Bush Agrees Mortgage Relief

A recent report in Yahoo Business News, confirmed that American President George Bush, has signed a major bill to provide mortgage relief for thousands of beleaguered
borrowers.

Bush signs housing bill to provide mortgage relief

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday signed a massive housing bill intended to provide mortgage relief for 400,000 struggling homeowners and stabilize financial markets.

Bush signed the bill without any fanfare or signing ceremony, affixing his signature to the measure he once threatened to veto, in the Oval Office in the early morning hours. He was surrounded by top administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Housing Secretary Steve Preston.

"We look forward to put in place new authorities to improve confidence and stability in markets," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. He said that the Federal Housing Administration would begin right away to implement new policies "intended to keep more deserving American families in their homes."

The measure, regarded as the most significant housing legislation in decades, lets homeowners who cannot afford their payments refinance into more affordable government-backed loans rather than losing their homes.

It offers a temporary financial lifeline to troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and tightens controls over the two government-sponsored businesses.

The House passed the bill a week ago; the Senate voted Saturday to send it to the president.

Bush didn't like the version emerging from Congress, and initially said he would veto it, particularly over a provision containing $3.9 billion in neighborhood grants. He contended the money would benefit lenders who helped cause the mortgage meltdown, encouraging them to foreclose rather than work with borrowers.

But he withdrew that threat early last week, saying hurting homeowners could not wait — and even blaming the Democratic Congress' delays in action for forcing an imperfect solution.

If you require useful free information regarding mortgages, Please Click Here to visit the Free Mortgage Advice Web Site.

Tags:

Mortgage Rate

One of the key considerations when negotiating a mortgage is the mortgage rate.

Mortgage rates may rise and fall in line with interest rates, but they are influenced by several other factors. To find out more we would recommend that you visit the Free Mortgage Advice web site, from which the following is an extract:

"Mortgage rates are affected by many factors, because of which they change frequently. A significant matter influencing mortgage rates is the issue of inflation. This occurs when credit is relatively easy to obtain, and demand for goods and services is high, stimulating an increase in prices. A boom period such as this can result in rapidly rising prices, including house price inflation, and the economy may be in danger of overheating. Mortgage rates may rise in sympathy with other inflationary pressures. Some people take on more than they can properly afford believing, that the upward cycle will continue forever, and may be caught unawares when the bubble bursts.

Although mortgage rates tend to follow the direction of interest rates, there are also various other issues that determine them. Mortgage rates are associated with the supply and demand for home loans in what is a competitive market. A variety of loan providers offer many different deals, so mortgage rates may differ, according to what has been negotiated.

At times when mortgage rates are relatively high, demand for mortgages slows down. To counter this, the Federal Reserve Bureau may adjust interest rates. So mortgage rates are linked to the rise and fall of interest rates, but as shown above, there are other factors to take into consideration.

Banks and other loan providers obviously need to plan ahead. They may be geared to providing a particular quota of mortgages in a given period. In a competitive market they may need to adjust mortgage rates downwards, for some deals, to achieve their planned objectives. Although the demand for mortgages may remain high, some mortgage rates might be lowered to meet particular business objectives."

Please Click Here to visit the Free Mortgage Advice Web Site.

Tags:

Mortgage Rates Coming Down

As recently reported in Yahoo Business News home loan rates in the US have fallen over the last week.

U.S. mortgage rates decrease

"Home loan rates fell over the last week as Treasury yields fell sharply amid financial woes and views that the Fed won't hike rates this year. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.26% for the week ended July 17 from 6.37% a week earlier, Freddie Mac said. The 15-year fixed-rate fell 13 basis points to 5.78% this week. The 5-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgage edged down to 5.8%, while the 1-year ARM fell 7 ticks to 5.10%. Treasury yields have picked up in the last few days"

This downward trend in mortgage rates has finally started to take effect in the UK house market, which continues to be depressed. Some forecasters are suggesting that UK house prices will drop as much as 18% this year, 2008, and there are others who are even more gloomy.

It is suggested that many of the UK's middle classes will go into negative equity, where the value of their home is less than their mortgage. It is a worrying situation, particularly when the cost of basic essentials, including food and energy, is also rising to unprecedented levels. There have been top level discussions to see what can be done about the fast escalating cost of oil, with its significant impact at the pumps.

For useful information concerning mortgages, Please Click Here to visit the Free Mortgage Advice Web Site.

Tags:

Free Mortgage advice - First Mortgage Loan

Free Mortgage advice - First Mortgage Loan

Everybody who has purchased a home with a mortgage knows that if the mortgage runs the full term more is paid to cover interest charges than the initial cost of the house.

Consider a first mortgage loan for the sum of $250,000 at 8% with a 30-year repayment period. If such a first mortgage runs the full term it will incur more than $410,000 in interest against the $250,000 principal amount borrowed initially. Therefore the house that was offered at a selling price of $250,000 ends up costing $660,000.

It is absolutely imperative that before taking on your first mortgage loan, you familiarize yourself with the financial implications. Your objective should be to get the best deal for your first mortgage loan because it is amongst the biggest financial decisions you will be called upon to make.

Most people think of a mortgage as a loan but that is only part of the story. So remember when you are considering your first mortgage loan that you are seeking a sum of money in return for the mortgage you give to the lender. That is to say that the loan is secured against the property you are intending to buy.

Before you enter into your first mortgage loan commitment you should find out as much about mortgages as you can. There are many different kinds of mortgage some of which are listed below.

Tags:

Free Mortgage advice - Interest-Only Mortgage

Sooner or later you will be required to make a decision with regard to what sort of mortgage is best suited to your personal circumstances. There are many factors to take into account and you will find that the Free Mortgage Advice web site is a good place to start considering what is on offer. The site is not intended to be a substitute for your professional financial adviser, or broker, but may assist you in preparing a plan to better understand the various deals on offer. So, Please Click Here to visit the Free Mortgage Advice Web Site from which the following is an extract.

The term interest-only mortgage is misleading. Obviously, there is no such thing as an interest-only mortgage, because sooner or later you will still have to pay back the loan principal. The thing to remember is that when you get an interest-only mortgage, what you’re really getting is an interest-only payment method but somewhere along the line, the actual loan has to be repaid.

You should also bear in mind that the actual benefits of interest-only mortgages are frequently overstated. With a standard mortgage, as much as 95% of each dollar paid to the lender may be swallowed up in loan interest. Therefore on a $100,000 standard loan with 7% interest, the total payment could be $700 with the $665 going to interest and only $35 for equity.

A Brief History of Interest-Only Mortgages

Interest-only mortgages have been available for some considerable time, and the idea behind them was developed from the less rigid and innovative jumbo mortgage markets. Consequently, interest-only mortgages are often a loan type preferred by smart investors and better off clients, who may decide to utilize the principal portion of their payment on their wider investments.

Please Click Here to visit the Free Mortgage Advice Web Site,and read the complete article.

Tags:

Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac

To many people outside the USA the names Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sound like characters from a Walt Disney cartoon! Nothing could be further from the truth, or at this present time less funny, because these are the names of the two most important mortgage names in America.

As the share price of Fannie and Freddie plunged on Wall Street yesterday, stock markets throughout the world trembled in sympathy. No wonder, because these two American giants guarantee around $5 trillion of debt. Yes, that's right, not millions, not billions, but trillions of dollars.

It has been suggested that the US Government is planning a bail out, but they are unlikely to be hasty. Although, it seems inconceivable that they would allow these colossuses to go to the wall, they will probably play a game of wait and see, hoping that things will get better.

The ramifications of this latest news, affecting the US property market, are potentially very serious to other countries as well, and particularly to the UK. It seems that the British Governments financial policy has been linked to house price inflation, and encouraging borrowing bordering on the irresponsible.

There are now various schemes afoot to try to minimize problems in housing markets. Public money has either been used, or is being considered for use to plug shortfalls occurring due to imprudent lending.

It is unfortunate that the public at large, are being called upon to provide funds through taxation, to support circumstances resulting from what amounts to bad financial management. In many cases the bad managers responsible have been richly rewarded, and in most instances they remain in charge. Politicians though may be changed through the ballot box!

The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac problems are symptomatic of what happens when prudent lending gives way to profit free for alls. It only works until the market turns and then, watch out. There are those in high places who have forgotten that property is a market, and not a continuous upward escalator. Now they would tinker with pretending to assist first time buyers with various schemes that are really designed to protect them from further criticism of their own shortcomings.

When the trend of property is downwards the best advice for first time buyers is to wait, and save, until the market has bottomed, which will be widely publicized. That way they will have a higher percentage of funds when measured against less of a total outlay.

Please Click Here to visit the Free Mortgage Advice Web Site.

Tags:

Brief Guide To Adjustable Rate Mortgages

One of the biggest decisions many people have to make is about what sort of mortgage is best suited to their requirements. Home ownership is something that most people aspire to but choosing a mortgage must be an informed decision. Prospective mortgagees should obtain all the information they can and discuss various possibilities with qualified advisers. A useful guide is the Free Mortgage Advice website which contains web pages about various mortgage matters. It is not intended to be a substitute for the professional advice of a broker or loan advisor, but as an introduction to some of the issues involved is well worth a visit. So, Please Click Here to visit the Free Mortgage Advice Web Site from which the following is an extract.

Obtaining the most suitable mortgage obviously requires knowledge of mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are influenced by a number of factors, and one of them is the type of mortgage required.

Essentially there are two main types of mortgages for prospective mortgagees to consider. One is a fixed rate mortgage, in which the rates are fixed for the duration of the loan term. The other is an adjustable rate mortgage.

With adjustable rate mortgages, the interest rate is subject to fluctuation. The interest rate may either increase or decrease, in line with how prime rates, are adjusted. Therefore, an adjustable rate mortgage may vary downwards resulting in cheaper interest rates, and lower monthly repayments. But you must be aware that adjustable rate mortgages can also cost more when interest rates increase as and when prime rates are adjusted upwards.

Due to the level of uncertainty, involved, adjustable rate mortgages are sometimes reserved for experienced investors, who can use market fluctuations advantageously. When low interest rates remain steady, adjustable rate mortgages are relatively inexpensive. At such times those homebuyers willing, or able to afford to take on an element of risk, may reap the benefit of adjustable rate mortgages.

Tags:

Big Banks Seeking To Expand Mortgage Business

As recently reported in The Guardian Newspaper is is evident that the big banks are successfully endeavoring to increase their market share of the mortgage business

Big banks look to expand | Business | The Guardian:The contraction in the mortgage market means that big banks are now providing 90-95% of all new home loans. This compares with a market share of about 60% for the largest lenders under normal conditions. The number of mortgage products on offer has also shrunk. The amount of different home loans in the market today totals 3,430, according to Moneyfacts, the financial website, compared with 15,599 a year ago.

Smaller building societies and less well-capitalised banks have reduced their exposure to the home loans business because of the difficulties of obtaining funds, as the international money markets are in effect closed to them. Big lenders such as HBOS have traditionally held a large slice of the mortgage market. But the scarcity of funds for smaller banks has led HSBC and Barclays to target home loans as an area for expansion. Barclays now claims that it had a 28% market share in the first quarter compared with only 2% a year ago.

Although the banks are necessarily much more selective in mortgage appraisals, it seems that funds are readily available for the right clients. Nevertheless, new rules make it particularly difficult for first time buyers who are being asked for deposits of up to 25% to secure the cheapest deals. This will continue to depress the rest of the housing market which it seems will remain uncertain for some time to come.

Tags:

Free Online Mortgage Calculators

Free online mortgage calculators are very useful tools to enable you to choose the best mortgage to suit your individual circumstances.

There are free on line mortgage calculators to help you to evaluate many of the various loans available from mortgage providers. It is in your own best interests to get to know as much as you can before you approach a loan provider or mortgage broker. It would time consuming for most people to work out the various aspects of a mortgage manually, but it is a quick and simple task using one of the many free online mortgage calculators available from various web sites.

All you really need to do is to search Google, or one of the other search engines, using the term 'free online mortgage calculator'. You will be rewarded with a selection of calculators to meet most needs. Then you can make your choice, depending on what sort of mortgage your require.

Of course your mortgage loan provider will have mortgage loan calculators available. However, you will be better equipped if you have prepared some figures of your own to make comparisons, and to play your full part in the negotiations. There is not only the mortgage to consider but associated costs as well, and there are free mortgage calculators that can assist with these and other circumstances.

Free online mortgage calculators are not only useful for assisting with first mortgages. For instance, they can help with other financial situations such as refinancing. You will be able to work out and compare deals available from different loan sources. You might consider switching a loan for a deal more in line with your resources and even save yourself some money in the process.

Please Click Here to visit the Free Mortgage Advice Web Site.

Tags:

free online mortgage advice