Homebuyer Tax Credit has not only been extended, but it has also been expanded to include current homeowners. The Senate and House of Representatives approved the bill and the President should sign the bill into law as soon as Friday, November 6, 2009. The following are features of the new bill:
Deadline for current credit is November 30, 2009.
Deadline for new and improved credit is April 30, 2010, as long as the home is under contract by that date; deal must close within 60 days.
Eligibility and amount of new credit:
$8,000 for first-time homebuyers (those who have not owned a home in the last three years).
Up to $6,500 credit for homeowners who have lived in the home they are selling, or have sold, as a principal residence for five consecutive years in the past eight.
Buyers with income exceeding $125,000 for single and $225,000 for married couples are not eligible.
Homes valued at more than $800,000 are also ineligible.
For all your purchase and refinance needs, feel free to contact me at 410-248-1762 or bob.lowery@prosperitymortgage.com. I am available seven days a week.
Homebuyer Tax Credit has not only been extended, but it has also been expanded to include current homeowners. The Senate and House of Representatives approved the bill and the President should sign the bill into law as soon as Friday, November 6, 2009. The following are features of the new bill:
Deadline for current credit is November 30, 2009.
Deadline for new and improved credit is April 30, 2010, as long as the home is under contract by that date; deal must close within 60 days.
Eligibility and amount of new credit:
$8,000 for first-time homebuyers (those who have not owned a home in the last three years).
Up to $6,500 credit for homeowners who have lived in the home they are selling, or have sold, as a principal residence for five consecutive years in the past eight.
Buyers with income exceeding $125,000 for single and $225,000 for married couples are not eligible.
Homes valued at more than $800,000 are also ineligible.
For all your purchase and refinance needs, feel free to contact me at 410-248-1762 or bob.lowery@prosperitymortgage.com. I am available seven days a week.
For all your purchase and refinance needs, feel free to contact me at 410-248-1762 or bob.lowery@prosperitymortgage.com. I am available seven days a week.
Effective 60 days from September 18th, there will be some major changes to FHA streamlines. The major changes affecting FHA homeowners with refinancing are:
Seasoning - this means all home owners must have owned their home for six months before they can refinance.
Payment history
If home owned less than 12 months, 0x30 on mortgage history for last 12 months.
If home owned more than 12 months, 1x30 within the last 12 months is allowed.
Lender must verify assets if borrower is bringing money to settlement table.
Lender must verify employment.
You will no longer be able to roll closing costs into the loan without an appraisal.
In addition to this, many lenders have put credit overlays on top of the FHA guidelines requiring 580, 600 and even 620 scores. Here is the link to the mortgage letter from HUD.
While I realize FHA and FHA lender have to tighten up just like everyone else, why is FHA tightening up on their consumer base that they have already insured? Doesn't it help to try and refinance as many of their current portfolio as possible to lower rates and payments?
I absolutely understand tightening up on purchases and "cash out" refinances, but tightening up on streamline refinances, doesn't make too much sense to me. If we are lucky, FHA will retract this new guideline before it actually goes into effect.
Rates have been low the past 8 months. However, many homeowners were not able to refinance because their credit had fallen behind and/or they lost equity in their home and could not refinance.
Congress and President Obama passed the stimulus package earlier this year to try and help 2,000,000 homeowners refinance to current market rates in the spring of last year. Lenders added the program in May, 2009 and have added enhancements to help more people qualify. This programs is scheduled to expire June 10, 2010.
If your loan is owned by Freddie Mac, you must refinance with your current lender. It is a streamline refinance program where the borrower does not have the equity to refinance, may have credit issues, and/or need potential relief from standard mortgage insurance.
Under current guidelines, lenders can refinance up to 105% of the current market value of your home and an appraisal may not be required.
Your loan must be owned by Freddie Mac. There are two easy ways to verify if Freddie Mac owns your mortgage...
Here are some of the major highlights as of 7/22/09 and may differ per lender:
No mimimum credit score, so deliquent credit is permitted.
No mortgage lates of 30 days or greater in the last 12 months is permitted.
Primary, second home, and investment properties.
All Property types permitted except manufactured homes.
Closing costs, pre-paids, and escrows up to $2,500 may be financed in with the new loan.
There are no restriction on financing properties for sale.
Present mortgage can not have mortgage insurance (PMI) or lender paid mortgage insurance (LPMI).
Appraisal may not be required.
No cash out refinances permitted (up to $250 allowed)
Maximum Loan Amount will depend on your county. Click here to see the limit for your county https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm
There are currently plans to increase the LTV limits to 125% of the market value and to permit the refinance of loans that currently have (PMI) private mortgage insurance or (LPMI) lender paid insurance.
If you have any questions or would like to see if you qualify for a HARP streamline refinance, please feel free to contact me.
Rates have been low the past 8 months. However, many homeowners were not able to refinance because their credit had fallen behind and/or they lost equity in their home and could not refinance.
Congress and President Obama passed the stimulus package earlier this year to try and help 2,000,000 homeowners refinance to current market rates in the spring of last year. Lenders added the program in May, 2009 and have added enhancements to help more people qualify. This programs is scheduled to expire June 10, 2010.
If your loan is owned by Fannie Mae, you can refinance with your current lender or any lender. It is a streamline refinance program where the borrower does not have the equity to refinance, may have credit issues, and/or need potential relief from standard mortgage insurance.
Under current guidelines, lenders can refinance up to 105% of the current market value of your home and an appraisal may not be required.
Your loan must be owned by Fannie Mae. There are two easy ways to verify if Fannie Mae owns your mortgage...
Here are some of the major highlights as of 7/22/09 and may differ per lender:
No mimimum credit score, so deliquent credit is permitted.
No mortgage lates of 30 days or greater in the last 12 months is permitted. Some programs and criteria permit 30 day lates, but no 60 day lates.
Primary, second home, and investment properties.
All Property types permitted except manufactured homes.
Closing costs, pre-paids, and escrows may be financed in with the new loan.
There are no restriction on financing properties for sale.
Present mortgage can not have mortgage insurance (PMI) or lender paid mortgage insurance (LPMI).
Appraisal may not be required.
Maximum Loan Amount will depend on your county. Click here to see the limit for your county https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm
There are currently plans to increase the LTV limits to 125% of the market value and to permit the refinance of loans that currently have (PMI) private mortgage insurance or (LPMI) lender paid insurance.
If you have any questions or would like to see if you qualify for a HARP streamline refinance, please feel free to contact me.
Many still have questions in this lending environment. While guidelines on credit have tightened, there is still plenty of money to be lent. Many lenders, including mine, have increased minimum credit scores to obtain a FHA loan up to 600. This does not mean you need perfect credit, but you do have to have sufficient credit and show the willingness and ability to repay debt.
In order of importance, underwriters look at:
Mortgage history/rental history
Automobile loans
Credit cards
With FHA loans, sufficient credit means you must have three open lines of credit with a satisfactory credit rating for 12 months. Satisfactory does not mean perfect. If you do not have sufficient credit, there are a couple routes that may help you qualify. These options include using alternative credit and/or non-occupant co-borrowers. These will not help if you have bad credit, but it will help if you have limited or insufficient credit.
The first route is alternative credit. If you do not have enough traditional credit on your credit report, we can use alternative tradelines including rental history, cell phone, car insurance, utility bills, telephone bills, etc.... If your history is satisfactory, we can use these if they are paid on time.
Another route is non-occupant co-borrowers. Non-occupant co-borrowers can be family members and they do not have to reside in the home you are purchasing or refinancing. Loans with non-occupant co-borrowers are also known as "kiddie condo" loans. The co-borrower's income, assets, liabilities and credit history are considered to determine credit worthiness.
And, no matter what your circumstances are, FHA permits home buyers to purchase a home with as little as 3.5% down payment. This money can come from a gift from a family member or close friend. They will also refinance homes up to 97.75% of your home current market value.
If you have any questions or would like to see if you qualify to purchase a home or refinance your current home, please feel free to contact me.
IRRRL stands for Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan. Except when refinancing an existing VA guaranteed adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) to a fixed rate, it must result in a lower interest rate. When refinancing from an existing VA ARM loan to a fixed rate, the interest rate may increase.
No appraisal, income, or credit underwriting is required by VA.
A certificate of eligibility is not required. Your lender may use an e-mail confirmation procedure for interest rate reduction refinance in lieu of a certificate of eligibility.
An IRRRL may be done with "no money out of pocket" by including all costs in the new loan. (Remember: The interest rate on the new loan must be lower than the rate on the old loan unless you refinance an ARM to a fixed rate mortgage).
You do not have to go to the lender you make your payments to now or to the lender from whom you originally obtained your VA Loan.
You must NOT receive any cash from the loan proceeds.
An IRRRL can be done only if you have already used your eligibility for a VA loan on the property you intend to refinance. It must be a VA to VA refinance, and it will reuse the entitlement you originally used. You may have used your entitlement by obtaining a VA loan when you bought your house, or by substituting your eligibility for that of the seller, if you assumed the loan.
The occupancy requirement for an IRRRL is different from other VA loans. When you originally got your VA loan, you certified that you occupied or intended to occupy the home. For an IRRRL you need only certify that you previously occupied it.
The loan may not exceed the sum of the outstanding balance on the existing VA loan, plus allowable fees and closing costs, including funding fee (.5% of the loan) and up to 2 discount points.
No loan other than the existing VA loan may be paid from the proceeds of an IRRRL. If you have a second mortgage, the holder must agree to subordinate that lien so that your new VA loan will be a first mortgage.
If you have any questions or would like to see if you qualify for a streamline refinance, please feel free to contact me.
"Streamline" is not a program or product. It refers to the amount of documentation and underwriting that needs to be performed by the lender. You may do a FHA streamline with your current lender or a any lender for that matter. You do not have to go through your current lender. FHA has permitted streamline refinances since the early 1980's.
The basic requirements of a streamline refinance are:
The current mortgage must already be a FHA loan.
The mortgage to be refinanced should be current (not delinquent).
The refinance is to result in a lowering of the borrower's monthly principal and interest payments.
No cash may be taken out using the streamline refinance process (up to $500 is permitted).
What don't you need on a streamline refinance?:
There is no income verification.
There is no verification of assets.
There does not need to be an appraisal
There is no need for the lender to pull credit. However, mortgage history will need to be verified.
Many lenders will pull your credit to verify mortgage history. For my company, If the mortgage is not serviced by Wells Fargo, Prosperity permits 2x30 and 1x60 on the mortgage history within the last 12 months. If serviced by Wells Fargo, the current loan need only be current.
Many loan officers confuse their company's guidelines for FHA guidelines. There is no minimum credit score for FHA streamlines.
Lenders may offer the several ways to streamline. Some lenders offer "no cost" refinances by charging a higher interest rate on the new loan than if the borrower financed or paid closing costs in cash. From this premium, the lender pays any closing costs that are incurred on the transaction.
Lenders may offer streamline refinances and include the closing costs into the new mortgage amount. This can only be done if there is sufficient equity in the property. This is known as a "streamline refinance with an appraisal". You can refinance 97.75% of the appraised value.
Streamline refinances can also be done without appraisals, but the new loan amount cannot exceed the original loan amount. Closing costs, prepaid expenses, and Upfront Mortgage Insurance may be included in the loan up to the original loan amount. Borrowers may bring the balance that is unable to be financed to settlement and it does not need to be verified. There is no maximum LTV on "streamline without appraisals".
Prosperity will perform streamline finances on FHA loans up to $417,000. If the FHA loan is greater than $417,000, the streamline process is not available.
If you have any questions or would like to see if you qualify for a streamline refinance, please feel free to contact me.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
;)
;)
