Kurt Satchfield

More and more lenders are making it a requirement for home buyers to attend a buyers education class, to help ensure that they fully understand the steps they are about to take. Purchasing a home is a major change in your life and we want to help prepare you for what's to come. Before, during and after the purchase of your home.

Your mortgage payment will be the most important expense you incur monthly, and you will need to ensure that you make your payments promptly and accurately.

In many cases you are going to be unable to make it to the scheduled classes due to your daily schedules but now you can learn and get your Home Buyer education achievement certificate on-line! for FREE! and the certificate will be forwarded directly to your lender!

To ensure that you go into the home-buying process with your eyes wide open, MGIC offers a website where you can learn what to expect when preparing to purchase your home. It offers resources from start to finish.

Once you have reviewed the resources on their website you can take a test to see what you have learned. The test is only 18 questions long and you will not be faulted if you don't pass the test, you can take it again! Once you have completed the test it will tell you what you scored in each section what questions were answered incorrectly so you can go back and review the materials and become more knowledgeable.

When you are prepared to take the test click

You will be prompted complete information about yourself and asked to provide a buyers ed code, please enter this code exactly as follows:(best if you copy and past code) april@sunnymtg.net, a copy of your certification will be automatically forwarded to us and put in your file.

Click here to see an example of the certification you will receive English(.pdf)

Getting YOU one step closer to owning your own home!

Call us today to make an application and become prequalified for your mortgage!

MOST BUYERS CAN STILL QUALIFY FOR A MORTGAGE LOAN WITH 580 CREDIT SCORE!

Credit applicants with lower scores generally must have more bank reserves and lenders still look at debt ratios -- the percentage of income a person spends on debt each month.

FHA lending guidelines allow for some buyers with 580 credit scores to purchase homes for as little as *3 percent down and are still allowed to use down payment assistance programs, gifts and secured loans. * 3.5% required down payment goes into effect Januaray 1 2009, keep in mind the assistance can still be used so little money out of pocket for the buyer is still avaliable.

By combining a Federal Housing Authority first mortgage with a Mississippi Housing Finance Authority second mortgage( MHC), banks can finance purchases up to $250,000 with no money down with low interest rates with credit scores of 580 or higher.

Not every applicant with a 580 will qualify, but some will. As the credit score climbs, so does the applicant's chances of getting the loan. We can help get them to that point.

Once the credit score reaches the 650 neighborhood, the majority of applicants will be approved, given the exception of documenting the income.

No one knows where Mortgages will be a year from now but today conforming financing is still avalioable and with good deals out there,

"Now is a good time to buy," . "Now, you can qualify."

The national focus on the credit crunch doesn't reflect the situation in a lot of areas in the US and may be causing some people to be surprised by the financing that is available.

Most FHA, VA and RD borrowers are still getting into homes with little to no money down.

Now is a good time for borrowers because interest rates remain well below the long-term average.

FHA.... New changes simplified. I have attached a flyer here that was created to work as a guide for realtors. In this fast changing industry I want to give a helping hand, I think that it is very important to keep my realtors updated with the most current program changes and guidelines. This helps to bring in clients quicker, have them pre qualified quicker and get them into homes quicker. With a more knowledgeable realtor it keeps the relationship less tense as they know what is going on "on the mortgage side". I have found that my realtors very much enjoy having this detailed up to date information.

ANOTHER WAY TO GET RESIDENCE TO CHOOSE GULFPORT, MS!

STARTS 10/01/2008 SO WE NEED TO START GETTING IT OUT THERE!

Gulfport Announces HOMELINE - A Home Ownership Assistance Program

Posted: Sep 15, 2008 10:31 AM CDT

Updated: Sep 15, 2008 10:31 AM CDT

GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) - A new program in Gulfport in working to make home ownership a reality for more residents. The HOMELINE program will provide $50,000 in down payment assistance for the purchase of affordable homes in the City of Gulfport.

HOMELINE funds may be used to purchase an existing home that's in good condition and was constructed in 1980 or later, as well as newly constructed affordable housing located within the city limits of Gulfport.

To qualify for HOMELINE assistance, applicants must meet the household income qualifications, have the ability to secure a first mortgage, and complete a Homebuyer Education Class.

The City of Gulfport was awarded $9 million in Katrina CDBG Workforce Housing Funds to pay for the project.

"The CDBG funds will provide long-awaited and greatly-deserved workforce housing opportunities for low and moderate income citizens. I encourage residents to take advantage of this program and fill out an application. The process is simple, and we are here to help," said Mayor Brent Warr.

Beginning October 1st, HOMELINE applications will be available for pick-up at the City of Gulfport Community Development Department, 2309 15th Street, Gulfport. For more information, call (228) 868-5736 or (228) 868-5862, or email communitydevelopment@gulfport-ms.gov.

Sunny Mortgage Group can provide details on the income requirements and ratio requirements at 228-385-0551 or email us and we will respond quickly! email: april@sunnymtg.net

According to Mortgagge Letter 2008-23 HUD

We've all been waiting for this because new loan amount calculations were "supposed" to be effective 10-1-08, and thank goodness they're not. They WILL be effective January 2009 so get ready. I've never actually seen HUD really and truly "simplify" anything, let alone the loan amount calculations. They've actually done it this time!

The bad news is that the new down payment increased to 3.5% - as in 96.5% LTV. Flat out. No more borrowing against closing costs, no tiered LTVs, no convoluted calculations using cash investment. It's just like all of the rest of the LTV and down payment calculations in the real world.

And then, the refinance calculations are a shocker!

1. • Maximum Loan Amount Changes - Did you notice that the whole thing is effective the same date as the new maximum loan amounts? With all of the changes going on, it's nice they've waited on this.
   • HUD's Mortgagee Letter - Effective with case numbers on or after 1-1-2009, the maximum LTV is 96.5% LTV for all purchase transactions. Plain and simple.
   • Source of Funds for Down - Unchanged. The downpayment can't come from the seller, builder, lender, or any party to the transaction - the same as always.
   • Seller Concessions - Seller financing concessions are the same as it's always been.
   • Maximum LTV with UFMIP - the only time the 100% comes into play is with refinances. On a purchase, 96.5% plus UFMIP never exceeds 100%.
   • Cash-out Refinance Calculations - This one's also easy, nothing changed.
   • Refinance Calculations - Add the indebtedness plus the UFMIP. If the amount is less than 100% LTV, it becomes the new loan amount. If not, drop the loan amount to 100%. (Of course, you must make sure you're under the legal loan amount limits.)
     
     With a 1.75% UFMIP, this results in LTVs (before UFMIP) of approximately 98.25%!
     
     No tiered LTVs at all. They're all gone after 1-1-09 (case numbers).
   • Other than Cash Out - Besides cash-out, there are No Cash-out refinances, FHASecure refinances, and Streamlined refinances.
     
     At this point, the new calculations will apply to all of them. Unless, of course, HUD changes or further clarifies the rules before 1-1-09.
     
     (Note that FHASecure is scheduled to end 12-31-08, but I just don't believe it. The program is doing increasingly well and for political reasons alone, I bet it will be extended.)