Whitney Watson's (whitneywatson) Blog

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Mortgage and Lending - First Heritage Mortgage - NMLS #: 938761
RECENT BLOG POSTS
Instead of liquidating the securities in your portfolio for a down payment, consider using a margin loan.  By borrowing against an existing portfolio, you can get around the tax liability involved in selling off your assets.  (For all of this to work, you will have to have money in your portfolio...
04/17/2014
As mentioned previously, closing costs typically range from 3%-6% of your loan amount. A closing cost estimate I priced today for a client for a loan amount of $200,000 was $7,100 (3.55% of the loan amount). In this scenario the client was not paying any points for the interest rate. The first op...
04/16/2014
A realtor called me today with a question regarding maximum seller contributions on an FHA deal.  A seller contribution is a dollar amount or percentage of the purchase price that a seller agrees to contribute towards closing costs, prepaids, and/or points. Each loan product has its own contribut...
04/16/2014
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When we bought our first house, I really had no idea what was going on behind the scenes.  There were times, however, when I wish I was a little more informed about the process.  Here’s a helpful summary of the loan process from application to closing: Purchaser Contacts loan officer for financin...
04/14/2014
Are you a fan of Property Brothers on HGTV?  They’re the guys who help homebuyers turn dilapidated houses into dream homes.  Well, it’s probably the only show my husband and I agree on, so we watch a lot of it.  (He’s not so into The Bachelor, and I’m not so into WWE.) Until I became a loan offic...
04/14/2014
If you live in Virginia, the Virginia Development Housing Authority (VHDA) has a program called an FHA Plus loan that will allow you to finance up to 101.5% of the purchase price of a home.  Here’s how it works:  you get a 1st mortgage for 96.5% of the purchase price and then you get a second mor...
04/14/2014
There are so many changes going on right now in the mortgage industry.  Back in August I wrote about Fannie Mae’s HomePath program which offers special financing for purchasers of eligible Fannie Mae REO properties.  Guess what?  The guidelines for this program have now changed.  At the time of m...
04/14/2014
Borrowers are typically not allowed more than one FHA loan since the loan program is reserved for owner-occupants.  This rule prevents borrowers from using an FHA loan as a way to acquire investment properties.  There are, however, four circumstances under which borrowers can qualify for another ...
04/11/2014
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside!  Are you looking to trade in your city life for the fresh air of the countryside?  If so, a USDA loan might be ideal for you.  The United States Department of Agriculture backs a government program which allows for 100% financing for properties in d...
04/11/2014
Last year my husband and I shortened our 30 year mortgage term to a 20 year term by refinancing.  Because interest rates were so low at the time, our monthly payment barely budged, and we were able to save over a hundred thousand dollars by cutting years off of our mortgage payments.  By paying a...
04/08/2014
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Whitney Watson

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