Aaron Cashmer

The Complete HARP/Making Home Affordable Eligibility Breakdown Good news…The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) has been extended. The program’s new expiration date is June 12, 2012. If you’re underwater on your conforming, conventional mortgage, you may be eligible to refinance your home without paying down principal or having to pay mortgage insurance. More people are [...]

“Distressed Homes” Sell At A 20% Discount Home re-sales rose 4 percent last month, according to the March Existing Home Sales report. A total of 5.1 million homes were sold on an annualized, seasonally-adjusted basis. Long-Term Trend : Outlook Strong The strong results re-establish the national, long-term trend toward rising home resales. March marked the [...]

Your Credit Score Will Not Be Secret Anymore! And, you have the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill to thank for it. Starting July 21, 2011 lenders will have to provide you with your credit score if you are turned down for a loan OR are charged a higher rate than the “best” rate they have to [...]

Are You Selling In The Next 5 Years? Switch to An Adjustable Rate…Seriously! Mortgage rates have been rising — sharply even — but not all rates are rising equally. As such, it’s an excellent time to look at 5-year ARMs. November 3 : The “Bottom” For Mortgage Rates  In April 2010, mortgage rates started a [...]

Mortgage Interest Rates Are All In Your Head. It’s like home buyers today are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The housing crash, foreclosure crisis and banking scandals have all combined to make buyers more sensitive than ever before. That’s why even the slightest fluctuation in mortgage interest rates have huge emotional power today. Bottom line [...]

Banks : We’re Careful In Underwriting And We’re Scrutinizing You! It’s getting tougher to get approved for a mortgage. Yes, unfortunately its true. Banks Not Budging On   Paperwork   In its quarterly survey of senior loan officers around the country, the Federal Reserve asked whether “prime” residential mortgage guidelines” have tightened in the prior 3 [...]

The Falling, Long Term Cost Of a 30 Yr Fixed Rate Mortgage Each Thursday, Freddie Mac publishes a “national” mortgage rate in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey.  Despite its flawed methodology, the survey does a good job of showing whether mortgage rates are rising or falling. Since early-April, rates are down. And down big. A [...]

Good News Alert: 8 Reasons To Buy a Home and Why… OK people, enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership and the housing market. Sure, maybe there’s more pain to come in the housing market. But as a Wall Street Journal writer points out when “Time magazine” is running covers that declare ‘Owning a [...]

FHA Mortgage Insurance: It’s Going Going Up—How to Best Prepare? For the second time in 4 months, FHA is changing the way it charges mortgage insurance. The change is forcing homeowners and home buyers using FHA financing to make a monetary decision — use the current system for FHA mortgage insurance, or to wait for [...]

It’s 2010—Is Your Loan Officer Licensed?  If Not…Why? Let me ask you a couple questions: Would you take your kids to a doctor who just recently lost his/her license to practice medicine?     OR If you were needing legal representation, would you choose a lawyer who hasn’t yet passed the bar exam? The answer to both [...]