Before a human ever looks at your mortgage application, a piece of software has already sized you up. It's called an automated underwriting system, and its findings shape everything that happens next in your loan process. Most buyers have never heard of it, but understanding how it works and what your results actually […]

For a lot of buyers in Oakland and Berkeley, the monthly mortgage payment is actually doable. It's the down payment that stops them cold. Coming up with $26,000 or more upfront is a real barrier, and most people have no idea how much help is available to close that gap. Here's a full breakdown of every major down […]

Prior to the Iran war, the average mortgage rate was 5.99%. Today’s average is closer to 6.4%, and our brief purchase-and-refi boomlet has come to a screeching halt. Rates shot up so quickly because oil prices shot up so quickly – from about $65 per barrel (WTI) to about $94 per barrel today. So that is why loan […]

Have you ever thought about ways to reduce your monthly mortgage payments without the hassle of refinancing? A mortgage recast might be the perfect solution. This straightforward process allows you to lower your payments by making a lump-sum payment toward your loan’s principal balance. Your lender then recalculates […]

HELOCs in California offer flexible access to your home’s equity with variable rates and interest-only payments during the draw period. This guide breaks down how they work, what they cost, and how to use them wisely. The post How To Get A HELOC in California appeared first on JVM Lending.

The family opportunity mortgage offers a unique way to purchase a home for elderly parents, a disabled adult child, or other family members who cannot qualify on their own. By treating the property as owner occupied, families can often secure more favorable mortgage terms than an investment property loan would allow. […]

In real estate, "contingent" refers to a status that indicates a property is under contract with a buyer, but the final sale is dependent on certain conditions or 'contingencies' being met. These contingencies, often also referred to as conditions, are terms set out in the purchase agreement that must be fulfilled for […]

Laura Ingalls Wilder (of Little House on the Prairie fame) moved SEVEN times when she was a little girl in the 1870s (from Wisconsin to Missouri to Kansas to Wisconsin to Minnesota to South Dakota). She failed to mention three of the moves in her famous books because they didn't always work out well, and life was […]

Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and Concord are practically neighbors. Same BART line, same highway, same grocery stores. But the cost of living across these three cities is not the same, and the gap is bigger than most people expect. If you're trying to figure out where your housing dollar goes furthest in central […]

“What’s good for General Motors is good for America!” That is a slight bastardization of a quote famously uttered by GM’s CEO in 1953 – and he was largely right. What is ironic, though, is that the opposite is true for the mortgage industry (and for real estate). The post Woohoo! Another Financial Crisis Is […]