FICO

As far as home loans go, Ellie Mae  is in the know.

The tech company makes available automation software to a big portion of the mortgage finance industry. Ellie Mae gets the complete picture of residential sales and financing as it deals with more than a third of all U.S. home loans. From its vantage point, it gets an immediate picture of the reality.

Recently Ellie put out a news release that included some thought-provoking facts that may interest home owners or future home buyers. They are well-timed pointers about the trends of U.S. home loans. Also provided are details about what is necessary when applying and what amount of money will be needed. If you are applying soon, consider what follows. Here are some of the latest facts about this year’s late summer and early fall activity.

Home Loan Changes

• Refinancing loans are down from 38% to 29%.
• September’s 30 year interest rate decreased just a bit to 4.91%.
• The average FICO score increased to 727.
• ARMs or adjustables rose as a percentage of loans given, at 7.2% of the market. This is up about half a percentage point from August which is no surprise since home prices have increased.
• The time it takes to close stayed the same at 45 days.

It is true a home must sell two times: first to the buyer, and then to the lender. If you are looking to buy or sell soon, being knowledgeable about trends in residential finances will make the process go smoother. We keep apprised of all the latest information and trends. Call today for a no cost, no obligation consultation.

In advance of selling your house, there is one not often thought of step to consider. It will make the process more financially worthwhile. This step is not exactly obvious. However, when you consider the larger financial picture, it is extremely wise.

This often-ignored step concerns your credit. You may not think your credit is important when selling your home. Rather, you feel certain it is only the home buyers’ credit that is relevant.

Selling Your House Is Just The Beginning

That is not quite the reality. Remember selling your home is only the first step. Step two is buying your next home. If your financial picture is good, it will likely become more so after the profits of selling your home. It’s a fact that a higher credit score will get you lower mortgage interest rates when purchasing your next home. Even a tiny percentage point gain can lead to a large difference in “cash out” in the long term.

You may be thinking what can I do to improve my credit. Apart from the well-known advice like paying credit cards in a timely fashion, another step might be to take out a personal loan. You should consider doing this even if you do not need a loan.

However, it is important to always ask your CPA or other financial advisor about any piece of financial advice. Still, as J.M. Simon and Brady Porche report, if you desire a high FICO score that will get you the best rates and highest limits you are “going to have to mix it up a bit.” You must construct a credit profile that shows you use different kinds of credit responsibly. Varieties of credit used is one of the five factors lenders look at. It influences around 10% of your FICO score.

Getting a personal loan or using some other previously unused type of credit can better your score. Remember to plan ahead, these types of credit can take some time to register.

What Does 2019 Hold For Real Estate?

Selling your house is a huge high point for any family. It must be planned and implemented well. Just give us a call. We can make sure it happens!

Satisfying Coral Springs Mortgage Refi Candidates’ Curiosity

If you use a credit card or Coral Springs bank checking account’s online system, you may have noticed the appearance of a free service: FICO score tracking.

You find it as a clickable area with a link title like “Your FICO^® score” or just “FICO^®.”

For many years, each of the major credit reporting agencies were mandated by law to honor any consumer’s request for a copy of their credit scores. But that was a once-a-year deal. For access to regular updates, you had to pay for a subscription. Particularly for consumers working to improve their credit scores, the paid services became a prudent monthly expense. The arrival of anytime free FICO score reporting eliminated much of that need.

Of course, tracking your FICO score is only useful if you know how the lending institutions will view it—and the answer to that is anything but clear-cut. Not only does each lender have their own confidential requirements, but since there are three separate reporting agencies, Coral Springs consumers have three FICO scores (and they’re rarely the same).

Be Prepared To Buy, Even If You’re Not Prepared To Buy

Even so, let’s face it: the single piece of information most everybody wants to know is what FICO score is needed to buy a home? or to refinance a home? Even if the answer is imprecise, it’s human nature.

To quell that curiosity, at least one source is willing to report what amounts to an average of approximations: it’s called EllieMae^®. Ellie is a company that serves banks, credit unions, and mortgage companies by providing a raft of automated tools—but those are for industry insiders. As a sideline, they also put out a monthly Origination Insight Report with statistics drawn from the home loans processed through their systems. Including some that most future Coral Springs home loan applicants will be interested to learn:

Average FICO score for conventional mortgage refis closed last month: 732

Average score for conventional purchases: 752

Average for FHA purchases: 681

Average FICO score — all loans: 724.

Average time needed to close: 43 days.

The percentage of mortgage refis grew to 39% of all loans. Most likely because interest rates decreased “for the sixth straight month” to 4.2%. EllieMae reckons that constitutes “a new 2017 low”—something Coral Springs refi and home loan applicants will be interested to know!

Those bargain basement interest rates continue to create a terrific opportunity for Coral Springs real estate. Call Miranda Executive Realty for a no-obligation discussion about how you might take advantage of the current real estate environment!

As always please feel free to share this article with a friend or family member that would find this information useful.