I just closed a refinance yesterday saving my client $600 per month!  That’s a $216,000 savings over 30 years!!  If you’ve been putting off your refinance, it’s time to act – rates are low and there are many loan programs to help borrowers take advantage of this market opportunity.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has again increased the guarantee fee they charge to lenders delivering loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  This will increase the cost of borrowing – by approximately .125% in rate.   

The guarantee fee or “g-fee” is an amount charged by mortgage-backed securities (MBS) providers, like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, to help protect against credit-related losses in the overall mortgage portfolio. In other words, it acts a lot like insurance and helps lower the overall risk.  This means home loans can be offered at favorable interest rates to borrowers that have good, but not perfect, credit.

Just funded a $475,000 fifteen year fixed rate FHA loan at 3% with no points and a credit towards closing costs!  My borrower put down 22% to avoid monthly MI – a creative use of the great FHA rates and more lenient FHA underwriting!