Getting a Mortgage Just Got Easier

There are reams of evidence to support the fact that purchasing a home in today’s housing market is cheaper than renting.  Yet once convinced that buying is the sensible thing to do, many aspiring homebuyers have seen their hopes dashed by many of today’s strict mortgage lending requirements.  That is, until recently. It was lax mortgage underwriting standards that helped hobble the housing market in the first place.  Overly-corrective measures then forced the needle to swing hard in the opposite direction, making loans more difficult to come by for all but the most credit-worthy borrowers. An Encouraging Middle Ground As 2015 gets underway, there is a middle ground forming that should encourage more homebuyers to step-up and qualify for a loan.  It will still be more rigorous than before—and that’s a good thing, given the abuses of the past.  But it will also stop penalizing people who have anything less than stellar credit, lower the down payment ceiling on many types of loans, assign a bit more risk and responsibilities to lenders; and open up new possibilities for first-time homebuyers.  Unfortunately, the perception is still out there that loans of any type are next to impossible to come by, which has caused many would-be borrowers to simply jettison the idea of home ownership for fear of failing the cumbersome loan application process.  And while there was once a kernel of truth to this, it is now little more than a misconception that simply hasn’t kept up with recent changes in the mortgage marketplace. “There’s definitely some opening up of the box for borrowers,” Anthony Hsieh, the chairman and CEO of Loan Depot, told the Washington Post last week.   He should know.  Loan Depot is now the second largest nonbank consumer lender in the nation; and Hsieh, a tireless business entrepreneur, has been highly visible in both industry and governmental circles as a catalyst for positive, consumer-driven change.  He is helping to lead the push for a process that strives to place no undue burden on either party to a loan; while restoring integrity to the mortgage process. How MSC Mortgage is Helping Loan Depot is also the parent company of imortgage, which recently entered into a joint venture with MSC Mortgage with the goal of providing customers of Michael Saunders & Company with the latest, best and most comprehensive package of new loan products. It is beyond the scope of this article to cite every way in which the needle has been dialed back toward more common sense lending practices.  Suffice it to say, the mortgage landscape is changing and there are many new options for all categories and demographics of buyers.  These include loan packages structured to serve first time homebuyers and the self-employed, two groups of buyers who were all but left out in the cold when lending standards became too stringent. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is currently at rock bottom levels. But with the economy and job markets having bounced back so convincingly in recent months, most experts believe that the Federal Reserve will soon make good on its promise to begin raising interest rates again.  Thus with rates still low and mortgage qualifying standards beginning to ease, this is a critical time to consider—or reconsider—home financing. MSC Mortgage is proud of its new alignment with imortgage.  It not only positions our mortgage team on the frontline of positive, consumer-centric changes in the industry; but also fortifies them with some of the resulting loan packages.  Contact your MSC agent to find out how MSC Mortgage, through its partnership with imortgage, is helping to bring balance and inclusiveness back to the loan process.