Borrow from Your 401k for Your Down Payment

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This is Adam Moshofsky and welcome to the Moshofsky Mortgage Minute. Thanks as always for joining me! Today I want to touch on a topic that seems to be coming up and up very commonly right now and that is how do I come up with a down payment to purchase a home? As you guys know the housing market right now is really on fire and so a lot of people are looking for ways to get into homes. 

Well, most programs are going to require a down payment. And right now a really popular way to get a down payment is to borrow from your 401k. Now that is not for everybody. If you're a senior citizen and plan on retiring soon that's not something I would recommend.  If you're somewhere before that I think it's a great way to leverage that retirement fund and put it into a house as long as you're making a wise investment.

So, how that works is you are billed to borrow from your 401k, tax free, penalty free. And you do have a repayment period, could be two, three, five, ten years and you will have a monthly payment to pay that back. But it is a very effective way to get a down payment. It's perfectly legitimate and okay to use for the lenders. So it's a way for you to leverage your retirement account and get into the housing market, whether it's now or down the road. 

So, I have executed this many times if you want some help on how to do it I would be happy to show you the steps to take. All my contact information is below and I'd love to hear from you guys. Thanks again, see you next time!

Adam Moshofsky        (503) 880-6533      adam@mtgxps.com

List Your Home or Refinance?

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Hey guys, this is Adam Moshofsky and welcome to the Moshofsky Mortgage Minute. Thank you for joining me. Today I want to talk about a topic that I’m sure some of you are thinking about: Do you sell or list your home in a very hot sellers’ market right now or do you take advantage of the rates and refinance using the HARP loan or some other refinance product. It’s a very tough situation so it’s going to come down to what your needs and wants are.  

I would be more than happy to sit down and talk to you about those with you on an individual basis. I’m sure you know right now the inventory is very, very low giving sellers a lot of control over a negotiate right now. Also, HARP has been extended to 2015. If you are not familiar with what HARP is, it is the refinance program that allows you to refinance even though you may be underwater. So, all of a sudden you have two really good options and it’s time to decide which way to go. I would be happy to sit down with you and talk to you about your options and let you know everything that I can tell you.

Give me a call at (503) 880-6533 or email me at adam@mtgxps.com for all your mortgage needs. Thanks and have a great day.

How to Keep Your Credit Score High

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Hey guys, this is Adam Moshofsky and welcome to the Moshofsky Mortgage Minute. Today I want to talk about credit scores and how to keep them high so when you do apply for a mortgage, we can get you the best rate possible. Typically, when you have a credit card, if you have over a 50% balance on your limit, you are going to get a credit score hit. So, you do want to keep your balances under that 50% threshold because that will definitely help your credit scores in the long run. 

Ideally, you will keep a small amount on the card every month. If you pay it off every month, sometimes the credit bureaus won’t give you credit for it. If you keep a $10 credit on your card every month and pay interest on that $10, it will raise your credit scores fairly quickly. Another thing you want to do, is if you have an old account that you no longer use but have had for years, don’t close it. If you close it, all that good payment history will go away and no longer be computed into your score. So, even if you don’t use it, keep it; it will help your score when you apply for a mortgage. 

My job is to get you the best rate possible and to have your credit score as high as possible will help me do that. If you have any questions about your personal credit situation or anything else mortgage related, please call me at (503) 880-6533 or email me at adam@mtgxps.com and I will be happy to help. Thanks and have a great day!

FHA Announces More Big Changes

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Hey guys, it's Adam Moshofsky. Welcome to Moshofsky Mortgage Minute, thank you for joining me. Today I want to touch on another topic that I've talked about before - FHA is at it again! They are raising their mortgage insurance premiums again April 1, 2013 and that's going to effect anybody that has not ordered the FHA case number by then. So basically all you need to do is be in contract on a new home before April 1, and you'll avoid the changes.

The increase is from 1.25% annually to 1.35% annually and that's in monthly mortgage insurance. It's not an incredible jump, but it is a jump and we've seen this from them before. Basically, FHA is trying to pull themselves out of the market a little bit and let the convential, private lenders jump in and take up more of the slack.

I just wanted to keep you guys up to date, especially if you are an FHA buyer if this does affect you, call me and I'd love to talk to you about your situation. Thanks again for watching my videos and have a great day!


AMoshofsky@mtgxps.com                                          503-517-8581
 

Fiscal Cliff Aftermath - How it Affects You

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Today I wanted to touch on my last video on the fiscal cliff, essentially the aftermath of the fiscal cliff. Two quick points: 1). As expected, they did come to an agreement and as expected rates did pop up a little bit. Now, this is not a surprise and we were projecting that this would happen but the bump was very, very small.

So if you're looking to refinance or still looking to make a purchase, you will still get an amazing rate. We are still in the low-to-mid 3's for most of the 30-year fixed products. It was a modest bump and again, not a surprise. 2). Another big thing that came out of it is that the private mortgage insurance, also known as monthly mortgage insurance, will be tax deductible in 2013. This is a huge win for homeowners! If you are looking to make a purchase in 2013 or if you already own a home, you will get this tax deduction if you qualify for it. So this is great news for homeowners out of the fiscal cliff deal.

These are my main points I wanted to follow up on the fiscal cliff; if you guys have any questions your current mortgage situation, or you are thinking about purchasing or refinancing please let me know. You can shoot me an email at adam@mtgxps.com or call me at (503) 880-6533.

How the Fiscal Cliff Will Affect Your Mortgage

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Hey guys, this is Adam Moshofsky and welcome to the Moshofsky Mortgage Minute. Today I wanted to touch on a topic that is all over the news: the fiscal cliff. But, specifically, how is the fiscal cliff going to affect mortgage rates? There are two general thoughts on this. The first is, if congress does reach an agreement and if it is bi-partisan and generally people are happy with it, most likely we will see an increase in rates in the short term. On the other side, if we do not reach an agreement, if we go over the fiscal cliff, it is likely that rates will decrease a little bit more. Now we are already at record low rates, so we have yet to see where those rates can go, but it’s possible that they could go down further. So, this could help or hurt you in your current situation whether you are looking to refinance or purchase. I would love to help you and talk to you specifically about your situation to see if we can improve it. 

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If you have any questions, please call me at (503) 880-6533 or email me at adam@mtgxps.com. Thanks and have a great holiday!

How Long Does It Take To Buy After a Foreclosure?

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Today I want to talk about a topic that is very hot right now and that is: how long does it take you to buy after you have gone into a foreclosure? Since the economic hardships of the late 2000s we have had a lot of people in that situation, whether it be a short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy, people want to know “How long do I have to wait?”

Well, it depends on what loan program you are using because every loan program has different guidelines. For example, if you are in to do a conventional loan for a closure, the technical guideline is seven years. If you want to do a FHA loan it’s three years and if you are a veteran and you want to apply for a VA loan, it’s two years. So it really depends on what loan program you are going with and I can help you out with that. Also, if you have had a short sale or a bankruptcy, there are different guidelines for each program there.

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So if you would like to know what these guidelines are, click here.

If you have any mortgage questions, please contact me at (503)517-8581 and I will be able to help you with all of your mortgage needs!