Refinance even if you lost market value

 Home Loan Refinance, mortgage, Mortgage Everett, Refinance Everett, Refinance Seattle, Seattle Mortgage Companies  No Responses »
Feb 042012
 

HARP 2 actually works and promises to help thousands of home owners. Wonder of wonders the government has made a program that will actually help underwater home owners who have lost market value. When was the last time you could say that a government program actually works the way they wanted it to? Don’t be confused by who services your loan, that’s who sends you the bill each month,  it’s who holds your loan that’s important. So look it up, see if Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac owns your loan by using the links below. Did you think you would miss out on these low rates, again? Have you tried to refinance and couldn’t because you didn’t have any equity? Did your second mortgage prevent you from refinancing? Did your mortgage insurance company say no to your refinance? Has your home lost market value? Is your mortgage balance over market value by more than 105%? Has this affected your credit score so now you’re below 620? If you looked into HARP before but were the fees to high? Did the lender add on “loan level price adjustments” so that the closing costs were bloated? So that the new payment wasn’t lower than the original or so close that it didn’t matter. Was the new mortgage balance so high it just didn’t make sense. Were the low rates they offered you not the one offered in the ad? The new HARP 2 program will help thousands of home owner refinance and take advantage historically low rates. The old HARP 1 program didn’t address the many problems of negative equity mortgage insurance, second mortgages and low balled appraisals. But now the new HARP 2 program fixes these and many other problems. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been working with the mortgage insurance companies (MI). The MI companies know that if the borrower is allowed to refinance they will be in a better position to keep making payment. The same strategy works for second mortgage holders. The old HARP program stopped at 105% of market value but HARP 2 doesn’t. But with the real estate values falling so fast that many lost 25-50% of the value of their homes so the 105% limit stopped many from refinancing. Well here are the high points of HARP 2.

  • MI (mortgage insurance) is now transferable. New insurance can be issued by any provider.
  • The is no cap on the loan to value so appraisals will not be needed in most cases. These means market value doesn’t matter.
  • Closing costs or loan fees have been lower and set. No add-ons euphemistically called “loan level price adjustments”.
  • Your loan must be held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and originated before May 2009.
  • You must have made the last 6 payments on time and have no more than 1 late in the last 12 months.
  • The program has been extended to end of 2013.
There are web sites to check to see if your loan is held be Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Here they are Fannie Mae. And here is Freddie Mac. You can take advantage of these low rates and you don’t have to use your current lender. I suggest ou contact a responsible mortgage broker because they will save you money and hassle.
One last what should I write about next? Please comment below.
Twitt
 Posted by JAJohnson at 5:46 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Bad news for Real Estate In Everett

 Homes for Sale Everett, Mortgage Everett, Real Estate Everett  No Responses »
Jan 062010
 

This is a triple dose of bad news for real estate in Everett. These three separate bits of information spell bad news for homes for sale Everett. If I hear any more talk about a recovery I am going to puke.

NAR (National Association of Realtors) said pending homes sales showed the biggest declined in several months. “Experts” were expecting a 2% decline and they got a 16% plunge.

Why is it that the “Experts” never expect bad news? Why call them experts if they don’t know their jobs?

Then on top of that we hear that personal bankruptcies increased over 32% from the previous years highs. If you remember back in 2005 the Feds changed the law to make it harder to file for a bankruptcy. So in 2005 a record number of filings were set to beat the law change. Guess what; those records were just beat as we now have another new negative record set at 1.41 million new bankruptcies filed in 2009.

And here is the other shoe dropping from this 3 legged monster, construction activity. It fell for the seventh consecutive month for both residential and commercial projects. The Commerce Department said Monday that construction spending dropped 0.6 percent in November, a bigger decline than the 0.4 percent drop that economists had been expecting. Again those “experts” were stumped. The “experts” expected a 0.4% drop and we got a 0.6% drop.

Personally I would like to be one of these constantly bemused “experts” because I would simply guess at results and never be held accountable. Wouldn’t that be great to be paid to be wrong all the time. Sounds like politics to me.

Let’s consider the decline in pending home sales was the largest drop, point-wise, since NAR started the index in 2001, dragging the indicator to its lowest level since June 2009. NAR officials blamed this decline on the deadline for the First Time Home Buyer Credit that was scheduled to end in November. The credit has since been extended to April 30, 2010. NAR “experts” said that home sales normally slow in winter and should pick up in the spring.

I think NAR is whistling in a dark graveyard on this. I think without jobs there will be no recovery in pending home sales. Remember in Everett real estate a pending contract may take several months to close. So if someone signs a contract on new construction now they may not close until April.

Now if I combine the decline in pending home sales with the increase in personal bankruptcies and the decline in construction spending we have the recipe for a double dip recession.

I don’t need an “EXPERT” to connect the dots. Mr. Obama affordable health care is a laudable goal, cap and trade is a spacious goal and amnesty for illegals is a terrible goal. You have only one goal and that is JOBS, JOBS and MORE JOBS.

I want to see real estate in Everett moving again. I want to see homes for sale Everett back on tract again, Mr. President focus on creating jobs.

PS How is the Hope and Change working for you?

Thank you for reading this, Comments are welcome.

Jim Johnson

Twitt
 Posted by JAJohnson at 11:51 am

Everett Mortgage Home Loan Refinance

 Home Loan Refinance, Mortgage Everett  5 Responses »
Dec 312009
 

Thinking of a home loan refinance? Better do it quick. The baseline 30 year fixed mortgage averaged 5.05% up from 4.94% last week. And that is still slightly lower than a year ago when it was 5.14%. If you are thinking of a 15 year fixed home loan refinance that is still very attractive at 4.45% compared to 4.91% from last year.

The Federal Reserve Board market consensus called for no increases in the immediate future.

The best deals were still in the FHA mortgage 5/1 ARM’s. They averaged 4.4% up from 4.37% last week but still more than a full point below the last years rate of 5.49%.

All the above rates are predicated on conforming loan amounts with an LTV (loan to value) of 80% or less. Remember that pricing adjustments may increase or lower your rate or cost that you actually receive. Consult a reputable mortgage broker for an estimate. Also California jumbo rates are usually a full point higher.

Now my crystal ball predictions for the end of 2010. Mortgage rates hit an all time low just last month. By the end of 2010 they will be at or above 6% for a baseline 30 year fixed mortgage. A home loan refinance will get harder too. New disclosure rules that are bound to confuse borrowers even more than they are now go into effect January 1, 2010.

Why am I saying California mortgage rates will be at least 6% next year end? Because the Fed is slated to stop buying MBS (mortgage backed securities) by the end of March 2010. That will cause illiquidity in  the secondary market and make mortgage loans much harder to get.

So now is the time for that home loan refinance.

Twitt
 Posted by JAJohnson at 11:47 am

Everett mortgage- lets start another RE bubble

 Homes for Sale Everett, mortgage, Mortgage Everett  5 Responses »
Dec 202009
 

This will definitely affect homes for sale in Everett. This will definitely affect homes for sale in Snohomish County. It will have an affect on mortgages in Everett and everywhere else in America.

Here’s the bogus idea of the year- Lets start another real estate bubble. We didn’t learn from the last one so lets do it again.

Democratic Representatives Al Green, Maxine Waters, Robert Wexler and nine others in Congress are backing a bill now that would restore zero down loans to buy homes for sale in Everett. This practice was banned as of last October, called “seller assisted down payments”. And can you believe it these loans will be backed by FHA mortgages so, Ya you guessed it, the taxpayer will be on the hook for more foreclosures.

Deja vu all over again

HR600 is about “Seller Assisted Down Payments,” which is a euphemism for a scheme that enables people who cannot save enough money to make a down payment, to qualify for FHA insured mortgages. Take a person who can’t save 3.5% of the purchase price and now what makes you think they will honor a mortgage?

Here’s how it works: A seller can make a 3.5% donation to a charity that in turns makes a donation back to the buyer of the 3.5%. The charity charges a fee for this. Now the seller can up his price or can take it from his proceeds. That will depend on what the market is like. The home must appraise for the new price. But here is one thing for sure; the buyer will have no real equity in the home.

The charities are big backer of this, and I’ll bet you just wonder why. Ya again there is big money in it. There are 11 democrats and one republican backing this. Oh lets not forget National Associations of Realtors, Homebuilders, and Mortgage Brokers lest you be surprised.

Last October the seller assisted down payment plans were eliminated because it was found that these mortgages defaulted at a MUCH higher rate than ones with a buyer who had real money in the deal. Ya I’ll bet that’s a big surprise too.

The supporters of this bill think it is a great time to buy real estate. And just who you think they want to buy? Ya you guessed it, those who can’t save up a lousy 3.5%. Don’t we already have enough of a problem with mortgages being underwater? Why would we want to create more of them?

Why would you the taxpayer want to reinstate a failed program just so the taxpayers can bail it out again? I guess somebody didn’t get the memo, zero down is not a good idea. It wasn’t between 2006 at 2008 and it will not be now.

Rep. Maxine Waters and her peers say the legislation is important because it helps African Americans and other minorities who cannot come up with a down payment to “realize the dream of home ownership”. Well I say that is as bogus a statement as I have ever heard. These loans have a 28% failure rate. That is an astronomical foreclosure rate. We would have to raise mortgage insurance rates on every existing FHA loan just to cover the expected loses.

Ya this will effect homes for sale in Everett but not in a good way.

Jim Johnson and comments are always welcome.

Twitt
 Posted by JAJohnson at 9:46 pm

Everett mortgage-Building code changes may affect mortgages

 Homes for Sale Everett, Mortgage Everett  No Responses »
Dec 152009
 

Are you thinking of remodeling? Do you want to build a home? Do you think you will have a home for sale in Everett soon? The cities honchos are mulling over changes to the building codes. Specifically changes in what the definition of an MIL is. What is an MIL well that’s a Mother in Law unit.

Allan Giffen, Everett’s director of planning and community development said this about Mother in Law units. MIL’s offer the home owner the benefits of affordable housing and extra money from a small rental.

Currently an owner can make an MIL within their home but it can’t be a separate unit. You are allowed only one utility service for the whole property. The home owner must live in one of the units. That by the way is a totally unenforceable rule. These rules were designed to prevent too many duplexes within the city limits, again an unenforceable idea.

The proposed changes will do away with those rules but only for properties north of 41st St. Why, you say only north of 41st St? I haven’t a clue. If you know please tell me because it doesn’t make sense. The idea is to keep mother- in-law apartments small, partly so large families aren’t moving in and overloading neighborhood streets with too many cars, Giffen said. This is total baloney.

The new rules allow for up to 600 sq ft additions separated from the main house by at least 18 feet. In other words you can now convert a garage if it’s 18 feet off the main house.

Under state law, cities with a population of more than 20,000 are required to allow homeowners to add some kind of extra unit, but the law doesn’t tell cities what standards to set. Everett’s population is more than five times that number.
The city’s Planning Commission put its stamp of approval on the plan, and it’s set to go to the City Council in the next month or two. A date hasn’t been set yet. So there you have it if you have a home for sale in Everett and it fits the above rules maybe you can remodel. And turn a garage into an MIL and thereby get a higher price for you home.

As always comments are most welcome. Jim Johnson

Twitt
 Posted by JAJohnson at 9:33 am
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