Today’s guest post is from Kelly Marsh, Branch Manager of Broadview Mortgage posted on March 24th, 2015.

Mortgage Rate Update

The big story this week was last Wednesday’s Fed meeting, and the Fed statement was well received by mortgage investors. Also positive for mortgage rates, the economic data released last week fell short of expectations. As a result, rates ended the week lower.

LAST WEEK’S RATE TREND IS DOWN

Loan Amounts under $417K, Shown as Note Rate/APR
Conforming 30 year fixed: 3.990/4.060
FHA 30 Year Fixed: 3.625/5.146
Conforming 5/1 ARM: 3.000/3.056
Conforming 7/1 ARM: 3.125/3.114

Loan Amounts over $417K up to County Limits, Shown as Note Rate/APR
High Balance Conf. 30 Year Fixed: 4.125/4.172
FHA High Balance 30 Year Fixed: 3.750/5.264
High Balance 5/1 ARM: 3.375/3.182

Loan Amounts Exceeding County Limits, Shown as Note Rate/APR
Jumbo 30 Year Fixed: 3.750 /3.789
Jumbo 5/1 ARM: 3.125/3.065
Jumbo 7/1 ARM: 3.375/3.211
Jumbo 10/1 ARM: 3.750/3.428

Loan Limit Snapshot

Conforming
All Counties: $417,000

High Balance Conforming
Santa Barbara: $625,500
Ventura: $603,750
San Diego: $546,350
LA/Orange: $625,500

FHA
Santa Barbara: $625,500
Ventura: $598,000
San Diego: $546,250
LA/Orange: $625,500

Thank you Kelly for your guest post!  You can learn more about Kelly Marsh and Broadview Mortgage by visiting www.broadviewsb.com/ and reading her bio on our Award Winners page. Coastal Housing Partnership recognizes the real estate agents and lenders who have completed the most transactions for Coastal Housing Partnership employee members in the past 18 months. The house symbol is awarded with one to four houses in recognition of partner’s extra efforts in helping employees with their housing transactions. Kelly has a four-house rating (the highest rating possible).

Broadview Mortgage is an Open Door Sponsor for our Home Buying Fair on May 9th.

Kelly Marsh, Branch Manager at Broadview Mortgage Santa Barbara shared an article with us from the CMPS Institute that focuses on mortgage laws and how to avoid bank and institutions from documenting your financial life when applying for a loan. Here are some savvy tips from the article to help you get a mortgage in 2014:

If you’re interested in getting a mortgage in 2014, start preparing by getting documents ready. This includes the last two months of your bank statements and an explanation of large or irregular deposits in your bank accounts.

According to the article, the BSA-AML rules that went into affect in 2012 require mortgage companies, banks, and financial institutions to document the details of your financial life when you apply for a loan. This includes explaining the exact source of funds used for your down payment; explaining large deposits in your bank account; and sharing financial information if you are selling investments to help purchase a home.

This paperwork can be avoided if if you buy your home with cash. However this might not be the best financial move for you. Choose the right mortgage professional to help you, such as a CMPS professional who are bound by Code of Ethics to handle transactions with a higher duty of care than most others in the mortgage industry.

Kelly – thank you for the home buying education!  You can read the full How_to_Successfully_Get_a_Mortgage_in_2014 article for the complete details.

Broadview Mortgage is the Key Sponsor and will be one of the Exhibitors at our Home Buying Fair on March 1st from 10am-3pm at Earl Warren Showgrounds.

The following blog post was written by By Susan Bonanno and Kelly Marsh of Broadview Mortgage in Santa Barbara. Broadview Mortgage is the Key Sponsor of the 2014 Home Buying Fair on March 1st from 10am-3pm at Earl Warren Showgrounds. They will be exhibiting the Fair so you can meet with them live to have your home buying questions answered.  Susan and Kelly, thank for sharing your expertise and insights! www.BroadviewSB.com 

How to Navigate the New Mortgage Laws

Over the past year, the 2014 mortgage industry rule makers kept changing the rules to the game, despite promises to the contrary. Many companies in 2013 were sending out “the sky is falling” messages based on predicted changes. We chose to wait and see what the actual implications would be. We are always looking for ways to make loans work and help educate the community.

For background, federal regulators sent out “final” mortgage rules in January 2013 and gave the mortgage industry one year to comply; however, the regulators then proceeded to change the rules four times, most recently in November 2013, just two months before the January 2014 compliance deadline. When lenders asked for a final version of the rules so we could read them in their entirety without getting confused by all the different versions, the staff-lawyers basically said they didn’t have a final version created yet, and if we figured it out, could we please send them a copy. This is not a joke.

The changes did go into effect January 10, 2014, and even though the changes to the mortgage landscape might still be confusing, do not panic.

The US government has written some mortgage underwriting guidelines into federal law in order to make sure that borrowers have the “ability to repay” their mortgages. These guidelines are collectively known as the Ability-to-Repay (ATR) and the Qualified Mortgage (QM) Rules.  Generally, mortgage companies are now only allowed to originate mortgages that fit into these rules.

The one major difference between the new ATR guidelines and the old lending guidelines is that non-agency and non-government loans now have a maximum 43 percent debt ratio. Although the ATR means a new 43 percent debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, not all loans, as originally feared, fall under their lowered debt-to-income limitations. Most Agency or Government Loans which includes Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Rural Housing Service are currently all exempt from having to comply with the 43 percent debt ratios. Even though most of these groups have already said they do not plan to change their maximum debt-to-income from current requirements, it is still prudent for you and your mortgage professional to work together to maximize your purchasing power and look at ways to lower your debt-to-income ratio.

Here are a few ways we’ve helped clients lower their debt-to-income ratio:

• Lowering down payment and using the funds to pay off other debt which lowers the overall debt-to-income
• Adding a co-borrower to help qualify
• Strategic Tax Planning to increase purchasing power
• Looking into alternative loan programs with lower interest rates
• Making a larger down payment with the help of gift funds
• Buying down the interest rate to lower the monthly payment

Either way, borrowers should seriously evaluate these options with an experienced Mortgage Planning Specialist who is skilled in this area.

Susan Bonanno is a senior loan consultant at Broadview Mortgage. She has eight years of experience in the loan industry and specialize in working with first time buyers. For the past four years, Ms. Bonanno achieved the Top Loan Officer award from Broadview Mortgage. Out of 17 branches, she had both the highest dollar volume and highest total number of loans closed. 

Kelly Marsh is the branch manager of Broadview Mortgage in Santa Barbara. Over her more than 16 years in the mortgage industry, Ms. Marsh has closed about 4,000 loans totaling more than $1 billion. She has received the Scotsman’s Guide Accomplishment and is ranked 44th nationwide by Origination News.