FHA Rates increase!

February 29, 2012 By jrobins

FHA Hikes Fees on Mortgages

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Home buyers with mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration will soon see a rise in fees, the agency announced Monday.

The agency is raising its fees in an effort to try to recoup some of its depleted reserves*, which suffered from the rising number of home owners who defaulted on their mortgages. The agency also says it’s raising fees to try to encourage the return of more private capital to the market.

FHA loans allow for smaller down payments, as low as 3.5 percent compared to traditional loans, and they often have less stringent credit requirements, which have made them soar in popularity in recent years. (The agency insures loans but doesn’t issue them.) About 40 percent of all new mortgages for home purchases in 2010 were FHA-backed mortgages.

In particular, FHA will increase two fees that borrowers pay. Starting April 1, it will increase its annual mortgage insurance premium for loans under $625,500,  bringing the total cost from 1.15 percent of the loan amount to 1.25 percent. Starting June 1, larger loan premiums will see an increase of 0.35 percent of a percentage point, bringing the total premium costs up to 1.5 percent of the loan amount, The New York Times reports.

FHA also announced it will raise a fee for the upfront mortgage premium by 0.75 of a percentage point, which will now total 1.75 percent of the loan amount.

The New York Times illustrates the impact of the increase in a recent article: For example, a borrower with a 3.5 percent down payment with a mortgage of $193,000 can expect to pay an upfront mortgage premium alone of $3,377, compared to the prior $1,930. That can be rolled into the mortgage.

The new fees will also apply to home owners who want to refinance their mortgages, the agency announced.

The raise in fees is expected to bring in $1.25 billion in additional revenue to the agency through September 2013.

Filed Under: Blog

Coworking for Parents

February 27, 2012 By jrobins

Coworking May Come to the Main Line

Coworking is a movement that takes the best of working in and outside of an office.

Coworking is a movement in which independent workers share space with others, taking advantage of the positive aspects of working in a group setting.

Aliza Schlabach is trying to take it a step further and provide a coworking space with built-in child care somewhere on the Main Line or in the Western Philadelphia suburbs.

Last Thursday she rented the upstairs room of the Gryphon Cafe for an afternoon of coworking. She asked for $5 per person to cover the cost of renting the room. But she is currently searching for commerical real etate where she could set up a permanent work space.

A permanent space would include office amenities that everyone would share, like printers and a watercooler. Coworking aims to give independent workers that opportunity to network and chat around the watercooler or the coffee machine — something they do not have at home.

And coworkers actually become more productive when they work in the presence of others, Schlabach said, adding that she hated the isolation of working alone.

“There’s definitely a need here” for coworking for parents, she said, which would “give support to families, help them be more productive but also stay in contact with their children.”

There are 1,400 coworking spaces worldwide but only a few that include child care, she said. Coworking for Parents, which her business is called, would also be open to non-parents or to people who do not need the child care.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Market Update | Chester County

February 15, 2012 By jrobins

Market TRENDs: Chester County, January 2012

Market History
Chester County had a large increase in Settled units, 13.2%, in January 2012 as compared to January 2011. Using that same time frame, Pending units also saw a large increase, at just over 26%.

For more county specific data, check out the Market History Report, which details current and historical information for Single-Family and Condo listings over the last 10 years in Chester County. Single-Family Jan. ’11 Jan. ’12
Inventory 3,278 3,124
Settled Units 242 274
Median Price $300,000 $280,000
Stl Price/Orig Price 91.2% 90.7%
Get this info anytime you login on the Info Center.

• Chester Single-Family Report
• Chester Condo Report

Single-Family YTD Jan. ’11 Jan. ’12
Settled Units 242 274
Average Price $374,000 $321,000
Median Price $300,000 $280,000
Stl Price/Orig Price 91.2% 90.1%

• Single-Family Year-to-Date Report
• Condo Year-to-Date Report
Year-to-Date Market Snapshot
Through January 2012, Chester County has settled 274 units at an average price of $321,000.

This information and more can be found in
the Year-to-Date Snapshot, which contains statistical information for Single-Family and Condo listings recorded within TREND’s 13 primary counties over the last 3 years.

Filed Under: Blog