Tampa Mortgages
Clearwater Florida
Clearwater FL Homes for Sale | Is Your Tampa Mortgage Preapproval Stale?
April 11th, 2010 Categories: Clearwater Florida, Tampa Mortgages
Clearwater FL Homes | Buyers need to Update Tampa Mortgages & Preapprovals
Clearwater FL - It’s a busy weekend with the National Open House event. Lots of people checking out Clearwater FL Real Estate. Before you get too excited…have you checked if your Tampa Mortgage preapproval is still valid or is it stale? As the federal home buyer tax credit nears its April 30 end-date (19 days and counting down), there’s a lot of would-be home buyers in Clearwater FL still working to get a home under contract - both first time home buyers and those taking advantage of the move up tax credit.
A piece of advice for all of you looking to buy a home right now: If your Tampa Mortgage pre-qualification and/or pre-approval letter is more than 8 weeks old, it would be smart to have your mortgage lender “re-pre-approve” you. Here’s a short video I found on Youtube that explains the basic pre-approval process you may find helpful (of course you’ll want to talk to a local lender about your specific situation):
Why? Because we live in a dynamic lending market and the mortgage guidelines have been in flux and your original lender letter may now be invalid.
For example, over the past half-dozen months, the majority of Tampa mortgage lenders have reduced their risk tolerance can many of these items have tightened up with respect to:
- For Clearwater Homes for sale, buyers Maximum debt-to-income ratios have changed
- Minimum allowable credit scores for Clearwater Home buyers
- Calculation of “assets in reserve” when buying Fl homes for sale
For Clearwater Beach buyers of Clearwater FL condos for sale and co-ops, even the subject property itself is coming under tighter guidelines and tougher scrutiny. We’ve written about some of these changes before:
Clearwater FL Homes for Sale - Related Articles:
- Clearwater FL Homes for Sale Haunted by FHA Appraisals
- Clearwater Beach Florida Buyers Must Know 6 Reasons Cash May be the ONLY Purchase Option
- Clearwater Fl Homes for Sale - 5 Home Seller Myths Expose The Emperors New Clothes
Today’s Tampa mortgages require applicants need to be strong on all fronts to make lenders comfortable based on the current risk and problems they’ve experienced. Did you know that it takes more than just good income and credit to get approved anymore and today’s home buyers should revisit their qualifications.
What passed underwriting to get a loan approved in January may not still pass in May. We recently had a client surprised by the fact that even though they had lots of income and verifiable assets their low credit score kept any lender from being willing to finance their mortgage even when planning to put 50% down. Luckily for them, in 3 months they were able to clean some things up and raise their score so we’re set to close next month.
Being pro-active brings other advantages, too. If a mortgage re-pre-approval does unearth an issue, it’ll be easier for every party to the transaction to address and correct it up-front versus trying to clean up a mess once a home’s already under contract and racing the deadlines.
Got questions, just give us, your local Clearwater FL Realtors a call or talk to your loan officer about your pre-qualification/pre-approval letter before you bid on a Clearwater FL home.
So if you’re looking for Clearwater FL Realtors we’d like you to know that we are passionate about being your Clearwater real estate advocate. We’re committed to delivering Results daily based on Integrity, Knowledge & Experience - helping you find the perfect Clearwater FL homes for sale.
We’d like to be YOUR Clearwater FL Real Estate Team!
Call Cyndee @ 727.710.8035 or Jack @ 727710.8036
Warmly,
Cyndee and Jack Haydon
Charles Rutenberg Realty
Clearwater Real Estate Office
1545 S. Belcher Rd
Clearwater Florida 33764
727-710-8035 (Cyndee’s cell)
727-710-8036 (Jack’s cell)
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Clearwater Beach Florida - History shows When Tampa Mortgage Rates Drop..Lock Don’t Loaf
April 14th, 2009 Categories: Clearwater Beach Florida, Clearwater Florida, Tampa Mortgages
Clearwater Beach Buyers Don’t Blink or Record Low Mortgage Rates Could Be Gone
Clearwater Beach Florida - For the fifth time in just 7 months, those shopping Tampa mortgage rates learned an important lesson this week: When mortgage rates plummet unexpectedly, they often recover just as fast. Don’t blink or those rates could be gone!
Recently the Federal Reserve’s newest $750 billion mortgage market pledge helped to push conventional Clearwater home loans and conforming mortgage rates near their lowest levels since WWII. Then we saw how 24 hours later, however, those rates were expired.
After considering the long-term implications of the Federal Reserve — literally — printing new money to service the recession, markets grew fearful that the Fed’s interventions will eventually lead to inflation. Inflation, of course, is the enemy of all mortgage rates.
Related Tampa Mortgage News:
- Clearwater FHA loans tighten and it’s a new day after April 1st
- How Clearwater Beach Jumbo Loans are hurting buyers and sellers right now
- Tampa Condo loans effected by new Fannie Mae Guidelines changed for Florida
What can the History of Tampa / Clearwater Mortgage Rates teach us?
So, if you’re looking for the explanation of why recent Tampa /Clearwater mortgage rates rose as suddenly one day as they fell the day prior, this is it. And, in hindsight, Tampa bay mortgage rate shoppers might have seen it coming, if only because we’ve seen the exact pattern 4 other times:
- After the Fed’s “surprise” rate cut in January 2008
- After the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac takeovers in September 2008
- After the Fed announced its first $500 in support in November 2008
- After the Fed zeroed out the Fed Funds Rate in December 2008
Sharp drops in mortgage rate, it seems, are followed by immediate bounce-backs.
Unfortunately, not every would-be refinancing Clearwater home owner saw the increase coming. People that locked captured the lowest rates in 6 decades. Everyone else wishes they had.
From day-to-day, we don’t know if Tampa mortgage rates will rise or fall. Nobody knows that. But, we do know that Tampa mortgage rates tend to follow patterns and we’ve seen the above pattern 5 times now.
When mortgage rates plunge like they did, they are rarely low for long. When you find a mortgage rate you like, get in and get locked as soon as possible. By tomorrow, it’s likely to be gone.
Thinking of Buying or Selling Property in Clearwater Beach Florida - We can help
If you have been thinking about buying or selling a waterfront or beach condo in the Clearwater St Pete Tampa Bay area…
Contact us for a FREE quote and to find out your Tampa Mortgage options and you can search all Tampa St Petersburg and Clearwater condos for sale right now..
Call Us Today at (727) 710-8036 to hear more about how we can help you!
Copyright © 2009 Jack and Cyndee Haydon, Clearwater Beach REALTORS and your Clearwater Beach Real Estate Consultants specializing in Clearwater Beach Florida and may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed or published.
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Clearwater Beach Florida Condos | Buyers and Sellers Hurt by Jumbo Loans
April 12th, 2009 Categories: Clearwater Beach Florida, Clearwater Florida, Condos for Sale, Sand Key Florida, Tampa Mortgages
Clearwater Beach Florida - As most of our readers know we work hard to get great deals for our Clearwater Beach condo buyers unfortunately there are some great buys on luxury condos in Clearwater however one of the major roadblocks interested buyers encounter is the fact that in the Clearwater Beach Florida / Sand Key Florida area the allowable Fannie Mae loan limit for conventional loans is only $417,000 with at least 20% down.
Now I would agree that in most areas of Clearwater real estate - this would be plenty, however, when you consider we’re home to some of the best beaches in the United States, it’s not nearly enough if you want to buy a typical beach condo and are looking for a reasonable loan.
Even if you were planning on buying a condo and putting 20% to 25% down it’s a problem because most Clearwater Beach Florida oceanfront 3 bedroom condominiums are still selling from $800,000 to well over $1 million dollars even in today’s real estate market.
Related article:
- Clearwater Beach Real Estate - What do 3 bedroom Beachfront Condos cost?
- Clearwater Beach New Construction - What’s Happening?
- Sandpearl Condos - One of the best places to live in Clearwater Beach Florida
Clearwater Beach FL Jumbo Borrowers Squeezed and so are Sellers
So what does this mean for the Sellers with Clearwater beach condos they are looking to sell?
In my experience…
1) Clearwater Beach low conventional loan limits are causing a lot of mortgage pressure to purchase properties for $520,000 (or less) give or take so a buyer can buy a condo with a loan of less than $417,000.
2) Clearwater Jumbo rates (and terms) further limits the number of ready and willing buyers in this “jumbo” price point - so with less willing and able buyers there is again more pressure on sellers to make a deal with the remaining buyers - and we’re seeing cash is king. Our last two beach condo buyers paid cash for their gulf beachfront condos.
What’s hard to believe is we are currently working with many buyers who are the best clients a mortgage lender could want (excellent credit, no debt, no issue with income qualifications) and yet they are not willing to buy a second home / vacation home under the recent terms one National bank / lender gave … For Jumbo loans on beach condo purchases needing a loan over $417K but under 1 million they didn’t even offer a fixed rate loan only a 5/1 ARM at 5.75% with a 1% point so basically when conventional home buyers are getting mortgage rates under 5% - some of the best possible borrowers are being asked to pay a premium of almost 7% and up.
When I asked “why?”, the banks told me that it’s because “Jumbo Loans” are currently the highest loans in default. Unfortunately, those I see in preforeclosure and foreclosure on the beaches now are very different than the potential buyers we are seeing. We all know lending had loose guidelines back a few years and many real estate buyers got in way over their heads - these are not the buyers we are working with today.
77% Pending Sales of Clearwater Beach Condos and Sand Key Condos are NOT Jumbos
There are currently 22 Clearwater condos under contract and pending sale in the Tampa Bay MLS - of that 17 of them has a listed purchase price of under $420,000, 4 are in the $600K’s and one is pending at $849,000 (all of which could be lower on closing - we don’t know the negotiated purchase price at this point). It’s not surprising that it was recently reported that 50% of all real estate sales in Florida this year have been cash transactions.
In our experience, today’s Tampa mortgage rates for Jumbo Loans have caused several of our clients to scale back their Clearwater beach condo purchases and others have postponed them while they free up additional funds to make up the difference in purchase price and “conforming loans”. We’ve seen several people who planned on buying beachfront condos for @$800,000 and now have scaled back $200-300K to qualify for the conforming loan rates and terms.
So if you are a seller on Clearwater Beach Florida today (or Sand Key, Island Estates and our Gulf beaches) the best thing that can happen for you right now is that Banks get bank into the Jumbo loan market and begin to offer more attractive Jumbo Loan rates and terms for these willing Clearwater Beach buyers. With rates where they are - if Jumbo’s loosen up many of our buyers tell us they would prefer a larger more expensive condo if there aren’t punitive lending terms for them.
Well there was some good news this week….
Clearwater Beach Real Estate gets some good Jumbo Loan news
Today I read an article that stated “that the hard-to-find jumbo loan may be making a comeback. Bank of America is among the major banks rolling out jumbo mortgage programs and holding the loans in their own portfolios.
It will offer loans from $730,000 to $1.5 million with 30-year fixed rates under 6 percent; but borrowers must make a 20-percent downpayment, have good credit, provide proof of income, and hold six months’ of principal, interest, property tax and insurance payments in reserve.”
I know we are constantly working with local bankers who offer in-house “portfolio loans” - we can only hope that other banks, both local and national, will follow Bank of America lead in the Jumbo loan market. If you have questions and need a good local banker, give us a call and we can introduce you to several good lenders and we will continue to keep you posted on what’s happening on our beaches.
Clearwater Beach Real Estate - Selling or Buying - Waterfront Condos or Homes - We Can Help!
If you’ve been thinking about buying or selling a waterfront or oceanfront beach condo or house in the Clearwater St Peterburg Tampa Bay area…
Call Us Today at (727) 710-8036 to hear more about how we can help you!
Contact us for a FREE quote and to find out your Tampa Mortgage options and you can search all Tampa St Petersburg and Clearwater condos for sale right now..
Copyright © 2007-2009 Jack and Cyndee Haydon, Clearwater REALTORS and specializing in Clearwater Florida, Clearwater Beach Florida, and Pinellas County Waterfront homes and condos. Information is deemed reliable however it is not guaranteed and subject to change at any time.
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