Help, I must Refinance, but I am upside down in my Las Vegas mortgage, can HARP help? (Updated 11/4/11)
UPDATED Information at this post: Underwater on Your Mortgage? Our NEW program can help!
Many Las Vegas residents continue to reach out to me for help. The common question seems to be "I owe more than my home is worth, can I refinance?" or "Can I still refinance if I am upside down in my Home Loan?"
The current answer is there may be help on the way! As of October of 2011, there was an announcement regarding the government's HARP refinance that may do better at assisting Las Vegas homeowners that need to refinance their upside down mortgage.
As you may recall a couple of years ago. The government announced the HARP refinance to help homeowners that were upside down up to 125% of their homes value. The problem was, by that time in Las Vegas, most of us had blown past that 125% value mark, so we were stuck with no help!
The current talk is that the revised HARP refinance will have NO LIMITS on how upsidedown you are, they will still allow you to capture the lower interest rate if your loan qualifies for the program.
What is the HARP Refinance?
The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) is the program you have been hearing about in the news over the last couple of weeks and years.
According to Fannie Mae, the primary expectation for HARP, is that refinancing will put responsible borrowers in a better position by reducing their monthly principal and interest payments or moving them from a more risky loan structure (such as an interest-only mortgage or a short-term ARM) to a more stable product (such as a fixed rate mortgage).
As November 3rd, 2011, the revised guidelines for the upside down refinance have not been announced and no lenders are doing this refinance above 125% of the homes value per current guidelines.
The current qualifications for HARP refinance are very simple:
- Your mortgage is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
- You have the ability to make the new payments
- You have not been more than 30 days late on your payment within the last year
- Have a first mortgage not exceeding more than 125% of the homes current market value
What about my current debt load or credit score?
While still important, your current debt load and or credit score are not as important in the HARP refinance as they are in a typical refinance. So, elevated debt ratios and lower credit scores can still be considered.
What HARP guidelines are expected to change?
- They may remove the limits on how far upside down you can be
- They may allow more flexibility with the late payment guideline
How do you know if Fannie or Freddie own your mortgage? Use these look up tools:
· Fannie Mae Loan Look Up Tool
· Freddie Mac Loan Look Up Tool
When will the new guidelines be announced?
We are expecting to have details on the new guidelines in late November 2011 and are expecting to start submitting refinance applications for this program around December 1st, 2011.
FHFA HARP press release outlining anticipated changes to the program and a great Q & A.
So, I am upside down in my home and my loan IS eligible, now what ?
Contact me right away!
There is no point in waiting, let's get the information ready so when the guidelines come out, we are ready to move forward as quickly as possible.
I can be reached at 702-808-8328!
NMLS 557038
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