Home Buyer 2 | Fairway Independant Mortgage Corporation

FHA Mortgage – Gift Funds – Bothell, Mill Creek, Lynnwood WA

Blog, Bothell, FHA, Home Buyer, Loan, Lynnwood, Mortgage, Seattle Mortgage, Zero Down Loan Lynnwood Mortgage Loan Officer November 28th, 2011 David Haley Mortgage Loan Officer

Gift funds still allowed for Home Buyers seeking to become a home owner, with home prices that are compared to 2000-2003 prices, and with today’s low interest rates, often times you can get into a home lower than what your rent payments are.

Gift funds can come from family members and all that is needed is 3.5% for your down payment, so if you were to purchase a home for as little as 150,000.00 then you will only need: 5,250.00 as a gift down payment.

There are other ways that you can accomplish this down payment if you choose to not receive a gift from your family, you can take a loan on your 401k up to 10,000.00 when you are a First Time Home Buyer.

When you are ready to go out and begin the home search make sure you have your finances, credit, and employment all worked out, by this I mean get pre-approved before you take the step to go out and look for your home. You must know what your payment and debt to income ratios will be, as well as what you can truly afford.

Buying a home can be easy when you have the right steps done in the right order, believe me, make sure you know what you can truly afford before you go out looking for a home.

Stanwood-listing-003 Who can qualify for a FHA Home loan, just about anyone, you do not have to be a first time home buyer! If you have owned a home before that is fine, you can have one FHA loan at a time, is the main guideline, however some exceptions have been seen before.

So to quickly summarize you can still purchase a home Zero Down* if you do receive a Gift! Should you seek more information and want to know what you qualify for go to the top right side of the website, click “Apply Now” and put David Haley as the loan officer and I will be glad to help you get started to owning your new home!

FHA – Increase in Mortgage Insurance – No April Fools Joke!

Blog, Down Payment, FHA, Home Buyer, Home Seller, Loan, Mortgage, Real Estate, Refinance Lynnwood Mortgage Loan Officer February 28th, 2012 David Haley Mortgage Loan Officer

April 1st of 2012 will not be a good April Fool’s joke – once again FHA has been looking at their overall solvency concerns and has deteremined they need to pass along the added costs to the new borrowers.

The UFMIP will be increased from 1 percent to 1.75 percent of the base loan amount. This increase applies regardless of the amortization term or LTV ratio. FHA will continue to permit financing of this charge into the mortgage. This change is effective for case numbers assigned on or after April 1, 2012. Example: Loan Amount = 100,000.00 new Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium is 1.75% = 1,750.00 being financed into new loan.

The Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 requires FHA to increase the annual MIP it collects by 0.10 percent. This change is effective for case numbers assigned on or after April 1, 2012. FHA is also exercising its statutory authority to add an additional 0.25 percent to mortgages exceeding $625,500. This change is effective for case numbers assigned on or after June 1, 2012. UPDATE: Here is the HUD LINK

So for quick examples and here is the easiest equation. Take your loan amount 100,000.00 time new Monthly Mortgage Insurance Cost of 1.25% = 1,250.00 then divide this number by 12 to give you the Monthly Mtg Ins Premium Cost = 104.17 per month vs. the old MI factor of 1.15% = 1,150.00 / 12 = 95.83 per month.

Now these are all numbers based on if you are only putting the 3.5% minimum investment down for this type of loan.

Taken together, these premium changes will enable FHA to increase revenues at a time that is critical to the ongoing stability of its Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund, contributing more than $1 billion to the Fund, based on current volume projections through Fiscal Year 2013.

Should you have any questions please give contact me.

Mortgage Rates Remain Low – Fees to Increase?

Blog, Home Buyer, Seattle Mortgage Lynnwood Mortgage Loan Officer October 9th, 2011 David Haley Mortgage Loan Officer

Rates Stay Low, BUT Will Costs Go Up?

We are enjoying extremely low interest rates, for sure. With the global economy, the national economy and unemployment where they are, no one is predicting a dramatic change in rates any time soon. BUT, on Monday, the Obama Administration floated out some interesting proposals they are considering through the Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Edward DeMarco. It appears that two significant changes in housing financing are on the table.

You should know that FHFA is the new regulator that is overseeing the restoration of viability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They are charged with reducing the risk on loans delivered to the GSEs in order to protect the U.S. taxpayer.

In a speech this past Monday, Mr. DeMarco mentioned two potential changes:

Increasing the role of the private sector to lessen the risk held by the public sector.

The method mentioned was increasing the insurance coverages assumed by the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) companies. One result could be higher insurance rates for loans where customers put less than 20% down. The second wrinkle is potentially more damaging…the idea that PMI coverage may be required on loans with 21%-25% (maybe even 30%) down! Clearly, this is an attempt to get more fee income to the MI companies to entice them to remain viable and continue to serve those with less than 20% down. Regardless, the net result is that more people will have to pay more money for private mortgage insurance. “How much?” and “To what extent?” is yet to be defined; however, more costs to more people is bad.

Adjusting fees.

Recognize that the GSEs charge fees. Explaining what they are and why they exist is a topic for a different day. Suffice to say, today, fees are fairly standard geographically speaking. Mr. DeMarco is talking about adjusting the fees (i.e., increasing them) for areas that have proven more risky. This proposal means the hardest hit areas will have the most difficult time recovering because the increased fees always get passed on to the consumer. Rather than “spread the risk”, FHFA is talking about punishing the defenseless.

The predictable outcome of these “strategies” is higher costs to the consumer which makes buying a home more expensive. As costs go up, desire to buy goes down (as does the borrower’s ability to be approved for a mortgage).

Message: Buy sooner rather than later!

We’d like to thank KCM Blog for this post.

Free Trees & Plants – Seattle Curb Appeal & Do A FHA Energy Efficient Mortgage

Blog, Home Buyer, Seattle Mortgage, VA Loan Lynnwood Mortgage Loan Officer November 13th, 2011 David Haley Mortgage Loan Officer

green-tree Go Green – Plant a Tree!

One of the ways that you can generate curb appeal for your properties is through a beautification effort and that does not mean taking a hit from your operating budget.

Here are three ways to get free trees or plants for your properties. Free Trees & Plants – Very simple way to get trees and plants. This is a not-for profit foundation that collects plants from nurseries that would be thrown away. They nurture the plants and ship them to you. You only pay for shipping and handling. https://www.freetreesandplants.com/

Arbor Day Foundation – When you sign up for a six month membership, you get 10 free trees shipped for free. https://www.arborday.org/

We find that homeowners like the idea of being “Green” for the environment and not having to spend alot of money at the same time. Arbor Day Foundation is one of the best and inexpensive ways to achieve this goal.

I specialize in helping new homeowners in the Seattle, Lynnwood, Edmonds and Bothell area that are interested in receiving an Energy Efficient Mortgage that can be financed above the FHA mortgage loan or a VA Loan. This is often times more attractive and helps in saving money due to better efficiency standards.

We have contacts that will assist us with the HERS Rating and Energy Efficiency that is required when you are interested in this type of financing.

Here are a few examples that can be used in addition to your FHA Loan with the Energy Efficient Mortgage:

Replacing a furnace/cooling system
Fixing or replacing a chimney
Insulating an attic, crawl space, and/or pipes and air ducts
Replacing doors or windows

Have questions? Please feel free to contact me.

Seattle VA Loan Limits 2012

Blog, Home Buyer, Lynnwood, VA Loan Lynnwood Mortgage Loan Officer December 16th, 2011 David Haley Mortgage Loan Officer

VA just released their new loan limits for Seattle, Snohomish, Everett, Tacoma, Lynnwood, Shoreline Area and Surrounding Counties:

King: $458,850 | Snohomish $458,850 | San Juan $432400 | Pierce $458,850

This will allow for 100% Financing for qualifying miltiary servicemen and women.

https://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/docs/Loan_Limits_2012_Dec_2011.pdf

Let me of service to you as you served our country! Thank you

Mortgage Insurance, Not a Tax Deduction?

Blog, Down Payment, Fannie Mae, FHA, Freddie Mac, Home Buyer, Mortgage, Real Estate, Refinance, VA Loan, Zero Down Loan Lynnwood Mortgage Loan Officer December 30th, 2011 David Haley Mortgage Loan Officer

Mortgage-Insurance

Going forward Mortgage Insurance will no longer be able to be a line item deduction after 12/31/2011. As a Mortgage Insurance Company has reminded us: United Guaranty MI company. “MI tax deductibility is scheduled to lapse at midnight, December 31, 2011, now’s the time to expedite them to retain this benefit for your borrowers who qualify! MI tax deductibility will also lapse for FHA and VA loans, which were extended under the same law as private MI.”

As we found out last week, g-fees for new agency loans will be going up to pay for the two-month payroll tax cut.Under the “unintended consequences” banner analysts were quick to point out that, given the increase is scheduled for ten years, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not going away any time soon unless the government comes up with the money elsewhere. F&F will not absorb this increase, nor will lenders; it will, of course, be passed on to borrowers. (The bill also will raise the annual insurance premium borrowers pay on FHA loans by one-tenth of a percent.) The increased g-fee, which makes it difficult for Congress to work on efforts to shut down Fannie and Freddie, based on current rates and a $200,000 loan, will cost the agency borrower about $11 per month. “These institutions, which have been so costly to Americans and are so necessary to the housing recovery, should not be the piggy bank for future arbitrary tax policy,” Dave Stevens (MBA) said. Due to their government ownership, investors still view their (and FHA/VA) MBS’s as safer investments than those offered by private firms. The law allows FHFA to phase in the fee over two years.
So, if you were lucky enough to close your home loan before 12/30/2011 Congratulations!

*As always seek a qualified CPA who can further assist you.* This is not to be construed as tax advice, informational purposes only!

We are hoping that the House of Representatives will continue to extend this tax credit to home buyers, as this is a benefit when you purchase a home and have less than 20% down payment. Make sure you contact your local Representative, Congressman, Senator, or local delgate. We need to extend this tax credit / deduction! As this will only help our real estate markets

Should you have any questions please contact me.

						David and Jan are amazing! They did such a great job and kept us in the loop the whole time. They are rock stars! Thank you!			
[read more]read less
K. U.		11/17/2025
						The level of Care and Attention to your individual situation is outstanding!			
[read more]read less
F. C.		11/11/2025
						If I could give David 10 stars, I would. He was there for us with any questions we had and was very transparent with everything he did. He went above and beyond at every turn and he got us to closing in record time, especially since we switched lenders halfway through the process due to issues with Zillow. We feel so lucky to have found David and he helped make our dream a reality.			
[read more]read less
K. T.		10/25/2025

						David and his team have provided, by far, the best mortgage experiences of our lives.  Their patient explanations and thorough understanding of our situation instill confidence in our decisions every time.			
[read more]read less
M. S.		10/22/2025
						I had a great first experience working with this mortgage lender. The whole team was friendly and easy to work with while still keeping everything professional. My loan officer was very knowledgeable and always quick to answer any questions I had. The process went smoothly from start to finish. I’d highly recommend them to anyone looking for a reliable and professional lender!			
[read more]read less
T. N.		10/20/2025
						David and his amazing team made my home buying experience something that wasn’t overwhelming but enjoyable and easy.He was there every step of the way, answering any and all questions from early in the morning till late at night. If you call, he answers. I would recommend David and his team to any and all looking to purchase a home, he will go above and beyond for you. Thank you David, Jan and L.J.			
[read more]read less
J. N.		10/19/2025