Homes Fort Mill SC

Do credit inquiries hurt my score?

This is a great question and a common one!  Many potential home buyers are afraid to let a lender pull their credit report because they think it will drop their score.  This is actually a very harmful MYTH and let me explain why.

Mortgage lenders use a scoring formula developed by Fair Isaac called FICO score.  FICO ignores mortgage inquiries for the most recent 30 days prior to scoring!  In fact, even when looking more than 30 days back all inquiries made for a mortgage within a 45 day window are only counted as one inquiry.  This means that having your credit checked out for a mortgage is not harmful to your score immediately and have little to no long term impact.

This is important because when home buyers wait until they find a house to have their credit pulled, there are often surprises that hurt their chances of obtaining a loan or getting the best rate.

I just met with a couple a few weeks ago that wanted to buy a new home in the Tega Cay area.  They are very credit worthy but didn’t realize that there was an error on their credit report.  By coming to me early we identified the problem and within a few weeks they were able to clear it up… before needing to lock in a rate or close on a loan!

If you are thinking about buying or refinancing the FIRST THING you should do is have a lender pull your credit!  Most lenders will do this for free and you might save yourself a lot of time and money.

Olan Carder
Loan Officer
NMLS# 97565

8600 Sam Furr Road, Ste 250
Huntersville, NC 28078
Phone: 980-721-7478
Fax: 704-247-2601
ocarder@1asmc.com
www.charlottemortgageonline.com

Post From Loan Officer Olan Carder

This is always the million dollar question. I get asked more than anything else, “Where are rates? Where are rates going? What are rates about to do?”

This is a tough question for the average loan officer because although we deal with rates all day everyday, many loan officers don’t understand the economic factors that drive rates or frankly don’t have time to pay attention to it.

Fortunately I subscribe to a wonderful service that keeps me informed on these factors and world economic events. Although no one can predict for certain what the future may hold, I do get great predictions from well informed experts, and they are typically very accurate.

Right now they are advising folks to FLOAT their interest rate (more…)

Mortgage rates have increased slightly in the last couple months but overall, today’s rates are still affordable.

Here’s a brief  history of 30 year mortgage rates for the last 20 years.

In 1990, rates averaged 10.5%. Rates showed a steady decline year to year until 2004. Rates in 2003 where around 5.6% then jumped to6.4% in 2004. Rates declined again to 5.8% 2005. The roller coaster ride continued in 2006 when rates were up to 6.7%. Rates then began a slow decline through 2010.  (more…)

The newly passed Frank Dodd Bill has a risk retention rule that states anyone originating a home loan must retain 5% in reserves against that loan. Basically Congress is requiring lenders to put a little more skin in the game. This sounds like it makes sense, but let’s take a closer look at what this might mean for the market and for homebuyers.

First of all, this rule applies to conventional loans only, not government insured loans (FHA, VA or USDA). The majority of loans written in the US are conventional, especially loans with a down payment of 5% or more. This new rule would force some lenders to stop offering conventional mortgages altogether which could in effect force more mortgages to go FHA. This is not good for the US taxpayer because FHA loans have a higher delinquency rate and the program loses money. (more…)

Mortgage Update  Tuesday December 14th 2010

Rates are on the move AGAIN! The MBS Market is down over 100 basis points again and rates are headed for or are already at 5%. I will keep you posted through the week.

Why are rate going up? The risk of inflation has increased which creates risk on the yield of the mortgage backed securities. This has caused the mortgage bond prices to fall.

There are two main factors (more…)

The Blood Bath Continues!

Ok guys, we have lost another 100 Basis Points today so in the last 48 hours we have lost 234 basis points int he mortgage bond market! I am not sure how to put that into perspective but HUGE is not nearly a big enough to describe it. (more…)

Loan officer Olan Carder with American Security Mortgage sent out a video today to real estate agents with a couple mortgage tips or recommendations. Here is recap of Olan’s message…

Olan’s first message is about potential home buyers. If you are waiting for the new year to make a home purchase decision or closing, you may want to know mortgage rates are inching up slightly. Olan sees momentum in the bond market to move rates up in the future. So you may want to consider locking in a rate now in case there a chance rates go higher the first of the year.

Another mortgage tip is about mortgage tax deduction if you closed on a home this year. (more…)

FHA has reduced the UFMIP and increased the annual MIP… what does this mean for your buyers? Is conventional the king again or is FHA still the best way to go for most first time buyers? See my Fort Mill Mortgage video update for Oct 2010.

http://youtu.be/c-JRCg4Ymtg