Ar_home_b_search
 



mortgage: Fees DROPPING for eligible FHA streamline refinances! - 05/31/12 12:06 AM
It has been some time since we have heard about a government agency dropping fees, but FHA is doing that for FHA mortgages that were insured prior to June 1, 2009. Remember that it may take up to 90 days after the note date for the loan to be insured. If your FHA mortgage closed prior to March 1, 2009, you should be eligible. After March 1, 2009 you should have your mortgage professional check your FHA case number to see if you qualify. 
The Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium (UFMIP) is a one time fee collected by FHA and … (0 comments)

mortgage: FHA refinancing fees dropping! - 03/15/12 07:38 AM
While FHA fees for purchase mortgages will be going up sharply on April 1st, it appears that fees for FHA "streamline" mortgages will be going down soon. A streamline refinance is for borrowers who have an existing FHA mortgage and wish to reduce the rate, or change from an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM), with a minimum of paperwork and WITHOUT an appraisal. Many borrowers have not been able to take advantage of this because of the increase in the monthly mortgage insurance premiums offset any of the gains produced by refinancing. 
The proposed changes for FHA refinances is to reduce … (3 comments)

mortgage: FHA fees increasing on April 1, 2012 - 03/08/12 05:48 AM
FHA will increase the upfront mortgage insurance premium by 75% on April 1, 2012. The current upfront fee is 1% and will be increasing to 1.75%. This means that the upfront mortgage insurance on a $300,000 FHA mortgage will increase from $3,000 to $5,250. Additionally, the monthly mortgage insurance, which is currently 1.15% for a mortgage with a loan to value over 95%, will be increasing by 0.1% to 1.25% annually. 
At a Senate Hearing last week on the state of the housing market, Secretary Donovan indicated that FHA would be reducing premiums for FHA loans that were endorsed on … (1 comments)

mortgage: Refinancing a condo that has a conventional mortgage - 03/01/12 02:06 AM
Refinancing an existing mortgage that is either a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or Veterans Administration (VA) loan it is far simpler than a property that currently has a conventional mortgage. The main reason is that in most cases it will not require a project approval of the Homeowners Owners Association. But the situation may not be hopeless, even if you have a "condotel".
 
Non agency portfolio products are a great option for someone who has a condo with a mortgage that is not FHA or VA. A portfolio product is a mortgage that a company will hold and service, giving … (0 comments)

mortgage: Refinancing a condo could be easier than you think! - 02/23/12 03:09 AM
While obtaining a mortgage to purchase a condominium may present an interesting challenge because of the required project approval on the Home Owners Association (HOA), refinancing a condo could be easier than you would think.
 
If you have an existing government loan, either FHA or VA, project approval is not required for either a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) "streamline" refinance or VA Internal Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan (IRRRL). Both loans are designed to help people refinance to either a lower interest rate or change from an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) to a fixed rate mortgage. These loans do not … (0 comments)

mortgage: Purchasing a condo that is not FHA approved - 02/16/12 11:00 AM
In the Denver metro area a trend, that is further depressing home sales, is the increased standards required for a condominium project to have Federal Housing Administration (FHA) approval. Thankfully, these standards do not currently apply to townhomes. Astute real estate agents will verify the exact status of what appears to be a townhome, however some townhomes have a condo legal description which makes it fall under FHA rules for a condo. Not a good situation to see a buyer pay for an inspection and appraisal, then find out that the buyer is approved, but the property is not.
 
… (4 comments)

mortgage: This time, the sequel is better than the original - 02/02/12 06:41 AM
Rarely is a movie sequel better than the original. I feared that HARP II (Home Affordable Refinance Program) would be another empty "cotton candy" promise from Washington with a lot of fluff and no substance. I am happy to see that I was wrong. Recent verified results are making me a lot more optimistic about this program to help homeowners and INVESTORS, who owe more than the property is worth and have been unable to refinance in the past.
 
Property owners may go to www.fanniemae.com to see if their property is eligible. At present, this program is only for … (1 comments)

mortgage: Losing money every month because your car or mortgage need a tuneup? - 01/04/12 06:39 AM
When our automobile needs a tune-up, it provides us with plenty of clues: hard to start, rough running, poor gas mileage, etc. But when a mortgage needs a tune-up it gives no warning. It motors along silently, not telling us that we are wasting money every month. Chances are, if you have not refinanced recently, you are losing money that could be put to a better use. While qualifying for a mortgage is harder than it was in the past, it is not as hopeless as the media and urban legends would have you believe. I am amazed at the number … (15 comments)

mortgage: Paralysis by Analysis: How to complicate (or kill) your real estate or mortgage deal - 12/28/11 06:35 AM
Last week my neighborhood got about a foot of snow. While running around doing last minute Christmas shopping, I noticed the wiser, more experienced drivers took a slow steady pace and went forward with a minimum of frustration. Inexperienced drivers tended to spin their wheels and loose traction, causing them to go nowhere or slide off into a ditch. This reminded me of some of the buyers/borrowers I have met over the years.
 
Paralysis by analysis refers to over-analyzing or over-thinking a situation to the point where a decision is not made. As General George S. Patton observed, "A good … (1 comments)

mortgage: Just do the math to see if it a real no cost loan - 12/15/11 05:18 AM
Unfortunately, some of the terms in the mortgage industry are not applied uniformly. My favorite example concerns a mortgage that supposedly has no closing costs. For a true no cost loan, the math is very simple. Take your payoff, add the amount for escrows (such as property and insurance), and the upfront mortgage insurance premium / funding fee, if it apples. This should equal your new loan amount, with appropriate adjustments if you are bringing cash to the closing or receiving cash back. Sometimes the lender may be able to pay the upfront FHA mortgage insurance premium or funding fee for the borrower. Ask your lender about this. If they … (1 comments)

mortgage: Honesty. By Dan Polimino. - 12/06/11 06:47 AM
A friend of mine was on a business panel and he was asked the question, “As an employer, what is the number one characteristic you look for when hiring someone?” 
He answered, “That’s easy… honesty!” Amen to that! I could not agree more. He went on to say that people can learn and be trained in their respective jobs, but honesty is a hard quality to find in people these days. In fact, when you do find an honest individual, you usually get the whole package. That person tends to be good at their job, on time, looks to succeed in … (4 comments)

mortgage: HARP program for underwater homeowners: Will the sequel be better than the original? - 11/17/11 06:57 AM
Most of the time, the sequel to a movie is never as good as the original. Recently the federal government announced that it was reviving the Home Ownership Refinancing Program (HARP) allowing homeowners who owe more their home is worth to refinance. Always the optimist, I feel that this program will be better than the original, if only because the original was such a dismal failure.  Not to harp (no pun intended) about how bad the original program was, but I have read from a variety of different sources the success rate was around twenty percent. Based upon what I have witnessed firsthand, from speaking to many disillusioned homeowners, I wonder … (2 comments)

mortgage: Fixing and Renting. By Dan Polimino. - 11/08/11 08:07 AM
If you read my column from last week, you would know that I was talking about how hard it is right now to find a good fix and flip home. Inventory is so low that contractors cannot find enough good homes to buy to sustain their fix and flip market. I have resorted to knocking on doors of duplexes that are not even listed for sale. If you want to re-read that column, go to coloradodreamhouse.com/news.
This week, I want to talk about whether or not you should fix and flip the house or fix and rent. Fix and flip has … (0 comments)

mortgage: What is the Ratchet Effect? - 11/03/11 12:06 PM
The Ratchet Effect is one of the few economic theories that has any relation to reality. As President Harry Truman succinctly observed, if you laid every economist end to end, they would point in every direction, and only be able to explain things after they have happened. In essence it holds that some prices move a lot faster in one direction than another. One example is the price for gasoline, another is long term interest rates for mortgages. While money is still at historic lows, we have seen interest rates fluctuate a lot in the last month. Interest rates always rocket up and float down.  
Trying to guess the direction of interest rates, particularly … (0 comments)

mortgage: Average mortgage rate jumps up. Why average mortgage rates are worthless! - 10/20/11 09:59 AM
Freddie Mac reported last week that the average on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose sharply from 3.94% to 4.12%, which according to the National Bureau of Economic Research was the lowest rate ever.  
When looking at this rate it is important to remember that it is an AVERAGE rate. If we measured two people, and one person was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 150 pounds and the other person was 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 260 pounds, the average height and weight would be six feet and 205 pounds. Clearly, while this average is accurate, it is worthless. The same thing applies to mortgages. Loan … (0 comments)

mortgage: VA Funding Fee update October 6, 2011 - 10/13/11 04:30 AM
In many areas of life today, the only constant is change. This is especially true in the mortgage industry. Nothing like moving the goal posts during a game to keep make things exciting. Here is the latest update on VA Funding fees.
The White House announced yesterday that the President signed H.R. 2646: Veterans Health Care Facilities Capital Improvement Act of 2011, which reverts the Veterans Affairs Funding Fees back to the higher pre-October 1st percentages. The reduced VA Funding Fee schedule, in Circular 26-11-12, would apply for a very short period of time, theoretically for loans that closed during October 1 through October 4. VA is … (1 comments)

mortgage: Will your VA purchase deal close on time? VA reverses position on Oct 1 funding fee change. - 10/06/11 09:34 AM
In a memo released late last week, VA announced the new funding fees are on hold until further notice. This means that lenders who had complied with the anticipated changes for closings after October 1, 2011, will now have to redisclose these changes on the GFE and TIL. If the rate on the Truth in Lending (TIL) disclosure changes more than 1/8 of a percent, borrowers will have to re-sign documents and wait three days. VA buyers who are exempt from the funding fee due to a service related disability are not affected by this. Under either scenario, the funding fee for veterans with a service … (0 comments)

mortgage: VA Funding fees going down October 1 & why a down payment on a VA loan makes sense - 09/22/11 07:11 AM
VA funding fees will be going down for purchase transactions closed on or after October 1, 2011. First time users, either Veteran or Reservist/National Guard, will see the funding fee reduced by 0.75% across the board. Second and subsequent users will see the funding fee reduced by 0.50 or 0.75%. Funding fees will stay the same for VA "streamline" interest rate reduction mortgages. The funding fee for service members who have a service related disability remains at zero. This would mean that on a $200,000 VA mortgage, with zero down, the funding fee has been reduced by $1,500!
I love to play with … (2 comments)

mortgage: FHA position on homes impacted by Meth use or labs - 09/08/11 08:05 AM
One of the many great benefits of working for Crestline Mortgage Bankers, a division of Universal Lending Corporation, based in Denver, Colorado, is the information put out by the underwriting department to help avoid problems on the front end, so the deal does not blow up before closing when it could have been avoided.
"After confirming with two separate sources at the Denver HOC office, we have learned any home, including HUD Repos, which have any evidence of the use of meth or creation of meth or even if a police report has been issued stating meth was in use … (3 comments)

mortgage: Real Estate Agents and Lenders: Love Story or War of the Roses? - 08/25/11 07:38 AM
Most of the time the symbiotic relationship between real estate agents and lenders is more like the movie Love Story than War of the Roses, with a kumbaya moment at the closing that often turns into a mutual admiration society for all involved. Nothing is better than a borrower thanking you for a good job and saying the process was easier than they expected. Communication, coordination, and realistic expectations are essential to insure a smooth closing on time. While mortgage underwriters have the ability to read minds and see the future, loan officers do not.  Everyone needs to be on the same page. One guiding principal I have noticed … (4 comments)