Author: Anthony Bird

My name is Anthony Bird, an owner of Riverbank Finance, a Grand Rapids Mortgage Company, based here in Michigan. I am a graduate from Grand Valley State University majoring in both Business Management and Marketing. I have been a mortgage professional in Michigan for 6 Years with experience as a retail bank loan officer as well as for private mortgage companies. Riverbank Finance is a local mortgage company that values community and the West Michigan Area. We hire only licensed loan officers that can custom tailor loans for our client's needs. If you have any real estate or mortgage questions, call me at 616-365-5792 or email me at info@riverbankfinance.com and I will do whatever it takes to help. Learn more about me on my Google Profile: About Anthony Bird. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Farm Land Prices up in 2012

With the uncertainty in the economy and the volatility in regular investments like stocks and bonds, investments in commodities and real estate will force farm land prices up in 2012. Compared to only a year ago, farming properties have grown in demand pushing the prices up over 20% in many areas. As wise real estate… Read more »

Home Affordable Refinance Program Updates

There has been some exciting news which was recently released by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  These two government agencies who help support the housing financial system, have announced that they are loosening some of the guidelines on their popular Home Affordable Refinance Program also known as HARP.  This ultimately means that it will be… Read more »

2012 Mortgage Rates | Will Mortgage Rates Remain Low for 2012?

The Federal Reserve has just concluded its final meeting for the 2011 calendar year stating that they plan to keep Fed rates low through mid-2013. This will have a positive effect on mortgage rates in 2012 helping to keep home loan rates low. Mortgage rates have been maintaining near record lows for several months as… Read more »

USDA Guarantee Fee Dropping October 2011

Starting October 1 2011 the USDA guarantee fee will drop to 2% of the total loan amount down from the current 3.5%. The USDA has decided to transition into an annual fee model similar to the FHA (Federal Housing Administration). An annual fee of .3% of the loan amount will be charged on a monthly… Read more »

Refinancing Your FHA Mortgage | Part 2

As a follow up to an earlier article I wrote on FHA Loans, I wanted to continue to explain the advantages FHA mortgage holders have when they refinance their current mortgage. As discussed previously, the government provides a loan called the “Streamline Refinance” dedicated to those borrowers whom have a FHA loan. This loan provides… Read more »

Buying Land in Michigan

Now is an excellent time to purchase land in Michigan.  There has not been a period in our lifetimes better to purchase hunting land or to buy farm land.  Property values have dropped significantly over the past few years and land loan rates are also very attractive.  While there are few land loan lenders in… Read more »

What Mortgage Can I Afford

When the time is right for you to start shopping for a mortgage the best question to ask yourself is “What Mortgage Can I Afford?”  While there is no easy answer to this question there are a few steps you can take to make sure you are getting a mortgage with affordable mortgage payments for… Read more »