When deciding on whether or not to lend to someone, lenders try to assess your ability to repay. A credit score is just one input they consider. They also look at the reason for less than perfect credit score, job history, income stability, and your overall debt-to-income level.

3 Steps To Getting The Home Loan

You can take steps to increase your chances of getting a mortgage with a less than perfect credit score by:

1. Placing A Larger Down Payment – Don’t wait for a lender to ask for a larger down payment. Be prepared to offer one. This will give the lender confidence in you as a borrower and reduce their risk level.
2. Lower Your Debt-To-Income Levels – Even though your credit isn’t at its best, that doesn’t mean you have a lot of debt. Try to reduce overall debt-to-income levels like car payments, student loans, credit cards, and other recurring debt.
3. Use A Co-Signer – You can get someone to co-sign a mortgage for you. Realize that you will be asking a lot of this person. If you don’t pay the mortgage, they will be responsible, and their credit will be impacted.

Home Loans You Can Get With Less Than Perfect Credit

Some mortgages are specifically designed to help less than perfect credit borrowers get into homes. Most are backed by government institutions that insure the mortgages.

FHA – stands for the Federal Housing Administration. These loans are popular for a few reasons. For one, they contain the lowest credit score requirements of any major home loan program.

VA – stands for “Veterans Affairs,” which is the department that backs these loans. They are offered to service members, veterans, some eligible spouses, and other military-affiliated borrowers.

USDA – stands for United States Department of Agriculture. This loan was designed to increase homeownership in rural areas. To qualify, you must buy a home in a “qualified” rural area.

Freddie Mac Home Possible® Program – The program was designed for low to moderate-income borrowers looking to buy a first home.

Fannie Mae HomeReady® Program – like Home Possible®, this program is designed to help low to moderate-income borrowers. HomeReady®, though, isn’t just for first-time buyers. It also has a unique feature in that it lets you include income from other members of the household other than just the borrower. You can include the income of roommates, adult children, and parents in your debt-to-income ratio.

Non-Qualified Mortgages – In 2014, the federal government created a category of loans designated as “qualified mortgages.” To be a qualified mortgage, a loan couldn’t have criteria designed as high risk – things like balloon payments, negative amortization, or interest-only payment periods. A lender offering a “qualified mortgage” also has to go through a good faith effort to determine if you can repay. Qualified loans offer the legal lender protection against investor buy-back demands.

You Have The Power To Be Awesome!

There are mortgages available if you have a low credit score. You just might have to work a little harder trying to find the one that fits your situation. While you can find a loan with a less than perfect credit score, if you can get your score up, you start opening up more options.

The best way to find the right loan is to work with a loan advisor that can work you through the best options and information needed to qualify. At EMM Loans, we are experts in FHA, VA, USDA, Conventional, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Non-Conventional loans. We work with a broad range of loans to help people find the best option.

Want more information about applying for a home loan? Call us at 718-814-4297 or complete the brief form below!

The post 3 Easy Steps To Apply For A Home Loan with Less Than Perfect Credit appeared first on EMM Loans.

1. Make Sure You Have Compatible Devices

Before you spend a dime, the first step is making sure you have compatible devices. Right now, there’s no standardized method for communication between smart devices and their central hub.

Wi-Fi comes built-in on most devices. Because it’s so popular, it’s easiest to get started with Wi-Fi. However, having so many devices connected to your router can eat up your bandwidth. If you’re paying for data, that can get expensive fast. Which brings us to Tip #2.

2. Select Your Smart Home’s Hub

The hub is the brain of the operation, and is what will connect all of your smart appliances and devices together.

With the right hub, a smart home system can use multiple protocols as well. When you first start out, your phone can work just fine to control the lights, set the thermostat, or check your security cams. As more devices get connected, having a dedicated central control hub is usually the best option. These are three popular options:

1. Zigbee, which uses a 2.4 GHz frequency like WiFi but doesn’t need the internet to work. It runs locally and gives you a better range and security.
2. Z-Wave, which uses a 908.42 MHz frequency and provides an excellent range. However, the downside is that it also means there’s less bandwidth compared to Zigbee and Wi-Fi.
3. Last and the least popular is Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE for short. It works like Z-Wave and Zigbee, but only supports short distances.

3. Use Smart Plugs

Some of the most cost-effective smart devices on the market are smart plugs. The beauty of these devices is that they make the lamps, microwave, toasters, washing machine, dryer, and whatever else that is plugged into it “smart.”

4. Upgrade Your Old Lights to Smart Ones

Smart light bulbs used to be expensive, but now, they are on par with the LED bulbs you already have. So, the next time you need to replace one, opt for the smart bulb!

Some smart bulbs can come with customizable color settings, allowing you to set the look of any space. They can even help you to save money, as some smart bulbs can automatically turn off when they’re not in use.

5. Go for the Smart Thermostat

Want to reduce your utility bills? A smart thermostat is worth the investment. Not only can you control your energy use, but a smart thermostat can also be set with the touch of a button. Hate coming home to a hot or cold house? Simply tap the app on your phone to start running the air conditioning or heater on your way home!

6. Install Outdoor Faucet Timers

Outdoor faucet timers are another set of smart devices that have the “cost-saving” benefit. They use technology to monitor the weather and the amount of water needed for watering your yard and garden.

7. Use a Smart Doorbell

Smart doorbells are amazing devices that allow you to see and speak to whoever is knocking at your door – even when you’re not home. They might be a little expensive, but with a little research, you can find a cost-effective option without compromising quality.

You Have the Power to Be Awesome!

At Mohan Mortgage Group, you will find a supportive, engaging lender who cares about providing excellent service to our customers and communities. We offer a streamlined digital process for home loan options, from purchasing to refinancing, that combine with a home loan expert who will guide you through every step of the way and answer any questions.

Calculate your home loan from anywhere!

• Apply Now
• Refinance Calculator

Contact us to learn more about the advantages of a pre-approval.

Phone: 1-718-814-4297

Email: mohanmortgagegroup@gmail.com

The post Ways To Save Money This Winter, Converting To A Smart Home. appeared first on EMM Loans.

1. How long do you plan on living in this home?
2. How important is the school district to you? Are you satisfied with the elementary, middle, and high schools?
3. How many bedrooms will you need?
4. How many bathrooms will you need?
5. Do you prefer a single story home?
6. Do you plan on retiring in this home?
7. Do you mind replacing appliances and remodeling, or do you prefer a new kitchen?
8. Do you need a new home or is an older home acceptable?
9. Do you need to be close to the local highway?
10. Are parks important to you?
11. Do you need a yard?
12. Do you have an RV or recreational vehicle that you will be parking at your home?

We are a lender that cares about you, your family, and the community

EMM Loans has a digital borrowing process that begins with a smooth, easy, and secure application, which only takes minutes to complete! Apply today

Want more information about applying for a home loan? Call us at 718-814-4297

The post 12 Tips on Shopping for Your Next Home appeared first on EMM Loans.

While everyone has their own preferences and priorities when it comes to neighborhood characteristics, taking stock of what is most important to you and sorting the “must-haves” from the “good to haves” is a good first step when it comes to house hunting and assessing neighborhoods.

To help you with this, here are some of the factors that many people evaluate when considering what neighborhood to live in.

Consider the Location

Houses that have water views or views of a nearby park often command a higher price than those that don’t. Similarly, houses that are in an area with a lot of commercial property, that are near noisy streets or highways, or that are on streets with congested parking situations are often less desirable.

While being vigilant and aware of the surroundings when looking for your house helps, you should also do some research and ask questions. Talk to people in the area as well as your realtor and read the local papers. Find out if there are development plans for the area. If new hospitals, public transportation, or schools are going to be built, that could increase future property values. At the same time, finding that they are going to be built right next door to your house could decrease your future property value.

Choosing the Right Neighborhood

In most American cities, the experience you get living in one neighborhood might be significantly different than that of a nearby neighborhood. Think Malibu vs East Hollywood in LA. Two completely different vibes, houses with different appearances. One has considerably more open space, quality landscaping, more trees, and parks.

When deciding between neighborhoods here are eight things to consider:

1. Amenities – These can be a huge benefit to your quality of life, but it is not always a make-or-break item. You may often find yourself asking: Is there a grocery store or pharmacy nearby? How about restaurants? Does it have the kind you like? If you are a dog lover, as many people are, are their dog parks, or even a dog bar, nearby?
2. School District – This is often a big consideration for families with children. You want to make sure your child has the best chance to succeed in life and making sure they get a good education sets them down that path. A lot of factors can go into assessing a school district. You want to find a school that fosters an environment that is conducive to learning and that blends in an extracurricular activity you feel your child might be interested in.
3. Appearance – Does the neighborhood have an urban or suburban feel or is it somewhere in between? Things such as zoning regulations can play into this. Find out if the neighborhood is zoned for commercial, residential, or both. This could affect the density of living conditions and your proximity to commercial establishments. Also, find out what the minimum lot size is. Large lot sizes usually mean more trees and shrubbery. Very large lot sizes might mean that it might not be a very walkable neighborhood, even if it does have sidewalks.
4. Accessibility – Houses that are near public transportation or public roadways tend to be more attractive to people who have to commute to work or do a lot of traveling. For these people, proximity to their work would also be a consideration (though less so these days with the movement to remote workforces). But it’s not just accessibility to work. How accessible a downtown area is or the area that has most of the entertainment or the closest school could also be considerations.
5. Who Lives Here – When driving through the neighborhood, what kind of people do you see? Are they people you are likely to associate with? If you are a young professional, or a family or a retiree, having others around that face the same challenges you face can help build a sense of community.
6. Home Ownership – You want to look for a community in which most of the other homes are owned as well. People who are renting tend to be more transient in nature and they might not have the same commitment to community investment that an owner might have. In areas where a large percentage of houses are rented communities might have a hard time supporting local services like education, police, and firefighters. It is the people who make a commitment to developing roots in a community, the owners, who are most likely to volunteer for community services.
7. Politics – To some people, this might be important, to others it is more of a point of interest rather than a factor that shapes the house purchase decision. Whether an area is liberal, conservative, or balanced might have a bearing on your tax rate and how your tax money is reinvested into the community. Are you going to be aligned with the people running your town?
8. Safety – You don’t want to spend a lot of money on a house and then fear for your life. Safety in the neighborhood, nearby town, city, and schools is very important. Do your research to get a feel for how safe a neighborhood is. Read the local police blogs and see what kind of crime goes on – is it traffic stops and domestic issues or is it a violent crime? Everyplace has issues, you just want to stay away from areas with a lot of them or the ones that are more serious in nature.

When you start your neighborhood search you should assess the relative importance of the neighborhood vs the house. If you are committed to a neighborhood, you might just have to wait until the right house comes on the market. If the house is the most important thing, then there might be several areas worth considering. Many people sit somewhere in the middle, wanting to find the best possible tradeoff between area and house value.

Be sure to spend time looking around, researching, and asking questions of neighbors, friends, your realtor, and your mortgage advisor. The realtor and the mortgage consultant deal with people buying in these neighborhoods frequently. They are a good source of information and make their living by helping people find just the right housing situation.

The post Evaluating What Neighborhood to Move To appeared first on EMM Loans.

Your quality of life can depend on your neighborhood’s safety. While things such as crime statistics might be a good indicator of crime levels, safety isn’t always about crime. It’s about a safe environment where people are less likely to get hurt, a place where they can get help if they get hurt, and a place where they feel safe to learn, express themselves, and grow.

Like most decisions in life, there are factors to consider and trade-offs to be made when house hunting. You must make these decisions carefully, and you should leverage as much data, insight, and first-hand experience as possible to get the best possible outcome.

The Characteristics of a Safe Neighborhood

When evaluating a neighborhood to move into, there are certain things to look for. A community is likely to be safer if it has:

1. Street Lighting – An adequate amount of street lighting so that if someone is considering doing something they don’t want to be seen doing, your neighborhood isn’t the place to do it.
2. Children Playing Outside – Parents are more likely to let their children play outside if they feel the area is safe. When looking at the area, see if kids are playing ball, biking, and outside playing with friends. If they are, it’s likely to be a safer area. Also, look to see if there are sidewalks and biking lanes that encourage outdoor playing.
3. People That are Close and Share a Sense of Community – Neighbors often watch out for one another in close neighborhoods. Does this neighborhood hold community events like farmers’ markets or block parties that bring people together? Is there a neighborhood watch program in the area? There might be street signs to indicate this, or you can ask at the local police station.
4. Fire Safety – Look to see if there are fire hydrants close to the homes and a fire station nearby.
5. Is There Good Medical Care Nearby? – Things sometimes happen, and when they do, you want to know there are people nearby that can help. Whether it be a health center or a hospital, look for nearby medical care that will be there should you need it.
6. Thriving Local Businesses – Are there family-friendly restaurants, coffee shops, and bookstores in the area? What do the people who frequent them look like? If the neighborhood has local businesses that are doing well, it is a sign that residents have disposable income that can support these and other neighborhood-friendly activities. Look to see if the chain store brands have local stores in the area. These chains spend a lot of time and money researching for the best areas to open stores, so if you see a lot of chain stores, that’s a good sign. – On the other hand, if the restaurants aren’t around and there are just quickie marts or fast-food chains, that’s a sign that the neighborhood might not be able to support more community-friendly stores.
7. Good Schools – For a school to be good, it has to offer an environment where both teachers and students can learn and grow. A fundamental element of this is a safe environment where students and teachers can focus on their studies and not have to worry about safety. Find out how good the area schools are.
8. Clean Parks – Having an open park space gives children a place to play, offers a place to take the dogs, a place to play sports, a place to stay fit and to relax. You want a nearby park to be clean – clean of debris, clean of crime, clean of garbage, and clean of vagrants – so that you can get the most out of it.

Signs that a Neighborhood is Unsafe

On the flip side, there are things that, should you see them, might indicate that the neighborhood is one to avoid. A neighborhood might have problems if you see:

1. Large or Constant Police Presence – It’s good to have police patrol through your neighborhood to make sure things are ok, but it’s not a good sign if they are there often on calls and dealing with issues.
2. Dilapidated or Abandoned Houses or Storefronts – These are signs of a neighborhood in decline. While they might also mean lower house prices, they are a sign of danger, both in terms of criminal activity and lower house prices going forward. After all, if there was potential to make money in this neighborhood, those houses wouldn’t be abandoned.
3. A Lot of Rental Properties – Studies have shown that neighborhoods with large populations of renters can be associated with higher crime rates. Since they aren’t concerned about home values or how they might be impacted, renters don’t have the same motivation to support the general neighborhood wellbeing and, because they are more transient in nature, are less likely to be involved or support community services like a school board or a volunteer fire department.

Neighborhood Safety Resources

Now that you know what to look for when you visit a neighborhood, it would be good to have some research material that you can utilize to narrow your search before driving around. Here are some tools that might be useful when assessing the safety of a neighborhood.

1. Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer – This reporting will go down to the city level and breaks the crime statistics into different types of violent crime and different types of property crime. The database goes back to 1985, so you can look for trends. The site is free to access; no registration is required.
2. The Neighbors App – Perhaps you’ve seen the ads for Ring or have heard about the company. They are the company that has the video doorbells with the “O” on them. Their technology records data on events that happen with their customers and allows neighbors to share this information. This had helped bring communities together when criminals were stealing packages from doorsteps, when disasters hit, and when animals were lost. It’s another way for neighbors to help form a community with safety in mind.
3. AreaVibes – This might be the best site for getting an overall neighborhood assessment. They also detail houses that are available to buy or rent in the area. Start by entering the city or address you are interested in. When the next page appears, you will see houses for sale. In the upper right-hand corner, there is a section in the navigation bar called “livability.” Click that. It will bring you to a page that gives their overall, proprietary “Livability” score with a rating on things like nearby amenities, the cost of living, crime, employment, housing, schools, demographics, and the ability to break down further into specific neighborhoods. Towards the bottom of the page, it also has links that break out the city’s neighborhoods by safety, price, best for families/singles/renters, and other criteria.
4. CityProtect – This site lets you enter a city and access the incident reporting by that police agency. It lets you view a crime map that offers a GPS map of the area with different color-coded pins, which, I assume, relate to different types of crimes. There was no coding for the colored pins, so you can’t tell what they represent, and the reporting data seemed to be very spotty, with some police agencies not offering updated data in over a year.
5. Family Watchdog – This site allows you to track sex offenders. Put in the neighborhood you are thinking about moving to, and it will show you where the sex offenders are living and who they are. Utilizing a mapping system shows you the location you entered, nearby schools, where all the offenders are, and what type of crime they committed. The crimes they track are offenses against a child, sexual battery, rape, and other offenses. If the house you are considering purchasing is next door to someone identified on this system, you might think twice.
6. SpotCrime – This site also uses a mapping application. When you enter a neighborhood, a map will appear that details the crimes in the area. Different symbols represent different types of crimes. When you click on the symbol, the crime details appear, such as date, time, specific address, and description of the crime. It is easy to use and gives you a quick idea of what types of crime and how much of it occurs in the area you are considering.

Conclusion

As you can see, there is a lot to consider when assessing how safe a neighborhood is. While this is just one factor to consider when looking to buy a house, it is one of the more important ones.

Take the time to look around, ask questions and do your research. If you have questions, your local loan officer might be able to help!

The post How to Gauge the Safety of a Neighborhood appeared first on EMM Loans.

A good school district that helps a child learn can be an early step toward future success. It can also help support and drive future house appreciation as families increasingly prioritize houses tied to good schools.

Different people have different priorities when it comes to looking for a school. Regardless of what is most important to you, it is valuable to be able to weigh these priorities against other tradeoffs to come up with a strong assessment on the type of school you want your child attending.

Here are some things to consider when trying to reach such a decision:

• Teacher-to-student ratio – Lower rates suggest a more personalized learning experience.
• Per-pupil spending – Higher spending rates suggest students are provided with more resources to help them learn.
• High school graduation rate
• College entrance exam performance
• Subject proficiency tests
• Diversity – Is this school going to offer cultural enrichment by exposing your child to those with different backgrounds?
• Safety – Does this school have an environment that fosters learning?

There are a number of websites that use this and similar data to compare and contrast schools in the area you are considering.

Some examples are:

Niche.com – This site lets you search schools by district, name, grade level, type (public vs private), religious affiliation, boarding options, specialty (online, Montessori, etc.), tuition level as well as grade levels they assign for academics, teachers, diversity level and sports availability.

It also includes reviews from parents whose children attended these schools. In addition, it provides information on student-teacher ratios and school size.

GreatSchools.org – The initial search on the home page allows you to search by city, zip code, address, or school name, which is probably all you need if you know the areas in which you want to look for your new home. After putting in the area/school you are then able to search by schools’ type or grade level. It offers overall rankings on the schools and will detail how many students attend a given school.

On the school-specific pages, they dive into more detail, ranking the school vs the state average on things like academics (college readiness, college success, advanced courses), Equity (race/ethnicity make-up, support for low-income students, support for students with disabilities), and Environment (student demographics, teachers and staff info, general info, and reviews).

What is particularly interesting about this site is that they tie their data to suggest questions you may want to ask the school.

Schooldigger.com – The home page lets you search by school, district, or address. When you get to the district page its lists the schools and lets you sort by public or private or by “Schooldigger rank”.

The rankings seem to be heavily weighted toward test scores and the “school ranking” page details out the grade levels, the district the school is in, percent of free/discount lunch recipients, money spent per pupil, and average standard score for the school. Rankings can be sorted by grade levels, districts, or cities.

1. State Governmental Websites – If you would rather get your research from a governmental source, most states have a “school report card” or “school performance report” section on their site similar to this one for New Jersey or this one for California.
2. Programming – See what kind of academic programs are available. Some that parents typically look for are advanced placement programs, college credit programs, and study abroad or exchange programs.
3. Extracurricular Activities – Does the school offer activities that can help your child develop their interests or strengths? Activities that come to mind are band, theater, or a school newspaper.
4. Sports Programs – If your child is interested in specific types of sports you might want to check to see what programs are offered at nearby schools. Some schools may be too small or lack the funding to offer an array of sports programs.
5. Other Intangibles – These primarily have to do with the teachers and the administrators and are often difficult to gauge without interacting with the school system itself.

What to Look for in Educators

You want to have teachers that believe that all students can learn. These are the teachers that are willing to go the extra mile to help a challenged student and that are willing to personalize their approach as needed.

It also helps if the teacher has a strong understanding of their content. One way, but certainly not the only way, to measure this is via tenure. How long has the average teacher in the school been teaching that subject? It only stands to reason that if a teacher has been teaching algebra for 10 years, they pretty much have it down by now.

Finally, you want teachers that are dedicated to their profession, teachers that continuously look to improve their ability to teach by looking for new techniques and reading up on what others are doing.

Finding the Right School Administrators

From an administration standpoint, look for schools that communicate with parents effectively and frequently on important issues and ask for parent input before making decisions. If there is a parent-teacher organization (PTO), that can be a sign that the school is open to what the community has to say. Find out how many people participate, how often they meet and how welcoming the group is to both new people and new ideas.

It is also important to look for schools that support their teachers by offering them ways to continue to grow by offering them the resources and the environment they need to be able to teach. The principal must have the respect of students, parents, and staff with a vision, high expectations, and the ability to succeed.

The school should be a place that students want to be in. They should have a warm atmosphere that welcomes students and is safe. If a student or teacher is in fear every time, they walk through the doors they are going to be focused on survival rather than learning.

Aside from looking at incident reports, you should also look to see if the school has an effective discipline policy. Students should respect others and failure to do so shouldn’t be tolerated. They should also understand clearly set and communicated class rules and expectations and adhere to them.

Find the Right Home with EMM Loans

When moving to a new location the quality of the schools can make or break a home purchase decision. We have outlined some of the things to consider when evaluating a school or school district and referenced some tools that might be able to help.

For additional information, you should ask your realtor, the local school administrators, other parents, or potential neighbors for their opinion. As always, we at EMM Loans are also happy to help with any information we can provide.

The post How to Assess a New School District Before Moving appeared first on EMM Loans.

While mortgage insurance will increase the cost of your loan, you will usually only have to pay it until the equity in your home reaches 20% or until you refinance.

What is Mortgage Insurance?

Mortgage insurance is taken out to protect your lender’s investment in the home, not yours.

When calculating risk levels, lenders look at the loan-to-value (LTV) of the mortgage. This is a measurement that shows how much value a house has if the lender needs to foreclose. The lower the equity level, the higher the perceived risk of the loan. For equity levels that are less than 20%, lenders typically require insurance that covers them should they fail to pay.

While that might sound like it only benefits lenders, that isn’t necessarily the case. If you can’t afford to put down 20% or elect to pay a smaller down payment, mortgage insurance allows you to become a homeowner sooner.

Rather than continuing to rent and save until you have 20% to put down, you can buy and start building up equity right away. In many cases, the value you get from the appreciation of your house and the monthly paydown in your mortgage might more than offset the additional cost of mortgage insurance.

Types of Mortgage Insurance

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)

If you get a conventional loan, your lender will likely arrange for mortgage insurance through a private company like Radian or MGIC. How much you pay will vary depending on your credit score, the loan term, the amount of the loan, and your down payment amount.

Depending on the risk levels, PMI typically costs between .25% to 2% of the mortgage amount. For borrowers with good credit, this insurance is generally cheaper than other mortgage insurance.

There are several types of PMI.

Borrower Paid Mortgage Insurance (BPMI)

This is by far the most common type of mortgage insurance. It is paid as an additional monthly fee that you pay as part of your mortgage.

One of the advantages of BPMI is that you can cancel it once you have a 20% equity stake in your home.

(For example, if I bought a $300,000 house and over five years it appreciates 10% to $330,000, and I paid down $30,000 of my mortgage through monthly payments, I would have $60,000 of equity built up, 20% of my original purchase price. This would mean I no longer need PMI and can cancel it.)

Suppose you include the increased value of the property toward your 20%. In that case, you might need to support your valuation via a new appraisal, a broker price opinion (BPO), or an automated valuation model (AVM). To cancel your PMI, your mortgage payments must be current, you have to have a good payment history, and there have to be no additional liens on your property. If your equity stake builds to 22%, the lender will automatically cancel your mortgage insurance premiums.

Single-Premium Mortgage Insurance (SPMI)

This means paying with a lump sum upfront. The money can be either paid at closing or financed into the mortgage. This type of mortgage insurance has a few benefits:

1. Your monthly payment will be lower compared to BPMI.
2. This might help you qualify for a larger mortgage.
3. It might be able to save you money if you stay in your home longer than three years.

There are also a few potential drawbacks:

1. If you refinance or sell within a few years, no portion of the payment is refundable.
2. If you borrow the money to make the SPMI, you will be paying the finance charges for as long as you have the mortgage.
3. If you didn’t have the cash to make a 20% down payment, you might not have the cash to make the single up-front payment.

Lender Paid Mortgage Insurance (LPMI)

With this, the lender will pay your mortgage insurance and build it into the cost of the loan in the form of a slightly higher interest rate that you will pay over the life of the loan. While that may sound attractive, there are some things to consider.

This mortgage insurance can’t be canceled once you accumulate 20% equity, and it isn’t refundable. On the plus side, despite the higher interest rate, your payments may still be lower, allowing you to qualify for a larger mortgage.

Split-Premium Mortgage Insurance

This is a hybrid program where you pay some upfront and the rest via a monthly fee built into your mortgage payment. You don’t have to pay as much money upfront as with an SPMI, and your monthly payments would be lower than if you did a BPMI.

If you have a high loan to value, the lower monthly payment might help you get your mortgage (like SPMI). Split premiums are partially refundable once coverage is canceled or terminated.

Federal Housing Administration Loans

If you are getting an FHA mortgage, you are required to get FHA mortgage insurance. The insurance premiums are paid to the FHA and use a split premium model in which some of the cost is paid upfront, and the rest is paid on a monthly basis.

If you don’t have the money, the upfront cost can be rolled into the mortgage, which will increase the cost of the loan. The cost is the same no matter your credit score, and there is only a small increase for down payments of less than five percent.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Loan

These loans are typically for rural housing. The insurance program offers the same features as the FHA program, only cheaper.

Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan

These are loans designed to help servicemen and woman, veterans, and their families. With these loans, a VA guarantee replaces mortgage insurance.

Rather than pay a monthly insurance premium you pay an upfront “funding fee” which can vary depending on your type of service, the down payment amount, your disability status, whether you are buying a home or refinancing and whether or not this is your first VA loan. Like the FHA and USDA loans, you can roll the upfront fee into the mortgage if you don’t want to pay right away.

How to Avoid Paying Mortgage Insurance

The best way to do this is to work with a mortgage consultant. There are different ways depending on which type of mortgage insurance you choose.

1. For all types of loans, the best way will be to refinance your mortgage. Get a new mortgage to pay off the old mortgage and replace it with new terms that, presumably, include a 20% down payment to eliminate the need for mortgage insurance.

(Note that refinancing will include costs and fees. Interest rates might have gone up as well. Weigh the new cost against the cost of continuing to pay mortgage insurance to see which is the better option. )

1. One other option that is sometimes used to avoid paying mortgage insurance is called a “piggyback second.” This is a second mortgage that is taken out on the house at the same time as the first mortgage. The money from the second mortgage is used as a down payment on the first, thus eliminating the need for mortgage insurance. For example, you have a $100,000 mortgage. You put down 10% and take out a $10,000 second mortgage.

You use the $10,000 from the second, pair it with your $10,000 down payment and put down 20 percent, thus eliminating the need for mortgage insurance. Be careful with this option and work with a professional advisor. The interest rate on the second mortgage will likely be higher than that of the first since it is in a second lien (riskier) position.

This increased interest amount will have to be paid for the life of the second mortgage. It can’t be canceled. The second mortgage will also have closing costs. At the end of the day, this option might cost you more than you are saving in mortgage insurance premiums.

1. If you are thinking about getting a single premium mortgage insurance program, try negotiating with the seller or the builder. See if they will pay the insurance fee as an incentive for you to purchase the home.

Conclusion

Mortgage insurance is a tool that potential homeowners can use to try to get themselves into a home sooner rather than later. Because you pay it along with your mortgage every month, it is easy to forget about. If you have private mortgage insurance, especially if it’s borrower-paid mortgage insurance, it is worth keeping tabs on how much equity you have in your home so that you can apply to have the mortgage insurance canceled once you hit 20%.

Different mortgage insurance options can be used depending on what your needs are. Some are designed so you can borrow more, some are designed to give you flexibility, and some are tied to certain types of mortgages. To see which options are best suited for you, talk to a mortgage consultant. They can work the numbers and tell you which approaches align best with your personal situation.

The post What You Need to Know About Mortgage Insurance appeared first on EMM Loans.

Digital Decorating

The whole world is moving digital. Maybe it’s time to move your fall holiday home decorating digital as well. Using a projector, flexible image screens, specially designed software and some props around the house ( like a doorway, window, roof or hallway) you can create holographic images that will make your house a hit with the neighbors and a destination for Halloween, Thanksgiving and the football season in general. While digital decorations are available for most holidays some of the better ones, like the singing pumpkins or, for something a bit more scary, the ghostly apparitions, are more appropriate for Halloween.

Front Door Decorations

To create an inviting decoration that visitors can’t miss and that makes your front door fall-appropriate, create a wreath. Start with a store-bought grapevine wreath. Using florist picks, attach mini-pumpkins and smaller pieces of dried, decorative colored corn into the wreath. Then attach seasonal greenery, filling in the spaces between the pumpkins and corn. Add an assortment of fall leaves to the wreath, again using the florist picks as well as some wire. This will add a colorful finish.

For the front door you can also use bales of hay combined with decorative mums. The hay offers a rustic farm feel while the mums bring color via a classic fall flower. To add some additional farm feel post dried corn stalk bundles on each side of the door and put a wheel barrel off to the side filled with gourds, Indian corn and pumpkins. As Halloween rolls around you add accessories with a bit more of a haunting feel while still keeping with the farm/outdoors theme.

If you feel like decorating your front door but don’t feel like choreographing a lot of staging, you can always use garland for the front door. The only requirement for this is that you hang it around the door and securely attach it. Some garlands are very well designed and can bring that autumn feel instantly.

Dining Table

When your guests sit down for Thanksgiving you want them not only taste Thanksgiving, you want them to feel it. While some of that will come from the family sitting nearby, your table decorations can help set the mood while adding a touch of elegance.

At each serving you can decorate the napkins using grapevine wreath napkin rings. These are similar to the grapevine wreath that can be used for the front door, only smaller.

The middle of the table is always the main area of focus. Create a centerpiece that is attractive and that brings a bit of fall into the house. Some centerpiece ideas include:

1. Painted Pumpkin Vases – paint a carved-out pumpkin using an acrylic paint. This type of paint will dry quickly, is easy to clean up and is water based so that if you make a mistake, you can wipe it off and start over. Sometimes a simple color like white works well, since the next step is the fill the pumpkin with fall flowers. With all the flowers offering color a simply colored pumpkin offers nice contrast.
2. Wheat Centerpiece – Fall is harvest time. Some wheat strands tied together with a simple ribbon and enclosed in a cloche dome portray harvest time in a subtle and elegant way.
3. Candle Holder Apples – This one is easy. Take a large apple and core it enough to fit a smaller sized candle. Depending on how long your table is, you might want to create two or three of these and put them the length of the table. This is a nice piece that offers ambiance as well as a fall reminder.

Living Room Decorations

Around the fireplace you can use trim, just be careful if you are actually planning on having a fire. The trim shouldn’t hang to closely to the fire area. Above the fireplace use mantel decorations that tie with the trim. These can be background pieces of wood that hold additional pieces of trim, decorated pumpkins, candles or flowers. You can fill a flower vase with acorns or chestnuts and then put the flowers in.

Flowers can also be placed in other areas of the living room. You really can’t have too many flowers. Another creative way of displaying them would be to use vintage tins. While many of the tins aren’t made to fit flowers, a little searching and you can find something that reminds your guests of times gone by while the fall flowers brightening up the room.

Another decoration that works in the living room is a lantern. Lanterns can be used anywhere – on a shelf, on a coffee table or next to the fireplace. Long associated with sailors, gas lit streetlights and railway workers, lanterns bring the outdoors back inside.

It is also time to get out those decorative throws and blankets you stored for the summer. Use them on furniture or on blanket ladders in the corner of the room.

Conclusion

The great thing about decorating your home in the fall is that it gives you a chance to share with your guests, to offer them a small insight into the beauty you see in the change of seasons. There are numerous ways to do this. The goal here was to present some ideas that you could take and run with, adding your own touch and combine in different ways. That’s what we do at EMM Loans, help make it easy for you to create custom solutions for you home. Our focus may be on the financial side of your house, but we also take pride in helping you turn your house into a home.

The post Unique Ways to Decorate Your Home for the Fall appeared first on EMM Loans.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimates that approximately 26 million U.S. adults, one in ten, lack a credit record, with another 19 million Americans have a credit record but no score.

Most of these people lack a score simply because their payment history isn’t extensive enough or is too far back to affect their current credit. Others have credit but don’t have a score high enough to allow them to borrow at the terms they want.

If you aren’t sure what your credit status is, you can get a free copy of your credit report and a free copy of your credit score so that you can assess your personal situation.

There are three major credit bureaus – Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax – that track personal credit. They publish “scores” that are meant to reflect how well you have managed your debt in the past. The goal should be to get a score of 670 or higher so that you can get the most favorable loan terms and rewards-based credit cards.

Here are some of the best ways to improve your credit score:

Get a Credit Card

Regardless of if you have no credit, poor credit, fair credit, and good credit, there is a credit card for everyone!

The goal with any card is to show that you can manage credit and budget responsibly. Get a basic card and gradually move up the ladder to cards that give you more credit access as you improve and build your credit.

Try using these cards for small, everyday items and make sure to pay on time and in full at the end of the month. After you have been paying on time for several months try to increase your credit limit. Don’t make this request if you have a big outstanding balance though, you might not get approved. Pay your balance down first.

An increased spending limit will improve your credit utilization ratio, which is the ratio of your average balance to your credit limit. You want to try to keep your balance below 30% of your limit. The lower the better.

Here are some common categories of credit cards to help you start your search:

• Limited Credit – If you have some payment history you might be able to get a store credit card. These are cards issued by retail stores to their customers.
• Student Credit Cards – These are unsecured credit cards (there is nothing that is held in case you can’t pay) that often come with a low credit limit. To qualify you to have to be a student pursuing postsecondary education.
• Secured Credit Card – This is good if you don’t have any credit. Lenders who issue these cards will hold something of yours as collateral in case you don’t pay. For some cards, you pay money upfront and it is kept in your account to use. Other cards might allow you to tap into the equity that you hold in other assets, like your car. In this instance, the title to your car would be held as collateral to ensure payment. Other secured cards might be more like pre-paid cards, which put the money into an account upfront and your purchases then draw down the balance.
• Become an Authorized User – In this instance, you are using a credit card that is in your name and tied to someone else’s account. The other person is ultimately responsible for the debt, so you are going to have to find someone that really trusts you. The positive payment history on the account will go into your credit report and be factored into your scores so make sure you partner with someone who is responsible for paying their credit card.

Take Out a Loan

Your payment history is the most important factor in building a good credit score. It accounts for 35% of your FICO (Fair Isaac Corp) score, the standard in credit scoring. Taking out a loan and making regular, on-time payments is the best way to build a payment history. Here are some types of loans to consider.

• Installment Loans – These come in many varieties, student loans, furniture loans, auto loans, mortgages, or anything where you are getting something upfront and then making payments to pay it back. Making these payments in full and on time will help your credit.
• Credit Builder Loans (CBL) – According to a recent Consumer Financial Protection Corp study, for participants without an existing loan, opening a CBL increases their likelihood of having a credit score by 24%.

The terms of these loans vary by the lending institution, but the standard premise is that the borrower is required to make payments before receiving any funds. The lender will move amounts usually between $300 to $1000 into a locked escrow account. You will then make payments, including interest and fees, in installments over a six-to-twenty-four-month period. The lender then reports these payments to the credit bureaus. The borrower then receives the money at the end of the payment period. This helps demonstrate the borrower’s ability to budget and make timely payments.

• Secured Personal Loan – Like a secured credit card, this loan utilizes the equity you have in other assets, like a car, to secure a loan and is typically paid back in installments.
• Unsecured Personal Loans – These will have a higher interest rate (because there is a more perceived risk without an underlying asset to foreclose upon should default occur) and be harder to obtain than a secured loan. Typically you will already need a credit history and lenders will look at income and the level of other financial obligations.
• Peer-to-Peer Loans – These are often personal loans offered over websites, like Proper and Upstart, that bring investors and borrowers together in an anonymous fashion. To borrow you will likely need to have some credit history, but these platforms report to the credit bureaus so timely payments will improve your credit score over time.

Have Your Monthly Bills Added to Your Credit Report

Things like cell phone bills, utility bills, and rent bills don’t automatically show up on your credit report. You can request to have these bills added to your credit report. This will allow the credit agency to connect to your bank account and track on-time payments.

Dispute Inaccurate Information on Your Credit Report

A study done by the Federal Trade Commission found that 25% of U.S. Consumers found errors that could affect their credit scores in one of their credit reports. It is a good idea to review your reports periodically and dispute any inaccuracies.

While your payment history, debt balances, and credit utilization levels are key factors in assessing your credit, the length of your credit history, your experience with different types of credit, and your recent credit transactions are influencing factors as well.

The longer your credit history the better, which is why it is good to start building credit as soon as you can. Showing that you can manage both revolving credit (i.e., credit cards), as well as installment credit (i.e., mortgage loans), helps boost your score. Recent credit transactions can also impact your score. For example, a sudden flurry of credit card applications is a red flag for lenders. It also may result in a number of hard inquiries that can hurt your credit score.

Conclusion

Building credit is a long-term process that can be implemented in a number of different ways. The key is to get a plan together and to build a budget, and a certain amount of self-discipline, into that plan. Whether it be credit cards or some type of loan, make sure you make your payments on time and in full.

The post Building Your Credit Score appeared first on EMM Loans.

Another tradition should be getting your house ready for the colder months to come. Here are eight of the most common things to think about when getting the outside and inside of your home ready for winter.

Outside Your House

1. Get Your Mind in the Gutter – While leaves look great as they change color, once they fall, they require some management. Seeing leaves pile up in the yard is a constant reminder to get the rake and leaf bags out. This kind of obvious reminder doesn’t happen until it’s too late when it comes to the leaves that fall into your gutters. Leaves run the risk of clogging gutters, which can lead to water damage in the roof, the exterior of your home and maybe even your basement.
2. Wait until late fall to clean the gutters. By then most of the leaves have fallen and one cleaning will get you set for the winter. While there are services that clean gutters, doing it yourself isn’t hard. You just have to be careful. Make sure you have a sturdy ladder that will extend at least three feet above the roof line. When positioning the ladder, stand with your toes at the ladder’s feet. If you can reach out and just touch the ladder steps with your fingertips the ladder is at the right angle. Once at gutter height just reach into the gutter and pull the leaves out, throwing them to the ground below. Don’t worry about putting them into a bag, you can do that later. While you are up there, you might want to think about installing gutter guards that ensure your gutters don’t fill up with leaves again next year. If you already have gutter guards, make sure you check them periodically. Storms can cause them to displace or become damaged allowing leaf build-up.
3. Re-Mulch Your Perennials – Another light layer of mulch in the fall is a good idea. If you last mulched in the early spring some of the mulch may already be eroding away and you may have areas opening up for weeds to enter and moisture to dissipate. Additionally, this helps your garden look it’s best all winter long.
4. Prepare Your Deck and Patio – If you’re like most people, you enjoyed a summer of sitting out on the deck or patio. Now it’s time to clean the patio furniture before you put it away for the winter. If you have clay or ceramic pots that are filled with dirt, empty the dirt, so it doesn’t freeze and crack the pots. Also check the patio or deck for cracks. If you find any, fix them before water gets in and freezes and causes more damage.
5. Clean and Store Your Lawn and Garden Tools and Equipment – Make sure tools are dried and wiped free of dirt. Let the lawn mower run until the gas is used and then drain the oil to preserve the engine. Do the same with the leaf blowers and other gas-powered equipment. While you are at it, if you live in an area that gets snow, make sure the snowblower has gas and oil. Start it to make sure it is ready to go. You don’t want to have six inches of snow that needs to be moved and find out you have a problem.

Now that you have addressed the outside of the house, now it’s time to work on the inside.

Inside Your House

1. Prepare Your Fireplace – The best way to do this is to call a chimney service. You need to have someone who knows what they are doing look up into the chimney to make sure there are no obstructions such as bird or squirrel’s nests or leaves that have built up. If there are, they need to be removed. Otherwise, you run the risk of a fire as the embers from your fire spark the material in the chimney which then lands, still on fire, on your roof.
2. Make sure there is no left-over ash in the fireplace, that all the tools you need are in working order and that you have wood to start the season. For those with gas fireplaces, here are the steps to take:
3. Make sure logs are intact and dust free. Clean if necessary
4. Check the glass to ensure it isn’t cracked or lose. Clean as needed.
5. Inspect the vents for blockage
6. Start it to make sure the burner and ignitor are working properly.
7. Turn off the gas
8. Take a picture of the lava rock and logs so you can remember how to put them back together.
9. Rinse the lava rock with water and let dry
10. Remove the dust from the logs with compressed air.
11. Use the compressed air to clean the burners.
12. Put everything back together.
13. Inspect Your Heating System – If you have a maintenance contract with your heating system this inspection is usually included in the price. Have an expert look over your furnace and hot water heating system. There might be fixes that need to be made to ensure you aren’t suddenly without heat.
14. Paint Your House – It doesn’t have to cost to paint the interior of your home. This is an easy project many homeowners take on themselves and the fall is a good time to do it. The weather is usually cool enough to help prevent the paint from running, something it tends to do if it is very warm. At the same time, it is still warm enough for you to leave windows and doors open to allow for air flow and help with drying. Painting rooms like bedrooms helps seal old odors, prevents dirt and dust, and can even help with the room’s overall insulation.
15. Seal Any Attic Leaks – Warm air rises so if your attic isn’t well sealed and insulated it will show up in your heating bills this winter. Check to see if the insulation is very old or has been compressed or damaged by water intrusion or invasive wildlife.

At EMM Loans we help homeowners, and potential homeowners, make sure they are in the best possible position when it comes to their house. If you need money to make repairs or if you are looking for a new home and could use some guidance, give us a call.

The post Getting Your Home Ready for the Upcoming Seasons… appeared first on EMM Loans.