VA loans are guaranteed by U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. VA does not make loans, it guarantees loans made by lenders.
VA determines your eligibility and, if qualified, issues you a certificate of eligibility to be used in applying for your VA loan. This guaranty allows veterans of our armed forces to obtain Idaho Home Loans with very favorable loan terms:
- A down payment is usually not required.
- Low interest rates - generally comparable to regular conforming loan rates.
- No monthly private mortgage insurance; just an upfront VA loan funding fee that can be rolled into the loan.
This VA Loan Funding Fee is part of VA’s Home Loan Guarantee Program, and is usually around 2-3% of the loan amount. And this fee may be waived for disabled vets receiving VA compensation. Your mortgage lender can help you apply for a VA Loan, and complete the forms to receive this waiver.
Boise Mortgages that utilize the government’s VA Loan program are a very good option for veterans - rather than conventional loans - especially for those with less-than-perfect credit.
You can get pre-approved quickly and easily for an Idaho VA loan by completing a mortgage loan application with My Idaho Home Loan.com or by calling us direct at (208) 888-9251.
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Written by Lisa Kratz and Mike Little
Apex Mortgage | Meridian, Idaho | (208) 888-9251 | myIdahoHomeLoan.com
“FED CUTS RATE TO 2%!”
Here’s the scenario:
You need to buy a home, or refinance your Idaho mortgage. You talk with a local lender choose the perfect loan program and rate, at which point you “lock in” your mortgage rate for 30 days — let’s say, at 6.5%.
The next day you see on the news: “Fed cuts rate to 2%.” Hopeful, you call your lender, “Does this mean my rate goes down a point, to 5.5%?”
The short answer is “No.”
Here’s the long answer:
It’s important to understand what “The Fed” is, what “The rate” is, and what affects - short term and long term - an increase or decrease announcement has.
“The Fed,” or Federal Reserve, is sort of a financial think tank and not, as many believe, part of our federal government. They perform information gathering and economic research. Their primary goal: Promote sustainable growth of the US economy. This includes, of course, fending off recession by doing things like keeping an eye on banks, promoting spending (and lending) as a means to infuse cash into the market and thereby help the economy, etc..
Rates monitored and set by the Fed are:
- The Discount Rate (interest rate banks pay on short-term loans from a Federal Reserve Bank) and,
- The Federal Funds Rate (interest rate at which a depository institution lends immediately available funds to another depository institution overnight).
This Federal Funds Rate is “The rate” that news reports are referring to when they talk about the Fed changing interest rates.
But, and heres the point, they are setting a target for this rate, not the actual rate itself. The actual rate itself is determined by the open market. So depending on a multitude of open market forces, banks may or may not react quickly to these changes, and when they do, mortgage rates may or may not be significantly affected. Credit cards and second mortgages are more likely to see immediate effects of a rate cut.
Many consumer loans are at or close to the “prime rate,” which is generally three percentage points higher than the federal funds rate. Although the prime tends to track up or down with the federal funds rate.
Longer-term, fixed-rate loans such as Idaho mortgages or student loans track with treasury bonds, so they’re not immediately affected by the Fed’s decision, but they follow broadly. On the other hand, many types of adjustable rate mortgages (ARM’s) are more likely to react (change up or down) sooner than later to Fed announcements.
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Written by Lisa Kratz and Mike Little of myIdahoHomeLoan.com
Apex Mortgage | Meridian, Idaho | (208) 888-9251
In a previous article, we wrote about the benefits of going with an FHA home loan or refinance. But it gets even better! Let’s say you’re already in an FHA mortgage, but you want to take advantage of the new lower rates… or perhaps you want to change terms, such as the length of the loan.
The FHA permits what they call a “Streamline Refinance” on pre-existing FHA mortgages. The “streamline” refers to the amount of documentation and underwriting that lenders need to perform. The whole process is easier and faster… for everyone.
Streamline refinances can be done without an appraisal, but the new loan amount cannot exceed the original loan amount. A popular option, however, is to include all the closing costs into the new mortgage amount. To do this an appraisal is required to ensure there is sufficient equity in the property, which is based in part on the home’s market value.
The benefits of a Streamlined FHA Refinance (what we call one of the FHA’s “little secrets”) are excellent. They include:
- Little or no out-of-pocket costs
- No credit check, income verification, employee verification, or underwriting fee
- Appraisal usually not required
- Very little paperwork
- Reduced interest rates
- Easily increase or decrease the length of the term of your existing loan
The FHA Streamline Refi reduces your monthly expenses by lowering your monthly mortgage payment, but there is no option to receive cash back. It’s a good option for folks who are in good financial standing who want to further reduce their monthly expenses.
For a fast, free, pre-qualification for your FHA Streamline Refinance,
click here –> FHA Streamline pre-qualify.
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Written by Lisa Kratz and Mike Little of myIdahoHomeLoan.com
Apex Mortgage | Meridian, Idaho | (208) 888-9251
