Justin McHood

Every homeowner understands the importance of protecting their homes. Which is why many would take the necessary measures to make their homes a safe place to live in. However, we can’t protect our homes from everything. Whether it’s caused by a natural phenomenon or any other unfortunate circumstances, anything can still happen at any given moment. Other than doing preventive measures to reduce the possibility of these tragedies from happening, it’s also smart to consider getting homeowners insurance to cover the costs whenever these unforeseen circumstances arise. In fact, a lot of lenders require borrowers to get homeowners insurance during…

The National Association of Home Builders is urging to push the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2017 (S.548) in effect. The bill, created to help relieve the country’s affordable housing crisis, is sponsored by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT). RELEVANT CHANGES ARE UNDERWAY This bill primarily increases state allocations for both credit and cost-of-living adjustments. It seeks more affordable housing that is accessible through concessions to builders, developers, and property owners. Tenant eligibility requirements would also have revisions like the average income test, income eligibility for rural projects, student occupancy rules, increase tenant income, and voucher…

There is no formula for directly measuring property value. Various factors are at play and more often than not, they are at a continuous state of fluctuation. One necessary distinction that has to be made, however, is the difference between what you call home price and the final valuation of the property after the appraisal has been made. The property price laid out during the offer between buyer and seller is not the final number. The bank or lending institution orders an appraisal to be done on the property in order to determine what the property is really worth based…

Streamline refinance offers a simplified alternative route to the tedious path that is oftentimes traditional refinancing. By a streamlined process, homeowners hopefully will be able to cut back on time and money in preparing themselves and their homes for a refinance. There are a myriad streamline refinance programs out there but it’s the government-backed streamline refinance programs that remain a viable option for U.S. homeowners. »Looking for a lender to refinance?» What Makes Streamline Refinance “Streamlined”? In general, a streamline refinance requires limited verification, be it credit, assets or income. If there are requirements such as credit scores or debt-to-income…

More mortgage loans were originated in 2015, recent data released by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) revealed. The 2015 data also found the share of government-backed purchase mortgages to have increased. The latest housing data was based on the lending activity at 6,913 institutions covered by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) as of 2015. “The HMDA data are the most comprehensive publicly available information on mortgage market activity,” the FFIEC’s press release on September 29 read. The 2015 housing data covered 14.2 million loan-related actions, consisting of (a) 12.1 million applications for home loans, 7.4 million of…