Maintenance that makes $ense
By Marcie Geffner – LendingTree.com

If you’re worried about falling home prices, here’s some good news: Ongoing maintenance can help protect your investment, ward off even more expensive repairs and make your home more comfortable for you and your family.

A home is a valuable asset that, for many people, is the biggest investment they will ever make. That’s why it’s important to keep up with repairs and maintenance, especially if you’re concerned about declining home values in your area.

Maintenance may seem mundane, particularly when compared with large-scale renovations, but it’s well worth the time and money. Routine maintenance protects the value of your home just as regular servicing prolongs the useful life of your car and regular checkups maintain your physical health.

What’s more, maintenance can save you money since small problems that are neglected can easily turn into bigger problems that will be much more costly to fix later.

Here’s a list of some basic maintenance tasks that can help you keep your home in tip-top shape:

● Replace broken roof shingles to prevent water damage and extend the life of your roof, which is probably one of the most expensive components of your home.

● Check your heating and cooling system at least annually. Replace disposable filters every few months or as recommended by the service technician.

● Hire a professional chimney sweep to inspect and clean your fireplace . Keep the damper closed when the fireplace is not in use.

● Scrub concrete decks, walls and walkways annually with a bucket of warm water and washing soda, and a stiff brush or push broom.

● Clean exterior doors, window frames and screens after the rainy season ends. Patch torn screens to prolong their life and prevent any intrusion of insects.

● Clear your rain gutters of debris and repair any breaks once or twice a year. Force a stream of water upwards to clear a blocked downspout.

● Empty your hot water heater annually or as recommended by the manufacturer. (Some newer models can be drained from the bottom to save water.) This simple chore can help your water heater last many years longer.

● Paint the exterior and interior of your home every few years or as needed. A fresh coat of paint can improve the look of your home, brighten dark rooms and help to prevent damage and deterioration.

Rates dip on big mortgages
By Marcie Geffner – LendingTree.com

Interest rates on so-called “jumbo-conforming mortgages” have dipped significantly in recent weeks. The new lower rates should make these larger loans more affordable for people who live in high-cost housing markets and can meet the qualifications to get this type of loan.

Jumbo-conforming loans were created in February, when the federal government raised the loan limits on mortgages that can be purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-sponsored corporations that buy packages of securitized mortgages from lenders. The loan limit used to be $417,000 even in most of the nation’s high-cost housing markets, but was raised to as much as $729,750 in some counties. To find maximum loan limits in your county, you can download Fannie Mae’s Jumbo-Conforming Loan Limit Look-Up table.

Initially, interest rates on jumbo-conforming loans remained stubbornly higher than rates on smaller conforming loans. But the interest-rate gap has narrowed considerably now that Fannie Mae has decided to price the larger loans in line with the smaller ones.

As a result, you may be able to get a significantly lower interest rate on a larger loan today, even if you live in an expensive housing market. And a lower interest rate means you may be able to borrow more money than you otherwise could have to buy a home or refinance your current mortgage.

Lenders still have tougher requirements to qualify for jumbo-conforming loans. These requirements include:

• A sizable down payment, which may be advantageous since it creates equity in your home and eliminates the need for mortgage insurance.
• Plenty of equity, which is especially important if you want to refinance an existing jumbo mortgage with a conforming jumbo.
• A strong credit score.
• The ability and willingness to document your income and assets.

You may be among the chief beneficiaries of the lower interest rates on jumbo-conforming loans if you want to buy a home in an expensive housing market and can make a substantial down payment or if you want to refinance an existing jumbo mortgage and have plenty of equity.

If a jumbo-conforming loan might meet your needs, you probably should act quickly because these loans still face an uncertain future. Jumbo-conforming loans haven’t been seasoned in the marketplace, and the higher loan limits are set to expire at the end of this year, unless the federal government extends the sunset date or makes the new higher limits permanent.

© 1998 – 2008 LendingTree, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be used or reproduced without prior written permission of LendingTree, LLC.

Survey finds tougher loan requirements
By Marcie Geffner – LendingTree.com

It’s no secret that banks have raised the bar for borrowers who want to get a new home loan. The fact is that today’s requirements may be significantly more challenging, regardless of whether you want to buy a home, refinance your current mortgage or take out a home equity loan or line of credit.

Yet these tougher requirements definitely don’t mean that you won’t be able to get a loan. Plenty of borrowers have obtained new loans this year on good terms and often at historically low interest rates.

Banks tighten across the board
Lenders use the phrase “tighter credit standards” to describe their own tougher requirements. And indeed, most banks have tightened their credit standards this year.

A recent Federal Reserve survey of senior loan officers found that 62 percent of the banks surveyed had tightened their standards for prime residential mortgages, and even higher percentages had tightened their standards for non-traditional and subprime home loans, and home equity lines of credit. None of the banks that were surveyed had loosened credit standards for these types of home loans.

Documents may help you qualify
To obtain a loan today, you’ll probably have to jump just a little higher than you would have had to a year ago. You’ll probably have to fill out more paperwork, and you’ll probably be asked to hand over more documents, such as W-2 forms, paycheck stubs and income tax returns, to demonstrate your creditworthiness.

To qualify for a loan at a favorable interest rate and on favorable terms, you’ll also need an acceptable credit score, and the lender likely will require an acceptable appraisal of the home. You may have more loan choices if your employment has been steady for several years, your credit is unblemished, and you are able to make a larger down payment to buy a home or you have some equity in your current home if you want to refinance.

Tighter credit standards mean it’s important to shop around and compare loan offers. You may even be pleasantly surprised to find out you’re better qualified for a loan than you thought you were.

The bottom line is that tighter credit standards should be a welcome trend in home loans. That may seem counterintuitive, but the fact is that tougher requirements protect borrowers as well as lenders and help to ensure that you’re financially able to make the monthly payments on your new loan. Always be sure to read your loans documents before you sign them and ask questions about any aspect of your loan that you don’t understand.

© 1998 – 2008 LendingTree, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be used or reproduced without prior written permission of LendingTree, LLC.