorite energy experts, explained why shutting too many vents can cause problems in your HVAC. The article worked because it delivered an "ah ha!" moment to viewers who thought they were saving money by closing off HVAC vents in their home.
You wouldn't expect an energy-efficiency story to be contentious, but this one was. One viewer suggested the article was funded by oil companies. Ironically, there was also an email from a viewer with an oil company email address arguing that shutting vents couldn't possibly harm the HVAC.
A few days later, a viewer wrote one of our Realtor clients and said the article was spot on. He'd had to pay $6,000 to remediate mold caused by shutting off about half the vents in a home.

http://retechnology.com/broker/articles/save-me-money-and-ill-be-your-friend?utm_campaign=lista-daily-ab&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_9504

FHA to eliminate “post payment” interest charges

WASHINGTON – Aug. 27, 2014 – The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today announced that borrowers who prepay their FHA-insured mortgages will not have to make interest payments beyond the date their mortgage is paid in full.
FHA's rule, Handling Prepayments: Eliminating Post-Payment Interest Charges, applies for FHA-insured mortgages closed on or after Jan. 21, 2015. This rule explicitly prohibits lenders from charging borrowers post settlement interest, which is broadly defined as a "prepayment penalty" by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), for all FHA Single Family mortgage products and programs.
In addition, FHA announced a new rule to ensure borrowers have early access to information when making decisions about their FHA mortgages. Effective for FHA-insured Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) originated on or after Jan. 10, 2015, this rule makes two revisions to FHA's ARM Program. It requires lenders:
″ To provide borrowers with FHA-insured ARMs at least a 60-day, but no more than 120-day, advance notice of an adjustment to their monthly payment. FHA currently requires a 25-day advance notice.
″ To base an interest rate adjustment that results in a corresponding change to the borrower's monthly payment on the most recent index value available 45 days before the date of the rate adjustment (commonly referred to as a "look back period"). FHA currently requires a 30-day look-back period.
The new rules result from regulations in the Truth-in-Lending Act (Regulation Z) as revised last year by the CFPB.
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