What the Fed Rate Hike Means for My Mortgage
How the Fed Rate Hike Affects Mortgage Rates Yesterday, March 16, 2022, was the date of the first Fed rate hike in 3 years, and is the first of an expected 7 total for the year 2022. This rate hike is an effort to fight off the inflation once deemed “transitory” but has proven…
Read MoreGiving Our Buyers the Edge with Buyer’s Advantage
At MasonMac, we work to consistently give our home buying customers an advantage in the market place. In today’s market, more than ever, it’s important that buyers have an edge and every advantage they can get, and that’s where MasonMac’s Buyer’s Advantage program comes in! With Buyer’s Advantage, MasonMac not only preapproves customers through…
Read MoreShould You Pay Points?
Should You Pay Points? When getting a mortgage, one of the most important things to pay attention to is the cost of the loan being applied for. There are certain fees customers can shop for that may be drastically different from one lender to another (for example, discount points, and lender fees) and some fees that…
Read MoreIs Affordable Housing Still Possible?
Home prices are at all time highs! It’s a bubble! There’s a dip coming! It’s a terrible time to buy! These are some of the things headlines have been touting for….well, years now, as appreciation in the housing market has marched higher. And yes, home prices are up – much higher in some markets, than a…
Read More2022 Conventional Loan Limits
Each year toward the end of November, FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Authority, the agency overseeing Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac) releases updated loan limits for the following year. This sets the maximum amount of money that can be borrowed under conventional lending guidelines. Today’s announcement informed us that for 2022, conventional loan limits will be…
Read MoreNo PMI With Less Than 20% Down?
No PMI With Less Than 20% Down? Yes! It’s possible! Kind of… There have been a lot of headlines about mortgage products with no PMI and less than 20% down recently. It’s been mortgage dogma for a long time that any loan less than 20% down includes PMI, or monthly mortgage insurance, but recently, many…
Read MoreWhy Do So Many Mortgage Companies Call?
If you’ve recently applied for a mortgage loan, you may have noticed a trend – your phone is ringing (even more than usual) with numbers on the caller ID you don’t recognize. If you answer, you’re likely getting pitched for a mortgage from a company you never contacted and a loan officer or dialer you…
Read MoreThe Ins and Outs of a Jumbo Mortgage
Looking to purchase your dream home? Or perhaps you live in a high priced market where home values have appreciated faster than conventional loan limits can keep up? Jumbo mortgage financing offers opportunity for those looking to borrow beyond what FannieMae, FreddieMac, or HUD will offer or insure, and opens the door to financing for…
Read MoreHomeowners Should Expect Appreciation in 2022
Home Appreciation Expected to Continue Through 2022 With the final quarter of 2021 under way, we expect to see a lot of forecasts and announcements around changes as we head into another new year. Over the next month, 2022 loan limits will be announced, lenders will begin to make a final push to finalize…
Read MoreWhy Credit Scoring Models Show Different Scores
Why Are Credit Scores Different? If you’ve shopped around for a mortgage loan, one of the things you’ve likely seen is that credit scores lenders pull tend to be different (sometimes by quite a lot) from what you see when tracking your own credit scores. Why is that? It comes down to how credit information is reported, which scoring…
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