From the category archives:

Fannie Mae

Massachusetts Sales Tax Holiday: Home Buyers, Please Wait Until After Your Closing To Splurge

August 14, 2010

I’m never one to rain on a good shopping day parade, but the Massachusetts sale tax holiday scheduled for this weekend, could cause some problems for home buyers who intend on makes big purchases over the weekend, but haven’t closed yet on their real estate transaction. The reason is Fannie Mae’s new Loan Quality Initiative [...]

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A Failed Appraisal Experiment To End? The Home Valuation Code of Conduct

July 24, 2010

We are pleased to have a new guest blogger, Jonathan Steinberg, a Certified Residential Appraiser with Abelis Appraisals which provides residential appraisals throughout Massachusetts. Jon was quoted extensively in a recent Boston Globe Magazine article on the challenges of appraising residential property. Jon is here to write about the recent overhaul of the Home Valuation [...]

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Fannie Mae Advisory: Pending Condominium Litigation Can Derail Your Condo Financing

July 21, 2010

If the condominium project that you are buying into is involved in any pending litigation over construction or its common areas, chances are you will not be able to obtain a conventional loan under newer, strict Fannie Mae condominium lending guidelines. This is not good for condominium buyers, lenders, unit owners desiring to sell and [...]

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Home Buyers, Don’t Go To Home Depot Before Closing! Lenders Pulling Second Credit Reports Under New Fannie Mae Loan Quality Initiative (LQI)

May 25, 2010

Fannie Mae’s new Loan Quality Initiative (LQI) mandates become effective on June 1, 2010, and these rules are really taking the mortgage industry by surprise. The new rules could derail some closings for buyers who rack up purchases or even take out new store credit cards before their home sales have closed. The Wall Street [...]

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The 2 Major Snags That Can Derail Your Mortgage Loan: Significant Home Repairs And A Low Appraisal

May 19, 2010

The mortgage lending underwriting environment has changed dramatically in the last several years. At the peak of the bubble, mortgage professionals joked that you needed only to be able to fog a mirror to get a loan. These days, even borrowers with good incomes and good credit scores can get turned down. Much of the [...]

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Fannie Mae Tightens Its Belt On Adjustable Rate (ARM) and Interest Only Mortgage Programs

May 12, 2010

We are thrilled to have Sheira MacKenzie, a Certified Mortgage Planner with Fairway Mortgage in Needham, MA, who is here to guest blog about the new, tighter Fannie Mae lending underwriting guidelines on adjustable rate and interest-only loan programs. You can contact Sheira at 781-719-4673 or by email sheiram@fairwaymc.com. Her website is www.sheiramackenzie.com. Overview Of [...]

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The Condominium HO-6 Insurance Policy: Fannie, Freddie & FHA Required

April 6, 2010

The recent flooding here in Massachusetts got me thinking about the importance of good insurance coverage. So I asked my friend Nadine Heaps, the owner of Purple Ink Insurance Agency, Inc. in Ashland, MA to give an outline of “HO-6″ condominium unit insurance policies, the requirements of which have changed in recent months. A HO-6 [...]

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Massachusetts Real Estate Law Year In Review: Top Posts Of 2009 And Predictions For 2010

December 28, 2009

In the spirit of the New Year, let’s look back at the top legal issues of the past year and peer into the crystal ball for a glimpse at 2010. Top 5 Posts For 2009 #1. The Catch-22 Impact of New Fannie Mae Condominium Regulations. In January, Fannie Mae was the first government agency to [...]

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Final (Hopefully!) Revised FHA Condominium Lending Guidelines Issued

November 21, 2009

After several revisions and delays, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has finally issued major changes to its revised guidelines on mortgage insurance requirements for condominium projects. FHA first proposed the revisions back in June (under Mortgagee Letter 2009-19). The new guidelines are effective December 7, 2009; however, some of the requirements are phased in through January 31, 2010. [...]

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Are You Ready For Some RESPA Reform? Part I, An Overview Of The New Regulations

November 17, 2009

New, sweeping changes regulating how lenders, closing attorneys and title companies disclose loan and closing costs are set to go into effect January 1, 2010. The new regulations are part of a long awaited reform to the 30 year old Real Estate Settlement Practices Act known as RESPA aimed at providing greater transparency and fostering [...]

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The Catch-22 Impact Of New Fannie Mae (FNMA) Condominium Lending Regulations

July 1, 2009

Recent Fannie Mae (FNMA) condominium lending regulations are beginning to live up to the hype as having an onerous impact on condominium sales and project development. The changes, made in January 2009, were part of an effort by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to limit risky lending in a segment of the housing [...]

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New Stricter FHA Condominium Lending Regulations and Guidelines Sure To Slow Financing And Chill Sales

October 6, 2009

Update: 11/10/09–THESE RULES HAVE CHANGED. Please see my post: FHA Issues Final Revised Guidelines–Spot Approvals Extended Until Feb. 1, 2010 Update: 10/26/09–The FHA Has Delayed Implementation Of New Rules Until December 7, 2009 Under revised guidelines which were to be effective October 1, 2009 but now delayed until November 2, 2009, the Federal Housing Administration [...]

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Community Associations Institute Weighs In Against New FHA and Fannie Mae Condominium Regulations

October 5, 2009

IMPORTANT UPDATE: 11/16/09: FHA Issues Final Revised Condominium Lending Guidelines As a follow up to my post on the new FHA condominium regulations, I received word from my friend Seth Wills at XLT Property Management, that the Community Associations Institute — the leading condominium and homeowner’s association trade group — recently sent a bulletin to [...]

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