January Mortgage Newsletter

Uncategorized

Mortgage Rates and Politics

Happy New Year! I am excited to announce that we are now licensed in Pennsylvania and Florida. We have excellent rates particularly for second home owners in Florida. Please consider mentioning this to your family and friends if they have a mortgage need.

The new Tax laws will have an impact on housing and mortgages. The threshold of mortgage balance has been lowered for the interest deduction. Consult your tax professional to see how the new Tax laws will impact you.

There is concern by many that inflation could be a problem. If so, that could push home mortgage rates up. The fed has stated that interest rates will be increased this year and there are those that are predicting as many as 3 rate increases. Interestingly consumer confidence in 2017 was very high regarding the job market and overall economy.

After many years of the same loan limits, FannieMae, Freddie Mac and HUD have made increases:

New 2018 Conforming Loan Limits Table

Units Contiguous States Alaska and Hawaii
General High-Cost General High-Cost
1 $453,100 $679,650 $679,650 $1,019,475
2 $580,150 $870,225 $870,225 $1,305,325
3 $701,250 $1,051,875 $1,051,875 $1,577,800
4 $871,450 $1,307,175 $1,307,175 $1,960,750

The above increased loan limits can have a positive effect on Real Estate Values.

Although we have been able to keep our rates at 3.75% for a 30 year fixed, the short term trend is for rates to go up. Currently our rates for Home Buyers are as follows:
Conventional 30 Year Fixed 3.75% APR
Conventional 15 Year Fixed 3.0% APR
FHA 30 Year Fixed 3.25%
Upcoming Seminars

  • For the first time ever, we will be sponsoring a Real Estate Investment Seminar. They will be taking place after our Home Buyer Seminar the 3rd Saturday of every month. Attendees will receive a $1,000 closing cost coupon and lots of valuable information. This month both seminars will be on the 20th of January at the Holiday Inn in Somerset on Davidson Avenue. On February 17th, the seminars will be held in Princeton at the Homewood Suites. For the Home Buyer Seminars, you can register at www.HomeBuyer-Seminar.com. The registration for the investment seminar can be done at www.NJRealEstateSeminars.com There are many very interesting topics including:
  • Little Known Websites where you can find good deals.
  • All about Short Sales, Tax Sales, Foreclosures, Estate Sales, Distressed Sales and REOs.
  • How to use Retirement Funds to purchase Real Estate without paying penalties.
  • Flipping VS Holding
  • Title Issues as they relate to Foreclosures and Tax Sales
  • Investment Clubs
  • Real Estate Syndication

Next month’s newsletter will include the 2017 year in review as we will get year end data from New Jersey Association of Realtors. Please Feel free to reach out to us for more information. We hope to see you at one of our seminars!