To qualify for an FHA Streamline refinance, you need:
- An existing FHA loan
- At least 6 months of on-time payments
- A minimum of 210 days since your last closing
- No more than one late payment in the past 12 months
- A net tangible benefit, such as a lower interest rate or monthly payment
- No cash out allowed

This process requires less documentation and no appraisal. 

Mortgage rates are published daily and sometimes updated multiple times per day; depending on what the market is doing. The lender will consider a number of factors in determining a borrower's mortgage rate, such as the borrower's credit history, down payment amount or the home's value. Loan level pricing adjustments (LLPA) are used to determine a client's interest rate. For example, if a client has a credit score between 620 and 639 and putting 5% down will have a certain price adjustment. Furthermore, Inflation, job growth and other economic factors outside the borrower's control that can increase risk also play a part in how the lender sets their rates. There is no exact formula, which is why mortgage rates typically vary from lender to lender.

Not necessarily. It depends on how those particular bank's compensation structure is set it up. The lower the compensation the better the interest rate which is why we chose a very competitive structure. We're not looking to make a killing on each deal, we are looking to give great rates and even better advice and service. We're in it for the long haul. 

Furthermore, direct lenders can make their compensation by charging in the front end in the form of loan origination fees and through the interest rate simultaneously. Mortgage brokers can too, but they must choose either or, not both. 

A Discount Point is used to lower the interest rate. It refers to a percentage of the loan amount that is added to the borrower's closing costs. In some cases not all points can impact the rate due to overall pricing for that day. Mortgage points are listed on the Loan Estimate. 

A Loan Origination fee is the loan originators fee whereas a discount point is charged to impact the interest rate or pricing of an interest rate. When working with a mortgage broker a loan origination fee will only be seen during a borrower-paid compensation structure which is typically used to give the borrower the wholesale interest rate. This is the rate that does not include the originators commission. 

The rate can be locked when the customer is satisfied with the terms offered. Secondly, the rate can be locked when the loan is registered with the lender. This is rather a quick process that can be done when the customer's loan has been pre-approved. 

If the customer choses to lock their loan prior to being in a contract (purchase loan), this is considered a Forward Lock and a longer term will be chosen such as 60, 90 or 180 days. Please note that a lock can only be broken if the rate decreases substantially which is called a Float-Down, but there are fees attached to it. 

Not all mortgage programs are affected by the increase. Variable rate loans such as the Equity line of Credit (HELOC) are directly tied to the federal funds rate which serves as the basis of the Prime rate. You'll hear that term Prime Rate more often. In a nutshell, when the federal funds rate increases, it becomes more expensive for banks to borrow from other banks. Therefore; higher costs for the bank are passed down the chain which ultimately affects the rate on your mortgage. ARM loans that are in their fixed period are not impacted.