Below is a snapshot of current rate and term refinance Texas mortgage interest rates taken from the mortgage rate research web site, ForTheBestRate.com (9:52 AM MST 1/9/2012). Please visit the site for the criteria used in the survey. Mortgage rates are subject to change without notice.

30 Year Mortgage Rates
Quicken Loans: 4.000% Note Rate, 1 Pt, $1553 Fees, 4.149% APR
Amerisave: 3.750% Note Rate, .837 Pts, $1995 Fees, 3.902% APR
FFSI: 3.750% Note Rate, 1 Pt, $0 Fees, 3.832% APR

20 Year Mortgage Rates
FFSI: 3.750% Note Rate, 1 Pts, $0 Fees, 3.865% APR
EverBank: 3.625% Note Rate, 0 Pts, $852 Fees, 3.674% APR
AimLoan: 3.375% Note Rate, 1 Pts, $1995 Fees, 3.603% APR

15 Year Mortgage Rates
Quicken Loans: 3.250% Note Rate, 1.25 Pt, $1553 Fees, 3.547% APR
EverBank: 3.000% Note Rate, 0 Pts, $852 Fees, 3.061% APR
FFSI: 3.000% Note Rate, 1 Pt, $0 Fees, 3.145% APR

10 Year Mortgage Rates
EverBank: 3.000% Note Rate, 0 Pt, $852 Fees, 3.089% APR
Amerisave: 2.750% Note Rate, 1 Pts Pts, $1995 Fees, 3.172% APR
FFSI: 3.000% Note Rate, 1 Pt, $0 Fees, 3.211% APR

About the Author:

Nat Criss works with ForTheBestRate.com, a resource for searching current mortgage rates in your area.

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I was at a Houston area green mixer when I heard that statement. I have made it myself. The mixer was a great gathering. We were touring the Green Resource Building Center. Looking at what was going on with the new building. We talked about various events around town. I was glad to learn why vegetables at farmer’s markets may be more expensive than my local grocery store (a $50 per day license appears to be the culprit). As the weekend progressed, I became aware of rising costs by focusing on them. My wife, who hardly ever goes grocery shopping, commented on how expensive the total was for so little. She was not too happy about filling up her tank either.  By Sunday night, I was pondering my consumption habits while taking out the trash can. I had very little garbage in there. A neighbor down the street pulls out to very full cans. I think about my sister-in-law, who is complaining about her own expenses; she has a can and a half of garbage.
    We face a disconnect about how much we do consume; how much we need to consume; and how we can save money. During my home inspections, I see people leaving their desktop computers on. They are not using them. My sister-in-law does this. She says this is for convenience. Yet she does not connect that leaving this machine on all of the time is part of the reason for her electric bill being so high. Looking at my own family, I see how wasteful we are when it comes to food. Leftovers sit in the refrigerator, and I am throwing out food left on the plates. I buy books for the children; however, we have so many children’s books which they have not read. I stopped myself from going to buy some home repair items, realizing that I probably had what I needed in the shed. I had an epiphany. Use less for many small things around the house; use up what I already have; and find ways to change my habits.
   I guess this could be called saving money by delivering a thousand cuts. I am like everybody else. I want my morning coffee. I want to go out for lunch with the kids. I want a nice standard of living. We do not have to give all of this up though. We all know that brewing our own coffee is cheaper than going to a place to buy a latte, but do you consider how much coffee you brew? I saw a can of coffee rise in price nearly two dollars over a three week period. I am a heavy coffee drinker, so this was going to be an expense. My solution was to brew less coffee. I drink a cup of water instead of having that late morning last cup. For this coming week, I am going to be better on portion sizes served and amount of food prepared. Hopefully this will cut down my outgoing cash.
    Around the house, I am looking at other options to apply this thousand cuts strategy. I only bought mulch for a few front garden beds that are in plain sight. For areas with heavy bushes or out of public view, I am using the leaves that I have raked up. Once summer comes, these heavily mulched beds will save water. Instead of buying new plants, I am propagating various plants or moving them around the garden (gardening is my hobby, and I tend to indulge). Another cost saving aspect in gardening is that I have been focusing on perennials and hardy volunteers. Buying annuals can be expensive. This change in habit is doing me good, since I am not buying flats of annuals for each season anymore. (I still have a few annuals in pots as accents). One habit that I strongly suggest to homeowners is simple home maintenance. Being reactive is so much simpler. We see something broken, and we fix it. Being proactive takes so much more effort. We have to look for things to fix that are not broken yet. Why go sweep leaves off of the roof? There is no leak or damage to the shingles that can be seen. There will be eventually. The habit of taking a few minutes to walk around the house can be a great way to save money.
    You have to analyze your own life to find where to make these cuts. Like I said, gardening can be my downfall. Going out with the children is also a problem. The idea is not to go without something; the idea is to find ways to decrease those items. Looking at my sister-in-law, I do find a flaw in my advice: how do we connect a habit with an expense. She understands that air conditioning is a big energy user, but the idea of the computer being a big energy user does not click. This may be obvious to you and me, but this is her blind spot. Having the television on all day, with the stereo playing music, is just normal to her. There is the issue to tackle: where is my blind spot? Were is yours? Maybe writing down your expenses for at least one month will reveal the blind spot. A quick look at my own expenses shows that eating out is a bit high in cost, because I have the tendency to pick a fancy place. I will have to work on that one.

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First consider what you can afford as a down payment. What funds do you have available in savings, or in accounts that can be accessed for a home purchase (check with your tax advisor before tapping into any retirement or investment accounts so that you are aware of any tax payments or penalties you might be subject to). If a friend or family member has offered to help with a downpayment, find out exactly what they are able to contribute. Don’t worry if you aren’t able to put down a large amount – you could consider an FHA loan for which you may qualify with as little as 3.5% down.

Don’t deplete your savings just to come up with a substantial downpayment. In order to qualify for a home loan you will need to show some “reserves”, or money at your disposal to cover a few months worth of mortgage payments. It is also smart to have an emergency fund in case you have a large unexpected expense soon after moving in.

Next think about what you can afford to pay each month as your housing payment. In general borrowers can qualify for a loan that requires them to pay as much as 28% of their income each month towards their mortgage payment (which includes principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and any other escrow payments) but that may be more than you can comfortably afford to pay. Look at your other expenses which may include other debt payments (car loans, student loans, credit card debt, etc.), utilities, groceries, gas, child care, entertainment, insurance (health, life, auto, etc.), gifts, and what you put into savings, college fund, and/or retirement accounts. You can then see what is left over which can be used for your monthly mortgage payment.

If the numbers don’t add up to quite what you were hoping keep is mind that it is still a strong buyers market, and you may be suprised to see what you can get for your money. In addition, Texas mortgage rates remain extremely low helping you stretch your housing dollars a bit further. Best of luck with your search for a new home!

Author Resource:

Kelly Decker is a Texas mortgage expert with The Decker Group based in McKinney, TX. Contact Kelly for a quote for today’s mortgage rates or to get prequalified at 972-591-3097.

This post has been a guest post, which I felt could benefit my readers.

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There are times during home inspections where I end up speaking extensively to homeowners, and one theme weaves through practically every conversation: we spent time or money on improving the looks of our home. That is great. We all want to live in a nice home. However, I also know from experience that many updates that we do for looks, like a new floor, can be unpopular with home buyers. This is “eye of the beholder” reasoning. On occasion, a homeowner will mention upgrades to the structure or vital systems of the home. This talk does not happen often enough. This habit could be costing homeowner’s money.
    Party conversations do not revolve around I just put in new plumbing; the conversation will develop about a new kitchen counter top. If you notice, you will hear people speak about energy efficiency and how that led to equipment upgrades. With energy prices increasing, a homeowner can easily see their electric bill going higher. They do not always tie it to the mechanical systems though. One person did realize that their older air conditioning system and water heater as culprits, and they researched efficient units, which they installed. This family then took the extra step of changing habits to reduce energy usage. The most interesting to me was turning off the power to their water heater for most of the day, because they only use the hot water in the morning. I am not sure that I would advocate this method, but it does work for them. When asked, the family did admit that they were not having their appliances serviced on a regular basis. Energy efficiency drove the upgrade, not awareness of the state of those appliances.
    Before I move onto to my thesis, I want to point out a story form another person. This man is upset with his neighbor for making an unconventional update to his home. The homeowner was reacting to a situation that was developing with his home, but not necessary at this time.  I do not want to go into the nature of the update, since I want to focus on the neighbor. He has worked on one energy efficiency issue, and he has worked on the look of the home, but I would not want to live in it. Walking around the exterior of the home, I see several issues with the structure that would lead to problems with many aspects of the home. The most disturbing finding is a dead tree in the front yard. We are in hurricane season, and this tree can damage the home. Here we have a typical homeowner. Possible damage is not current damage. The home is “working” in the fact that the building serves its purpose, therefore change is not needed. The concept is based upon reacting to situations, rather than being proactive.
    Being proactive is the gist of my argument. I was asked to perform a roof inspection on this home. Other people who had seen the roof only walked on the roof. For me, you have to check in the attic to fully inspect the roof. In this home, a large duct was cut in half. Consider, if this homeowner was having a regular check of his HVAC system, this would have been caught sooner. What I frequently find on home inspections is a concern about new techniques that could be applied to a home that would help the life of the house. For example, my home built fifty years ago has its original duct work. These were insulated, but two concerns arise: insulation does need updating over time; and a greater R value can help. The original insulation was probably about an R3, where most technicians would suggest an R6 or R8. My R3 was greatly reduced over the years. Moreover, leaks occur with the failure of joints and tape. I updated my ductwork even though there was no problem. I knew that problems would develop. The system was working, but I did not want to wait. I controlled the expense by taking action early. This has saved me money on my electric bill, but it has also saved me dealing with a problem when I am not prepared for it.
    I am all in favor of maintaining equipment. I think it is better to not have more equipment thrown into a junkyard. However, there comes a point in time that updating equipment to a newer style could improve safety or efficiency. I know that my service panel is afire hazard. I have never had a problem with it though. By replacing it, I can do more than eliminate a fire hazard; I can add other safety features, like AFCI breakers. By planning for this upgrade, I can prevent a possible expense from a fire or with upgrades to my electrical system that may be needed with new equipment. This is a major expense. Paying a technician $50 or $75 to check on my air conditioning or roof or whatever may really save me much more down the line. If you are not checking up on the condition of your home, you would be wise to be proactive to hire someone to do it for you.

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Forgive this home inspector for stepping into the realm of economics; however, I was asked why are there frequent mentions about the housing market in relation to the recovery. Is it because the housing bubble began the crisis? That may be one reason certainly. I think that there are other factors which become obvious when we take the time to look at how housing effects our economy.
    Of course, many people work in the industry, and we have experienced job losses. You have builders, real estate agent firms, appraisers, inspectors, surveyors, and others. Then we have the related industry which services the loans, insurance, and so on. With a home purchase being such a large part of our financial lives, you will find an increasing number of industries involved in the process. Having everyone in the industry working does increase the pool of consumers, so that could become a minor argument towards improving the economy. Minor? When you take a closer look at these industries, you will find that people leaving this line of work may not be bad. For example, I came across a statistic that only 50% of Realtors are involved in home sales in a given year. Many Realtors, home inspectors, and others do this work as a second job, which they may not provide extra income.

Consumerism Begins at Home

    The real benefit of the housing market in the economy comes in the form of consumption. Newly built homes require new appliances. Companies producing dishwashers, microwaves, and air conditioning need new homes to be built for their own bottom line. Newly built homes are not the only generator of new equipment sales. Wear and tare on older items are tolerated by existing homeowners, but when sold, the new owners often replace equipment. This means that the sale of older homes holds an importance to manufacturers. Whether newly built or an older home, we begin our lives in those homes by remodeling, buying new furniture, and adding new smaller appliances. Look around and you will find many websites dedicated to these aspects of the home. (I have been blog surfing many of them latley).
    Once we move beyond these material items, we find that service providers come into play. Lawn care, pool care, and pest control are a few businesses which you may hire. Taking a moment, you may hire an interior designer, a landscape design firm, or an energy rater. The web of industries spreading from the fact of homeownership grows. Service continues with utility, telephone, internet, cable/dish providers. With the recession, the home entertainment industry is growing. Sure this is not reliant upon homes; we do have apartments, but I think that homeowners do spend more on these services.

The Economic Way Forward

   Go over your own budget. How many items are tied in with the owning of a home. You really have to go back to when you purchased your home. You may recall how much you were spending to make your house a home. Well, I have my wife who always wants to redo our home, so she is doing her part for the economy. Maybe even hug your local real estate investor today? They are probably doing their part parts in this consumer web. There are signs that the housing market is stabilizing. I hope this is true. Bank of America’s announcement of forgiving part of the mortgage payment is an indicator that one lender is recognizing that they need to take further steps to ensure smart growth. (I am glad that I have been buying their stock, and as a shareholder can I say well done).Prices have apparently bottomed out. We will see.
    Maybe we should be looking at consumer confidence and the jobless rate. Until we feel confident, and people are secure in their work, we will not see the housing numbers improve. Too many strings begin to spin from this web, but we will get there.

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What title insurance company will you use? Have you checked into the costs? If you are like most people, you will follow the pattern that I took; go with the company your Realtor suggested. Hopefully your Realtor did their research on which title insurance is best for you, but they may not have. I picked title insurance, because this is one of the expenses you will have when closing on your new home, and because the topic has been studied already.
In 2007, I and many others saw a new world opening up for the real estate industry with how the internet was being used by home buyers. More real estate search engines were coming online, and ratings of service providers was quickly making headway. New style brokerages, such as Redfin, were getting a lot of press. What some real estate professionals realized was that home buyers could pick and choose from products that they wanted and the service providers that they would hire. This boded well for reducing the costs of buying a home. At that time, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) did a study of one aspect of home closings: title insurance. The hope was that buyers would start choosing which insurance to buy, creating more competition and lower closing costs.
By 2008, we were in the housing crisis, so we were not focused on this quest to allow buyers have a choice. We were focused on getting buyers. In some recent articles on Realtor marketing, there has been a renewed commitment to the idea that your Realtor should be a knowledge base instead of a gate keeper. The idea is that your Realtor is there to help you with their knowledge, but you make the decisions. Realtors would not hire the service providers or arrange for specific title insurance, they would let you make the arrangements, so you can find what is right for you. Is this happening? No, or not always. By opening this field up, you may find that brokerages are charging you for items that you do not need (stress may, each brokerage is different).
If you ask me to recommend a Realtor, my first inclination is to pull up a list of Realtors that I know personally. From that list, I will probably pick someone who fits your needs( I think), or who I like. This may not be the best for you though. Realtors would do the same. They will set up the home inspector that they like, or any other service that they prefer. This is normal in all of our business lives. Of course, as consumers begin to take charge of their own destinies, the internet will be even more of a resource, allowing them to pick more wisely. Realtors who can show that they are a resource by their websites will do better. This applies to all real estate professionals.
Getting back to title insurance, I want to direct you to the summary page for this document. Most of you my not want to read the report, but the summary page may be enlightening. As stated, the report is from 2007, but there was an evaluation of the recommendations done in 2009. What we can see is that we consumers may not be getting all of the information that we need (the dreams of 2007 are still on hold). If you look over this summary, I am sure that you will be a wiser consumer, but I hope that you will question the steps in your own path to purchasing a home leading up to the closing. You may save yourself a good deal of money. Here is the the Title Insurance Report Summary.

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Appraisals performed for mortgages do not usually become news worthy, but buzz in the real estate industry about the new appraisal rules has spilled over into the popular press. If you can recall, one issue that helped fuel the problems which led to the housing crisis was that appraisers were seen as being to closely tied to the mortgage industry providing valuations that were seen as inaccurate. New codes of conducts were established to help ensure that appraisals were accurate by not being influenced by another party. Unfortunately, as the real estate industry deals with the aftermath of the housing bubble’s bust, we are trying to find ways to be fair to all involved while doing the job well. This has caused some home buyers to be faced with problems when it comes to the appraisals of their potential home.

Let us look at a home buyer purchasing a newly built home. The builder calculates his costs and adds his profit to determine how much a home’s price should be. Sounds simple, but homes are major purchases, which require the buyer to obtain a loan. Here is where the appraiser steps into the picture. The lender wants to know that if you default on the loan, will they get their money back? They ask for an appraisal to see how much the home is worth. This is where a disconnect occurs. The appraiser is not going to check with the builder as to how much the material cost, or how much profit is acceptable. The appraiser works with a different set of data. Looking at details of the completed home with other data, the appraiser develops an amount ascribed as the home’s value.

The issue becomes cloudier when you consider how the appraisal is performed. We imagine that the appraiser is going out to the home to check it. Measuring it. Checking the general condition. Looking at the materials used. All of this goes into formulas based on data to produce the value number. This type of appraisal does happen, and it is the most expensive. A common type of appraisal is called the desk appraisal, and this is quite acceptable for a mortgage. In the desk appraisal all of the work is performed without ever going to the house. The information is gathered from the builder and other sources to produce a value. In theory, this value should be the same, but there can always be slight differences.

You may have noticed that I have been a bit vague about where data may come from for an appraisal. This vagueness leads to another problem that has arisen this year for many buyers. In an effort to make appraisals more honest, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (Freddie Mac) put a rule to effect on May 1, 2009 that does not allow Realtors and builders to provide information about the surrounding neighborhood. The idea is to stop the communication between various parties involved in a home sale from having input into a home’s value. The idea being that the builder, Realtor, and lender would all want a higher value for the home, because they all earn more money if that was the case. Price of an object is not solely based upon cost of producing it and the amount of reasonable profit added together; it is based upon the value we also give to it. If people really love a neighborhood, they are willing to pay more to live there. Think of a neighborhood in transition. Lower valued homes next to newly built larger homes. It becomes a variable that could greatly swing an appraisal in either direction.

This disconnect of communication lines makes matters more difficult, but it does not make the situation hopeless. An appraiser could rely upon his own knowledge, or on touring the neighborhood. However, we have those desk appraisals to contend with. What if I am buying a home here in Houston, and the appraisal is performed by a firm in San Diego. That appraiser may be great at his job, but he does not have access to data from the Realtor or builder; can he really provide an accurate assessment of the value? Remember that value is subjective, and he does not have all of the data to make that subjective assumption.

How does this effect the home buyer? The builder and Realtor are telling you that a home is worth $250,000, and the appraiser produces the value of $175,000. The lender does not want to loose money if you default, and the lender may have a real concern. According to a recent report, around a quarter of homeowners in Houston may be in trouble with their mortgages. The lender offers to loan you the $175,000, which means that you need the down payment and the difference between the loan and the sale price. Lets say 10% down payment, which gives us $17,500 down payment with $75,000 difference. How many buyers have $92,500? Without the loan, they cannot buy the house, and the builder faces this same circumstance with the next buyer, even though he has set a fair price.

This is where the buyer may wish to do a little leg work. Lenders are not unreasonable by nature. If you qualify for the full amount of the loan, they will have no problem loaning it to you. You may want to check if you can hire the appraiser yourself. You are paying for the appraiser after all. The lender will want to ensure that the appraiser is qualified, but there should not be resistance to you hiring your own for the mortgage. Find a local appraiser who may be able to produce a more accurate desk appraisal (if you are trying to save money) or to go to the home to perform the valuation. Maybe because of the new rules he may come up with the same value, but some one familiar with an area is more likely to produce a more accurate figure.

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Mortgage rates are on the periphery of my scope, but I do pay attention to them. More often I am watching my clients deal with lenders on other matters. This past year has been one to watch when it comes to loans. At one point loan rates were going quite low, causing a refinance boom. The rates started to rise as the year progressed, leaving many to wonder if buyers would return. In my inbox, I have been receiving many offers to obtain loans with a lower interest, and today brought a missive stating that interest rates are at their lowest so far this year. I think that the $8000 tax credit that we hear about on the news has driven more buyers into the market than what their mortgage may be like, but we are living in a year to be concerned about our finances.

About the tax credit, it will be ending on December 1, 2009. I have known many potential first time buyers who are sitting on the fence, and it has not occurred to them that this tax relief will not always be available. About the $8000, you may want to see if that is what you will get. The tax credit is 10% of the home’s value up to $80,000. So if you are buying a home for $75,000, you would receive $7500. Also they are some income concerns. An individual making up to $75000 will obtain the full credit, but then from $75,001 to $95,000 you will receive less credit. For couples, the numbers are up to $150,000, then $150,001 to $170,000. The credit is available to citizens and resident aliens who have not owned a primary residence in the last three years. Lastly, you will have to pay that money back if you sell the house within 36 months of purchase.

Tax credits are nice, but lenders still want you to qualify. One step in the qualification process is the down payment needed for the mortgage. I keep seeing people mentioning that there are zero down payment loans out there, but mortgage professionals that I know have indicated that is not the case. From what I have seen with my clients in the past year, they have been determined to meet the down payment needed to make a good loan happen. I think that for some potential buyers, the down payment is what is holding them back.

Many states have developed programs to fill in this gap to make home ownership possible. In my state, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has a Mortgage Assistance Program and a Down Payment Assistance Program. These are short term loan programs that allow consumers to use borrowed funds for closing costs or down payments, which will be repaid with the federal tax credit. Since these programs are working in conjunction with the federal tax credit, they are also coming to an end on the same date. One thing to be aware of is that there is a $250 administration fee with these programs. Both programs give you a limited amount of time to repay the loan in full where no interest will be charged, then they work out a repayment schedule. Also these programs require you to go through a first time home buyer course. I have known people to resist going to these courses, so they will not take advantage of these plans. Actually, the classes are quite informative, and I wished that more home buyers, whether applying for this program or not would take such classes. To find out more about these programs in Texas, go to MyFirstTexasHome.com. You will see all the details there.

The terms of your mortgage may help you obtain the home of your dreams, or it may hinder you, so be careful choosing one. The tax credit and assistance programs are a great way to help many buyers, so check out if it is right for you.

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I have been in the situation lately where I have been speaking to some first time home buyers about their experiences. I have also dealt with some situations where a loan was being held up due to lack of information. There have been changes to rules and methods for many firms doing business in the real estate industry, and if you are thinking about buying a home, you may want to be aware of what is happening.

I can hear one objection raised against my writing on this subject that I wish to address before I begin. As a home inspector, I am not involved in all of these steps, so I cannot relate personal experiences. I do speak to many of my clients (and to many who are not my clients). I read the trade papers, and I do speak to other industry professionals, so I am basing my articles (there will be a series of posts) dealing with this topic on what I am seeing.

The basics of buying a home have remained the same. In fact, it appears to me that certain rules are just being followed more strictly, rather than loosely as it seems they were before. What this means for the home buyer is that you will have to be cautious to understand what is happening and to have a good deal of patience. In my dealing with banks for clients trying to obtain mortgages, I find that they are asking for confirmation of all of the facts. On one job, an appraiser stated that the roof might have a problem due to observed damage inside the home. I was hired to inspect the house, part of which is examining the roof. I discovered that the damage had nothing to do with the roof, and that was placed in my report. The loan officer now has two reports stating two different things. The problem is that the appraiser does not inspect the roof. He only observed certain damage and jumped to a conclusion. The loan officer did what he was required to do: go back to the rules issued by his bank. In those rules, it stated that a certified inspector needed to perform the inspection. In Texas, all property inspections performed for the sale of a home should be done by a licensed professional real estate inspector. That caused a problem. I am “licensed” by the state, not “certified”. There are states where inspectors are certified, and there are other states where neither term applies. The national home office that developed the rule did not think of the fact that terms or conditions may be different from state to state. After speaking to a few people and sending copies of my license, my status was accepted, and so was my report.

Following rules, understanding terminology, and being cautious is the life of many real estate professionals at this time. I found terms are the biggest issue. A client called me for a “roof inspection”; it turned out to be what I call a “draw inspection”; and the bank called it a “disaster area inspection”. It took a few phone calls to make sure that the bank would accept my report (as long as I sent a copy of my license as well). In the posts that will follow this one, I will go over some new rules or laws that may effect a home sale. When talking to home buyers, I went back to a series of articles that I wrote early last year. I had revised them, and then I had reposted them to this site. After reading through them, I believe that they are still a good resource for people dealing with homeowner insurance, closing on a home, mortgage paperwork, and a few other items. If you are considering refinancing your home, concerned about your credit score, or how your debt might effect your home purchase, it might be good to review some posts here. I have put my notes together, and I hope to write the articles with more details on current real estate concerns this week.