Obamacare and Mortgages

Home Buyers
January 3, 2014

by Roberta Murphy This blog is supposed to be about luxury, but lately I’ve been wondering about other things: Like, will health insurance costs become a consideration in qualifying for a mortgage or refinance? Currently, health care costs are not a real consideration when lenders are considering one’s ability to pay for a mortgage. Was this another unintended consequence of Obamacare and the Affordable Healthcare Act? We have several clients…

Read More >>

Mortgage Rate Freeze: Who Wins and Who Loses

Rate Freeze
December 8, 2007

by Roberta Murphy This months hot real estate question: Which homeowners will benefit from President Bush’s recent interest rate freeze for subprime loans? And who will be left out in the cold? It’s a question on the mind of both mortgage and real estate professionals alike. Drumroll. The winners, who may receive a five-year extension (and possibly even longer) on their low introductory mortgage rates, are those: Whose mortgage loans…

Read More >>

Bouncing Mortgages

bouncing mortgages
May 29, 2007

by Roberta Murphy For almost two years now, there have been serious rumblings and grumblings about Option ARM and interest-only mortgages that could put a number of buyers into default. I initially gave the dicey mortgages issue detached interest, because our clients tend to be a conservative lot when it comes to borrowing. We deal with few real estate speculators and most of our clients are solid buyers of primary and secondary homes. My…

Read More >>