Energy efficient mortgages are a new and upcoming way to finance Columbia SC area homes if you’re planning to go “green”. Green homes cost more, and that added cost is often the burden that prevents more people from going the energy efficient route when choosing a new home or modification.
Energy efficient mortgages extend your buying capacity by helping you qualify for a larger mortgage. The lower utility bills you’ll have as a result of “going green” will give you more money to spend elsewhere rather than sending it to the utility company.
Energy Efficient Mortgages for Columbia SC homes are one of many FHA programs that insure mortgage loans–and thus encourage lenders to make mortgage credit available to borrowers who would not otherwise qualify for conventional loans on affordable terms (such as first time homebuyers) and to residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods (where mortgages may be hard to get).
Borrowers who obtain FHA’s popular Section 203(b) Mortgage Insurance for one to four family homes are eligible for approximately 96.5 percent financing, and are able to add the upfront mortgage insurance premium to the mortgage. The borrower must also pay an annual premium.
For more information on energy efficient mortgages, visit HUD.gov. or contact an FHA approved lender.
To get more Columbia SC mortgage information, visit our Columbia SC Mortgage Info section under our Columbia SC Real Estate Categories to the right.
We still have a ways to go, but it would appear that the Columbia SC foreclosure crisis, as well as the foreclosure crisis nationwide, is finally coming to an end.
Latest figures from RealtyTrac show that foreclosure filings have continued on their downward trend, falling to the lowest level at the end of January since April 2007.
Foreclosure filings – which encompass bank repossessions, default notices and scheduled auctions – fell by 28% last January compared to one year earlier, according to reports from CNN Money.
Daren Blomquist, spokesperson for RealtyTrac, says there is every reason to be optimistic:
“We’re now well past the peak of the foreclosure crisis. It’s likely that by this time next year, we’ll start to see 2005-type, pre-crisis numbers again.”
Is the Columbia SC Foreclosure Crisis Really Over?
Foreclosure levels remain twice as high as they were in 2005, but then again, the rate at which they are slowing down suggests we may now be well past the peak of the Columbia SC foreclosure crisis. Already, bank repossessions have fallen to half of the record-breaking 102,134 nationwide set in September 2010, and things are only going to get better from here on in as banks race through their backlog of underwater homes.
One of the big reasons for the drop in foreclosures was due to new legislation in California, which gives borrowers more protection against losing their homes when they default on their repayments. As a result, California saw a 62% drop in foreclosure numbers in January, meaning that the state no longer leads the country in number of foreclosure filings, for the first time since 2007.
The Columbia SC foreclosure crisis isn’t over by any means, but things are definitely a lot better than they were just a couple of years ago.
For more on Columbia SC mortgage information, see our Columbia SC Mortgage Info category of articles under the Columbia SC Real Estate Categories to your right.
Paying off your Columbia SC mortgage early may not actually be a smart idea, especially if your mortgage rate is low, or free, when you factor in inflation and tax deductibility. Making a larger payment is considered foolish if you’re not saving for emergencies or retirement first.
Savvy homeowners have long added extra money to their monthly mortgage to save interest, but it’s not necessarily the smart thing to do in this world of record-low interest rates.
Most lenders will allow borrowers to make extra payments towards their principal whenever they’d like, thereby taking months or years off a loan’s repayment period. Not to mention the interest you’d save over a 20 or 30 year period.
For example, making an extra payment each year on a $250,000 30-year fixed rate mortgage at today’s average rate of 3.4% will cost you an additional $1,110 a year, but will shorten the length of your Columbia SC mortgage by 44 months. You’ll also save roughly $20,300 in interest by paying the mortgage off in 26 years instead of 30.
Retiring your Columbia SC mortgage early actually has more drawbacks than advantages in today’s low-interest-rate environment.
Experts believe you shouldn’t even think about making extra mortgage payments until you first:
- pay off all high-interest credit-card balances;
- build up emergency savings to cover six months of living expenses if you lose your job or suffer some other serious setback;
- make sufficient annual contributions to 529 plans or other college-savings vehicles to cover your or any dependents’ future educational expenses;
- make the maximum allowable contribution each year to your and your spouse’s 401(k) and individual retirement accounts. For most married couples, that means putting $17,500 into each spouse’s 401(k) and another $5,000 into each person’s IRA (the maximum the Internal Revenue Service will allow as of 2013). People age 50 or older can also add another $1,000 “catch-up” IRA contribution, and sometimes put an extra $5,500 into 401(k)s.
Not many people can check off each of those items, but if you lose your job, all that extra money you’ve poured into your house isn’t something you can get your hands on when you need it without going through a refinance, but if you’ve lost your job, you won’t qualify for a refinance.
Experts add that if you have lots of spare cash and are tempted to put that into shaving years off your Columbia SC mortgage, setting aside that same extra principal for retirement money will give you more chance to enjoy compound investment returns.
The longer you save for retirement, the better off you’ll be. Not paying off the mortgage and not having any retirement. Then you may be forced to think about something like a reverse mortgage later on just to provide you the lifestyle you may have been able to have had you saved more instead of paying down that Columbia SC mortgage early.
For more Columbia SC mortgage information and tips, check out our Columbia SC Mortgage Info section under the Columbia SC Real Estate Categories to your right.
Columbia SC mortgages continue to see an increase over their all time record lows, but the good new
s is, in terms of being relative, rates are still near the bottom. There’s still plenty of opportunity to refinance or buy a home and save a bundle. But if you keep waiting, all indications are you’re going to miss out.
U.S. job growth grew modestly in January and gains in the prior two months were bigger than initially reported, supporting views the economy’s sluggish recovery was on track despite a surprise contraction in output in the final three months of 2012.
According to the most recent Labor Department statistics, employers added 157,000 jobs to their payrolls last month. There were 127,000 more jobs created in November and December than previously reported.
The unemployment rate, however, edged up 0.1 percentage point to 7.9 percent. The closely watched report also showed an increase in hourly earnings and solid gains in construction and retail employment.
Where Do Columbia SC Mortgages Go From Here?
It would appear that Columbia SC mortgages will continue to slowly get more expensive, and according to analysts who track and forecast these things, rate increases show no sign of stopping anytime soon. There may be brief pauses in the increases, even a slight move down from time to time, but all indications now point to continuous increases in what consumers will pay for Columbia SC mortgages for the foreseeable future.
A survey of analysts showed split expectations, with 40 percent forecasting a rise in rates and 40 percent anticipating a fall. 20 percent said they don’t expect a great variance from where rates are now. So, it’s anyone’s guess.
For more on Columbia SC mortgages, see our Columbia SC Mortgage Info section of articles under the Columbia SC Real Estate Categories to your right.
Columbia SC mortgages, and your ability to qualify for one, will be affected by new servicing rules designed to provide homeowners with more information about their mortgages and their options, should those loans become unaffordable.
The new rules affecting Columbia SC mortgages will force banks to verify a borrower’s ability to repay loans to ward off the kind of loose lending that helped push the U.S. economy into recession. The new rules would also protect borrowers from irresponsible mortgage lending by providing some legal shields for lenders who issue safer, lower-priced loan products.
The U.S. economy is still feeling the after-effects of the bubble, which sparked a global credit crisis after it burst in 2006. As the housing market imploded, banks sharply tightened the screws on lending, affecting not only Columbia SC mortgages, but mortgages nationwide.
Because lenders are likely to want the heightened legal protection that comes with offering certain “plain vanilla” loans, the rules could go a long way in determining who gets a loan and who can access low-cost borrowing rates.
The consumer protection bureau said it would define “qualified Columbia SC mortgages” as those that have no risky loan features – such as interest-only payments or balloon payments – and with fees that add up to no more than 3 percent of the loan amount.
In addition, these loans must go to borrowers whose debt does not exceed 43 percent of their income.
The new rules establish an additional category of Columbia SC loans that would be temporarily treated as qualified. These Columbia SC mortgages could exceed the 43 percent debt-to-income ratio as long as they met the underwriting standards required by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or other U.S. government housing agencies.
The provision would phase out in seven years, or sooner if housing agencies issue their own qualified mortgage rules or if the government ends its support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two housing finance giants it rescued in 2008.
Regulators also proposed creating a qualified mortgage category that would apply to community banks and credit unions.
Banks will have until January 2014 to comply with the new rules.
For more on Columbia SC mortgages and news that affects the mortgage market, click over to our Columbia SC Mortgage Info link under the Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.