Bill Kamboukos

As we wrote about in recent months, the HARP refinance program has now been expanded to allow more homeowners the option to refinance and take advantage of historically low interest rates. The program is a government backed initiative to allow borrowers who could previously not refinance, due to lack of equity or being upside down in their homes, to now do so.

HARP 2.0 is now set to officially become available to borrowers who have loans that are serviced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with no restrictions on value. In other words, the current appraised value of your home will not disqualify you from refinancing, regardless of value.

In recent weeks we have covered some basic information about the program and last week we started by answering some common questions about the program. This week, we continue with some more questions and answers.

Question #1: Can I refinance more than one property with the HARP program, if I own multiple homes?

Answer: Yes, you can refinance multiple homes with the HARP program, if you own more than one home. As we covered last week, the HARP program is available for borrowers, regardless of whether they do live in a home or use it as a second home or own it as an investment home. However, it is worth noting that once you refinance once using the HARP program, you cannot refinance the same loan again through the HARP program.

Question #2: What types of loan programs will be available for the refinance of my home through HARP?

Answer: The loan options for the HARP refinance program will be limited to 30 year and 15 year fixed mortgages. With interest rates at all time levels however, it doesn’t make much sense than to lock into one of these two programs anyway, as there are not tremendous benefits to be had in the current marketplace in adjustable rate loans. Interest rates are low now and may be for a little bit still, but inevitably they will rise, when that happens, you want to be protected with a fixed rate.

Question #3: What if my loan is not owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, what options do I have then?

Answer: While it is not common, we have seen instances where a homeowner’s property has not shown up as a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac owned loan online, but upon calling into your existing loan servicer, the loan has been verified as being owned by one of the two. So, if the loan does not show up as owned by either, a phone call to your existing loan servicer may be a good option to make sure it is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

In addition, if your loan is perhaps an FHA or VA loan, there are also already existing streamline refinance options that may be available to you as well to lower your current interest rate and mortgage payments as well. So it is advisable to speak to a lender about those options as well.

If you do not fall into any of these categories, then the options are limited, but work is being done now to see if another refinance program can be established for privately owned loans, through government assistance and as this information becomes available, we will of course provide this as well.

As always it makes sense to speak to a lender about current home loan options and it is always advisable to speak with a licensed mortgage lender, such as Strategic Mortgage. In future weeks, we will continue to provide additional updates on the HARP 2.0 program.

For more information on home purchase loan or refinance programs for existing and potential home owners, please contact Bill Kamboukos of Strategic Mortgage at (480) 219-3682 or by emailing: info@strategicmtgaz.com or online at www.strategicmtgaz.com

As we wrote about in recent months, the HARP refinance program has now been expanded to allow more homeowners the option to refinance and take advantage of historically low interest rates. The program is a government backed initiative to allow borrowers who could previously not refinance, due to lack of equity or being upside down in their homes, to now do so.

HARP 2.0 is now set to officially become available to borrowers who have loans that are serviced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with no restrictions on value. In other words, the current appraised value of your home will not disqualify you from refinancing, regardless of value.

In recent weeks we have covered some basic information about the program, but now we will answer some common questions that have been raised to us, about the program.

Question #1: Does this HARP 2.0 program apply to only homeowners who currently live in homes as their primary residence?

Answer: No, the HARP 2.0 program is open to homeowners, regardless of whether the home is currently a primary residence, second home or investment property. The current occupancy of the home will not disqualify you from qualifying for the HARP 2.0 program.

Question #2: Do, I need to be on time on my current mortgage, in order to qualify for a refinance, using the HARP 2.0 program?

Answer: Yes, well at least technically. The standard guidelines for the refinance of your home through the program require that you have made your last 12 months mortgage payments on time. You can have had late payments on other payment accounts and still qualify, but you will need to be able to explain any missed payments.

Question #3: Do, I have to pay mortgage insurance with the new program, since my home has less than 20% equity.

Answer: No, you do not have to pay mortgage insurance with your new HARP 2.0 loan, even though you have less than 20% equity in your home. Normally, if you have less than 20% equity in your home and you take out a conventional refinance or purchase home loan, than you have to pay mortgage insurance, but that is waived through the HARP program. In this case, it also makes sense for borrowers who may not be upside down but owe a little more than 80% of the value of their home on their current loans to use the HARP program. In that, they too can also avoid mortgage insurance, even if they only have a little equity in their homes.

As always it makes sense to speak to a lender about current home loan options and it is always advisable to speak with a licensed mortgage lender, such as Strategic Mortgage. In future weeks, we will continue to provide additional updates on the HARP 2.0 program.

For more information on home purchase loan or refinance programs for existing and potential home owners, please contact Bill Kamboukos of Strategic Mortgage at (480) 219-3682 or by emailing: info@strategicmtgaz.com or online at www.strategicmtgaz.com

As we wrote about in recent months, the HARP refinance program has now been expanded to allow more homeowners the option to refinance and take advantage of historically low interest rates. The program is a government backed initiative to allow borrowers who could previously not refinance, due to lack of equity or being upside down in their homes, to now do so.

HARP 2.0 is now set to officially become available to borrowers who have loans that are serviced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with no restrictions on value. In other words, the current appraised value of your home will not disqualify you from refinancing, regardless of value.

There are of course certain other guidelines that must be met to qualify for this refinance program.

First, your home loan must owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and must have been acquired by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac prior to June 1, 2009. Even though you may make payments to a loan servicer, if you have a conventional loan, then it is probably owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

To see if your loan is owned by Fannie Mae you can go directly to: http://www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup and input your property information. While to see if your home is owned by Freddie Mac, you must go to: https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/ and enter personal and property information.

Now, if your home loan does fall into these guidelines, then you will be eligible to refinance into a current market interest rate, which still sit at historical low levels, generally without any out of pocket costs.

For full qualification, of course it is always advisable to contact a licensed mortgage lender, such as Strategic Mortgage.

In addition, in the coming weeks, we will provide additional information on the HARP 2.0 loan program.

For more information on home purchase loan or refinance programs for existing and potential home owners, please contact Bill Kamboukos of Strategic Mortgage at (480) 219-3682 or by emailing: info@strategicmtgaz.com or online at www.strategicmtgaz.com

FHA mortgage loan limits saw a decrease as of October 1st, 2011, but now the Government has stepped in and reinstated the higher mortgage loan limits that we have seen in recent years.

In 2008, Congress temporarily increased the FHA loan limits to help alleviate the effects of the economic downturn. At that time Maricopa County here in Arizona saw the FHA loan limit raised to $346,250. This essentially meant that a buyer could finance a home up to $358,500, given the FHA's 3.5% minimum down payment.

Then, On October 1, 2011, the temporary loan limits expired and here in Arizona, in Maricopa and Pinal counties, loan limits were reduced down to $271,050. However, that will change once again as the higher loan limits have again been reinstated by the Government and the FHA loan limits will increase.

FHA loan limits in Maricopa and Pinal counties in Arizona are now once again at $346,250 through 2013, opening up loan availability for homeowners looking to finance dollar amounts over the previous loan limits. The FHA loan limits vary by county, so they will also change across the board for counties nationwide, with most increasing with this new initiative.

Conforming mortgages that are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will remain at $417,000 nationwide with no changes slated to take place. However, if any additional changes to mortgage loan limits are announced, we will of course provide the updated information.

For more information on home purchase loan or refinance programs for existing and potential home owners, please contact Bill Kamboukos of Strategic Mortgage at (480) 219-3682 or by emailing: info@strategicmtgaz.com or online at www.strategicmtgaz.com

As we recently wrote about, the Fannie Mae HARP refinance program has now been expanded to allow more homeowners the option to refinance and take advantage of historically low interest rates. Starting December 1, 2011 the program will allow homeowners to refinance their existing home loans, up to 125% of their current home values. However, there will be an even bigger expansion of the program in 2012.

There are of course certain guidelines that must be met to qualify for this refinance program, as we have covered in recent articles. However, the most important of those being that your current home loan is owned by Fannie Mae, which can be looked up at: http://www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup. And in addition, your loan must have been sold to Fannie Mae prior to June 1, 2009.

Now, if your home loan does fall into these guidelines, then come March 1, 2012 the program will lift the 125% cap on loan to value (size of your home, as opposed to the value of your home) and have not set loan to value limit. This means that essentially, no matter how upside down your home is. If you fit into Fannie Mae’s guidelines, they will let you refinance and take advantage of the very low interest rates in the current marketplace.

Of course, we are a few months away from this loan program being available, but it does appear that this new program will be an option for even more homeowners, who have not been able to take advantage of other recent initiatives, due to being too upside in their homes.

For full qualification, of course it is always advisable to contact a licensed mortgage lender, such as Strategic Mortgage. As always, as guidelines and standards change we will provide additional information and updates.

For more information on home purchase loan or refinance programs for existing and potential home owners, please contact Bill Kamboukos of Strategic Mortgage at (480) 219-3682 or by emailing: info@strategicmtgaz.com or online at www.strategicmtgaz.com