Thursday

New FICO 8 Mortgage Score Now Available on all Top Three U.S. Credit Reporting Agencies

FICO, the nations leading credit score provider announced some big news....

A brand new FICO® 8 Mortgage Score


This new credit scoring model is designed specifically for mortgage lenders and focuses on providing a more precise risk assessment for the real estate market.

FICO® claims that the new FICO 8 Mortgage Score will reduce borrower, lender, and investor risk, and help support market stability

The FICO® 8 Mortgage Score will analyze the full credit history for the borrower and aids mortgage professionals in better predicting a borrowers risk so they can mitigate the incidence and high cost of foreclosure.

Take a look at this Exerpt from the FICO.com website...

"MINNEAPOLIS—October 26, 2010—FICO (NYSE:FICO), the leading provider of analytics and decision management technology, today announced that its latest credit scoring product, the FICO® 8 Mortgage Score, is now available from all three major U.S. credit reporting agencies. Mortgage lenders now have access to more precise risk assessment tailored for the real estate market, which can help support market stability and reduce borrower, lender and investor risk.

The FICO® 8 Mortgage Score was built specifically to help mortgage lenders better predict mortgage performance and improve credit decisions for both current and prospective homeowners. The score analyzes the full credit history on file to deliver significantly sharper assessment of mortgage repayment risk, and aids servicers in earlier identification of borrowers at risk so they can mitigate the incidence and high cost of foreclosure. Validation results have demonstrated an additional predictive value of up to 15 percent for mortgage servicing over the broad-based, all-industry FICO® Score used most widely today.

“The FICO 8 Mortgage Score’s broad availability means that all U.S. lenders and servicers can now easily access scores that are fine-tuned for mortgage performance,” said Jordan Graham, executive vice president of Scores and president of Consumer Services at FICO. “Moreover, by combining this superior predictive performance with the FICO Economic Impact Service, lenders are able to adjust policies and strategies quickly based upon forward-looking economic modeling. This is what we mean by the FICO analytic advantage: the ability to use the most advanced predictive analytics to compete and win in this highly challenging environment.”

“To do the best job of evaluating risk and increasing profits, lenders need updated credit scoring analytics that incorporate mortgage credit performance since the subprime mortgage meltdown,” said Craig Focardi, senior research director at TowerGroup. “The availability of mortgage credit scores across all three credit reporting agencies will enable lenders to upgrade their loan underwriting and account management practices.”

The FICO® 8 Mortgage Score retains the same 300-850® scoring range, minimum scoring criteria, authorized user and inquiry treatment as the general-risk FICO® 8 Score. To achieve its significant increase in predictive strength, FICO Mortgage Score assesses several additional data variables from consumer credit files to specifically predict mortgage repayment risk. Accordingly, FICO Mortgage Score includes additional score reason codes compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act that help lenders understand and explain the scores to applicants."

Full Post here: http://www.fico.com/en/Company/News/Pages/10-26-2010.aspx


How do you think this new scoring system will affect the Lending Industry?



To your success,

Oliver Graf

Real Estate Expert
Follow me on Twitter: Twitter.com/
OliverGraf360



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Monday

The price of a “no-cost” loan

Some home buyers who may be concerned about paying high closing costs might be tempted by a “zero-cost” or “no-cost” loan option, which requires no cash outlay, but typically adds a half percentage point to the rate.

However, some financial consultants say these loans tend to be most beneficial to buyers planning to have the loan for less than five years.

KEEP THIS IN MIND

• One of the primary differences between a no-cost loan and similar loans is that no-cost loans do not tack on closing costs to the balance, but instead increase the rate.

• With no-cost loans, third-party fees including the appraisal, credit report, title insurance, recording, and the use of a mortgage broker are paid by the lender. The fees, including the amount the broker is being paid, are disclosed on the closing statement.

• Home buyers who bypass a broker and work directly with a lender may encounter less transparency, as loan officers are not required to disclose the amount the bank is making on the loan.

• Borrowers weighing their loan options are advised to use a mortgage amortization calculator to compare the costs for a conventional loan compared with a no-cost loan. The Federal Reserve provides an amortization calculator on its Web site at www.federalreserve.gov.

Read the full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/realestate/24mort.html?ref=realestate


What are your thoughts on "No-cost" Loans?



To your success,

Oliver Graf

Real Estate Expert
Follow me on Twitter: Twitter.com/
OliverGraf360



*** Make sure you sign up for our FREE mailing list today! ***




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