Top 5

Top 5 Reasons to Buy a Home In Nashville Now!

The American dream of home ownership is what drives the spirit of this country.  This dream has turned into skepticism due to the recent uncertainty of the housing market.  We all know the market moves in cycles, and these five developments are the top reasons why potential buyers need to act now. 1.    Home affordability [...] Read more »

Nashville Largely Unaffected By FHA Loan Limit Raises

Late last week Congress approved a change to loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  Included in a spending bill passed by both houses was a provision to raise loan limits to $729,750.  The provision reinstated the limit through 2013 at 125% of local median home prices to a maximum of $729,750.  The previous limit for [...] Read more »

HARP 2.0 To Help Homeowners With Negative Equity

The new guidelines for the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) have been released which should help nearly 2 million homeowners who owe more than their house is worth. The new regulations include no Loan to Value (LTV) restrictions on fixed rate loans of 15 or 30 years.  This will help slowdown foreclosures in the hardest hit areas [...] Read more »

New Options For Refinancing Underwater Mortgages In Nashville

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced a new government refinancing program for borrowers who owe more than their home is worth.  This will allow them to take advantage of today’s great interest rates and help to strengthen their household.  The previous HARP guidelines had a ceiling on the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 125%.   You could [...] Read more »

US Credit Downgrade Has Implications For Nashville Real Estate

In addition to Standard & Poors downgrade of the U.S. debt, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were also downgraded late last week.  Many expect this to cause rates to rise in the long run, however, it has had the opposite effect in the short-term.  Rates on the most popular loans were down 5 to 7 basis [...] Read more »

Foreclosures and Delinquencies Are Declining

DSNews is reporting that according to Fannie Mae’s latest monthly status report, the GSE’s seriously delinquent rate dropped to 4.45 percent in January. That’s down from 4.48 percent the month before. Twelve months earlier, Fannie’s 90-day-past-due rate stood at 5.52 percent. Freddie Mac’s most recent monthly summary report shows its seriously delinquent rate to be [...] Read more »

Freddie Mac Requires 5% Down Payment

In order to support responsible lending and sustainable homeownership, Freddie Mac has decided that they will no longer purchase mortgages with less than 5% Down Payment.  This new change goes into effect for all homes closed on or after June 1, 2011 and was released in a bulletin to lenders last week.  Freddie Mac also [...] Read more »

Government Admits Mistakes in Real Estate Market Crash

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the government made mistakes that led to the Real Estate Market Crash and the Foreclosure Crisis in a speech before a House Committee on Tuesday. Geithner said the government made unnecessary mistakes that could have been avoided. Geithner also stated the lack of regulation and oversight by the government left [...] Read more »

Home Loans Moving To 10% Down

The Wall Street Journal reports on downpayment trends and a recent call from the current administration for raising down payments to 10% on loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Mortgage data shows that private lender are already requiring higher down payments. History shows that higher down payments discourage delinquencies. Read more »