Tino Muratore Illinois FHA-VA-First Time Home Buyer Specialist

Are you searching for FHA Mortgage Limits in your area? If so, this tool will help you do it. Just type in your state or county of the area that you want to search and you'll be able to see what the FHA limits are in that area. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) sets limits on FHA mortgage loan amounts that HUD will insure. Limits are set for both FHA-insured traditional forward loans and FHA-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) reverse loans. Limits set by Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac conventional loans are also available. To access the link click here https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm it will look like this, below. If you have any questions on how to use the tool or drop down menus, please email me at Tino.Muratore@gmail.com. Thanks and have a great day!

I wanted to put together a short post for you First Time Home buyers out there. I'm know that you have been bombarded with Stimulus Bills and Packages just like I have. It can get real confusing trying to sort out the fact from fiction. Fact-President Obama passed a first time home buyer credit which was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was signed into action on February 17th 2009.

Fact-This is a tax credit unlike the previous 2008 plan which was more like a 15 year interest free loan that had to be paid back. You do not pay this back. This is your money.

Fact-The maximum amount of tax credit that you may receive is equal to 10% of the purchase price of your home not to exceed $8000.00 (which is the max).

Fact-A tax credit is a dollar for dollar benefit to you the tax payer, not a deduction that decreases your taxable income. (Please consult your accountant)

Fact-There are income limits in place. A single home buyer with a modified adjusted gross income of $75,000.00 or less is eligible.

Fact-Married couples with modified adjusted gross income of $150,000.00 or less are eligible.

Question? What is modified adjusted gross income? Modified adjusted gross income or (MAGI) as you will sometimes see it is your adjusted gross income (AGI), modified by various adjustments. Which adjustments? (Please consult your accountant)

Fact-The tax credit is retroactive to January 1, 2009 and runs through December 1st 2009. (Please consult your accountant)

Fact-It is true and if you already filed your 2008 tax return, which most of you probably have...you can amend your return and still receive the credit this year. (Please consult your accountant)

Fact-This program is for what they define as First time Home Buyer. What is the definition of a first time home buyer? Good question. A first time home buyer is defined as any tax payer who has not owned a primary principal residence within 3 years of your new home purchase. What is a primary principal residence? Another good question. Your primary principle residence is where you live. Not your Aunt, or your Cousin, where you sometimes may stay. It's the primary location that you inhabit.

Fact-If you make more money than the above listed figures...you may still be eligible for a reduced credit.

Fact-You or your accountant needs to fill out Form 5405 which will help you determine your tax credit. Then you will be able to claim that amount on line 69 of your 1040 tax return. (Please consult your accountant)

Fiction-You can not borrow against the credit to help you with your down payment on your home. That would be nice! There are several different programs that will help you do that. Please read some of my older blog posts. I have written about quite a few of those programs. If you have any questions...please email me at Tino.Muratore@gmail.com.

Thank you.

FHA cash out refinances have undergone a couple of recent modifications. Here are a couple things that you should know about the changes.

1. Your existing loan must be current and not delinquent.
2. You cannot add non-owner occupants to help you qualify for a cash out refinance.
3. You must have lived in your primary residence for 12 months to get the max cash out of 85% LTV (loan to value).
4. If you have lived in your primary residence for less than 12 months, your new loan amount will be capped at 85% of the sales price or appraised value (whichever is less).
5. You will need a 2nd appraisal for all cash out refinances above $417,000.00.
6. If you plan on adding a new simultaneous 2nd mortgage, you will be capped at a max of 85% CLTV (Combined loan to value).
7. If you have an existing 2nd mortgage and are planning on re-subordinating it, you can re-subordinate it with no max CLTV.
8. If you currently have a 2nd mortgage and you modify it to accomodate your new 1st mortgage, you will not have a CLTV restriction.

These changes are temporary and in effect as of April 1st 2009. Please email me if you have any questions, Tino.Muratore@gmail.com.

Thank you,

Tino

CAHMCO which stands for Corporation for Affordable Homes of McHenry County is a first time home-buyer program for residents in McHenry County Illinois. CAHMCO assists potential first time buyers with down payment and closing costs funds. This is one of the biggest obstacles preventing home-buyers from ever buying their first home.

The assistance is provided as a 0% loan, which is forgivable after five years. So, if you live in your home for the full five years, you do not have to pay the loan back. If you do not live in the home for five years, the repayment of the loan is calculated at 1/60th of each month that has not been forgiven.

• Example; if your grant was for $5000.00 for your down payment and you sell your home after living in it for 30 months you would calculate it like this...
• $5000.00 (grant) divided by 60 months (5 years) = $83.33 a month
• $83.33 multiplied times 30 months = $2500.00 which is what you would have to pay back

I hope that example makes sense and I did not confuse you even more:)

There are also income limitations associated with the program which is calculated by the size of your household and your gross income. All homes cannot exceed $190,000 in sales price and must be located in McHenry County Illinois.

If you are interested in finding out more about this unique first time home-buyer assistance program, or any other assistance program in Illinois, please email me.

Thank you!

FHA Streamline Refinances are a great way to reduce your current (FHA insured mortgage) interest rate without going through all of the paperwork needed to do a traditional refinance transaction.

FHA Steamline refinances are designed to lower your monthly principal and interest payments and must involve no cash back to the borrower, except for minor adjustments at closing not to exceed $250.00.

FHA Streamline refinances can be made with or without an appraisal. *

FHA Streamline refinances do not require a credit report or verification of employment. *

Lenders can use an abbreviated version of the Uniform Residential Loan Application (1003) that omits sections IV, V, VI, and a-k of VIII, provided all other required information is captured. The lender must assure itself that is in compliance with Equal Credit Opportunity Act and all other regulations, the loan application does not need to be signed by the borrower (s) until closing.

We have been seeing a huge demand for this type of refinance transaction in today's market.

There is not another product on the market that will allow you to refinance your current mortgage without an appraisal or credit report. This is huge! The housing market today is not what it was a couple of years ago, hence you may still be able to refinance even though your true appraised value of your home went down, or even your credit score for that matter.

Please email if you would like to see if you qualify for a streamline refinance. It's not going to cost you a thing, but could save you a small fortune!