Mortgage Discussion for the Panhandle area

Winter seems to have passed us by and the warm weather has arrived. Mortgage rates have come down a little and it seems like the market is picking back up. Mortgage closings are happening without any hitches and that is good news.

A lot of changes are happening in the mortgage market which seems like the normal course of operation these days. On April 1, 2011 our Federal Reserve has decided to "govern" the way loan officers get paid. You may know about the new Fed Rule but for those that do not here is a brief description. Come April 1st no loan officer anywhere (bank, mortgage company or mortgage broker) will be allowed to be paid based on production. In other words no commission pay or bonuses based on closed loans. This may seem like a good idea on the surface and we will see how it all works out but most experts believe it will lead to higher priced loans. Since the loans officer cannot "kick" in some cash to make a deal fly or compete with another mortgage outlet it will force just plain deals with no room to negotiate. Keep an eye on what happens next month as the whole lending environment will change.

Just in case anyone is a little out of touch with lending today let me assure you most things are the same. We still lend 100% on USDA (Rural Development) and VA. 97.5% on FHA and 95% for conforming loans. No real changes lately in fact we see some relaxing of guidelines here and there. This may lead to more closings in 2011 so that will help us all.

Warm weather is here so send us a deal and we will see you at closing.