Can you buy or refinance after your divorce?  The question is always complex, but right now it is even more so.  During COVID, many homeowners took mortgage loan forbearance to help manage the financial squeeze that the pandemic caused.  For those unfamiliar with the term, forbearance basically means...

One of the top questions that I get from clients in my divorce lending practice is “can I afford my marital home post divorce”?  This is a valid question and I am invariably able to provide them consul on their borrowing power.  The error that many make, however, is to not adding onto that...

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced that, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are increasing their loan limits.  This increase is a substantial increase from the previous limit and, in many ways, it could have a more significant impact on housing.  FHA loans remain the best option for...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) just announced an increase in conforming loan limits at the end of 2020.  While some counties may vary, this means that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Conforming Loans will be available to $548,250 next year.  You can expect that FHA loans to also increase, but there...

The time is now if you want or need to refinance your mortgage.  In a partial reversal of their announcement last week, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have delayed the implementation of the 0.5% fee for refinances until December.  This is great news which I, for one, expected as it takes any negative political...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency surprised the mortgage market yesterday with an announcement of a 0.5% adverse fee on all refinances.  Citing mortgage market conditions and increased risk from COVID-19, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the entities governed by the FHFA, will be adding the 0.5% fee to all...

Wells Fargo just announced an increase in the required banking and/or investment relationship for jumbo loans from $250,000 to $1,000,000.  Additionally, they increased the restrictiveness of some of the loan approval guidelines.  Back in April, Chase made similar moves to their lending rules and requirements. ...

May’s Home Price Index and Home Price Forecast is not great, but could be worse. CoreLogic is a company that provides information to help clients make smart and educated decisions. In a CoreLogic report, home prices are expected to decrease by 6.6% by May of 2021.  In their press release, CoreLogic...

How is the housing market and what do we have in store for the next few months?  We asked one of our Divorce Realty Pros, Joshua Berngard from Buzzer Realty and he had some great insight. According to Josh, the news is mostly good for sellers.  Based on what he is seeing, we are not … Summer...

There is good news on the lending front.  The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the government agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has announced that the “waiting period” for a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac post-forbearance loan is dropping from 12 months to 3 months.  This is huge for...