Five Big Financial Reasons to Own Your Home

Andy Davis

There are many reasons why consumers decide to buy their own home instead of renting. Of course many factors such as housing market, whether you have a high or low interest rate, and personal timing go into account, but below are a few financial positives of being a home owner.

  1. Owning your home forces you to save. Paying your mortgage and building equity in your home forces you to save money.
  2. Owning your home allows you to save on taxes.
  3. If you own your home, your monthly housing expenses are locked in through a consistent monthly payment based on your interest rate. If you were to rent, depending on your agreement your payment could be raised by a landlord.
  4. In most parts of the country renting is more costly than owning your own home. Getting a low interest rate allows your mortgage payments to cost less than what some landlords would be charging. Local real estate markets in Lee County and Collier County are part of this trend.
  5. This is the only investment you can make financially that will have increased personal connection. What other investment will you make that you will live inside of other than your primary residence? Building equity in your home while creating life long memories doubles the benefits.

Florida Home Value Rise Beats National Average

Andy Davis

According to Zillow, the rate in price increase among Florida homes will beat the nation’s average over the next year. Home values in Florida are up 4.64% this year with an expected increase of 4.09% next year. Nationally, Zillow expects the value of homes to rise 2.2% over the next 12 months. Low interest rates are causing the local real estate market to heat up substantially. Understanding the affect of  increasing home prices and low mortgage rates will allow informed investors to make sound decisions in this hot housing market.

New FHA Condo Rules Boost Affordability

Andy Davis

According to a recent report by the National Association of Realtors, HUD will be enacting new FHA condo rules. These rules will change a few things, but most importantly they will extend the approval process to individual condo units and extend the FHA certifications of condominium developments from two to three years. This change will ease the compliance obligations put on condo boards likely adding to the total number of FHA approved condos. Providing additional affordable housing options will allow a whole new group of first time home buyers to enter the market. These changes, along with the already low FHA mortgage rates, will make it that much easier for families to buy a property of their own. These changes come as NAR and HUD have been working together to solve a recent decrease in condo lending in recent history and provide affordable options to more families across the United States. The rule changes will take affect in mid October 2019.

Cash-Out Refinancing Loan to Value Reduced to 80%

Andy Davis

As of September 1st 2019, the maximum amount available for a cash-out refinance will be decreased to 80% of the homes current market value. Previously the new loan could be equal to 85% of your homes worth. This 5% drop is inherently due to the  high levels of cash-out refinance activity in recent years adding to government risk. Ultimately this move by the FHA is aiming to ensure the repeat of the events leading to the last recession are not in play.

United Wholesale Mortgage Lowers Rates and Pricing

Andy Davis

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PONTIAC, Mich., Jan. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the No. 1 wholesale lender in America for four consecutive years, has made a major change to its pricing philosophy, now providing mortgage brokers with the best rates and pricing in America.

UWM has been consistently competitive in terms of rates, regularly ranking near the top of most rate comparisons, but was recognized by mortgage brokers more for its fast and easy processes than offering the best pricing. Now, UWM’s rate sheet is expected to outshine all of its wholesale competitors, in addition to continuing to set the gold standard for service, process, technology and partnership tools.

“Perception has always been that a lender can’t deliver it all – the best service, great technology, a true partnership, and have the best pricing too – but now they can have it all,” said Mat Ishbia, President and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. “We’ve shattered expectations. If a mortgage broker has a borrower with a 640+ FICO, it should be a UWM loan.”

UWM has removed all state adjustments and many Loan Level Price Adjustments (LLPA), as well, offering the best pricing on every loan with a 640 FICO and above.

The major pricing improvement follows other recent pricing initiatives that UWM has brought to market, including its Jumbo Bank Buster program (cheapest jumbo rates) and its lower Borrower-Paid M.I. rates.

UWM finished 2018 with $41.5 billion in total loan volume, an all-time high for the company, making up nearly a quarter of the entire wholesale industry’s market share. That production represents a 40% year-over-year growth, making UWM the fastest-growing lender in the nation. Additionally, UWM is the No. 1 non-bank purchase lender in the country and ranks fourth overall among the top-producing mortgage lenders, overall, in America.

Source- PRNewswire and United Wholesale Mortgage

FHA Mortgage Loan Limits Increase in 2019!

Bob Vaughan

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The new year will bring higher mortgage loan limits for FHA Mortgage Loans. FHA announced the new mortgage loan limits for 2019 will increase across the majority of the country to $314,827 from $294,515. These changes will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2019.

The FHA Mortgage Loan Limit in Lee County will be $314,827
The FHA Mortgage Loan Limit in Charlotte County will be $314,827
The FHA Mortgage Loan Limit in Collier County will be $450,800

Our company is a full service mortgage company offering FHA Mortgage Loans, Conventional Mortgage Loans, VA Mortgage Loans, USDA Mortgage loans and Jumbo mortgage loans in the state of Florida. If you have any questions about mortgage loans, please call our office at 239-691-6546!

 

Loan Limits Increase in 2019!

Bob Vaughan

After not increasing the maximum conforming loan limits on mortgages to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for 10 years, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has now increased the conforming loan limit for the third year in a row. On November 27th, the FHFA announced that it is increasing the conforming loan limit for Fannie and Freddie mortgages in nearly every part of the U.S. According the FHFA, the conforming loan limits will rise from 2018’s level of $453,100 to $484,350 for 2019. That’s an increase of 6.9%! As stated above, this marks the third straight year that the FHFA has increased the conforming loan limits after not increasing them for a period of 10 years (from 2006 to 2016). Back in 2016, the conforming loan limits were increased from $417,000 to $424,100. Then, in 2018, conforming mortgage loan limits were raised from $424,100 to $453,100. And now, the FHFA is doing it again, increasing the loan limit from $453,100 to $484,350 for 2019. The conforming loan limits for Fannie and Freddie are determined by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which established the baseline loan limit at $417,000 and mandated that, after a period of price declines, the baseline loan limit cannot rise again until home prices return to pre-decline levels. But, according to the FHFA, home prices are still on the rise. The FHFA’s third quarter 2018 House Price Index report, showed that home prices rose 6.9%, on average, between the third quarters of 2017 and 2018. Therefore, the maximum conforming loan limit in 2019 will increase by the same percentage to $484,350. The conforming mortgage loan limit in Lee County, Collier County and Charlotte county will be $484,350.

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FHA Approved Condos In Collier County (Updated 7/18/2017)

Andy Davis

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Below is a list of condos in Collier County that are currently approved for FHA financing per the department of HUD website:

 

Condo
Name		 Address Composition
of Project		 Expiration
Date
ARIELLE AT PELICAN MARSH 2255 PELICAN MARSH BLVD
NAPLES, FL 34109		 27-2 Story 6,8, and 10 units buildings with 230 total units with a community pool and cabana. 09/17/2017
HUNTINGTON WOODS HUNTINGTON WOODS DRIVE
NAPLES, FL 34112		 13 Duplexes consisting of 26 units 11/08/2018
NAPLES WINTERPARK NORTHWINDS DRIVE
NAPLES, FL 34112		 Low-Rise 184 Units 06/29/2018
OSPREY POINTE AT PELICAN MARSH WHIMBREL WATCH LANE
NAPLES, FL 34109		 96 units 01/05/2019
STONEGATE OF EAGLES CYPRESS VIEW DRIVE
NAPLES, FL 34113		 38 Units 05/13/2018
THE ORCHARDS CONDOMINIUM GARDNER DRIVE
NAPLES, FL 34109		 30 Buildings, 2 Story, Townhome Style 05/19/2019