Archive for February, 2010

Texas Foreclosures Drop—Let’s Continue This Trend

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Encouraging new stats about foreclosures across Texas are out this week, and we think they highlight an important point about our role in the recovery from the housing crisis.

According to the Dallas Business Journal :

Two percent of Texas home loans were in the foreclosure process at the end of 2009, compared with a national rate of 4.58 percent, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The number of Texas home loans classified as delinquent — at least one payment past due, but not in foreclosure — increased to 10.3 percent, up about a half-percent from the third quarter of 2009, according to the association. Nationally, the delinquency rate declined 17 basis points to 9.47 percent.

But the more telling figure is a decline in the number of home loans 30-60 days delinquent in Texas and nationally, according to Scott Norman, vice president of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association .

Those declines aren’t typical at this time of year, when holiday season spending typically means more borrowers miss a payment.

“This shows a significantly improved housing market, even from 90 days ago,” he said

Why does this matter to us? We believe that lenders are going to play a pivotal role in our country’s overall recovery, because good home lenders are concerned about their customers’ futures. Our approach is to invest in you, the customer, and to spend as much time and effort with you as is needed in order to find you the best possible mortgage fit, both now and down the road. Foreclosures hurt everyone, and we’ll work tirelessly to make sure you don’t end up in having facing that kind of life-altering event.

We’ll explore with you the lessons of why many homeowners got into trouble, and help you understand and plan for potential unexpected costs in the future. If every lender did this, we’d avoid many of the mistakes of the past that helped lead to the housing crisis.

It’s good for you. It’s good for us. It’s good for the country. And so far, it looks like we might be starting to emerge as a stronger homeowner nation.

Contact one of our home loan experts to get the process started.

About Kevin Miller

Kevin Miller, Owner & CEO of TexasLending.com. TexasLending.com provides expert service in the field of residential mortgages.

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Posted in Home Loans, Mortgage News | No Comments »

Guiding You Through The Home Lending Storm: Local Knowledge Matters

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Up in Garland. Down in Plano. Up in Westlake and Richardson. Down in Park Cities and Lancaster. Flat in Frisco. Rock bottom in some places. Still sliding in others. Forecasts for major growth in the lucky few.

The Dallas Morning News recently published an excellent review of the past year’s Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex housing market. It’s main point? In a manner unlike any recent year, the local market has fluctuated from month to month to month, from neighborhood to neighborhood to neighborhood.

According to the DMN :

How you look at the Dallas-area housing market has a lot to do with what neighborhood you’re in.

In 2009, median home sales prices were up in Westlake, Richardson, Garland and Duncanville. But in the Park Cities, North Dallas and Lancaster, there were more double-digit price declines. And while home sales were flat for the year in Frisco, down the road in Plano the number sold through the Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service fell 16 percent.

“2009 was perhaps the strangest in my 32 years in the business,” said sales agent Barry Hoffer of Ebby Halliday Realtors. “It was hard to really read any trends at all.

“With most of the emphasis on the negative side of the business news, many qualified buyers were just reluctant to make a move at all – and that despite discounted home prices, negotiable sellers and very attractive interest rates,” he said. “I sense more calmness in the market now, and, hopefully, 2010 will be a decent year.”

Total home sales in North Texas dropped 11 percent in 2009 and overall median prices were flat, according to statistics from North Texas Real Estate Information Systems Inc. and the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. …

“I believe the real estate recovery in 2010 will give some neighborhoods the boost they are waiting for,” said Lydia Player of Virginia Cook Realtors. “Other areas are going to be much slower to see improvement.”

Trying to figure out how to turn the market in your favor can be a dizzying endeavor. Thankfully, our army of housing market experts know Dallas-Ft. Worth better than anybody.

Contact us—we’ll help you figure out how (and where) to find a mortgage that best suits your specific needs.

About Kevin Miller

Kevin Miller, Owner & CEO of TexasLending.com. TexasLending.com provides expert service in the field of residential mortgages.

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Posted in Mortgage News | 1 Comment »

ARM or Fixed Rate Mortgages? Taking a Closer Look at The Differences

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

If you’re considering either a fixed rate or adjustable rate mortgage , what’s right for you? Let’s break it down:

Basically, fixed rate mortgages mean your monthly principal and interest payments will remain the same for the entire term of the loan, albeit at a bit of a higher rate. This allows you to more effectively plan your financial future, without having to worry about a change in payments down the road. You can plug in a set principal and interest payment each month, and start enjoying your home. You pay for security.

Adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) laugh in the face of stability, but might just save you hefty sums of money if you’re willing to play the game. ARMs offer lower initial interest rates (often 1-2 percent lower), before elevating after a term pre-specified in your contract (based on rates and market factors at that time). ARMs might allow you to buy an expensive house you might not be able to otherwise, but they could also cause problems further down the road once rates adjust.

Ultimately, it’s just a matter of how much risk you are willing to take.

For example, a real estate expert at MSN did an experiment (before the recent housing collapse) examining how borrowers would have fared with each type of loan — fixed versus adjustable rate mortgage loans — in each of three very different interest-rate environments (1977-1983, when rates rose spectacularly; 1987-1993, when rates jumped before falling again; and 1997-2003, when rates bounced around before dropping sharply). Her findings?

No matter how many times we do this experiment, we wont be able to predict what will happen in the next seven years or the years after that. The past is no guarantee of the future. If you’re willing to roll the dice on an adjustable, be my guest — as long as you’ve done the math and know you’ll be able to swing the payments if rates climb.

Both types of mortgages come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, so you’ll need to do some thorough research to find out the exact plan that’s best for you. Contact our home loan mortgage experts , and we’ll help you learn everything you need to know.

About Kevin Miller

Kevin Miller, Owner & CEO of TexasLending.com. TexasLending.com provides expert service in the field of residential mortgages.

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Posted in Home Loans, Mortgage Q&A | No Comments »

The Home Lending Comeback With Texas Leading

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Kicking off 2010 with a bit of hope, average home mortgage interest rates declined across the nation for two consecutive weeks in January. 30-year fixed rate mortgages hit a 4.94 percent weekly average rate, and 15-year fixed rates fell to a 4.33 percent mark. In fact, the rates are the lowest America has seen since Zillow Mortgage Marketplace (see TexasLending.com on Zillow ) — a weekly compilation of thousands of mortgage rates from around the country — started tracking the housing market in April of 2008.

Which state saw the biggest rate drop, and now boasts the lowest rates in the entire nation? You guessed it — Texas again takes the crown.

According to real estate information source Rismedia.com :

“Rates for 30-year fixed purchase mortgages had fallen further, with the average rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 4.86%. Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates varied by state. Texas mortgage rates and Virginia mortgage rates decreased the most, from 4.93% to 4.82% in Texas and from 5.06% to 4.95% in Virginia. Illinois mortgage rates (5.07%), Arizona mortgage rates (5.05%) and New York mortgage rates (5.05%) were the highest in the country, while Texas mortgage rates (4.82%) and Utah mortgage rates (4.88%) were the lowest.

So what’s the upshot of all this?

Basically, low interest rates mean more fluid lending and easier borrowing. But despite rock bottom federal interest rates, industry-wide jitters has made it difficult for potential homebuyers to obtain home loans at rates similar to those available before the real estate crash. This is a sign that the market is slowly regaining strength.

If the lowering rates are making home-buying more attractive, contact one of our Dallas-Ft. Worth home mortgage experts . Rates are still jumpy, and you’ll want to be prepared in advance in order to jump on the best possible deal. We’ll help you find the right situation for you.

About Kevin Miller

Kevin Miller, Owner & CEO of TexasLending.com. TexasLending.com provides expert service in the field of residential mortgages.

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Posted in Current Mortgage Rates, Home Loans | 1 Comment »

 
 

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