Even though its effective date is April 1, 2009, mortgage applicants should start seeing Fannie Mae’s new fee structure from lenders beginning this Monday, January 12. The reason why Fannie Mae’s mandatory loan fees are hitting lender pricing so far in advance is because lenders can take up to 30 days to package and sell a [...]

  During the holiday season, retailers bombard shoppers with at-the-register offers to “open a charge card and save 15%“.  It’s an immediate money-saver, but for Americans in the market for a new home loan, taking advantage of the in-store savings could be a long-term loser. This is because new credit card applications are damaging to credit scores.  According to [...]

For homeowners with soon-to-adjust adjustable rate mortgages, the recent banking turmoil worldwide may lead to budgetary pain. This is because most conforming ARMs made since 2003 are based on a borrowing cost called LIBOR and LIBOR is up an uncharacteristic 2 percent since September. LIBOR stands for London Interbank Offered Rate and is the rate at which [...]

    Posted: 02 Oct 2008 As household budgets get pinched and credit markets tighten, a growing number of Americans are making “hardship withdrawals” from their 401(k) plans. One major fund group cites a 15 percent increase in activity from this time last year for various reasons including staving off foreclosure and medical emergency. However, [...]