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The mortgage loan process can be intimidating. This is the biggest purchase of your life - you want to make sure it all goes smoothly, right? The good news is that it’s pretty simple. We’ve broken the home loan process down into five main steps.  Mortgage Loan Process Step 1: Get Pre Approved When you’re in the market to buy a home, the first thing you need to do is understand how much home you can afford. While you can use something like a mortgage calculator, you ultimately need to get pre-approved by…

The financial industry is leaning toward democratization more and more every year. From decentralized finance to online-only banks that provide all of the financial services of a traditional bank branch, consumers have more options than ever before. One of the barriers many consumers had in the past was the digital mortgage. For people to get a mortgage, they needed to go into a bank, often after building a relationship with the lender and go through a time-consuming process filled with paperwork.   Now, institutions are opening up the process of applying for and…

On April 26th, The House of Representatives introduced new legislation that would provide the first time homebuyer tax credit of up to 10% of the purchase price, or $15,000. The move comes as a step forward in President Joe Biden’s proposal which he first announced back on the campaign trail in 2020. If the bill is passed, buyers will immediately have access to funds as they close.  To be eligible for the first time homebuyer tax credit, prospective buyers must not have owned or purchased a home within the last three years. They…

Options for mortgage loans for Dreamers have increased. When the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that it would permit individuals protected under the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program to apply for FHA mortgages, the dream of homeownership became that much more accessible to countless around the country.  FHA-backed mortgages join the list of mortgage loans for Dreamers, as they are commonly known. Dreamers are also eligible for conventional loans, or mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Conventional loans bring the benefit of being widespread - almost all lenders offer…

In a new move, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that it will permit individuals protected under the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program to apply for mortgages backed by the FHA, effective January 19th, 2021. The FHA permits DACA recipients to apply in a move that reverses the previous stipulation that barred “non-US citizens without lawful residency” from applying for FHA-insured mortgages.  DACA recipients, or “Dreamers” as they are commonly known, will now be able to realize their dreams of homeownership. FHA-backed loans are hugely popular because they carry a multitude…

As we enter 2021, loan limits for different types of loans have changed. Veterans Affairs (VA) loans closing on or after Jan. 1st, 2021 will be subject to the same loan limits announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The 2021 VA loan limit will therefore increase to $548,250 for one-unit properties. This is a 7.42% increase from the 2020 limit. The ceiling loan limit for one-unit properties in most high-cost areas will be $822,375.  Here is the limit breakdown by property size: VA loans are loans backed by the Department of…