Effective November 16, 2025, Fannie Mae no longer requires conventional mortgage borrowers to have a minimum credit score of 620.

It's Election Day. Would you move to a city because you like its politics? We ranked U.S. cities by job openings, age group density, tax rate, nightlife, and more... and then threw a filter on for politics. See the spectrum - from Very Democrat to Very Republican. homebuyer.com/research/bes...

Fed weeks and non-Fed weeks aren't all that different for mortgage rates. Avg week: Non-Fed 7 bps; Fed 7.3 bps Median week: Non-Fed 5 bps; Fed 5 bps Weeks w/no change: Non-Fed 15.3%; Fed 18.6% Big moves (≥25 bps): Non-Fed 2.9%; Fed 5.3% Huge moves (≥50 bps): Non-Fed 0.3%; Fed 0.7%

The Federal Reserve voted to lower the Fed Funds Rate by 0.25 after its Oct 2025 meeting. It also noted that the jobs market is weak, inflation pressures are climbing, and it remains committed to keeping prices stable. Wall St reacted swiftly. Mortgage rates will open much higher Thursday morning.

Mortgage lenders are heavily scripted. You are not, which means you're at a disadvantage. Level the playing field with our scripted replies for "rates are going up tomorrow," "I can't quote you without your credit," and 30+ other tactics lenders use against you. homebuyer.com/flip-the-scr...

The typical refinancing household paid $3,100 in lender fees per transaction last year, even after lender credits and negotiations. Purchase mortgages charged 37% less. #mortgage #refinance

In the last 30 years, there have been five government shutdowns lasting more than one business day. Mortgage rates dropped during all of them. We are on Day 23 of the 2025 shutdown. Mortgage rates are much lower. But let's not cheer. Shutdowns affect all of us.

The risk of an ARM is that your rate could rise in the future compared to the fixed rate you could have locked in today. But, that's just one side. The risk of a fixed-rate mortgage is that your locked-in rate may be higher both today AND later than it would have been with an ARM all along.

Government mortgage data shows variance in origination fees paid per transaction when sorted by borrower race. Some of the variance can be explained by average loan size; mortgage costs are fixed so smaller loan sizes can make fees appear large. But it doesn't explain all of the variance.

The House Price Index dropped in July for the second month. The FHFA uses the index to make mortgage loan limits for the upcoming year. If values are found to have fallen 0.5% or more through Aug and Sept, the preemptive $819k limit lenders set for next year will be too high. It could happen.

Someday we'll ask: why didn't we post on BlueSky earlier and more often?

Would you live in a city that disagrees with your politics? homebuyer.com/research/bes...

#federalreserve #fomc #mortgage

Everything we know about the $10,000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit introduced in the State of the Union address #SOTU #mortgage

The DASH Act is now in the House and the Senate. DASH stands for "Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for All." It's a (very) large piece of legislation that includes a $15,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers. #mortgage #housing #congress

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