Author: Regan Hagestad

The Basics of Second-Home Financing

Financing often is the biggest hurdle for second-home buyers and the transaction element of which they are least sure. If a second home’s rental income is needed to qualify the buyer for a loan, the property and the loan will fall into the investment category. As such, lenders will factor in anticipated vacancies, rental income, expenses and the mortgage payment

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What Rising Mortgage Rates Could Mean For Homebuyers

While mortgage rates have remained at historically low levels, they now are beginning to experience incremental increases. Here, Trulia takes a look at questions to ask if you’re considering buying a home in the current atmosphere of rising rates. Should I hurry to buy a home? When rates start to rise, homebuyers often rush to buy a house before rates

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Mortgage Rates Continue Holding Pattern

Freddie Mac’s most recent Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows average mortgage rates slightly falling for the second consecutive week. “For the last 46 years, the 30-year mortgage rate has been almost perfectly correlated with the yield on the 10-year Treasury, but not this year,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “From Dec. 29, 2016, through today, the 30-year mortgage

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Mortgage Rates Are Trending Up…Should You Worry?

Mortgage rates are rising steadily for the first time since the Great Recession. So what does this mean for buyers now and in the future? Unless you plan to buy your home with cash, it’s important to know what’s going on with mortgage rates these days. The bad news is that they are rising. The good news is that they

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Mortgage Rates Steady to Begin February

Freddie Mac’s most recent Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows average 30-year mortgage rates holding steady after rising the previous week. “The 10-year Treasury yield fell 5 basis points this week following a tepid advance estimate of fourth-quarter GDP and the Fed’s decision to leave rates unchanged,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The 30-year mortgage rate remained flat at

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Getting a Down Payment as a Gift? Avoid these Mistakes

When buying a home, many people ask their parents or other sources for help coming up with the down payment. But this often isn’t as simple as just asking and then receiving the money. If you’re going to do it, you’d better do it right. According to Realtor.com, here are some tips that can help you avoid mistakes if you’re considering

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Mortgage Rates Move Lower

Freddie Mac’s most recent Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows average fixed mortgage rates moving lower for the third consecutive week. “After trending down for most of the week, the 10-year Treasury yield rose following the release of the CPI report,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “In contrast, the 30-year mortgage rate fell three basis points to 4.09 percent,

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How to Make an Extra Mortgage Payment in 2017

Working to shorten the total time until your mortgage is paid? According to Trulia.com, making one extra mortgage payment a year can save years of payments down the road. For example, if you’re paying back a $150,000 mortgage with a 4-percent interest rate, you can expect to pay off your mortgage by January 2047 when following a standard 30-year payment

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Homebuyers Will Look for Less Expensive Homes if Mortgage Rates Reach 5 Percent, Redfin Agents Report

Home prices were up almost 8 percent in November compared with the previous year, inventory has declined and mortgage rates have started to rise. Despite rising rates and falling inventory, however, Redfin agents report homebuyers still are optimistic. In a recent survey of more than 800 Redfin real estate agents across the country, respondents were asked to describe the general

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Rising Mortgage Rates: Homebuyers Are More Resilient Than You Might Think

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is hovering around 4.16 percent, while the Federal Reserve has raised the federal funds rate for the first time in a year, and only the second time this decade. How does this affect homebuyers? Redfin predicts that rates won’t average above 4.3 percent in 2017. But what if rates were to continue to rise? Very

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