Beautiful Wilkes County NC Log Home and Mountain Property.

MLS Number: 50863, List Price: $359,900

Bedrooms: 3, Full Baths: 2, Half Baths: 0, Est Total SqFt: 2600, Type/Style: Log Home, Area: Area 6, Middle School: Cntrl Wlks, High School: Wlks Cntrl, Construction: Log

Foundation: Combination, Roof: Metal Roof, Floors: Carpet/Hardwood/Tile, Garage/Carport: None-Garage, None-Carport, Interior Features: Master Bedroom, Main Level, Large Master Bedroom, Walk-In Closet(s), Hardwood Floors, Fireplace(s), Great Room, Exterior Features: Double Pane Windows, Wooded Lot, 1-5 Acres, Hot Tub, Subdivision: N/A, Lot Size: 2.47, Apx SqFt: 2600 - 2800 SF, Basement: None

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

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Last week the North Carolina Home Loan Protection Act (HB 1817) was signed by the state’s governor, a law which impacts some of the core mortgage issues now being debated in Washington.

The legislation; bans prepayment penalties that trap homeowners in high-cost loans, requires lenders to document borrower income, requires all broker compensation to be counted when determining whether a loan is or is not a high cost mortgage product, strengthens brokers’ duties to serve the best interests of their clients, and ensures that homeowners have the right to pursue legal actions when violations occur.

The North Carolina legislation passed 33-15 in the State Senate, 113-0 in the State House and was instantly signed by Gov. Mike Easley. However, like all state financing regulations, the North Carolina law does not apply to mortgages from federally regulated lenders. (more…)

search for : high-cost loans, broker compensation

A stated-income loan (SIL) qualifies a borrower using the income the borrower states, as opposed to the income the borrower can document. With an SIL, the lender agrees not to verify the income the borrower states on the application. SILs are priced higher than fully documented loans, and the foreclosure rate is also higher. With overall foreclosure rates reaching uncomfortably high levels, SILs have emerged as a possible weak point in the underwriting process. Regulators and legislators have been considering whether they should bar SILs or limit them in some way. Restricting SILs would be costly. The SIL was itself a response to limitations of the underwriting system. Many prospective home buyers have the income to afford a mortgage, but can’t meet the standards of full documentation.

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Home buyers and sellers may have reason to cheer with the recent Fed action. The discount rate is the one the Federal Reserve charges qualified lenders, mainly banks, for temporary loans. Lowering interest rates encourages banks to lend more money to mortgage borrowers. That in turn could make it easier for home buyers, especially those using big-ticket loans called Jumbos, to get financing. The critical issue was getting the jumbo piece moving. Once that moves, then getting Alt-As moving and then even subprimes are next.

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Over the past couple of years leveraging one’s assets with a low down payment mortgage has morphed itself away from those who don’t have any down payment money or for those qualified for a VA loan — to those who have down payment money but don’t want to use it. There are numerous books that discuss the subject, making a lot of sense. The math works when you compare investing money and compound interest and such and had been so popular it has spawned other books just hitting bookshelves promoting the same idea just in different formats.

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Federal bank regulators have published a new set of forms designed to give borrowers a better understanding of mortgages that can adjust to dramatically higher monthly payments. With increases mortgage defaults, consumer advocates say many lenders encouraged consumers to focus on the initial low-rate “teaser” period without fully informing them that their loan payments could jump up in the future. The revised disclosure forms are intended to give consumers clear information about the risks of adjustable-rate home loans. Lenders are not required to use the new forms and are free to alter or design them as they see fit. However, banking institutions generally follow the regulators guidelines, which only apply to federally supervised institutions, not state-regulated ones.

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search for : loan payments, adjustable-rate home loan

Mortgage pre-approvals will definitely generate an inquiry because the lender is making a loan commitment. A lender’s prequalification isn’t a loan commitment but will show up as an inquiry if the lender pulls your credit report at your request. Mortgage and car loan inquiries are treated a little differently than when you apply for a credit card. If you are shopping around for a mortgage and apply at several places, the multiple loan applications won’t hurt your credit score as long as the applications were made over a relatively short period of time.

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search for : Mortgage pre-approval

Buyers of pricey houses and loan applicants who don’t want to prove that they told the truth about their incomes are finding that money has suddenly become more expensive to borrow. Rates on jumbo mortgages have skyrocketed recently, even as rates on conforming, fixed-rate mortgages slipped downward. This is bad news for people who want to borrow more than $417,000 to buy a house or refinance a loan, or who can’t or don’t want to document their income. Rising jumbo rates make it more difficult to sell a house costing half a million dollars or more.

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