Kevin Wallace

NH home owners should take note,

this past week we marked the official start of the Making Home Affordable Refinance Program. We expect that this may help thousands of NH homeowners! The Making Home Affordable program turns a blind eye with respect to falling home values, approving mortgage applications based on borrower payment history and benefit to the NH homeowner. NH mortgage applicants have to meet a few basic qualifications to take advantage of the Making Home Affordable refinance program.

First, your existing NH mortgage must be with either Freddie Mac (Freddie) or Fannie Mae (Fannie). Fortunately, both of these agencies provide a way to check online. It's best to start with Fannie since she's the bigger sister (has more of our NH loans) and because Freddie's online tool requires your ss # (It's okay to enter, I've checked it out and site is secure!).

Next, you must have a perfect mortgage payment history over the last 12 months. Even one payment made 30 days late disqualifies you from participating in the Making Home Affordable program. It is okay, however, if you were 20 days late on your payment and incurred late fees.

And lastly, the balance on your mortgage cannot exceed your home's value by more than 5%. The math formula is (Mortgage Balance) / (Home Value). If the quotient is greater than 1.05 then your loan-to-value exceeds 105% and you are not eligible for Making Home Affordable.

Now, assuming you meet the criteria, there are some noteworthy details of the Making Home Affordable program:

1. If your current NH mortgage doesn't have mortgage insurance, you won't have to pay it after refinancing -- even if your new loan-to-value is greater than 80%. If you do have mortgage insurance presenlty on your loan, there's a plan for that, too ... we're just not sure yet what that plan is! That part of the plan is still in the works but we expect more details shortly. For the most current info on this program head over to our NH mortgage blog and subscribe to our newsletter!
   
2. All NH mortgage refinances under this program (and pretty much every other program available) require income verification -- even if the original mortgage was a stated income loan.
   
3. Second mortgages cannot be paid off through this program. They have to be subordinated. That can be some heavy lifting so make sure that, if you've come this far, you're working with someone who knows what they're doing!
   

Fannie and Freddie each of other guidelines that need to be followed as well. (Links to their sites can be found at www.NHLoanInfo.com)And, of course, their guidelines are different from each other! Like most government programs, their guidleines are created by the pound and all of us are learning as we go.

My recommendation would be to give their guidelines a brief review before talking with a local NH mortgage lender (like me!) so that you have a general understanding. If you have a NH mortgage and you have specific questions about the Making Home Affordable program and your own eligibility, first check to see if Fannie or Freddie is backing your loan. If they are, pick up the phone and call me to plan the next steps. While, the program doesn't end until June 10, 2010 , low NH mortgage rates probably won't last that long.

Found this home and did a bit of calculating on the payment side and, sure enogh, home values are definately in the affordable range again. With "right pricing" of homes, interest rates at historic lows and everybody and their brother Senator lined up to make the housing market right again, I think we may be in for a bit of competition this Spring. Get a jump and take a look at this property, our latest "Featured Home".

If you're a home buyer interested in specific, current and plain English help in reviewing financing options on this or other affordable homes, let me know. I'd love to help.

If you're selling your home or represent a Seller and would like to be a featured home on our sites, please contact Judy@BestNHLoan.com and she'll take it from there!

I have posted a great interview I recorded with Brian Larrabee of Estate of Mind, Inc. We discussed NH home vales and NH mortgage financing but the points raised are applicable in most parts of the country.

To hear the interview head over to our NH real estate and mortgage blog.

If you would like to hear more of our interviews, or would like to be featurd in our 2009 interview series, just drop me a line through our NH mortgage site and Happy New Year to one and all!

Earlier this year and under pressure from the government, mortgage lenders made more than 200,000 loan modifications to delinquent homeowners.

The modifications came in one of three forms, or a combination:

1. Interest rate reduction
2. Loan term extension
3. Principal forgiveness

But despite the modifications, as of October 1, more than half of the homeowners that received assistance were already two months behind on their modified monthly payments.

This late-pay statistic was a focal point on Capitol Hill yesterday as the government admitted delinquencies "were larger than [they] thought they'd be". Loan modifications are proving inadequate at slowing foreclosures and yesterday's session opened the door to more effective foreclosure prevention measures.

However, of all of the statistics published, there was one of particular interest.

Based on its loan modifications to-date, the FDIC has found that modified borrowers default far less when new monthly payments are less than 38 percent of monthly household income. This is important because Freddie Mac guidelines for ordinary mortgage applicants currently cap that rate at 45 percent.

If the 38 percent figure holds up long-term, it may lead mortgage lenders to permenantly reduce maximum debt-to-income allowances. Already, mortgage insurers have taken this step so it's not out of the question for lenders. Tighter guidelines mean fewer mortgage approvals.

If you're unsure of whether now is a good time to buy a home, consider that mortgage rates are low, mortgage guidelines are tightening, and foreclosure prevention efforts reduce the supply of available homes.

Prices may not have bottomed, but the market is giving everyone a lot of reasons to consider buying now.

(Image courtesy: The Wall Street Journal)

Visit my site to find out all the current info on NH mortgage rates and programs and for post attributions visit here.

Mortgage markets improved last week for the second week in row. After the Federal Reserve said it would use "all available tools" to stimulate the economy, traders responded by driving mortgage rates to 50-year lows.

It didn't last long, however.

After bottoming out early-Wednesday morning, mortgage rates trended higher all the way into Friday's closing. It was the third time in 2008 that a sharp mortgage rate drop lasted less than one full day of trading.

Many Americans took advantage of the historically-low mortgage rates, locking in new home loans below 5 percent. And, in general, these homeowners shared 4 characteristics:

• Credit scores of at least 720
• At least 20 percent equity
• Relatively low debt versus household income
• Ongoing relationship with a loan officer

Now, the first 3 bullet points are easy-to-understand but it's the fourth one that really mattered -- it's the trait that got people "real-time access" to low rates the moment they published.

After all, it wasn't until Thursday morning that the press ran its stories about "4.5 percent mortgage rates" and, by that time, mortgage rates had already retreated -- by as much as a full percentage point in some cases. Thursday morning's news was a half-day too late.

Still, mortgage rates do remain low.

This week is trade-shortened and thick with data. In addition to two pieces of housing news and a consumer sentiment survey, we'll get a look at the Federal Reserve's preferred Cost of Living index. All four data points are expected to validate the recession, so don't expect mortgage rates to move much.

Instead, the biggest threat to mortgage rates this week is momentum. If mortgage rates tick higher Monday and Tuesday, expect that to continue Wednesday into the 2:00 P.M. market close and then to resume again Friday.

Markets are closed Thursday for the federal holiday.

(Image courtesy: The Wall Street Journal Online)

Visit my site to find our more about NH mortgage rates and programs and for post attributions visit here.