New Stricter FHA Standards To Reduce Amount of First-Time Home Buyers

Austin

The FHA, Federal Housing Administration, has begun to put in place stricter standards for letting first-time and low to middle income home buyers.

As pointed out by this usatoday.com article, currently the vast majority of FHA loans are being processed through an automated system with the minority being manually reviewed by lenders. In 2016, the FHA removed their policy that caused applicants with a credit score under 620 and a debt-to-income ratio of 43%.  This caused the average credit score of applicants to be much lower by 2019 after those changes.

As a result, new standards will be enacted that will cause FHA loan applicants to undergo a much more intense process of loan application. This is speculated to reduce the amount of these risky loans by 50,000 cases.

To find a real estate agent who understands these issues, and who is a fit for your family, go to LDSAgents.com!

Reverse Mortgages, On the Up and Up?

Austin

Many who hear the term “Reverse Mortgage” begin to immediately list off reason after reason why they are a bad idea. In a video by Professor Chris Mayer, many of the reasons that one might scoff at reverse mortgages are put at ease. Mayer’s experience in the area comes from being a professor of real estate at Columbia Business School. He is not the only one to claim the relevance of reverse mortgages. A task force at a Boston College have stated the positive sides of reverse mortgages, expressing an increasing comfort with the loan. As a extra sign of legitimacy, the Financial Industry Regularity Authority, has removed their warnings against reverse mortgages as a “last resort.”

Many believe that reverse mortgage are too risky for seniors to attempt, when there are other potential risks to their well being. Others find it that it could be taking advantage of the elderly and could cause financial burdens that could otherwise be avoided. Since the market crash in 2008, many steps have been taken to avoid the loss of money from reverse mortgages. Certain companies now require third party consultation before allowing potential reverse mortgagers to take to partake in this loan. Overall, the process of receiving a reverse mortgage has become a much more viable and encouraged option to those are taking the proper precautions. Bloomberg discusses Mayer’s ideas in this recent article.

You can find the best agent for you and your family at ldsagents.com.

Buyers Market? Sellers Market?

brad

It’s worthy to note that in January 2019 we’ve seen the largest sales decline in five straight years. While people are looking for homes and interested in making the investment, high mortgage rates and a lack of inventory are making it increasingly difficult for people to commit to a home purchase. Current home owners have been reluctant to sell because of the rates they would have to pay on a new home and those that own homes they could sell opt to rent instead.

Not only are we seeing the rise of mortgage rates but inflation is also a concern for many buyers in the market. While the mortgage and inflation rates have risen this hasn’t stopped the sales prices from rising as well. This incongruity begs the question “how much longer can it last?”

Sales of US homes fall year over year by most in 3 ½ years from the Chicago Daily Herald discusses more information on why now is not a buyers market.

The Reality of Flipping a House

Austin

There are many amazing TV shows that really know how to get us excited to take on a good old fixer-upper project.  Taking something old and broken, and turning it into something beautiful and renewed seems like a dream project with the potential to earn some extra cash! But do the TV shows show us everything involved?

Often, the parts left out from all of the smiles and laughter are the harder realities of how difficult and how big of an undertaking flipping a house can really be. Read through our article Flippin’ A House Isn’t Easy to see if you are prepared to make the flip from start to finish!

When it’s time to start looking for your next home to move into, or your next home to flip, go to LDSAgents.com to find the best realtor with your same values.

Looking Back to Prepare Ahead!

Austin

With fall here and winter on its way, getting your yard ready for the elements is a must! Take a look at a 10 ways that you can prepare your lawn for the winter months ahead by clicking on our Fall Lawn Care Checklist. Lawn care is never old and this article is still full of gold for fall lawn care.

Whether you are longing for a new house surrounded by trees, or want a new house that doesn’t have any trees at all to clean up, LDSAgents.com can help you find an LDS real estate agent with your values!

Take a look at our Need To Know tab!

Austin

At LDSREalEstate.info we provide information to make the best and most informed decisions when you buy or sell your home. In the Need to Know tab at the top of our site, we have many articles to help make sure that you are prepared and aware of each aspect of buying a home!

Each section of Need to Know provides information about a variety of topics. Below is a brief preview of each of the topics under Need To Know. Take a look!

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