FHA/VA Adjustable-Rate Mortgages Can Be A Great, Safe, Deal
on Dec 31, 1969Many borrowers have been trained to avoid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), especially after misuse of those loans got so many borrowers into trouble during the last boom market, but ARMs issued through government programs such as FHA or VA have cert...

Bank-Owned Foreclosure Inventory in Loudoun County (Week of 8/2/09)
on Dec 31, 1969As a public service for buyers, Ethical Homes is glad to publish a list of all of the available bank-owned foreclosure properties in Loudoun County, VA for the week of 8/2. Basic information for each new or changed bank-owned property from the last...

A guide to the Twitter hashtags that we use.
on Dec 31, 1969Following us on Twitter? Here's a quick guide to some of the hashtags and shorthand that we use there. Mortgage Updates bps: basis points. One basis point is equal to 0.01%; if a mortgage bond is trading at 1% above its "par" value, and the pric...

Remy’s Arlington
on Dec 31, 1969Local comic Remy recently posted a parody rap that is sure to take the interwebs by storm (at least in the DC area). Given how trite the "dorky white person does gangster rap" parody genre has become, Remy's take on Arlington (which is really more o...

Chinese Drywall: Worse Than Asbestos And Polybutylene?
on Dec 31, 1969Agents should be aware of defective Chinese drywall with extremely high levels of sulfur and strontium, which is believed to be causing severe corrosion of copper piping and electronics in homes. The Sarasota (FL) Herald-Tribune began investigating...

More on HVCC
on Dec 31, 1969As we recently discussed, the new HVCC appraisal rules are hurting real estate markets that are already struggling to recover, and legislation was just introduced to suspend HVCC until the rules can be improved to address those issues. In a post fro...

Paying for Mortgage-Related Services
on Dec 31, 1969While many mortgage-related service providers will agree to be paid for their services as settlement, some (including, recently, appraisers) have started demanding payment up front for their services. If you are using Ethical Homes and HomeFirst Mor...

Mortgage Market Update 7/24/09
on Dec 31, 1969A quick weekly overview of where the mortgage markets are, where they have been, and where they are expected to go. Looking Back: In the previous week, we once again saw a great deal of volatility in mortgage rates, but in the end very little mo...

Measuring America on July 4th
on Dec 31, 1969Happy (United States) Independence Day! To celebrate July 4th this year, we're going to plug a great book about the development of real property ownership during the formative years of the United States of America--Andro Linklater's Measuring Americ...

Paying for Mortgage-Related Services
on Dec 31, 1969While many mortgage-related service providers will agree to be paid for their services as settlement, some (including, recently, appraisers) have started demanding payment up front for their services. If you are using Ethical Homes and HomeFirst Mor...