Obama's Tax Credit

A lot of people have asked me about the new first time homebuyer tax credit and how it compares to the old $7,500 tax credit/loan. The two biggest differences that I can see is 1. It is for $8,000 and 2. It is not a loan but a legitimate tax credit that you don't have to pay back!! Sounds pretty sweet to me. One way to think about it is if you buy a home for $100,000, the real price is $92,000. Frankly I wish I were a first time homebuyer so I could take advantage of this incredible opportunity. For more information, I found this article on yahoo.com... First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

New way to contact me!

So I just found this meebo widget and thought it could be a great way for people to contact me with their mortgage questions. Whether I'm online or not, and whether you are a current client, a potential client, a realtor friend checking on a deal, a friend, or just somebody with a mortgage question, I hope you will feel free to use this new chat platform. Contact me anytime!

Yield Spread Premium

In short, yield spread premium is the rebate that the lender pays to the mortgage broker. The amount of that rebate depends on the interest rate that the borrower agrees to. For example, a loan officer might offer a borrower an interest rate at 6% and the lender (e.g Countrywide) would pay the mortgage broker a 1% ysp (e.g. on a loan amount of $100,000, the ysp would be $1,000) At an interest rate of 5.75% the ysp might only be .5%, or $500 on a 100k loan. In the past it hasn't been required that the loan officer disclose the ysp to the borrower and it was kind of a secret. But that is changing and it is now required that the loan officer disclose the ysp on the good faith estimate (usually around line 814). This is great news for borrowers so that they can see if they are really getting a good deal on the interest rate. Word to the wise...anything above 1% ysp and you could probably find a better deal elsewhere.