Real estate market

Seriously damaged credit is normally unacceptable for conforming programs, although occasional exceptions are allowed. Conforming loans must have grade-A credit, although A- minus credit is acceptable when compensating factors are present.
For all other applicants, non-conforming loan programs are available with a variety of alternative financing opportunities. It is even possible to provide refinance [...]

A jumbo loan is any loan that exceeds conforming guidelines. Since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s charter are focused on servicing America’s low, moderate and middle income home buyers, loan amount limits filter high-income borrowers. FHA loans institute even lower loan amount limits than does Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As of January 2000, [...]

The second mortgage market has been an increasingly active industry during the past two decades, especially as homeowners discover their uses and cost-effectiveness. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac normally do not purchase home equity loans and home equity lines of credit. In fact, credit lines are usually either portfolio, with the originating lender keeping [...]

Whereas there may be dozens of conforming loan programs available at any given time, there are probably thousands of different non-conforming programs. Non-conforming lenders design loans for specific conforming guideline restrictions–or rather for the borrowers and situations that fail to meet those conforming restrictions. Most non-conforming programs tend to fall within the following six [...]

Mortgage loans can normally be categorized according to three categories, depending on how they are handled by the lender after closing:
● Portfolio
● Conforming
● Non-conforming
A portfolio loan is kept by the lender in its “portfolio” rather than sold to the secondary mortgage market. [...]

The loan-to-value ratio for single-family construction loans varies from lender to lender. Some banks normally limited the entire construction-permanent loan to 80% of the appraised value of the completed property. Many lenders today, however, treat the construction-permanent LTV similarly to purchase programs, with total LTVs reaching 90%-95%. At 80% LTV, the need for private mortgage [...]

The loan funds are disbursed, or “paid out,” in stages. A typical construction loan structures four (4) disbursements, each of which will only come as certain stages are undertaken or completed. With most construction loans, the four disbursements are often divided as follows:
1. Foundation
2. Under roof and enclosed to weather
3. Roughed-in and drywalls
4. Final stage
An [...]

The typical construction loan is normally an interim or short-term financing that provides the borrowers and their contractor with the funds to build a new home. They are short-term loans in that they must be paid off or refinanced immediately after the construction is completed. In some cases, the construction loan will only cover the [...]