The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) plans to impose significant restrictions on the amount of money that sellers can contribute at closing in the near future. The FHA also will be raising its mortgage insurance premiums during the coming weeks, increasing charges for new purchases across the board. Making sense of the story: One reason for …
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Negotiation strategies differ depending on how well the home is priced and who’s on the other side. If you’re trying to buy a short-sale listing where the lender has to agree to accept less than the amount owed, the seller doesn’t have much say in the negotiations about price unless he can contribute money to …
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As interest rates have slid over the past couple of years, Gabriel Bousbib of Englewood, N.J., refinanced his 15-year mortgage not once, but twice-cutting his interest rate in two steps from about 4.6 percent to 3.375 percent. He’s one of a number of homeowners who refinanced just a year or two ago, but decided it …
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Have you heard about no-cost mortgages? Here are the pros and cons about shopping for one in this housing market: While buyers avoid overcharges, they also pay a higher interest rate “Is shopping for a no-cost mortgage a good strategy in today’s market?” No-cost mortgages are relatively easy to shop because of their simplicity, and …