07.09.08
Thoughts from a Local Mortgage Broker
Courtney, our Buyer’s Agent, sent me this message from Chris Starks. Starks is a Senior Loan Officer with First Class Financial Services.
He writes to Realtors, but I thought the information was interesting and useful:
I hope this finds you doing well. We have received some great news from Fannie Mae - the Denver metro area as a whole is no longer considered a declining market…..this includes all counties other than Weld County and the Pueblo area. There are a few pockets in the state that are considered a declining market and it is on a case by case basis. As long as the investors automated system and the appraiser do not say it is a declining market then we are good! You can call me with the zip code of a property and I can tell you if it is considered declining or not.
What does this mean to your buyers? With the declining market designation, your buyers were having to put an extra 5% down - this is no longer a problem in most areas. As long as the investors automated system and the appraisal do not deem the property in a declining market - your investor is fine and is not having to put the extra 5% down.
Our (financial) investors have already started to follow suit and are allow financing to 95% on conventional loans. Condos are still to 90% even if they are not in a declining market (assuming your buyer is going conventional and not going FHA which allows for 97% financing and VA to 100%) because the private mortgage insurance (PMI) companies currently only insure condos to 90%. Again, the investors will go to 95% but there are currently no private mortgage insurance companies who will insure a condo to 95%. We are hoping this will change in the near future.
This is good news! Share this with your buyers and co-workers. Things are changing here locally and rates are still great. This is going to be a great summer!
