My home's mortgage is WAY underwater. Can I still refinance into a lower rate? Well, yes, maybe. That nice Mr Obama has said he wants everyone to take advantage of the lowest interest rates in history, so that people will spend that money on the economy as a whole instead of just lining the bankers' pockets. But how? If your home is worth less than your mortgage then lenders are generally not interested. Enter HARP - the Home Affordable Refinance Program. Version 1 came out in 2009 and allowed homeowners to refinance loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac if the outstanding mortgage balance was up to 125% of the value of the home.

HARP 2.0 - For Refinancing REALLY Underwater Mortgages

But in October of 2011 President Obama announced HARP 2.0. In this new version of the program, no matter how much the value of your home has decreased, and no matter how high your mortgage is compared to that value, you will still be eligible to refinance into a lower rate. Of course there are still some restrictions:

• The loan must be owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (see below to find out if it is)
• The current loan must have closed before June 2009
• No missed payments in the last 6 months, and no more than 1 missed in the last 12 months
• You must not have already refinanced under HARP 1 - no double-dipping!
• You can't refinance an equity line, but you can subordinate it

HARP 2.0 has many improvements over HARP 1, such as:

• You can refinance investment property
• The waiting period for reestablishing your credit after bankruptcy has been lifted
• Fannie and Freddie may not even worry about your income or your credit, though specific lenders might
• If you don't have mortgage insurance now, you won't need it under HARP 2.0

Of course, lenders will be putting their own restrictions or "overlays" on top of these requirements, and we won't know exactly what they are until early in 2012.

What should I do now?

Get ready! Start talking to a mortgage professional and get your paperwork in order so you are first in line when the lenders are ready for your application. If you live in California, go to my special webpage which I've set up just for HARP underwater refinances. You can find out if your mortgage is owned by Fannie or Freddie when you get to that page, or try these links now:

Fannie Mae lookup Freddie Mac lookup

Remember: if you're in California, go to my special webpage for HARP underwater refinances.

The Conforming Jumbo Loan Limit for counties in the San Francisco Bay Area - Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, etc - is going down Oct 1. This means that interest rates for mortgages over $625,500 will increase. But don't wait till then or you'll be sorry! Find out the details and how and when this will affect your Purchase or Refinance mortgage by watching this short video.

Realtors - you might like to send this to your buyers to help them make a decision while they can still afford it.

Well folks, they finally pulled down the old California Buffect building on the corner of Sunnyvale-Saratoga andRemington. The place closed a couple of years ago and word was that Rite-Aid was going to build a pharmacy there. With Walgreen, Safeway, CVS and Target that's just what we need! Well, not so fast. Although Rite-Aid did get approval on their plans, they have not yet submitted any building permits to construct a new building as of yet.

Apparently it was the property owner that applied for the demolition to remove the building due to maintenance and liability concerns. And now there's an "Available" sign up, so frankly, who knows what's going to happen there. Watch this space. With my contacts at City Hall, you'll see it first here.

If you're looking for a home for sale in Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale should be near the top of your list. According to the Financial Times "American Cities of the Future 2011/2012" report published in the newspaper's fDi Magazine, Sunnyvale - ranked as a small city with population between 100,000 and 250,000 - was named the top small city for economic potential.

Now of course those of us that live here know this already, with companies like Yahoo, Network Appliance, Maxim, Lockheed Martin and Juniper Networks being well-established, and Nokia recently consolidating all their Bay Area employees in the new downtown office buildings. Still, it's nice to get some recognition don't you think?

Sunnyvale was also named second in the human resources category and fifth in quality of life. And one of the most important scoring points? Internet download speed - you better believe it!

If your home is anything like mine, you have animals - and I'm not talking about the children! If you need a veterinary clinic in Sunnyvale then look no further than Serra Veterinary Hospital next to the Post Office on Fremont Ave.

We have 5 cats and one dog, and I think they've all been in for something or other! Poor little Tiffany just left us for the big cat-scratcher in the sky, 2 days short of her 18th birthday. She was shipped out here from the UK as a kitten. On the left here is Max taking 40 winks. Looks sweet doesn't he? Well he's a real fighter and tends to get wounded, which then gets infected. Yuk. He's been to Dr Natt 3 or 4 times I believe.

Oliver the orange cat is a real hisser and scratcher. We think he's bipolar as he will just turn on you for no reason. But he adds some color to the surroundings. Oliver almost died one weekend from a blocked urinary tract. Dr Natt and his team at Serra Vet took him in on the Saturday evening and operated on him that night. He's back to full hissing and scratching health now.

Tux on the right here is very friendly and has a rather high-pitched miaow, an extra toe on his front paws, and the biggest yawn I have ever seen. He and Max do NOT get on and have to be kept apart. Tux usually patrols the front of the house and Max the back.

Rolly is about 13 years old and is very friendly, unless you're trying to brush his back where he gets knots! Rolly is a British short hair and would have been show material if it weren't for an annoying kink in his tail!

Bringing up the rear are little Isabella and Missy the dog. Isabella nearly died as a kitten as she had a very large polyp in her throat. And Missy, who is at least 15, has made various visits. The team at Serra Veterinary in Sunnyvale always look after her.

They're open 7 days a week now, and till 7pm on weekdays, and I really can't recommend them highly enough. Tell them you saw them featured in Tony's blog!

Serra Veterinary Hospital
520 West Fremont Avenue, Sunnyvale
408-739-3545