Mortgage & Commercial Lending News.

There are many misconceptions when it comes to purchasing flood insurance.

Many homeowners think they’re not at risk for flooding, when they usually are. And many believe that if they are flooded, they’re insured for it. For example, the coverage is often inadequate lacking enough coverage to fully rebuild the home. Although flood insurance is available to many homeowners under the NFIP, most don’t have it. This is true for many of Hurricane Harvey’s victims. This hurricane was the most significant tropical hurricane in the United States history. Harvey’s damage was between $90 Billion and $160 Billion with a midpoint at $125 Billion.

Economists say the economic growth for the fourth quarter was near four percent. A CNBC economic survey showed that in over a decade a majority was optimistic about the economy. Unemployment is expected to continue to go down while the economy is expected to grow in 2018. However, that’s faster than is healthy. Growth at that pace leads to overconfident irrational exuberance. This creates a boom that leads to a damaging bust. This will create inflation and increasing interest rates controls inflation.

There has been troubling news released by S&P/Experian, as reports indicate that defaults on first credit payments by consumers are on the rise. While most indicators surrounding the economy and the stock market have been positive, this boom in defaults isn’t, as it’s the first time in two years defaults have increased.

The constitutional amendment has changed certain options for the refinancing of home equity loans.  These options include (1) lowering the cap on home equity-loan related fees from 3 percent to 2 percent but excluding certain additional fees from counting towards the cap (2) refinancing of a home equity loan with a purchase money loan (3) changing the threshold of the amount of advances on a home equity loan as long as the principal amount remains below 80% of the fair market value of the home (formerly was below 50% of market value) ;  (4) allowing home equity loans against agricultural properties and; (5) establishing certain authorized lenders to make a home equity loan.

Equifax Inc. announced a cybersecurity incident potentially impacting approximately 143 million Americans to potential identity theft. This breach was caused by hackers gaining access to key items of data including names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth, addresses, driver's license information.  In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers, were accessed.

Hurricane Harvey was the first major hurricane since Wilma in 2005.

Multifamily commercial lending is completely different than residential lending. Multifamily commercial lenders come in all shapes and sizes, and learning how multifamily loans are structured will open up new opportunities. Before you begin to invest in multifamily properties, it is important that you understand that residential and commercial lending are different specialties, each with their own unique complexities.

Understanding the differences

Multifamily lending has a lot more factors and questions to consider during the prequalification, and additional parties are involved. Those include attorneys, accountants, and property managers. Whereas, residential

Understanding the process of purchasing a home is exciting but it can also be stressful if you don’t do your homework first.  Here are a few tips from a Mortgage Investors Corporation from start to finish so you’ll be a wiser homebuyer.  Your credit, your scores and how wisely you shop for a loan that best fits your needs will have a great impact on the rate and fees you pay. To improve your credit, and chances of getting a better mortgage, get current and stay current on your payments.