Author: Lending Agent

Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC, has announced the launch of premier home start, a new down payment assistance program designed to make homeownership more accessible for buyers across the nation. This initiative offers flexible assistance options that help homebuyers secure financing without the burden of significant upfront costs. National affordable housing innovator Arrive Home has been named a Top 25 finalist for the 2025 Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability. The Ivory Prize is an award recognizing solutions to housing affordability. It is designed to award innovators for their efforts and provide material support to advance their work. The Ivory Prize is…

Images by Getty Images; Illustration by Issiah Davis/Bankrate Key takeaways Not to be confused with private mortgage insurance (PMI), mortgage protection insurance (MPI) helps cover your mortgage payment if you die or become disabled and can’t work. MPI is similar to life insurance, but the beneficiary is the deceased’s mortgage lender. MPI is not as flexible as other types of insurance like disability insurance and life insurance. What is mortgage protection insurance? Mortgage protection insurance is an insurance policy that pays off the remainder of your mortgage if you pass away or if you become disabled and can’t work. In…

Key takeaways Many lenders offer no-closing-cost mortgages, meaning you don’t need to pay the closing costs upfront when you buy a new home. Instead, closing costs are rolled into the loan balance or compensated for in the form of a higher interest rate. On the plus side, no-closing cost mortgages mean less immediate outlay. On the downside, these loans tend to cost more over their lifetimes. What is a no-closing-cost mortgage? A “no-closing-cost mortgage” is a mortgage that doesn’t require you to pay closing costs upfront, in cash, on closing day. But the name is a bit of a misnomer…

Some of the biggest artificial intelligence plays have sold off dramatically during the recent market turmoil, and here’s how to trade them right now according to Quint Tatro, founder and president of Joule Financial. Tatro broke down his views on Nvidia , Snowflake and Palantir on Friday on CNBC’s “Three-Stock Lunch.” Nvidia Nvidia has fallen 12.7% week to date, on pace for its third down week in a row. Tatro believes investors could start selling on any future relief rally as an oversold bounce is due. “If you are caught in this name and you have watched it decline and…

Americans are flocking to cash amid the market turmoil, with money market fund assets hitting a record $7.03 trillion as of the week ended Wednesday, according to the Investment Company Institute . Markets have been rocky of late as investors grapple with uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariffs and their impact on the economy. “Recent strong inflows may be a response to the spike in volatility in the financial markets we’ve seen lately,” said Shelly Antoniewicz, ICI chief economist. “With short-term interest rates still at elevated levels historically, money market funds — which pass earned interest on to their shareholders…

Key takeaways Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) come with an interest rate that changes at predetermined intervals, such as annually or semi-annually. ARMs typically have a low introductory rate, which translates to more affordable monthly mortgage payments initially. ARMs are generally better for borrowers who plan to leave the home or to refinance before the introductory rate period ends. What is an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM)? An adjustable-rate mortgage, or ARM, is a home loan that has an initial, low fixed-rate period of several years. After that, for the remainder of the loan term, the interest rate resets at regular intervals. This means…

The average mortgage lender was briefly able to offer noticeably lower rates this morning compared to yesterday’s latest levels. Credit goes to this morning’s jobs report for coming in a bit weaker than expected. What do jobs have to do with rates? Rates are based on bonds and bonds are heavily influenced by the state of the economy. Today’s jobs report is traditionally the single most important economic report as far as bonds are concerned. In general, weaker economic data begets stronger bonds and lower rates. The fact that rates didn’t make a huge move in the morning was our…

Key takeaways A chattel loan is a loan used to buy movable property — including manufactured homes.  You can get a chattel loan from a lender to purchase a manufactured home, but you’ll need to figure out how to buy or rent the land to put it on separately.  These manufactured home loans often come with looser borrower requirements but higher interest rates than traditional mortgages.  What is a chattel mortgage? A chattel mortgage is a loan used to buy movable property, like manufactured and mobile homes, rather than fixed real estate. They are sometimes referred to interchangeably as manufactured home…

President Donald Trump’s shifting tariff policy has the stock market on pace for a down week, but some defensive stocks could still help investors see gains in their portfolios. Stocks extended their losses on Friday from the previous session, with the S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on pace for their biggest weekly declines since September. The latest sell-off comes on the heels of a weaker-than-expected February jobs report and continued uncertainty regarding U.S. trade with Canada, Mexico and China. The week’s multi-session declines began Monday, when President Trump announced he would impose 25% tariffs on Tuesday on Canada…

President Donald Trump on Thursday night officially established the widely anticipated U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve , fulfilling a major re-election campaign promise to the crypto industry. The market didn’t seem to care much, however. Cryptocurrencies have recovered most of their initial losses after a quick drop following the news. Bitcoin was hovering at $88,000, the same level at traded at before Trump signed the executive order. Ether and the Solana token inched slightly higher, while XRP and the coin tied to Cardano were lower. While many praised the executive order as being a good and reasonable approach, especially given how…