Sign In
Free Newsletter
Recent Articles from Robert Nusgart
Robert Nusgart: A good week for gamblers, but not mortgage seekers
If you like to gamble, then this was a week especially made for you. With the debt ceiling debate being batted forth from the House of Representative to the Senate, the financial markets have been in a tizzy. Typically, when the markets are in a tizzy, it bodes well for those seeking better mortgage interest […]
Robert Nusgart: Feds getting new good-faith estimate right
Finally, they might be getting it right. As a part of the sweeping changes to the mortgage industry, the federal government about two years ago stepped in and decided to redesign the good-faith estimate form that all lenders are required to give borrowers. Now the government is moving steadily toward a new, more friendly disclosure […]
Robert Nusgart: Common sense is needed in credit scoring
One point. That’s all that it took on this borrower’s credit score to go from having an approved loan to having no loan at all. Twenty years ago if someone would have asked you what your FICO score was, you would have shaken your head. Credit scoring, as we now know, is what makes or […]
Robert Nusgart: Home prices, rates, loan limits moving lower
This week we learned that mortgage rates are moving lower, housing prices nationally are moving lower and FHA loan limits are gearing to move lower. So all mixed together, what does it mean as we head into summer? Obviously, low interest rates benefit everyone. Lower prices benefit those looking to purchase, but sting sellers or […]
Robert Nusgart: Competition has loan officers ready to deal
If you’re shopping for a new mortgage, it may be the best time ever to get your best deal because not only is competition among lenders heating up, competition among loan officers are doing likewise. The reason for this is the new government-mandated way that lenders are now required to pay loan officers. Prior to […]
Robert Nusgart: FHA insurance premium hike is hours away
If you’re in the market for an FHA government insured loan, there are only hours left before a hike in the annual mortgage insurance premium charged by the agency goes into effect April 18. For loan officers and lenders who have potential FHA deals in the pipeline, if FHA case numbers are not obtained before […]
Robert Nusgart: An FHA loan that includes rehabbing costs
America’s housing inventory is ballooning with foreclosures and abandoned homes. Short sales, where owners sell their homes for less than what they owe, are commonplace. Also commonplace is that these homes typically need repair or updating. In the last several years, borrowers seeking construction or rehab loans found out that they were hard to come […]
Robert Nusgart: Compensation change could hurt consumers
A major change is coming to the loan officer’s world beginning April 1, and it’s no April Fool’s Day joke. On that date, the method of how loan officers in the mortgage industry get paid will change drastically, and it will be interesting to see how it will affect consumers. Mortgage bankers and brokers have […]
Robert Nusgart: Homeownership becoming more privilege than right
In the last 10 days, it has become apparent that homeownership in the U.S. will be more of a privilege than a right in the coming years. Last week, the Obama administration released its thoughts on how to deal with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and this week, the Federal Housing Administration, which […]
Robert Nusgart: Price adjustments come even at 20% down
I’ve heard the line many times. “I have a 780 credit score and I’m putting down 20 percent. They should want me as a customer.” Well, they do. But now, even the most creditworthy borrowers are being hit with pricing adjustments that just a few years ago would have been thought to be ludicrous by […]
Robert Nusgart: Some strategies to save money
And the rates keep moving north. First, the Federal Reserve began its second round of quantitative easing around Thanksgiving, and all that did was put the fear of inflation into the mortgage market, which led to rates shooting up in just a few days by about a quarter of a percent. The rate rollback didn’t […]
Fed’s move has sent mortgage rates rising
The Federal Reserve said it was going to help the economy come out of its doldrums by initiating another round of quantitative easing — better known in economic circles as “QE2.” QE2 is the Fed’s way of pumping money into the economic system in hopes of eliminating the possibility of deflation. But what is the […]
