Much like hitting a moving target, it is hard keeping up with the seemingly daily guideline changes from lenders, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and mortgage insurance companies.
While the pace of guideline changes have slowed from 2007, it still happens!
A post by a colleague of mine here at Hillside Lending titled, “Thinking Inside the Box” details the new, improved, and more interesting loan process. The bottom line message from that post — before the debacle of 2007, underwriters were more subjective in their decisions. Now they look for every “t” to be crossed and “i” dotted when it comes to guidelines.
Back to our moving targets… we’ve seen several changes over the last year and a half including:
- Combo loans all but disappearing
- Rate adjustments for credit scores in the 700s
- Minimum down payment requirements increased for investment properties
Changes on the horizon: Some lenders and mortgage insurance companies have declared that several metro-Atlanta counties are now a declining market and minimum down payment amounts have been increased from 3% to 5%. But remember, these are moving targets. Not everyone has declared metro-Atlanta a declining market. In fact, some lenders have sounded more like a politician flip-flopping on a platform… “3% down”… “no, 5% down”… “wait, 3% down.”
In this time of moving targets, it is imperative for you to work with a professional: a mortgage broker who is up-to-date on guideline and loan program changes, someone who is well-versed in market trends that determine mortgage rates, and, lastly, someone with multiple funding sources – meaning funding available from different lenders who have different guideline requirements.
There is more paperwork involved in buying or refinancing a house, but working with a professional who can answer questions on guidelines, document requirements, and knows what to ask for in advance makes the loan process as easy and straightforward as possible.
Clay Jeffreys is a Mortgage Consultant with Hillside Lending, LLC and writer for “Blog Pertaining to the Acquisition of a Mortgage to Purchase a Domicile.” Hillside Lending seeks to provide mortgage brokerage services with the highest standards of service, care, honesty, integrity and value; concentrating on owner-occupied, residential financing. For more information about available programs and interest rates, please visit www.hillsidelending.com.
