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100% financing is still available through Rural Development. Many of my buyers are finding this program hard to pass up: No Down Payment No Monthly PMI (until Oct 1st – so don’t delay!) Allows Closing Costs to be rolled into the loan Unlimited Seller Concessions (great opportunity for a "buy down" & lower monthly payments) 30yr Fixed Rates ranging from 5.0 to 5.25% over the last 6 months No Re-capture Period or Pre-payment Penalty – Ever! Credit Scores all the way down to 640 However, beginning October 1, 2011, all RD purchase loans transactions will be charged an annual fee of 0.3 percent of the unpaid principal balance (monthly PMI). On a $200K home, this is $50/month or $600/yr. These changes will not be effective until October 1, 2011. So there is plenty of time between now & October for buyers to still avoid this additional cost. Click here for more real estate news and advice. For more mortgage and finance information, visit my website's mortgage center .

The restoration of the ingle-family rural housing program that would guarantee home loans for rural buyers was passed by the Senate this week and is on its way to President Obama. Rural Development's Single Family Housing Programs provide homeownership opportunities to low- and moderate-income rural Americans through several loan, grant, and loan guarantee programs. The programs also make funding available to individuals to finance vital improvements necessary to make their homes decent, safe, and sanitary. This is great news for home buyers who want to buy a home while the rates and prices are still low. And it is a huge relief for thousands of rural home buyers who need to close on their home purchases before Sept. 30 to take advantage of the home buyer tax. To learn more about a USDA home loan program, click here . Visit my website's Mortgage Center for more helpful mortgage loan information.

Rural Development has received additional Guaranteed Single-Family Housing Loan funds in the amount of $2.5 billion. They are able to begin to issue Conditional Commitments on loans subject to the availability of funds as follows: The guarantee fee for purchase transactions will be 3.5 percent The guarantee fee for refinance transactions will be 2.25 percent If have any buyers who have been waiting for it to come back, it's time to start shopping again!!! Click here for more detailed information.

Earlier this week, the US House of Representatives passed the Rural Housing Preservation and Stabilization Act of 2010 (HR 5017). Through this legislation, the guarantee fee in the USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing (GRH) Program may be raised to offset any need for Congressional Appropriations (Currently we believe to 3.5%). Additionally, HR 5017 would authorize USDA Rural Development to guarantee up to $30 billion in loans in Fiscal 2010. This would represent an $18 billion in loan making authority for the remainder of the fiscal year. Before these changes can be implemented, similar legislative action will need to occur in the US Senate. Following the action in the House, the USDA Rural Development National Office sent an announcement that stated “Depending on Congressional activity with the proposed legislation it is possible that the Agency may consider issuing additional commitments.” We're getting closer!

Yesterday, the Kanjorski bill (HR 5017) passed unanimously in the House Financial Services Committee and we anticipate that it will be voted on by the Full House of Representatives early next week. HR 5017 is a bill aimed at supporting the rural housing market that has struggled to get passed. Also known as the Rural Housing Preservation and Stabilization Act of 2010, it will end the current method of using federal funding to backstop the guarantee and instead will fund the program through mandatory fees. HR 5017 ensures rural homebuyers access to affordable loans through USDA, but because these loans have tripled since 2006, federal funding will be running out literally in the next few days, making passage critical. Rep. Barney Frank, who is a big supporter of the program, expressed his concern that the program was going to run out of funding by the end of the month, and said that he was going to do everything possible to expedite the bill so that would not happen. In order to pay for

New income limits for the USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing Program went into effect on April 20th. This includes an increase in the income limits nationwide, as well as the implementation of the new “2-Tier” income limit structure, which will simplify program requirements and the qualification process. Previously, income limits for many counties, including Cumberland & York Counties, depended on the number of persons. There was a different income level for each additional person. The new structure only has two income levels (1-4 persons and 5-8 persons). This increases the maximum income level for most families. Cumberland & York County: $73,600 for 1-4 person household $97,150 for 5-8 person household Portland Metro: $83,250 for 1-4 person household $109,900 for 5-8 person household This is great news for many buyers! Here is the link to look up the Rural Development income limits for your area.