Did you miss out on locking into the lowest rates?

Mortgage rates are still ridiculously low thanks to our governments continued support.  Mortgage rates have been trending higher since late last year and may have some who have been "sitting on the fence" to lock in a 30 year Fixed rate in the low 3's.  If you missed out on locking into these low rates, a 10 Year ARM may be worth considering. 

A 10 year adjustable rate mortgage is Fixed for 10 years and then at 120 months, the interest rate will adjust based on the current 12 mo. LIBOR plus a margin.  The rate will adjust again on the anniversary of the first adjustment date for the remainder of the term of the mortgage.  If you're not planning on selling or refinancing your home before the 10 year fixed period is over, your risk is the uncertainty of where LIBOR will be 10 years from now.  Call me with any questions and I would be happy to compare the two scenarios for you. 

The good news coming from the FED is that they will leave rates unchanged and plan to continue to manipulate mortgage rates until unemployment improves.  They will continue purchasing additional agency mortgage backed securities at a pace of $40 Billion per month and longer term Treasure securities at a pace of $45 Billion per month.  Take together, these actions should maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rate, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative. 

With this news, we'll hopefully see rates become lower in the coming weeks.  I'll keep everyone posted and please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or want me to run a quick mortgage analysis. 

HARP 3.0 Update

HARP 3.0 has been revised and the bill is being presented to Congress. The bill would change guidelines for ALL Lenders to have access to the exclusive guidelines given to the homeowner's current loan provider/servicer, which will present a level playing field for consumers and/or lenders.


HARP is specific to each agency (Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac ) while there is one set of guidelines for ALL Lenders and another set of guidelines for the homeowner's current servicer. If you decide to refinance under the HARP Program with your current lender/servicer, the guidelines are much easier for you. If the homeowner decides to use any other lender to refinance under the program, the guidelines are much more strict.

The HARP 3.0 proposal would improve several issues such as Underwriting Overlays, Pricing, Non-Servicer refinancing guidelines, etc.....if passed, this will give the homeowner the ability to shop around to multiple lenders so they can guarantee they're getting the best possible rate available to them along with being able to refinance w/ any lender under one set of guidelines. In a nutshell, if passed, this will be very good for homeowners.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I will continue to keep updating this blog when it comes to HARP guidelines and any changes that may occur.

HARP 2.0

Hope you all are having a great week!  The HARP2.0 (Home Affordable Refinance Program) is designed to assist homeowners with good credit standing, be able to refinance their home loans even if they owe more than the home's current value.  The govt. has revamped the guidelines and offers an option for "underwater" homeowner's who owe more than their home's current value to refinance. 

The goal of this program is to put responsible borrowers in a better financial position by :

- Reducing the interest rate along with monthly payments
- Possibly reducing the term which means you payoff your mortgage sooner
- Moving from a 'risky' Adjustable Rate Mortgage into a more 'stable' Fixed product under these low rates

There are a few stipulations around the product of course.  Those include :

- Currently employed
- No Tax Liens or Judgements on Title
- Loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac prior to June 1st, 2009 : go to www.efanniemae.com/sf/mha/mharefi 

There are so many advantages to this program and it's worth looking into to see if you qualify for this loan as it won't be around for much longer.  If you fall within the Conforming Jumbo or High Balance loan amounts, there might be some options for you as well.  Bottom line is that there are options to refinance if you're underwater.  Contact me with any questions, I would be more than happy to do a mortgage analysis for you to see what's available to you.  Have a great week! 

Jimmy

Steps To Owning A Home

Hello ALL.  I'm finally getting back into posting weekly BLOG posts so keep a look out for these on a regular basis.  If homeownership is on your list of goals for 2013, I've put together a list of steps that will help you achieve this goal. This can be very obtainable for everyone, and it doesn't have to be intimidating.

Buying a home is possibly the single biggest investment you are likely to make. Getting as much information as possible from your mortgage advisor is the surest way to make things go smoothly. I have outlined the process to 5 basic steps in buying a home.

1. Preparation : determine how much you can afford. Start by writing down your budget and how much you can comfortably afford each month. Monthly payment, down payments, Fixed rate or variable rate, purchase price, etc... your mortgage professional will help with all of these and create a mortgage analysis based on your specific situation.

A. Credit scores : every loan starts with reviewing your credit scores and credit history. This will affect the interest rate that you're offered from the lender. It is very important to review your credit report that your mortgage professional pulls to validate the report is 100% accurate.

B. Documentation : get your income, assets, personal items in order for review. It is important to show 2 years employment history with NO job gaps unless you're able to explain it to lender.

C. Request Pre-Approval from lender : after your mortgage professional has reviewed all documentation, they will be able to provide you with an accurate Pre-Approval letter that will within your budget.

2. Shop for your home : once you have Pre-Approval letter in hand from your lender, you will begin the home shopping process. It is very important to have a real estate agent that you can trust and that is very determined to find a home that fits your specific needs.

A. Make an offer : you find your home and you make an offer.

3. Choose your Mortgage terms/programs : once you have Mutual Acceptance and the seller agrees to your offer, you will begin the loan process. It is very important to choose a loan type that fits your specific needs and your mortgage professional can assist you with understanding the details of all the programs available to you.

4. Submit the loan application to lender for Loan Approval : this process is the most important one of all in my opinion. You will submit all of the necessary documents to the lender and you will wait for Underwriting Approval. Once you have Loan Approval, you will most likely have some "loan conditions" to meet in order to get this loan closed. You will work on those with your mortgage professional.

5. Close your Loan : once all of the loan conditions have been met to the lender's standards, the lender draws the documents for you to sign and we close on the home loan.

From the time you find your Dream Home, the loan process usually takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks depending on the scenario. It is very important to find a Mortgage Professional that will help you through this process and make it as smooth as possible for you. Hopefully, these simple steps will help you understand the process a little better.

Have a great rest of your day/week! Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have a question. 

JV