A Thanksgiving Treat from the Fed!

 

A Thanksgiving Treat from the Fed

Happy Thanksgiving – Mortgage Rates Plunge!

 

30 Year Fixed as low as 5.5% with no points/orig. fee for 100% Financing!*

Motivated Seller or Builder can Buy Down the Rate Temporarily for their Buyer To Get 30 Year Fixed Rate at 3.75% 1^st year, 4.75% 2^nd year, and 5.75% Years 3-30 For 100% Financing!!!!*

 

Finally, some good news for the mortgage industry! In a move to increase credit availability, the Federal Reserve and Federal Home Loan Banks announced that they would purchase up to $600 billion in Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), exciting news that sent interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages plummeting below 6.00% and near the lows for the year!

If you have been on the fence about buying or refinancing a home, now is the time to act. Interest rates are extremely low and home prices in some areas are at 2003-2004 levels. Add to that recent declines in energy prices and lower consumer interest rates, and you have a great holiday recipe for success, but only if you give us a call.

Don’t wait until next week. Call us today and get pre-approved. Rates have already been very volatile and this opportunity might not survive the holidays. In many markets, falling prices are bringing out buyers that have been waiting to buy and they are scooping up both bargains and hot properties. Let me offer you some pointers to help you negotiate a great deal and lower your costs to close.

Whether you are looking to buy or refinance, call me today. I’m here to help. If we don’t speak before Thursday, however, I wish you and your family a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

*Buyer must qualify with their income; property must qualify as has geographical restrictions.  Can also finance all closing costs the seller doesn’t pay into the mortgage so it truly is a NO MONEY DOWN mortgage program!!!*

 

Hope For Homeowners Appears Hopeless………

HUD had announced a program that was to start on October 1, 2008, to help those homeowners who are  (a) past due on their mortgages and/or (b) upside down (owe more on their home than it’s worth).  Without going into details, this program was to help keep people at risk of foreclosure in their homes.

The national training was held a couple of weeks ago in Atlanta.  My partner attended.  The training was on Thursday and Friday, all day each day.  Mike, my partner, called at about 10:30 on the first day to tell me that he was leaving.  He had asked some questions and found out that (a) at this point, it isn’t a program that any investors are willing to do, (b) in its current form, the Wall Street securitizers aren’t willing to purchase this loan as there are too many ways that fraud can be committted and (c) unless Congress passes additional legislation, this program won’t ever bgin.

We have now gone back to find other ways to help those who called us for the H4H program.  We had gotten applications on a large number of people but hadn’t put them into process nor pulled their credit.  We had to try to figure out options for these people, which we have and are still working on.  However, it did cause me to try to figure out how homeowner’s can be helped and I wanted to share.

A business associate that I did a conference call with last week, Jeff Misaud of fhasuccessdesk.com, told me about ‘the Three Stages of a Foreclosure” that an owner goes through:

1. Denial – most people avoid dealing with the fact that they are already late or that they won’t be able to make their mortgage payment.  If mail comes to them from their mortgage company, they lay it aside and never even open it.  They think that if they avoid it, it will go away.
2. Disgust – this is the phase when a large number of people start experiencing depression.  In many cases of married people, fighting amongst themselves begins.  Financial stress is probably one of the number one causes of divorce and it is at this point that the reality is starting to hit and people realize that they are going to literally lose the roof over their head.
3. Destruction – many people who are being foreclosed upon cause damage to the house in retaliation of the foreclosure.  We have seen holes punched in the walls, cabinets and fixtures removed, appliances taken, and in one case, someone took the entire stairs out of the interior of the house.  There is nobody to blame for what has heppened so people blame their mortgage company and feel that in damaging the house, they are causing the mortgage company to have to pay out money, which evidently makes them feel better, at least temporarily.

The first thing a person needs to do when they realize that they can’t make their mortgage company is to CALL THEIR SERVICER (the company to whom you make your payments).  Now is NOT the time to avoid what is happening – you must be proactive not reactive.  Keep in mind that your servicer does NOT want to take your home in most cases!  If you ignore the problem, it will still be there and the best way to help yourself is to contact your servicer right away and explain what is happening.  In a lot of cases, they will put you through to other individuals or organizations that may be able to help you.

If you are upside down and/or late on your mortgage, there are FREE housing counseling companies that may assist you.  A list of these can be found at http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page?_pageid=73,1827662&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL. At this same webpage is a list of other ways to avoid foreclosure and keep your home. It is suggested that you contact one of these counselors and ask them to assist you (they are paid by the Government from money appropriated by Congress when they passed HR3221).

If you are finding it difficult to make your mortgage payment, you will need a new, tightened budget.  Prioritize your bills and pay those most necessary for your family: food, utilities and shelter.  Failing to pay any of your debts can seriously affect your credit rating, but if you stop making your mortgage payments you could lose your house.

A homeowner should know the statutes pertaining to foreclosure in their individual state.  Contact an attorney, if necessary, and you may find that there are ways to either prolong or completely cancel a foreclosure action!  This additional time will allow you, perhaps, to sell the house and avoid the foreclosure or, in extreme cases, to have the foreclosure overturned and never filed again.  It’s certainly worth the time, and in some cases, expense, of finding out.  There are financial and legal services that are available to you to assist with these statutes.  You can check out this webpage, http://www.hud.gov/local/fl/homeownership/foreclosure.cfm, for additional information on the statues, as well as your rights and/or resources available in any given state in the US.

Be extremely leary of foreclosure rescue companies.  While there may be a large number of them that can and do help, we have found that, for the most part, a lot of these companies are scams and will have you out of even more money with no results.

If you have contacted your servicing company and aren’t getting any results, and the housing counselors aren’t able to help you, there are companies springing up that are known as loan modification companies.  These companies, for a fee, will work with your investor/servicer to have either the rate on your current loan lowered, either termporarily or permanently, have the term (# of years/months of your mortgage) extended, and/or in more rare cases, forgive part of the debt to help lower your payment.

While there are some excellent loan modification companies, there are some unscrupulous ones who charge you high fees and don’t do any work towards modifying your mortgage.  It is very important that you screen these companies or get a referral from someone (we work with a highly reputable company that is getting great results for our clients).  Don’t use Google or the Yellow Pages to find one of these companies!

I know that having problems making your mortgage payment can take a toll on you, both physically and mentally.  It’s important that you be involved in trying to resolve this and, if you need assistance, you hire someone to help you that has proven results.  This is your home we are talking about……not just a house!

2009 FHA Loan Limits for the State of Florida

2009 FHA Limits – Florida

 

All areas except those counties listed below:

 

One-Unit          $271,050

Two-Unit         $347,000

Three-Unit        $419,400

Four-Unit         $521,250

 

 

 

 

 

Monroe County	28580	FL	$529,000	$677,200	$818,600	$1,017,300
Collier County	34940	FL	$448,500	$574,150	$694,000	$862,500
Broward County	33100	FL	$345,000	$441,650	$533,850	$663,450
Miami-Dade County	33100	FL	$345,000	$441,650	$533,850	$663,450
Palm Beach County	33100	FL	$345,000	$441,650	$533,850	$663,450
Walton County	99999	FL	$325,450	$416,600	$503,600	$625,850
Martin County	38940	FL	$316,250	$404,850	$489,350	$608,150
St. Lucie County	38940	FL	$316,250	$404,850	$489,350	$608,150
Baker County	27260	FL	$304,750	$390,100	$471,550	$586,050
Clay County	27260	FL	$304,750	$390,100	$471,550	$586,050
Duval County	27260	FL	$304,750	$390,100	$471,550	$586,050
Nassau County	27260	FL	$304,750	$390,100	$471,550	$586,050
St. Johns County	27260	FL	$304,750	$390,100	$471,550	$586,050
Manatee County	14600	FL	$285,200	$365,100	$441,300	$548,450
Sarasota County	14600	FL	$285,200	$365,100	$441,300	$548,450
Lake County	36740	FL	$274,850	$351,850	$425,300	$528,550
Orange County	36740	FL	$274,850	$351,850	$425,300	$528,550

Short Sales and Their Effect On USDA Rural Housing Mortgages…….

As a mortgage lender, we are constantly getting updates from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA and USDA on guideline changes.

This summer, the “buy and bail” memo was released. This policy dictates the circumstances under which a buyer can convert their current primary home to either a 2nd home or an investment property and how we, as lenders, have to count the payment of the current primary home against them or under what circumstances we can count rental income on the property if they rent it. It makes it tougher to qualify because they fear, and rightfully so in some cases that I have seen, that people may be buying a new property and then “bailing” on their primary home for a number of reasons, the main reason being that they owe more on that property than it is worth and have found that they can get a similar home, or even a larger one, with a payment that may be less than what they currently have.

Prior to these changes, if the buyer could provide a fully-executed lease agreement, we could count rental income that would be generated, or at least 75% of it as they used a 25% vacancy factor. The buyer also had to have 2 months reserves for principle and interest and taxes and insurance on a single family residence and 6 months reserves if they were moving out of a 2-4 family property (ie: a duplex).

Under the new policies, which went into effect on August 1, 2008, the following conditions are required:

• If current home is pending sale but won’t be closed before closing on the new property, we must count BOTH payments in order to qualify for the new property.
• If the buyer is going to keep the former primary home as a second home, we must count both payments AND either the buyer must have 6 months reserves (PITI) OR if we can prove they have at least 30% equity in the property (we have to get an appraisal, Automated Valuation Model, or a Broker Price Opinion to do that), we only have to show that they have 2 months reserves.
• If the buyer is going to keep the former primary home as a rental property, we can still count 75% of the rental income with a fully-executed lease, a copy of the deposit check the tenant writes them and a copy of the receipt showing the buyer deposited the funds in their account IF AND ONLY IF we can document that they have at least 30% equity in the property they are leaving, again with either an appraisal, AVM or BPO. If they don’t have the 30% equity, we can not count any of the rental income even if they have a lease, AND we have to count both payments against them to qualify them for the new property purchase AND they must have at least 6 months’ reserves of PITI for BOTH properties.

There are also limits on how long ago a person can have been 30 days late on their current mortgage payment before they are able to purchase a new primary home. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, and FHA have guidelines that are stronger than the ones that are used for a USDA Rural Housing Loan (aka a rural development loan). I have a buyer who is military and sold his home under a short sale scenario (he was never late on his mortgage but he had received orders to move and knew that he couldn’t afford his new house, even if he rented and his old house and also knew that if he moved into military housing and his BAH (military housing pay) went away, he couldn’t afford his old house. So he sold it for less than he owed. He had a first and a second mortgage on that property and he negotiated the short sale but when it was paid off, the second mortgage holder reported him as being 30 days late.

They have contacted the second mortgage holder and they will not remove this reporting. I spoke with all of my investors (Chase, Suntrust, Amtrust, Wells Fargo, etc. etc.) to see if they would accept a VA loan on him – I had run it through automated underwriting and it gave me an “approve/ineligible” – the ineligible being for having a 30 day delinquency in the last 12 months and the approval meaning that with his credit score, amount of assets, and income, he qualified for this new purchase. Not only would they not allow a VA loan, they wouldn’t allow an FHA or conventional loan on him, either, as the first mortgage was reporting that he had facilitated a short sale. We have a copy of his orders and a letter of explanation detailing that he had to do the short sale as he had to move (Uncle Sam said so!) but that didn’t matter.

After checking everything I could, I found that we COULD close on a USDA Rural Housing Mortgage for this client, even with the short sale and the 30 day late reporting because we had compensating factors and a letter of explanation in the file.

This client had been denied at 4 other mortgage companies – he was frustrated and wary when he came to me. He is now extremely pleased that he and his family will be allowed to purchase a home and I have created a raving fan of our company!

As I have said in some of my blog entries, the USDA Rural Housing program is one that helps a lot of customers that may not think they can purchase a home to be able to not only buy a house, but buy one that allows them a low monthly payment and little or no money down at closing.

If you are in the market to purchase a primary home, or if you are a Realtor® with clients looking to purchase in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Tennessee, please don’t finalize your mortgage until you contact me – we may be able to save you thousands of dollars and get you a low, fixed rate mortgage that other lenders may sometimes overlook!

USDA Rural Housing Loan…….With Rates as low as 4.25%!!!

We can offer a buydown on a USDA Rural Housing loan to clients. What this means is that the first year, the rate is 4.25%, the 2nd year, it is 5.25% and the 3rd through 30th year, it is fixed at 6.25%!

 

This is done by having the seller pay for the buy down. If there is a motivated seller, they can pay points to get the rate lowered the first and second years and then fixed for the remainder of the term. This is NOT an adjustable rate mortgage; it is fixed but just has the feature of having the 1st and 2nd year lower than the remainder of the term to allow a buyer to have a lower payment at the beginning.

Because it is a rural housing loan, the buyer can finance any and all closing costs that the seller doesn’t pay which means that the funds a seller is willing to pay towards closing can be used to buy down the rate and the buyer still comes out of pocket with no money down for a true 100% financing program!

If you are a buyer and would like to take advantage of this, or if you are a seller who would like to explore this option, or if you are a Realtor® with motivated sellers for your listings, please contact me and we can discuss this program for you!

Lost Family Member!!!!!

 

 

Please read this and forward it to your database.  My daughter

Wrote this.  My son’s dog is missing and we really

Want to find him – he’s one of our family

And my son is heartbroken.  There are several pictures

Here that can help you to recognize Dupree.

Also, please forward this

To your database and help us bring Dupree home.  Thank

You SO much!  ~~Sue

 

**Missing**

 

Dupree

 

 

A slat in our fence had broken and we didn’t know it.  Dupree got out yesterday, November 6, from our home between Memorial Parkway and Jet Drive in Fort Walton Beach and has been missing since.  He didn’t have his collar and tags on, but he is very friendly and up-to-date with shots.  Dupree is my brother’s dog, but a true part of our family.  My poor brother is heartbroken.  If you have ANY information on his whereabouts, please call 850-499-4467 or 850-499-2271 or 850-797-3196.

 

(Also, please feel free to repost this.)

 

Dupree playing with Joplin

 

 

Dupree with JJ

 

 

Dupree playing Twister

 

 

Please help find my brother’s dog…

 

USDA Rural Housing Loans – More People Will Now Qualify!!

Today, the final ruling was published to simplify the USDA Rural Housing program’s income limit structure for the USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing Program. These income structural changes will become effective on January 20, 2009, unless they receive adverse comments by January 5, 2009. They had put an advance notice out about trying to do this on April 10, 2008 and have not yet received any adverse comments so this should be a non-issue.

In essence, the current income limit structure that is based on household incomes from one to eight persons (in the household) would be restructured as follows:

1-4 person households will be qualified using only the 4-person limit and 5-8 person households would be qualified using only the 8-person limit.

What does this mean? It means that a lot more people will be able to qualify for this program! Currently, most counties in Florida have the following income limits in place:

1 person $49,550 2 person $56,600 3 person $63,700 4 person $70,750

5 person $76,400 6 person $82,050 7 person $87,750 8 person $93,400

Under the new rules, the following would be the norm:

Any household having between 1 and 4 persons living in it would have max income of $70,750

Any household having between 5 and 8 persons living in it would have max income of $93,400

As you can see, this will certainly help to qualify a lot more people into a rural housing loan!

I have had clients that were single that made $54,000 and were only $4,450 above the 1-person limit but because they were over at all, were not able to qualify.

As a buyer, this is an opportunity to buy real estate with NO MONEY DOWN and qualify with higher income limits!

As a Realtor®, this is a HUGE opportunity to sell homes with no money down to people with much higher income levels!

At this point, we are not using these levels but in order for us to be able to use these changes, the new income limits must be approved and in use at the time our files are sent to the USDA Rural Development office. Currently, the earliest date for that occurring is January 20, 2009.

If you have buyers sitting on the fence, it is certainly possible to have them write contracts that don’t close until January 21, 2009 and allow your buyers to get the benefit of this program. And if it’s a short sale, it may take that long anyway!

We are a National Trainer in this program and would love to work with your buyers if you are a Realtor®. If you are a buyer looking for financing, please know that we are experts in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee for this program and we can secure this financing for you. Please feel free to have your clients contact me!

 

 

USDA Rural Housing (100% Financing) Has Low Foreclosure Rate!

 

Evidence that the USDA Rural Housing program works to get qualified buyers into homes can be found by checking out their foreclosure website.  Our office is in the Panhandle of Florida, and between here and Tallahassee (Leon) County, there are a total of 5 properties that are in foreclosure. 

I have been using this program for over 10 years and based on the number of properties that have sold under it, this low number of foreclosures represents USDA’s committment to making sure that the buyers who use this program show an ability to repay the mortgage

A USDA Rural Housing loan allows a client to finance the entire sales price PLUS any and all closing costs and prepaids that the seller isn’t paying.  A seller is not limited to 3% or 6% and can, in fact, pay all of the closing costs and the prepaids for the buyer.  It truly is a no money down program for qualified buyers.

If a buyer’s credit and/or debt to income ratio doesn’t qualify for this program, there is a Direct USDA Rural Housing mortgage which allows lower income families to purchase a home at a payment that they can afford; sometimes, their payments are subsidized.  If your lender tells you that you do not qualify, please ask them to give you the contact information for this program!