I spotted the ad at right on the Seattle Times homepage yesterday. It’s not as patronizing as Quadrant Homes’ old “down payment latte” ad was, but the claim of buying for just $800 a month immediately jumped out at me as unlikely. Running some quick numbers through my Simple Affordability Calculator indicates that to have…
Tag: Financing
Reader Question: Is FHA financing a seller repellent?
A reader emailed me with the following question: My girlfriend and I put an offer on a house last week. The house was listed in the upper $500k range, and we offered $25k under asking with $10k in closing costs to be paid by the seller. We had 1% in earnest money included in the…
What’s Behind Rising FHA Defaults?
Note from The Tim: Jillayne Schlicke has been a valued member of the Seattle Bubble community for quite some time, and I’m happy to welcome her as a guest poster. Jillayne has many years experience in the lending industry and offers some great insights. She currently provides continuing education for real estate professionals through her…
125% Refinance: Pricing You IN for a Decade or More
Astute readers have no doubt have learned by now of yesterday’s announcement by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan that the federal government’s “Making Home Affordable” plan will now allow mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be refinanced with loan-to-value ratios of up to 125%. I won’t go into all the details…
The Consequences of a Market Full of Monthly Payment Buyers
Here’s a brief quote from a post that appeared here in 2006 titled The Monthly Payment Buyer: In my opinion, it’s no wonder that home prices have gotten so out of whack with true fundamentals, when the first question someone asks in the home buying process is not “Is this house worth $XXX,000?” but rather…