Homestar Mortgage Services Changes Name to Opteum Financial Services; Promises Borrowers a 'Five-Star Experience' or $500; New Name Available in 50 States, Enabling National Expansion; Opteum's Loan Production Up 40 Percent This Year Despite 32 Percent Projected Industry Decline.
PARAMUS, N.J., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Homestar Mortgage Services, an independent, privately owned company and one of the nation's fastest growing mortgage lenders, today announced that its name has been changed to Opteum Financial Services, LLC. The company, which expects the name change to be

Publication: PR Newswire

Understanding the 40- and 50-Year Mortgage
In growing numbers, banks are beginning to offer a new lending option, the 40-year mortgage. Prior to June 2005, 40-year mortgages were rare, mainly due to the fact that lenders couldn't sell them into the secondary market. In 2003, Fannie Mae began a pilot program to buy 40-year loans from 22

Publication: Community Banker

Looooooong time: mortgage loans with 40- and 50-year amoritizations make way to Mississippi.
Homebuyers now have more mortgage options, including longer amortizations. In some markets, 30- and 40-year home loan amortizations have been around for a long time. Lenders and real estate professionals say 40-year mortgages are now becoming more widespread and even 50-year mortgages are

Publication: Mississippi Business Journal

Fitch: U.S. Risks of 40-, 45-, and 50-year Mortgages Vary by Product.
NEW YORK -- A recent study by Fitch Ratings shows that mortgage products with amortization terms of more than 30 years present markedly different risk profiles for different product types. Fitch identified that the 40-year option adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) face significantly larger payment

Publication: Business Wire

Cash-strapped home buyers turn to 50-year mortgages; The rare mortgages spread your payments out longer, but some experts aren't sold on them.(NEWS)
Byline: Jim Buchta; Staff Writer When Larisa Meyer, a self-employed graphic artist, decided to buy a house in south Minneapolis, she shopped for a mortgage that would keep her monthly payments as low as possible but still pay down some of the principal. She signed up for a new 50-year mortgage.

Publication: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

Rising home prices prompt Minnesota credit unions to offer 40-year mortgage.
Byline: Sheryl Jean Aug. 21--Consumers who don't think 30 years is enough time to pay off a home mortgage, can now tack on 10 more years. That's right, they can now get a 40-year mortgage. Hiway Federal Credit Union in St. Paul and CU Cos., a New Brighton-based network of 54 credit unions, recently

Publication: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)