I can help anyone out who is suffering from financial hardship or who just can’t get help from there lender! I have many many masterful techniques that most people don’t know about. I have saved many many homes for people that were told there only option is bankruptcy! Which should be only your last resort! Bankruptcy should not be done without at least talking to a housing/mortgage expert NOT A LAWYER!!!! Lawyers do not and I repeat know everything on home financing as they claim to know! I have over my years proven several known lawyers wrong and now some of these people even work for me. If you need help just let me know and I will have a private FREE no cost consultation with you. Thanks Brian
I am trying to get a Fhlmc Relief Refinance with Provident Funding since Fhlmc made it a rule that you have to use your same servicer. Provident’s customer service has not been fully educated on this and i keep getting the run-around. Now they are stating they are not offering this. Is anyone else having the same issue?
I’ve been told that the conforming loan limits may be raised. Is this true? Anyone know when this may happen for Pennsylvania?
i was preapproved for a refinance loan we were combining our mortgage and equity line of credit and cashing out a little money also. this came back at47% of appraisal in an area that has not been inflated in recent years and sales are not bad KY. then when almost through loan proceeds freddie has denied at last minute and says that their is not enough comps with acreage, we have 50 acres and most comps have only a few acres. there hasn’t been any acreage with house sell withing 20 something miles of me. know i am being told that i have to pay for 360$ appraisal and possibly 700+$ non delivery fees to freddie. what to do
We are unable to get our mortgage servicerto work with us on anything! You see I am on Social Security Disability and my wife works part time we always make our mortgage payment every month. But are interest rate changes in three months and just want to refi or do somethingto lower our payment alittle Do not know where to turn. Also just recently found out that the owner/creditor and Deed holder of our loan is located onLondon England by Barclays Bank PLc. Is it legal for a foreign country to own/hold be the creditor of our mortgage here in the United States. I think that is wrong
Yes, I have tried to refinance my home and it is impossible to do if you are not working. You used to be able to get a none job verification loan but for some reason these loans are no longer available. From what I understand, the reason for some of the bailout money was to help people from losing their homes. Chances are that if you are going to lose your home then you are probably not working. If you are not working then you are being denied the chance to refinance. Refinancing at a lower interest rate will lower your payments and maybe give you a little hope that you can keep your home. This is not going to happen because once again you will be denied because of your being unemployed. So my question to you is, how is this money from the bailout going to help the ones of us that really need it? Is there something that I am doing wrong? Am I not asking the right people for help or is this bailout money for the select few? At this time the refinance rates in my area are 4.75% and with this rate I would save $150 a month. This might not sound like much but it sure would help. I guess my point to this whole thing is why can’t the people that need the help the most, and most of these people are unemployed, get the help they need from the government bailout money? If anyone can tell me where I can go or who I can call to get refinanced please let me know. It is no wonder that the people of this great country have lost faith in the way their government operates!
Ok, so we were in an ARM which had worked out well when interest rates were declining but when they turned our lock came off and the interest rate climbed to 8.6%. Since our credit score was very high, we only owe 1/2 what the home is valued for (even at the current reduced value) and we had a fairly large investment portfolio, we decided to cash out some of these investments and pay down debt. This was done in early February. At the same time it was decided we would look for a lender for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. We tried our current lender but they were not interested in talking with us. We went to a local credit union who seemed interested in gaining our business. The information was gathered and provided for the loan and we were okayed on that date (late February). We indicated we would like to close on or about March 19th before our increased loan payment was due to our current lender, “No problem” came the reply. March 19th came and went. We had on several occasions tried to telephone the credit union to insure things were moving along, but their phones must have been out of order because we never got a return call. However we did get an E-mail which translated to “We thought you understood that we had to wait 60 days before closing.” Where did that come from? We had “locked” with them at 6.125%. “There is no way of getting a lower rate unless you pay us additional monies to get it” we were told (E-mail) and “There is no way of closing earlier than the 60 days.” In the mean time we received a letter from our current lender stating they had received a request for a pay-off and why didn’t we contact them for either a modified loan or a refinance? Of course we had but decided to give it one more try. After a telephone conversation verifying the information they already had on file for us — “How ’bout a 30 year fixed 5.5% loan which we can close in 30 days?” As a point, this date is still one month before the credit unions “lock” date is up. The decision was made to go with our present lender with the .625% lower interest and a 30 day closer closing date. After this decision was made I called the credit union to cancel or application. The party with whom I spoke, though curt and rude, agreed to the cancellation.
Then, not 30 minutes later, a telephone call from the credit union representative (phones must be fixed now) “Why don’t we close on that loan of yours March 25th?” I just love the way rules change during the game. Ain’t it fun!
I don’t get it. The banks are crying they are broke. BUT…the bank ends up with the money the buyer puts down, the monthly payments, and their house back. The price of the house may have dropped, but with the closing costs, downpayment and the monthly payments and their house back, how could they be broke?
We should fight back oil and gas prices with a boycott ,stop buying gas a certain brand for a complete month or until this brand in particular lower its gas prices forcing the other brands to lower prices as well
i am a mortgage broker and realtor in florida. banks are not modifying mortgage balances down and with short sales they are not taking much less than the current mortgage balance. they seem to want to hold on to these thousands of unpaid mortgages. why?
Tryed several times to refinance my mortgage with countrywide, when my credit was still good. I got nowere.Then theres my credit card thru Bank of america, they cept. checking my credit and messing with my score and rasing my minnimum payment, which was never late. Bank of america pushed me to bankrupcy. The best part of this mess is Bank of america bought country wide mortg. They both can eat it.
I agree with some of you that I feel penalized (as a good borrower) by all the idiots who took bad loans and caused lending requirements to become so strict. Granted, SOME people were taken advantage of, but the majority wanted something for nothing and were simply greedy.
I’m angry because for my recent loan, in order to cover RESERVES, mind you, I had to take a loan from my 401K, stick it in my bank account and show the lender that it was there. They were unwilling to accept my 401K statement and plan rules showing I can have the money in my pocket in 3 days. That’s just going WAY overboard. I argued the Freddie Mac guidelines with the lender over and over, then just threw up my hands.
So I was penalized by having to sell funds/stock in my 401K to take this loan (which I got in 3 days–gee, how hard was that?) just to show the lender I have cash in the bank, and then I’ll just put right back.
I’m a good borrower, I have three other mortgages/investment properties, high FICO, and net assets, but because of other people’s greed and ignorance, I had to do backflips to get a simple loan.
We own a $735,000 home in Prince William County.My husband and I have scores of 805 and 725, we have over a half million in inestments and savings as well as $130,000 combined gross income for 2007 and we are debt free except for our mortgage.
We have a Payment Option Loan with a negative amortization so we wanted to get into a more level loan with a lower overall interest rate. -ANGRY IN VIRGINIA.
Angry in VA,
Sounds like you took the option ARM to be able to afford the 735,000 dollar house. With a combined income of $130,000 you are definitively living well above your means. Myself and my wife have a combined income of $110,000/yr and we live in a $215,000 house.
I was lied into an ARM mortgage in 2005 probably because the ARM I was in was an option ARM which pays the person selling the loan a higher commission. I was told there was no prepayment penalty and the rate was to be fixed for 3 years. Well 2 years into the loan the rate spiked as high as 8.85%. Luckily I became financial smart a few years ago and started saving money. I just refinanced into a 6.5% FHA Secure 30 yr fixed. And of course there was a prepayment penalty of 1% the loan value which I was told there was no prepayment penalty at closing. I specifically asked this to! It cost me $6992.50 out of pocket to refinance. What I learned about this experience is read the papers at closing! Don’t take their word for it! If I couldn’t refinance and if my current lender, American Home Mortgage (bankrupt) wouldn’t help then I would have walked. I have no credit card, no car payments and the only thing having excellent credit got me in the past was a mountain of debt which took me 3.5 years to pay off!
Forgot to add that I’ve been paying down the principal on our mortgage by $300 extra per month for several years now. When I ran this prepayment on the calculator at my mortgage company’s website just now, it showed me saving almost $100k over the life of the loan. Paying down the principal is the way to go rather than refinancing, in many, many cases. If you can afford to do it, of course, and if you are staying in the home for a long time. There’s usually something you can do away with in daily spending, and even $100 a month helps more than you might think.
To Angry in Virgina:
Your new name should be “Stupid in VA”. You had no debt, high scores, strong income, 500k in assets, and you took an option arm??? What were you thinking?? Let me guess…you could make an unbelievably low payment and even though it didn’t cover the interest due each month, you still made the minimum payment. Every month, the difference rolled back onto the principle balance and you owed more and more. The story gets even better…your neighbor’s have succumbed to their bad decisions and now all the foreclosures are affecting the value of all homes in your market. No, the improvements matter very little. The PRICE your home could be sold for quickly is all that matters to a bank. The pendulum is swinging in the other direction. It is actually doing what is better known as “correcting”. Your home value went up 70% since 1997 in an unprecedented climb so our economy could continue to survive on it’s fever of consumption. The equity ATM is running dry and yet you feel it is the lender’s responsibility to give you enough money to cover 100 percent of your value. Ask yourself if you would lend yourself money and be on the hook for 100% of the value of the collateral asset in an area every month the collateral is worth less and less?? People should not buy 734,000 homes with no significant assets. It is tough and the reality truly is this: Your deed shows your name because you pay the taxes, but look down the page to where it lists the lienholders. They are the true owners until you get that paper that says…PAID IN FULL.
Sorry, you are not really stupid…just duped like alot of us who thought our homes were ATMs. Stay tuned…we only just begun. Americans have spent more than they saved for the last 20 years and exported the manufacturing base to Asia. Our biggest source of jobs here…health care. Shouldn’t red flags being going up? Try to find something built in America. Greed and corruption permeate all facets of business and Government. I love my country but it’s leaders are letting us down. Their answer to a hopeless economy grinding to a halt because spending Americans cannot pay for their excesses anymore? Here is 300 bucks per person of your money we took from your paycheck…go buy some Chinese stuff and keep us rolling…how sad and material we have become.
How do these folks get 815 and 805 credit scores? We have nearly half a million in annual income, pay off our credit cards every month, have two-thirds equity in our home, where we have lived for a very long time, and we have a combined score of 690. That’s pretty bad. I don’t get it. Maybe because we the pay cards off? I noticed that charges I challenged on two credit cards were noted on my credit report. Anyone know if that affects the score? What are we doing wrong here?
Refinancing is NOT tough….we always knew credit (FICO score) was the most important issue. Property values, that’s the tough part for California people. But that shouldn’t be a surprise either. This cycle is typical. It’ll come around again. Be patient. Keep your credit perfect and stop spending on your credit cards.
A realist.
Angry in Virginia, Help is on the way, with the stimulas plan coming out it should raise the conforming loan limits to $625,000 in our area, not sure how much you owe, put the max financing allowed on conforming would 95% minus 5% for declining market and if you do not owe more then $625,000 you should be able to refi. If you owe $625,000 your loan to value would be around 86% well below what is required and still get great conforming rates.Hope that will help a little.
I’m in a tough spot and it’s driving me nuts. I have an investment condo I bought 2 years ago, that I have no intention of getting rid of, whose ARM I need to refi by April or my payment will go up by 40%. I had plans to refi at this time with no cash out – I needed to take an ARM to get the house back then and now I can afford a regular loan. My FICO is 710 and I’m 90% loan-to-value thanks to some minor appreciation. I STILL can’t get a refi. Why? My debt-to-income ratio is 48% and no one will go over 45%. This has nothing to do with “being able to afford” my house. Even if my house had not appreciated at all, I’m liquid enough to make up for the 10% difference. I’ve managed to carry two investment properties for 3 years with no late payments on any debt for 7 years with a salary that has increased 100% since 2005. Yet now I’m stuck because everyone else gambled and lost.
Currently in a 30yr fixed at 6.125%. Closing on refi today on 15yr fixed at 4.875%. My payments will go up by $200 but I have been paying an extra $200 anyway every month. Only difference is now I am committed. But the savings for me comes in two ways. I am paying a lot less interest over the life of the loan and the equity in my home will increase faster as well. My P&I is now approx 50/50 whereas before it was 25/75 resp. Get it?
This is a sweet deal for me. I am a true blue Sweet Polly Purebread.
Angry In Virginia!
We own a $735,000 home in Prince William County.My husband and I have scores of 805 and 725, we have over a half million in inestments and savings as well as $130,000 combined gross income for 2007 and we are debt free except for our mortgage.
We have a Payment Option Loan with a negative amortization so we wanted to get into a more level loan with a lower overall interest rate.
The appraiser who came out to value our home appraised our custom home the same as the two Ryan Track homes nearby that just settled. He noted, he had to be careful since our County has been flagged as a Depreciating Value Area. The good news, our appraisal at least met what we owed on the two
mortgages. Actually our home did well given the fact we had put in over $80,000 in improvements over the past two years. We felt good about everything. That is till we sat down with lender. In order to finalize the paperwork he said, we needed to come up $145,0000!!!!!
Are you XXXXX kiddding? We have wonderful credit, money in the bank, awesome jobs, have updated the home so it’s like new and we can’t refinance.
We’re being SHUT OUT because some area’s of our county are seeing a rash of deliguent loans.I can count on one hand the number of high end Foreclosure Bank Owned Homes around us.
The pendulium has swung to far in the other direction and if this keeps up many,many more homeowners who have good credit, no signifigant assets to pull from will be forced to let the houses go.
Something has to be done for the average consumer in high cost area’s or this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better!
I am a broker and I locked a loan for one of my clients on Jan.16th when the rates were at their lowest and got him 5.125% on a thirty year fixed with $2151 in closing costs. His bank wanted to give him 5.625% and $2100 in closing costs. So who do you want to go with a Broker or a bank?
It’s funny how many mortgage broker and loan officer personal advertisements are on this blog. Of course you all promise the world with no MI on mortgages over 80%, no closing costs, and a 620 or higher credit scores have no problem getting a 5.375%, 30 year fixed rate. Of course I am approved no matter what. Let me give you $350 for an appraisal.
Ha, I’ve seen it all now and you know the market is horrible when you have numerous mortgage brokers advertising in this blog.
For the record, for those of you who do not know. a “mortgage broker” in most states (and I stress most), have 0 barriers or requirements to entry (other than not being a felon and must be over the age. of 18). Only the “broker on record” is required to pass a test to be licensed along w/aquiring registration and insurance. Everyone who works underneath him need not have an ounce of credentials.
Most of these “mortgage brokers” who call themselves “mortgage proffessionals’ have about as much credentials as a monkey working at @ NASA.
People do your research and clean up your credit profile, if you are using a “mortgage broker”, be prepared NOT to receive the best interest rate or very best deal that you deserver.
IMO, a “Mortgage Broker” is just a middleman waiting to take advantage of people who don’t know anybetter.
Our I/O is up on 2/14/8. Went to Wells with 720 credit to get into 30 year fix. DTI was slightly high at 43%. We were told they need the DTI at 38% or lower. I paid off the boat, and few others got the DTI to what they wanted. They came back said there is not enough money in my bank accounts. No kidding i told them. Give it a week and i will get it back in there again.
This went on for 30 to 45 days. Got fed up with the b/s. I Called my credit union. We got approved in 4 days with lower payment and better interest rate.
Since wells fargo made this extremely hard on us, I will be closing my personal and business accounts with them. I guess putting $1.3MM through their bank last year was not good enough to get me what i needed.
…”$0 closing costs and 5.375% for 30 years”… Please kindly let me know the lender or broker name. Thanks
I have the worst experience with Citibank: no expertise, delays, incompetent underwriters, endless requests for irrelevant documents to support already approved loan, and more and more.
Do not recommend to anyone to start this process until THEY would ask you a favor to work with them!!!
Yes I refinanced this week for 5.2 percent on my two properties. But do I feel priveleged? No, not at all. I earned the ability to refinance and use credit. I feel the banks that lend me the money are priveleged for getting my business.
Check out your credit unions My current mortgage with a credit union is an ARM with interest adjustment in Oct. 09. Interest is 6%, balance $149K. City house appraisal is $390K but value is falling and I don’t expect an appraisal reduction. Refinance will be 5.5% for 30yr fixed, 10 yr ballon payment. No FEES, PTS! I pay my own property taxes, insurance. It’s nice to see how the city is screwing me with taxes on a quarterly basis.
I retired last Oct. and would like to buy down in a smaller house. Hopefully the housing market will pickup within 10 years before ballon payment is due.
I just closed on my refi today, went from a 4.50% 5/1 due to reset end of year to a 5.50% 30yr fixed. My payment is slightly higher but it feels good not to have to worry about it adjusting every year. My credit score 815 and the whole refi process only took 6 business days.
Have a $1MM condo in downtown Chicago. Mortgage of $400k – credit rating of 770, combined income of $275k, old loan at 6.125% for 30 year fixed, just refi’d at $0 closing costs and 5.375% for 30 years. saving me $300+ per month. pretty sweet deal.
This is way overhyped. If you can document your income and pay your bills on time (gee what a concept) then getting a loan is not difficult.
Citibank did a hard sell on me, over the phone, to change my existing equity loan with them (or second mortgage)to a line of credit that was prime minus .45%. I’d called them for another matter, and a personal banker pushed this thing on me. My equity loan is for about $78k, @ 7.2%, and he wanted me to request as much as $250k in a line of credit! I agreed to $150k (against a house recently appraised at $1.4 million, with a primary mortgage on it that’s about a third of that), because the rate reduction was so good. I was not told that the house would need to be appraised again (it was appraised just a year before for the Citibank loan), nor were the terms “adjustable rate” or “sub-prime” ever used in that or our one subsequent phone conversation. Lines of credit are always, to my knowledge, variable rate, but it should still be spelled out. I was told there would be no fees or points — and I was told that my actual interest rate would depend on what my credit rating was (I think it was going to depend on the appraisal before I had a fit…keep reading). Well, before I’d gotten anything in writing from Citibank, I got multiple calls from an appraiser. I phoned Citibank and demanded that they nail down a rate before I incurred any charges, and chewed them out for starting the process before I had anything in writing. The personal banker/salesman insisted there were no fees — unless I paid off the loan within three years. Aha! Long story shortened — the appraiser wouldn’t answer my questions about how much of my house he needed to see. Gave me the impression it was a drive by (I’m behind a locked gate and not visible from the road, so scheduling was necessary). Only when we were scheduled for the appraisal did he admit (I’d asked him several times before he would say so) that it was a full inside and outside inspection! Sneaky, dishonest, unprofessional, scum of the earth….when was he going to tell me? I looked up the rules for fair practices in lending, and Citibank violated a load of them with this line of credit application. I dropped the entire thing. No wonder that bank is having so much trouble!
But as for credit being hard to come by? Not in my area of California.
I am a mortgage broker and can tell you it is extremely challenging for people right regardless of credit score. Now is a time for real expertise in lending.
JEFF is your condo complex unusually small or have a large number of units that are owned by investors? Also, no mention of your equity position…….is this a refinance or a purchase?
680 credit score + 120k per year salary + solid career + zero debt = cannot get mortgage for 127k condo.
You’ve got to be kidding me. What are the banks doing?
my current 5 yr adj was 4.75 and due to reset to 6.50 in a few months (with annual resets of 1% each year after that). I did my shopping and found a 30 fixed at 5.62% with total closing of $811.00 – with a major national bank. Moral of the story – watch your credit like a hawk and your spending as well – then shop, shop, shop to get the most value for your money.
It is a privilege, as it should be. One that is earned by being responsible. I have had no problem obtaining mortgage financing; but I have a credit score over 800, credit card debt paid in full every month and stable middle class income. It hasn’t always been that way. A bad business venture put me to my knees. I worked and gave up extras to earn this privilege and think that’s the way our system is intended to be.
Since 2001 I’ve watched and listened to almost every politician and media commentator advocate for affordable housing for everyone. They created a mentality that it is a God given, constitutional right. The mortgage industry, from the loan originator to the bank, underwriter, stock broker and investors all made a lot of money during the heydays. Greed replaced sound judgment and now we have to pay for it. Congress has just passed the economic stimulus package that is totally politically motivated and that will cost we, the tax payers, $400 billion before it’s paid for. Politicians, it seems, rarely pay for their continued poor judgment.
While the real estate/ mortgage industries and investors are paying the price now, we continue to fall pay to the concept that it is the congressional obligation to provide for or fix every bump and bruise, therefore we the people have nothing to be responsible for. Most families have the choice; new cars, RV’s, iPod, Xbox, 60″ plasma, more children, a home they rent or the one they buy. They have the responsibility to set their priorities to what they can afford and work to earn the privilege to borrow someone else’s money to support those priorities.
No Problem, Wells Fargo. Credit Score 765. Might as well get all the equity out of my home while I can to invest. Gold and Silver is where the real money is.
I’m a mortgage banker and have been in the business for 12+ years. This is what everyone needs to realize on fees charged by brokers/bankers: brokers typically make their money by either charging origination (and get you a really good rate) or on the back end by raising the rate and getting a Yield Spread Premium from the wholesaler. Bankers make their money in volume paid commissions from their employer. Bottom line is in this environment (so much competition) no one is going to be able to take advantage of an educated consumer. So it really comes down to the service level you are provided. Like one of the former posters commented, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Get a good referral from a friend or colleague that had a good experience with a loan officer and stop looking at the internet “teasers” and the Sunday paper.
Have a ~$1MM house, ~45% equity, great credit, with the exception of one averge score ~700. B/C of subordinate restrictions, lender would not allow refinancing. I am really angry!
Would love to refinance right now. Problem is that I have a 1st and 2nd (My problem). Want to do a 10 or 12 year and consolidate the two. Problem is that the 2nd is considered a cash out even though it already exists. Cant find anyone that will do a 100%.
TO JOHN REDLANDS
MAKE NO MISTAKE BROKERS ARE NOT THEIR TO PUT YOU INTO THE BEST LOAN FOR YOU,THEY ARE LOOKING TO PUT YOU INTO A LOAN THAT PAYS THEM THE MOST $$$
I don’t know if you knwo the business but your so full of crap it is unbelivable. I want you listen up and take notes.
A broker is more motivated to send a loan to a Fannie Mae loan then to a subprime. In 90% of the cases that I refi someone it is from a non-conforming to a fannie. When I take someone to a conforming from 8.5% to a 6.5% I WILL MAKE MORE MONEY. Money is what makes us tick. Just like Walmart – Sears – they make a profit and so do we. I pay 3 -4 thousand dollars a month in credit reports.
When I put someone in anon-conforming loan my fee’s are restricted- the LTV usually knocks down our fee’s and the interest rate being high it usually screws up the debt ration. So I make much more less money usually on a subprime loan. I am extremly more motivated to send it to Fannie.
If you want to stop predatory lending concentrate on two things…
STOP ADJUSTABLES
APPROVE SOMEONE ON NET INCOME NOT GROSS. THIS WILL CLEAN UP ALLOT OF PROBLEMS
Like I told my Chief of staff of my Senators office. What I make is not one’s business for the most part. Banks raked in 13 billion dollars in ATM fee’s The federal government rakes in 4 trillion dollars a year.
Having a solid credit score and a house that appraised for the amount it is worth definitely helped us to recently refinance. Our only uptick in rate was due to our need for 90% loan-to-value loan amount and not wanting to pay PMI. We were able to get a lender-paid PMI program that required just a slightly higher rate. But since we are working on a debt payoff acceleration strategy, the slightly higher rate wasn’t that much of a negative.
I do suggest that if you have a good credit score be sure to shop for a broker that will recognize that fact. The brokers that tell you are prime and qualify for the “best” rates if your FICO is above 700 or 710 just don’t seem as willing to work for a better rate for people that have FICO in the mid to high 700s.
And, yes, we had to pay $90 to a third party company to have our appraisal reviewed.
All I can say is, at least broker’s fees are all upfront and shown on the settlement statement unlike direct lenders.
It is amazing to read all these comments from people who obviously know nothing about mortgages, credit scores, LTVs, appraisals, or guidelines. Part of the problem is that the internet has given everybody just enough information to be dangerous, so that they can turn around and misinform their friends and neighbors about specific loan rates and programs. Please folks, leave the mortgage business to the professionals. If you don’t have a relationship with a professional you can trust, please find one in your community. Don’t rely on commercials and blogs for your information.
Mark from LA, I actually have a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 5.875%. I used to be in your business until I realized how unprofessional and self-serving most of you are. You should be passionate about your career, and truly want to help people realize the dream of owning a home; not worried about what loan program or lender is going to pay you the most money. That is why I went back to school to become an educator, to give back to my community, not take away from it.
3 WORDS PEOPLE – MEANT TO RENT.
Too many people bought homes 10 years ago for $85k, now they owe $350k and they’re “victims”. What a victim – squandered $265k, sorry I don’t feel bad for you.
The saddest part is if a mortgage broker tried to talk one of these sub-prime personalities out of a bad loan they would go down the street and get it from the next guy. They were pretty shifty consumers getting us to pay for their appraisals and beating us up over .125% on the rate. They weren’t victims then, now the game is over and they can’t play anymore. Boo hoo.
I agree with “direct lenders are a joke”. They act all high and mighty when there is no diff. between them and brokers. They both make money on the consumer weather you believe it or not.
Had an adjustable rate mortgage that was scheduled to reset to 6.875%. Called my mortagage company and asked what they could do for me. They said send them a check for $500.00 and they’d convert it to 5.625% 30 year fixed. This is a jumbo loan which is why I didn’t get a better rate.
I am currently a Vice President with a company in Potomac MD.
As of right now I am currently refinancing two on my past clients into lower rates and longer fixed terms. The biggest problem I see today is Appraisal values in the greater DC area. A lot of people bought with No Money down and if you bought within the last 2 years, most probably you can’t refinance.
It sad because I am trying to help people out (BTW I always credit back up to $800 – $1000 from my commissions to pay for closing costs) but most people owe more than what their house is worth.
The 1st things I would advise is to speak to a loan officer to figure out how much equity you may have before running credit. If you have an equity position then ask him or her to start running some numbers for you.
I have been working in this industry for over 5 years, have all my licenses up to date and do take time to educate the client whether or not there is a clear tangible benefit for doing a refi. Also if lowering your rate and payment make sure the break even point is achievable otherwise it doesn’t make sense to refi.
For all those badgering my profession or what I do, understand that in any industry there are a certain lot that always look out for themselves and ruin the reputation of the few good ones that are honest hardworking professionals. An Educated consumer is the best consumer in any industry!
Hope I was helpful!
I bought a property in 2004 with no issues getting a mortgage despite the fact that I am on an L1 Visa and I am British with no official credit rating. Upon refinancing, despite now having 700+ credit rating and 30-40% equity, during Sept and Oct I was considered high risk because of the visa and was seeing rates plus at least 1%. Things have improved currently.
It is merely typical Financial Services, knee jerk reactions and a lemmings scenario. Investment Banks are now filled with kids who have never experienced a true Bear market and can only buy.
My wife and I refinanced last week. We locked in at 5.0% on a 15 year. Closing costs were $650. We have a mortgage of $100,000 on a house valued at $225,000. This is our only debt, we have great credit scores and have a decent savings account.
It’s time for Americans to cut up those credit cards and think about how they can save the next dollar they make instead of how they’re going to spend it.
Pay down your debt peeps, the new HD TV can wait a while.
What a joke! CREDIT UNIONS AND BANKS! YES PLEASE GO TO THEM! If you don’t have a 680 credit score, you are done for! Bank’s underwriting have gotten harder then anything you can think of, especially managing CHASE for 7 years
let me just clarify this one more time…. FHA IS NOT A CREDIT BASED PROGRAM!! It’s not even a program at all. it’s a government INSURED loan… The floor rate of 6% is the same for everyone. Whether you have a 400 credit score or 750 score. It is entirely based of income. It’s calle d a DTI ration which is your debt to income ratio per month. If your mortgage payment is less than 34% of your monthly income we’ll write that lona alllll day.. YOU CAN EVEN HAVE LATES!! as long as they’re excused for a good reason. The federal housing administration will insure 1.5% of the loan amount despite the credit. So for any banker or broker out there that disagrees with me than you haven’t learned the program. If your in a bundle with your tinerest rate at 9 or 10% you can save HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS!! CHECK OUT THE FHA WEBSITE AT FHA.GOV
The problem isn’t that people took out loans for homes they couldn’t afford, it is that Banks set standards and product offers that enabled these people to obtain homes they shouldn’t have. Now we are reacting to the wrong information: The people that got these loans should stop making their payments now, and should stay in the homes until they are forced out by the Banks. The Banks were speculative, and now if we fix it for these people, the Banks don’t take the losses they should. Sure it will effect the borrower for a couple of years, but they will be lumped in with millions of others and will be able to buy again. The Banks need to suffer the losses so that they don’t make these types of lending policies in the future. The folks that stop making payments should save their money somewhere safe until they are foreclosed upon and they buy after these homes and markets hit bottom. Just my thoughts. I’ve been a mortgage professional for 17 years.
Direct lenders are a joke!!! I can’t tell you how many people I have helped that could not get anything done with their lender or another direct lender. Don’t believe all the crap you see about Brokers. I like the comment……”Whatever you do, don’t blame yourself fot the choices you made”
the cnnfn story is misleading..it is not necessarily harder to get a conventional fannie mae now it is just more expensive..i work for a direct lender credit union, we only do fannie mae loan and fannie mae will approve loans with low credit scores if the home has equity, a relatively low debt ratio, and some assets, it is just that now fannie mae will charge for scores below 680 depending on the equity. the problem with the cnnfn story is they are relying on interviews from brokers for their story..the same crooked people that helped get us to this situation we are in…MAKE NO MISTAKE BROKERS ARE NOT THEIR TO PUT YOU INTO THE BEST LOAN FOR YOU,THEY ARE LOOKING TO PUT YOU INTO A LOAN THAT PAYS THEM THE MOST $$$, which typically is NOT a Fannie Mae loan. By the looks of the interviews they are still up to the old tricks of trying to continue to steer people to non-conforming Sub-Prime Loans tat pay the commission on the back end of the loan. They can do Fannie Mae loan but as it seems in the article they still are not.. I emplore anybody reading this to NOT MAKE BROKERS YOUR !ST CHOICE IN DOING LOANS!!! most are rip off artists. Start with a local credit union or Bank. Credit Unions generally offer lower rates, fees etc..(WE DO!!! & We are usually lower than most banks are rates and fee!!)but if you are not a Credit Union Member or for some reason cannot be one then go to a bank 1st.. Brokers are only good for self employed people with hard to document income. For the rest of us avoid them like the plague!!!!!
I have the opposite problem. I still get lenders begging me to refi my 30 yr fixed/5.875% mortgage to a “fixed for 5 years” product.
At current rates, the time to recover refi expenses is greater than the time I expect to own our current home. I suspect a lot of people dont “do the math” and jump into a refi without analyzing the time value of money and how long they expect to stay in their home. Then again, how many people got themselves into this mortgage-meltdown mess in the first place because, once again, they failed to do their homework or read the fine print.
It used to be that we ridiculed the integrity of used-car sales people. Well, I think that crown now goes to the junk-loan peddlers.
I watched a piece the other morning about this lady in California suing her realtor. She said she paid more than she should have for her million dollar plus home by 150k. I didn’t know whether to laugh or puke. So typical of the idiotic American mentality. You buy something that has been appraised by a certified appraiser, reviewed by an underwriter, and drawn up in a contract that YOU signed. You go to closing and agree and sign your closing documents. Now you are upset because someone got a better deal so you sue. Suck it up America. You agreed to the terms of your stupid loan and the day of reckoning now comes knocking…and she is not happy. Stop whining and start being responsible.
Dan from Chicago!! i agree with you 150%. Some of these people think they know what they’re talking about and then the throw a name like AmTrust. If a plumber come oevr to fix your toilet is it free?? Does the pizzerias make pizza for free?? NO! the banks are not going to work for free either. A real lender has salaries to pay and they’re not making yield spread so they’re going to charge some closing costs. Anotehr hting is if you have a 4k dollar prepayment penalty but can refinace and save 200 bucks a month do the math…… in 5 years you save 12k!!! and if you get a rate in the 5’s your not refinancing for a long time… Price your scenario with me. email mmaxwell@concordmc.com
I am a mortgage broker here in California and more specifically in the bay area. FHA and Fanny do not help any of my borrowers. The fact is the lenders have pulled the same guidelines they originally financed many borrowers with. I don’t see why they don’t use the same guidelines they used originally to put those borrowers adjusting or that have already adjusted (some into double digit interest rates) into long term fixed rate products if they are in good standing. I AM TIRED OF THE MEDIA CALLING THIS A “SUBPRIME CRISIS”
I’m a loan agent. I realize that people under tremendous pressure of refi, has no time to post msg here.
People with 10% equity to begin with (e.g. 2006). With a 10% drop in home value now, their Loan to Value ratio will raise to100%. There will be no way to refi at this time. If they happen to have ARM program last year, their rate (after reset) may go up to 8% now! They are suffering. They have no place to go. They may just walk away & file foreclosure. They are working parents, with kids to raise. What caused this drastic change in USA RE environment on 2007 & 2008? Government Authorities, please help them. They need help badly. If they don’t get help on time and if they file foreclosure, and cause house value to drop. It may cause lender to lose $ to process these eventually bank-owned properties. And if there are 500,000 ** more of these foreclosure to go, I believe there will be many lenders suffering huge loses. It will drag down the Finance Sector. And eventually, all the Sectors in the market may drag down and cause RECESSION. Do we have any solutions to resolve these problems and to avoid RECESSION? More discussion to come. Keep in tune.
[[** Based on CNN report: We have approximately 869,000 of such sub-prime loans in the market, & we have only 386,000 foreclosures so far.]]
I guess I would be considered a high-net worth individual. I have a 15 year jumbo mortgage – locked in at 6.0% fixed rate. Recently, I was looking for a “small” home equity loan of $20,000 – which is only a fraction of the value of my home. But shockingly, I’ve had two HELOC applications fail – because my home appraisal value came in at 37.5% less than last year – even though I have made significant remodeling improvements? I know my home is worth in excess of $750,000 (based on Zillow.com and realtor appraisals) and with my outstanding mortgage amount I have close to 30% equity in my home. But the two appraisers that came to value my home appraised the property at way less than the real market price – and therefore causing the bank to deny my HELOC application due to “insufficient equity.” It’s made me wonder if the home appraisers aren’t the real culprets in the current mortgage refi-crisis?
hey marc from michigan, is your arm ok…. i am sure it was twisted by the person who put you in your loan… read your docs
My wife and I purchased a Condo in DT San Diego in April 2007. We put 5% down and 2 mortgages, one for 80% and the other for 15%. Our interest rate on the first (30year fixed) was 6.125% and on the second it was 7.5% with a balloon payment at year 15.
Since then, we’ve paid off the 2nd and each month have paid an additional $600 per month extra on the first. Our incomes have also increased 30%.
We tried to do a “no cost” refi through our Broker and locked in 5.75% with .625 points credit with Countrywide who our loan is through. The appraisal stacked up but they wanted to do their own “drive by” appraisal without going inside. This one did not stack up and they would not fund the loan. HOWEVER, while this was happening I received an offer in the mail directly from Countrywide and on calling I was told they could do a FASTTRACK loan which would require nothing from us and we could close in 3 days….no appraisal, no proff of income or employment…that made a lot of sense.
Anyway, we had the broker get us a lower rate via another Company and apparently our mortgage may even be sold back to Countrywide.
Your headline is misleading “Refinancing: Only for the privileged few. There is no problem for QUALIFIED borrowers. What is the problem of actually making payments on time (as promised), and having a payment that is within the family budget. Homeownership is not for everyone. It can be with education, and buying within ones means.
The mortgage industry should be taking the time to educate the public. Be it ads, newsletters, radio shows. Heck, we know more about purchasing car insurance then buying the largest investment and retirement vechicle most consumers count on. Listen up NAMB (natioal assoc of mortgage brokers)…do somthing instead of complaining…educate. Listen up congress….educate instead of raming more loan restrictions that are only hurting.
What a distorted comment offerred by CNN Finanacial! I have been offerred/asked 20 times by different banks within the last 2 months to refinance my house. How could you say only the previligied few could. Do not distort the fact.
My husband’s brother, a realtor, duped him into purchasing a townhome for a one year rent to buy contract in late 2003. The contract with the prospective buyer stipulated a purchase price for the home that was $20k more than the purchase price. I asked “what if the house isn’t worth $20k more than the purchase price in a year’s time-how will the buyer get a loan?”. My brother-in-law told us that he could get an appraisel for whatever we needed it to be! He arranged zero down financing for the purchase (conventional loan plus HELOC)and consumated the purchase using my husband’s power of attorney. The one year rent-to-buy contract extended to a three year ordeal with the tenant, who could never get financing for the figures our “realtor” set the deal up for. To mitigate this disaster my husband let him list the place for sale in the early part of 2006. By the summer of 2007, my husband finally turned the listing over to a reputable realtor, but by then the market started tanking. There are now hud foreclosures in the complex listed at $70k less than the purchase price! The place has been vacant now for more than a year and we are resigned to the fact that we will have to rent it out, but we can’t hope to get enough to cover the costs. It would help if we could re-finance, but we have no hope with a $30k HELOC and neg $70k in equity! Previously a stay-at-home mother of 3 young children, I’ve gone to work to help pay the approx $1800/mo in additional expenses we have incurred as a result of this mess. We have equity in our own home and are trying to do the right thing, but there doesn’t seem to be much incentive to take the high road here! Its not just the lenders who are responsible for the current mortgage meltdown! What about the realtors and appraisers that led people to the slaughter?
We just refinanced in Ohio out of a 3-yr arm loan. Our new interest rate is 6.25% (still a little higher than we would have liked but lower than what we were paying). Funny thing about this is that we have a bankruptcy on our credit history (filed in 2000) but we have been able to turn our credit around and now have reasonably good credit scores. The bankruptcy was not due to overspending. It was due to major change in pay and we were drowning. It was our only way out. We even spoke to the bankruptcy court about a repayment plan and the court said there was no way that they would have us consider that. However, we kept our home loan and our car loans. That is what helped us rebuild our credit. Refinancing was not hard for us and Ohio is having major issues with foreclosures.
People need to educate themselves financially. There is no free lunch; you have to eventually pay back principal! Getting into goofy IO, negative ARMs and other types of non-amortizing loans are not sustainable in the long run. Bottom line, house prices are too high in many areas of the country relative to wages. Either wages have to go up (not going to happen) or prices have to come down (that is happening). Most of those that get caught shouldn’t be in the home to begin with, as sad as that is to the family. Let the free market system work, and live within your means.
I bought a $225k home in 2003 with 20% down, 750 FICO, and got a 5% 15 year loan. No PMI, no escrow, just a payment of $1,413 per month. A very boring mortgage for sure, but I sleep at night knowing that I’ve got a solid mortgage that I can afford. And 4 1/2 years into the mortgage over $800 of my monthly payment is going to principal now. Sweet.
We have become a nation of ‘payment minimizers’ in order to live the good life. I’m a ‘wealth maximizer’. Please, everyone, just pay your bills and live within your means. If you aren’t making enough money get educated so you can get a better job.
This so called “talk back” is a joke, looks like it is nothing but a link for banks/ brokers to tell us how good they are and to call them.
Clearly there were problems in disclosing hybrid/arm mortgages but there is personal responsibilty that needs to come into play here. I am a loan officer (don’t call, me don’t call anyone on these links get a referral for business from a friend) I don’t know how many customers I lost to the “hybrid Arms” who actually thought they where getting rates of 1.75-2.5%. I never sold one of them, because I knew what they really were; a ticking time bomb. I still talk to people today who beleive they truely have a 1-3 % loan. I still talk to people today with 30,40,50 k in cc debt. I still talk to people today who use/used their homes as their personal piggybank. I still talk to people who want a bigger/better house who will buy a house that will take 50% of their GROSS income and then complain that “we were taking advantage of.” Or people who think that the house is SUPPOSE to go up in value.
When are we going to stop blaming others for the shape we are in? When are we going to stop “keeping up with the Jones’?” Here is answer, if you can’t pay for it now or within 6 months DON”T BUY IT. If you want to buy a house keep it to within 30-36% of your gross income. I see people making 50-75K a year driving a Lexus or BMW with payments of 750-900 a month. Did someone force them to buy that car? That gigantic TV? Those expensive designer clothes and purses? This is a “me- now” generation. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
The answer?, let the market correct them itself, there will be more pain but maybe lessons will be learned. A house is a home not an atm machine, buy what you can afford, a car is a car, a purse is a purse, these are not suppose to be status items. Raise your children, give them the chance you didn’t have to choose wisely. How many kids are coming out of college with 10-20k in cc debt? They learn from their parents.
Lastly Don’t get fooled if it is too good to be true guess what it is.Get a good low fixed rate mortgage and learn the ins and outs of how to get and keep a high credit score.
Banks do not care what you make, they care about your credit score and if you will pay them back.
Now I can take a breath !
$10 says the next round in the “poor me” mortgage fiasco is class action lawsuits. God, sometimes I hate my fellow Americans!
Now go out and charge up your credit cards, stop off at Starbucks for your $5 coffee (every single day) and get home in time turn on your $60/month cable tv. Idiots. This country needed this wake-up call. Root out the rats so the rest of us responsible taxpayers can live comfortably.
I work for a Bank, and I originate mortgage applications. It’s true, if you have the credit and equity, you will have a loan. For those who cannot go full doc, we can go low doc or no doc. It sounds risky, but we decide that and not fannie mae. I think we are doing great and will only get better, because we are one of the few who kept doing the right thing. To a comment posted earlier: I agree with you saying that if you didn’t put money down, and you had a low credit score, then you shouldn’t have a home loan. Don’t blame it on the bank. You should blame it on the broker for falsifying information on your application!! Read before you sign!
I had no issue what so ever. Sure I had to do the dance with a couple of different mortgage lenders. One lender was angry that we shopped around and tried to negotiate the rate… I’m sure he pays full sticker on his new car purchases… NOT!!
So we managed to re-finance at 5.875 with no points, no closing costs. The old rate was 6.5.
We did have to escrow some taxes but we can cancel that down the road.
Here is some key advice to getting things to go your way:
1) Get your credit in order. Get that score up high. Pay the credit cards on time. We pay ours off monthly. Creditors love to lend us money.
2) Credit cards are not an extension of your income!! Live within your means.
3) Shop around and negotiate!! Don’t be bullied with comments like..” I have a family to feed too!” .. Some business is better than no business at all.
4) Go to bankrate.com and sign up for mortgage rate alerts via e-mail and have your financial paperwork in order so you can lock in quickly..
Good Luck, it’s a jungle out there!!
I agree with Bob that charging origination is a ripeoff, but you don’t need to pay origination everywhere, please shop around. I am originating and never ever charged origination. If you’re paying origination your refi doesn’t have a sense for loan time. Do the math. Egz. if your savings on payment is $150 a month and your closing costs are 6K you will start saving money after 40 months. DO NOT PAY ORIGINATION IF PLAN REFI OR SELL IN FIRST 4 YEAR. ALWAYS COMPARE YOUR SAVINGS IN PAYMENT AND CLOSING COSTS.
Forgot one thing in my last email, government loans are not subject to Soft market conditions, so if you can FHA and VA loans will work. And once this Stimulas plan goes through we will start to see better options out there. FHA will raise there loans limit and Fannie and Freddie will go above the $417,000 allowed now.
We try to refinance a loan at no cost,no fee.
House built 2004 paid $222.000.00 in Orlando,Fl
Loan $187.000.00 at 6.125% fix rate 20 years starting in Sept 2004.
Actual Balance $125,000.00
We would like to refinance at 4,75% at 10 years.
Any information will help.
I am a mortgage broker in Scottsdale, AZ. I think one of the major problems with what is going on is the use of the internet when finding a mortgage. People need to realize that when you go to sites like lowermybills and lendingtree your information is sold to several mortgage brokers who could really care less about who you are. The same applies when you respond to junk mail promising rates. There is no personal connection with the client and no future accountability.
My clients know where I live and work. I’m a Mortgage Professional in it for the long haul. If I don’t do the right thing my clients can find me.
Stop putting your info on the internet. Stop calling some $10 hour person at your current lender that will be selling cell phones in a year and find someone you can trust.
Ask your friends and family about local lenders they have worked with. Americans have become lazy in the way we do business. Find a Mortgage Professional that you can go and SIT AT THEIR DESK and discuss not only your mortgage needs but how your mortgage fits into your overall financial goals. For most Americans a house is the largest investment they will ever make. Treat it as such.
Ditto, your article accurately reflects current market conditions. Since January 1, 2008 our company has seen an explosion of new applications yet my loan officers are struggling to find lenders willing to refinance them into a better rate or program. Your article is slightly misleading because although many lenders have closed their doors or tightened underwriting standards we are still able to evenually find lenders..it just takes more time and effort on our part.
Sincerely
Dwight Deely
President
Evergreen Pacific Services
This is so easy…. I bought my home in July 2007 on a 10-year fixed for 6.25% with AmTrust Bank for $75,000 on a home worth $210,000. I’m closing on a refi at 4.875% on a 10-year fixed next week. My closing costs are less than $1000. I called the Title Company I used on my orginal mortgage and they cut a lot of fees to keep me as a customer. AmTrust Bank handles this EXTEMELY easy!!!
These comments are a joke. I can’t understand how people get their information. Most of these people that have had a heck of a time refinancing, look at the lenders they are talking about. I have been in the mortgage business for 12 years and most of these banks people talk about I have never heard of. Things are not as bad as people make them out to be. If you are posting negative comments then you are probabley one of the people that spend more than they make and bought a house they know they could never afford. I’m glad all these changes are taking place in the mortgage industry. If you can’t keep your credit clean and you can’t save money for a down payment you don’t deserve to own a home, that simple.
If you have good credit, equity in your home more then likely you will be able to refinance your home. The biggest issue in some area’s of the country right now is Soft Markets or Declining values. This has been determined by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the MI Companies. Now not all area’s are affected by this and the way they determine these has to do with what market it you are in. This issue has affected purchase and refi transaction. What this does is lower the max allowable financing by 5%, so if the program you trying to do is 100% financing you would only be able to finance 95%, some programs only allow 95% which in turn would be 90%. Just make sure when you loan officer says we can finance 100% of your home you are not in one of these area. They have rated them like hurricanes from a catagory 1 to 5, 5 being the worst. If you are in a 1 to 3 you should be fine, but if you are in a 4 or 5 it may not work. I have seen many lenders out there giving approval letters for certain financing, then to go back to thier borrowers and inform them they need to put down another 5% or that they can’t do the deal at all. Also when trying to refinance, always try to go to the lender that holds your mortgage 9 out of 10 times there fees for refinancing are a lot less due to not having as high recording fees since they loan is already in house. Also when using on-line lenders they may not know the market you are in, so make sure that you are the expert and call around to local lenders to find out if your area is in one of these markets.
Yet another example of “It’s not my fault, it’s everyone else”. If a borrower can’t manage debt, why should a bank or other financial institution lend them money to refi on a house they probably couldn’t afford in the first instance? Perhaps they should start by laying off the twice a day, $4 lattes, and try leaving the Visa and MasterCard at home!
P.S. I am in process of a refi at 5-1/8% on a 30-year fixed.
How about you mortgage whores stop advertising on this thread. If you truly wanted to “help” people, you would not have preyed on them the past 5 years. What the differnce between a mortgage broker and flounder? One is a bottom feeding scum sucker and the other is a fish.
Our refi went perfectly and we locked in at 4.5%. My wife and I are the exception in America, we don’t owe money to credit card companies and live within our middle-class means by budgeting for future purchases or emergencies. We make less than $90,000 a year combined.
Americans, in general, have created their own mess. Many complain about stricter lending standards and high fees. Well, welcome to the real world. If you want to own a home, start acting like you deserve one. Stop charging all those unnecessary items (tvs, newest cell phones) to your credit cards. If a friend came to you asking for money, and you knew they had a bad history of paying it back, would you loan them the money? Of course not! Stop expecting banks (for-profit institutions) to give you money without looking into your ability to pay it back. This whole mortgage fiasco is mainly caused by the same people complaining the most. The average American! Those of you walking out on your mortgage obligation, good luck getting another in the next two decades. Not gonna happen. You have shown just how greedy and irresponsible you can be. A home purchase is a long-term investment. If you thought you could buy in, then cash out in a short period, cry me a river. You gambled and lost.
The bottom line is that you must have a mortgage professional who knows what they are doing. The right mortgage professional will take a complete application and discuss the benefits and pitfalls of refinancing. I was turned down at 2 places saying my loan could not be done. I was referred to Provident Mortgage in Florida and they took the time to discuss my needs and wants, they tailored a plan to meet the needs and I closed 2 weeks ago, with a fixed rate under 6% on a 30 year mortgage. I even had a few dings on my credit. Not bad at all if I may say. BTW, they can be reached at
It is typical. The American way. Everybody wants something for free. Your 200K loan costing 4-6K in closing costs makes sense. Keep in mind that 90% of closing costs are usually (depending on the state sometimes there is a state and county tax sometimes not). Let me break down the fees for you.
1) The Lender has a fee to Underwrite the loan.
2) Taxes are applicable in some states.
3) Title Fees are another 3rd party fee. If you wish to reduce those fees by 40% go back to the title co that you used for your last purchase or re-fi.
I am a mortgage broker. The misinformation is a joke! I’m having problems refinancing people with 780 FICO’s who bought at the height of the market, but because they are in a declining market, they cannot re-fi. Can they help it if the neighbor helped in the depreciation of their home if they sold below market.
The reality is that everybody will blame the Broker. He “conned” you into the loan? PLEASE!!! I tried to talk soooo many people out of those junk loans, but they had to have the minimum payment. Knowledge is power, and not enough knowledge is dangerous. If you people get you facts from the media you are in for a surprise. We are only at the tip of the iceberg on our declining markets.
Consumers are Idiots….I enjoy setting poeple up with loans that have no clue, don’t take the time to educate themselves, and just sign away while knowing full well they are going to charge their credit cards up again after they just paid them off with the equity in there home. How dont you know what an ARM is??? It’s 2008 people…GOOGLE IT! You people desearve losing your house. Not because someone ripped you off, but because your undiciplined gotta have everything NOW spenders…lmao!!
I have been a mortgage broker in the Midwest for 20 years, and have helped clients save money in several refinance booms. It is heartbreaking to tell borrowers we cannot refinance their home loans to lower rates, mainly because appraisal values are not coming in high enough to cover existing debt they have placed against their homes. Some recent clients bought homes last year that are today 10-20% lower in appraisal value, and the once 80% LTV is now 100%.
Lender rules are impacting good borrowers less than shrinking appraisal values.
It was a piece of cake. I’ve got solid credit and did 2 refi’s on properties I own…both went no doc, which surprised me. 5.5% no points. life is good.
Suzie-
First of all its an “escrow accountâ€, not escort. And yes, you do have to pre-pay into this account. Say if your taxes are due in June, and you Refi in January, you will have to pre-pay 6 months of reserves to have enough in your ESCROW account to pay the bill in full. You will receive your current escrow account back if you refinanced with a different lender. It does not take months to get that back. FYI- And it does take a hit to the rate to waive your escrows. The banks don’t want to have liens on the title if something were to happen and you didn’t pay your taxes or mortgage payments.
Simple and cheap was what I was looking for as well. I looked all over the internet and went to places like BankRate and called those lenders. They were all the same, quoting me rates that they could not get and charging points when I have excellent credit. I ended up going with a company called Kelly. My loan officer was straight to the point and gave me options of paying points or not and explained the difference between the two. He also accomplished MY GOALS not his. It was the best experience that I have ever had with a refinance. I have referred this company to everyone that I know and if you are looking for an honest company call these guys. I think they do business all over the US, but I would call and ask.
I have a 5yr/ARM whu=ich begins in Oct 2010. No hurry right? I have place a small down payment in hope I would be able to refi before the rate change. So far I can’t get no help because my home value has sank! I have great credit, and always paid my bill on time. When I ask my current Mortgage Co (National City) to help they say no! I’m also paying PMI of 200.00 a month. . I’m thinking of using my VA again but reluctant since it would add 9000.00 to my mortgage (huge fee to use VA again). Funny thing though is it would be less than the ARM + PMI.
Here is what I think, sure times are tough. I get it, my home has gone down in value as well BUT lets face it mortgage companies are not non profit organizations. What people do not realize is that mortgage companies do not make their money off of “closing costs” They make their money off of servicing the loan. All of your closing costs go to 3rd party companies Ex: Title, escrow, aprraisers, YOUR prepaids and interest, YOUR escrow acct. Usually the only thing a lender makes is a lender fee of about $900 bucks. What you have to realize is that when you refi with a “Broker” they are the ones putting you in a loan and it is just sold to a larger lender who services it. So dont go with the “broker” that just tells you what you want to hear, because lets face it they dont care its not their house. Direct lenders are the way to go, you get a more seasoned loan officer that is held to higher ethical standards. Remember when you have a house plan for the bad times to (like the market declining) It’s like a car what good is a BMW if you cant afford to fix it. You have to plan for “accidents” dont live outside your means. Other than that we all should be fine. there is nothing wrong with renting until you can TRUELY afford a house even through bad times.
I refinanced with Provident Funding (who carried my previous loan) a few weeks ago. I consolidated a 7/23 baloon (with Provident) and a HELOC (with Chase) into a 30-yr fixed. I locked at 5.875%, with Provident paying all of my NRCC. The process was ridiculously easy; they were able to do the refi without an appraisal. I have 35% equity in the house and 730-780 credit scores.
So if you have solid credit and reasonable equity, refinancing is not a problem. If you have bad credit and/or bought at the tip of the bubble, well, your SOL.
I bought my house in June 2006 with an 80% first lien and another 17% second lien, each at a rate of 6.875% – a bargain at the time. Now that rates have dropped so drastically, I called to refi the first and try to get a rate well below 6.00%. The lender would not even consider me unless my LTV was less than 90%. I live in a stable market and have a FICO greater than 820. A refi would have saved me almost $200 a month, and I would gladly pay a couple thousand in new closing costs to save that money in the long run. Oh well, at least both of my loans are fixed rate…
While the lending markets have changed and it has become more difficult to qualify for certain loan programs, it is by no means impossible. I have been in mortgage industry related fields for the past 10+ years and have seen the changes in the marketplace first hand. While liberal lending practices aided some parties in obtaining properties they may have not have otherwise qualified for, there are still programs available for those who are credit worthy.
Borrower’s should also konw that certain markets in the country are now being faced with bloated home values which government backed programs are taking into consideration. Home owners must keep this in mind when speaking to a loan officer/bank rep.
There are still good rates and solid loan programs to be had despite the gloom and doom reports. In the past 2 weeks rates for fixed rate mortgages were back down into all time low ranges.
If you are interested in receiving more information on what may be available to you, feel free to contact me directly at nehomeloans@gmail.com.
Best of luck to everyone in their quest for home financing.
First of all, it costs money to borrow money. And for those of you who are saying it should be easy to get a loan if you have perfect credit, this is part of the major issue right now.. not just subprime mortgages. Its not the lenders fault that people can not read the documents that they are signing their name on. Come on, when you are borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars, you should know what you are signing!! Yes, there are brokers out there that will take advantage of lower credit, income borrowers.. but so do everyone else, i.e. insurance, car loans, credit card companies, etc… the media needs to stop putting all the blame on the brokers and lenders, if the FED wants to give money to whoever has a pulse, why is it the banks fault.
You want to here from CALIFORNIA ? I bought a house about three years ago for $250,000.00 The value went up to $550,000.00 than dropped to 340,000.00 in last few months, while the value of the home was up i pulled a secound for $40,000.00, Now to refi i will probibly need to pay pmi and pay $6,000.00 in closing fees.I should have sold it when it was at top value, I,d be a renter with $200,000.00 in the bank.
I work for a bank in California and am actually very busy with purchases and refinances. Not everyone is overextended or upside down in their homes. We have excellent rates, very little fees, and great programs. If you have questions feel free to give me a call at 661-847-7324 and ask for Jeanne. I can do a loan anywhere in California.
Yes, i agree Refinance is a joke. To reduce you monthly payment. You have to pake Origination Fee, one percent of Title Insurance even though you have already (and even if you are going thru the same lender). For 250K loan you have atleas pay the closing cost 5K to 6K. They say the Zero closing, then they say you are not eligible even if you have solid credit history and score with No black marks.
in regarding bobs,byron mn,ask to the fees that brokers are charging,and how easy it is to buy a car he has no idea what the dealers are getting at the back end,and he will not see the same way mortgage loan do.bob if you do not want the fees just take a higher rate,and you are done,if he has good credit.
I’m a veteran and CMPS certified loan officer. Far too many of my clients are not able to take advantage of these low rates and thusly strengthen their financial position. It’s not a matter of them having been wreckless and over-leveraging their properties over the last five to seven years but rather just the unfortunate result of the housing collapse and subsequent drop in values. One refi on which I’m working right now is for a client whose home appraised for $460k in summer of 2006. The current sales data available to determine value in the subject property’s neighborhood will now result in an appraised value of approximately $340k. Additionally, the appraiser will be checking the “6+” box for number of months needed to market propties.
That’s a loss of $120k over the last 18 months.
Additionally, I’ll recommend here that if anyone is looking to refi and wants to truly ascertain if it’s prudent to do so given the specifics of your situation, please visit the following site to locate a CMPS Certified Mortgage Planner near you:
http://www.cmpsinstitute.org/public/menu
CMPS Certified Mortgage Planners carry the highest certification that the industry has to offer.
Home-owners need to realize that many, many loan officers out there are very hungry for business and may be inclined to steer someone towards a refi when it doesn’t pencil out.
Best of luck.
I got my first mortgage at 10.525%, and have been trying to refinance for almost a year now.
After learning more about how the mortgage industry works, I’ve been able to really shop my options and find the best deal for my family.
My best advice is never take anyone’s word for it. If it sounds too good to be tue, it probably is. And if the appraisal doesn’t come in close to what you expect, do some research. I’ve had 3 appraisals done over the past 3 months, with 3 different results. Save your self time, money and aggrevation: look up your comps (county sales records are public information) and challenge the appraiser.
Then make sure you get GFEs you can compare side by side before signing anything. Closing costs are far from standardized and always negotiable.
It’s taken me a while, but now I’m confident I’m making the rigt move.
Lenders don’t have your best interest in mind, so be your own advocate and fight for what’s best for you!
This is ridiculous. You shouldn’t have to honor a contract you agreed to just because you can’t afford it?
You should be able to pay less than you promised, without any cost to you?
Where is all this entitlement coming from?
I’m a mortgage lender. There are a few things you need to know upfront. 1) Money costs money. You pay for it just like groceries, so the fees you pay, part of which is the cost of the money you are borrowing. 2)Go to a bank or direct lender. They don’t have to “shop” your loan around and often have the best rates and lowest fees. 3) Banks and mortgage companies are for profit organizations. Fees are how we make money. Do you ask your auto mechanic to change your oil for free or for just the cost of oil? We have overhead and costs to cover, and believe me they are tight. 4) If you don’t understand what you are getting, ask around, ask other loan officers or the manager of your local mortgage branch. Don’t ask your neighbor, hairdresser or brother-in-law for advice. 5) Compare apples to apples. Your buddy might have refi’d at 4.75 on a 30 yr fix but you don’t know his credit, equity or fee profile. He probably paid points (again the cost of money) and might not be in the same situation you are. Finally, did it ever occur to you when you bought your house that you were greedy and couldn’t afford the payments? Maybe you should have bought a smaller house that you could really afford. We only responded to what the market wanted and that was bigger fancier houses that we knew damn well the borrowers couldn’t afford but the people spoke and we listened. Mortgage and real estate are market based businesses and just like anything else. It’s all supply and demand and demand you did so we supplied and now you can’t afford that huge house in the suburbs, you didn’t take care of your credit and you didn’t pay attention or ask questions when you signed your loan papers. Homeowners, take responsibility for your own actions and stop blaming the mortgage guy for all your woes.
Again, do you people have any idea what your talking about. People just don’t have the ability to walk away from their homes. What are they going to go do, rent? You don’t think the apartment complex is going to look at their credit and ask questions? It’s not the average person walking away from their home. Again, stop and think about it and stop taking everything you read at face value.
I tried to re-fi and succeeded, but it took effort on my part. If you want to save money, you got to be willing to put the work in to do so. I did not have enough equity due to home prices declining in my area, and the appraised value was a few thousand short. I however fought the appraised value by researching and providing real estate comps of other homes in my area. The appraisal was raised; I met the equity requirement, and was able to re-fi at 5.75%. It was worth the extra effort on my part since I am now saving $150 per month.
We refinanced about 3 months ago, I wish we had waited until just after the first of the year, but that’s the gamble. We had absolutely no problem….but being in, what is now, sadly, the minority (homeowners that actually have ‘earned’ equity in their homes by paying for years on a 15 year conventional loan) and having the control to spend not too far out of our means, we have great credit. If the rates go down another 3/4 of a percent, we’ll probably bite the finance charges and do it again to knock a couple/few hondo a month off this 15 year conventional tab.
FHA refi is the way to go as long as you have a W-2 job and good (no 30 day lates) mortgage history. I do lots of these in Georgia and save my grateful clients a TON of money. Contact me at jim@mygfn.com anytime I can answer any questions for you.
I currently have a 15 year fixed mortgage loan on an original amount 110,000 with a fixed rate 5.25 from December 2004. Due to the downward trend in interest rates, I had decided to refinance at a lower rate with a 20% cash out option. I have contacted a few lenders, and the bst I was offered was with a interest rate of 5.375 on a 15 yr fixed with approximately 3,700 in closing costs.
After the Fed made rate cuts twice, the mortgage rates went down slightly only to get back to where it was a few weeks ago. Can anybody tell me how much influence the Fed rate cuts have on mortage rates? Also why are they not stable? Why do they keep rising thereafter, when the Fed rates are still kept low ? I strongly believe that the Fed rate cuts do not trickle down proportionally to the home owners. They only help the banks and the financial institutions for lending and borrowing amongst themselves. They are too greedy to share it with us, the home owners, who also happen to be their constant source of income and greed !
I have read all the comments and I think some of you have a handle on the situation. The refinance market is definitely not as bad as the media will lead you to believe. Granted, if you have made a late payment on your mortgage in the last 12 months, or had a bankruptcy, or foreclosure recently you might run into some issues. Everyone ells should be looking to refinance with the interest rates being so low. I read that someone suggested not working with brokers and just use a Direct Lender. I could not disagree more with that statement. I would have to say that 75% of the consumers out there would benefit from a broker’s recourses that a direct lender does not have. From my experience, direct lenders may not cost as much, but you will not get as good of an interest rate. The “Closing Cost” you absorbed will pay off in less than 2 years but your interest rate will not. Even 50 dollars a month in payment difference amounts to $18,000 over a 30 year mortgage. GO FOR THE LOWER INTERST RATE. If you ask your broker, I am sure they will meet you half way and you can take advantage of both scenarios. He would rather have your business that not. The problem with direct lenders is they only have one guideline and/or program guidelines to follow to get you approved. Lenders have small differences in there guidelines that could make all the difference in the world to your loan. Being able to compare those differences is paramount to getting the best deal. That is exactly what a broker can do for you. Would you rather close on your loan in 8 days or get the best deal you could based on your particular situation? Unless you have a 720 credit score and are at 80% loan to value, brokers are the way to go.
I’d love to refinance but will have to wait until May 2008. Why? Because I didn’t use my noggin when I refinanced in 2005 with an ARM which contains a prep-payment penalty clause. Even though my credit score is 760, I will have to pay a pre-payment penalty of almost $4K to refinance now. Very frustrated to say the least. Also, I have a 2nd mortgage, which I would like to be able to roll into 1 mortgage.
I am a 22 yr vetern in the mortgage industry. Things are only back to where they were before it went crazy and anyone was able to purchase. There is still 100% NO cash out refinaces available. You can refiance and have the lender pay some or all your closing costs and there are wonderful interest rates. Talk to a qualified and REFERRED loan officer. You will get straight answers. It isn’t that hard! Don’t let the media take that away from you too! Shame on you media!
I agree with ryan in his statement that there is a problem with the credit scoring system. This does lead to a lot of problems with refinancing especially if your trying to do the right thing and pay your bills on time and still get screwed when you pull your credit score, to only see it drop instead of increase for no reason at all. I’ve been trying to refi for 2-3 mnths now and keep hitting roadblocks because of all new guidelines on refinancing, and all I’m trying to do is better my sitiuation by refinancing so I can continue to afford my home and pay my bills.
I’m a Broker in Portland, and while I’ve successful with most of my clients others have had to go to FHA (that non refundable UFMIP can be a deal killer) or worse, been tunned down altogether and are stuck in their ARM until their values go back up. The Banks are asking more questions and thoroughly checking even the best borrowers now! (probly’ should have been doing that anyway!!)
Luckily in Portland our values have held up relative to the rest of the country so it could have been worse for many here!
This is my third “down Market” and this is probly about as tough as I’ve seen it well at least since 1995 or so.
Refinancing is a joke, the whole process is a ripeoff.. 1% origination fees, fees fees and more fees.. 4-6K to refinance a 200k loan.. Should be just a simple as buying a car, sign your name, take out a loan and make payments. If you have good credit it needs to be simple and cheap !!
I just completed the application process to refi my 1st & second. i have excellent credit and have no problem meeting my current obligation. The 2nd is at a higher rate and I wanted to back down from a 30 year to a 15 year plus make some upgrades to the home. Unfortunatley, since 2006 my home has depreciated some 18.25%! What a joke! The mortgage companies deserve everything that is coming to them. I don’t blame folks that are walking out on their mortgages.
To all consumers out there, I hope this helps. If you have a loan that is sold to or serviced by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, you can do a streamlined refinance with your current lender. They will, in most cases use the value of the home from the time they did the original loan not the current (read possibly lower) value. In order to do this you have to be current on the loan and you may have to pay closing costs out of pocket depending on the loan to value. You can only do this with your CURRENT lender. If your loan is not a Fannie or Freddie loan, check with your current lender to see if you would qualify even if the loan is a portfolio (read non-saleable) product.
If you fall into this category, don’t shop around as the other lenders will not be able to do this.
I hope this helps all concerned. I have been doing this for a long time and know the guidelines. Also, even if you have a second mortgage as long as the Combined Loan To Value (CLTV) is under 95% you are ok.
I am an UnderWriter and articles like these show how ignorant the media is. Just like the average consumer is ignorant the media just compounds the ignorance. Really I’m just as ignorant for writing this thinking that that the media or average person will educate themselves about this issue. I just refinanced on a 3.75 arm and had no problem, but then again i’m just an average person who owns a house…
I am a very experienced lender and there is lots of misinformation out there. A previous branch manager stated you can refi an FHA with a credit score of 400 @ 6%. He could not be more incorrect. Credit matters even with FHA. A credit score of 400 implies you have never paid anyone remotely on time. FHA will not insure that loan and lenders will not lend, especially at 97.75% LTV and 6%. Be careful to whom you trust. Mistakes, even honest ones could cost you(appraisal fees, committment fees, home inspections etc). I see it all the time.
My broker said i came back as level 111 aproval, which he is saying say lenders are cutting back on we have have had herendous time with the appraisal the broker having to send the loan to three different lenders to actually get the loan approved , we are in the Michigan market so we have seen prices decline condiderably in are area.
That’s not true at all. I am a loan officer with US Mortgage Finance Corp & If you live in MD, VA, PA, DE, DC, or FL and want to refinance your mortgage to an FHA fixed rate call 1-877-FHA ARMS (877-342-2767) The FHA does not require minimum credit scores! Call and ask for Bill Slaughter or email me at bills@usmfc.com
I have been in the mortgage business for over 17 years. There are still ways to handle refis in this complex market. Get with a mortgage loan officer that has experience. Feel free to contact me about a possible refi…
sherry.bradley@chase.com
I had my refinance completed yesterday with Provident. What surprised me is how much property tax they want me to reserve. My house is a new built. First year property tax is only on the land, which is about $1,100. Second year’s tax will be $900 more. So I figured that $200 a month for tax is enought. However,Provident required me pay 7 month property tax reserve at$395 a month at closing. Meanwhile my monthly mortgage payment still includes the $395 a month tax reserve. My escort account will have large excess fund. But it will take months to year to get my money back. Is this a new strategy that Mortgage company came up to resolve their poor cashflow? Does somebody know what outside agency is responsible for monitering the escort account? I asked my loan officer that I don’t want property tax going to escort. I would like to pay property tax on my own. I was told that in that case that my interest rate will go up. Obviously, Mortgage lender is trying to make some money on the reserve account.
When your loan officer tell you that you will skip one month mortgage payment when you refinance. It is not as good as it sounds. In my case, the accured interest is added to my loan payoff amount.
Take all those facts into the consideration, you really need come up large cash when you refinance or you will end up borrow more.
Yes, thank heavens, we were successful, we refinaced with United Capital Mortgage and had gotten close to loosing our home, we now have a payment we can afford and so much pressure off of our family…
My wife and I went to refi our current mortgage with Wells Fargo. Now our credit scores were 755 and 750. We make over 100K and have 15K credit card debt. We wanted to refinance to pay our debt down while at the same lowering our rate from 6.25 to 5.75 while still maintaining atleast 20% equity in the home, which we would with out current balance. The agent at Wells Fargo right away started pointing us in the direction of a HELOC, and credit card loans with a higher rate than the going rate. He did not know that we were familiar with the different types of loans available and he did not even know that a jumbo loan is more than 360K or the current rate. It seemed that he should not have been working for Wells Fargo since he obiously is incompetent. I wonder how many people have qualified for better rates and loans but the loan officers are greedy and dont even know what they are doing.
My advice read up on all the types of loans available dont just leave it upto the loan officer. Shop around and compare and if its not what you are comfortable with the terms or any other thing dont sign at the closing, walk away.
I shopped around and got the loan I wanted with the interest rate I wanted on my terms.
Be careful and good luck.
Another CCN article today notes all the banks that double check the appraisers reports. A few months ago banks were only using appraisers who whould “OVERVALUE” the noted properties – so banks could loan and then sell the paper. The stinking banking industry has created this problem in this current “get rich” scheme that is now coming unravelled.
I just refinanced with 5.50% (0.5% origination) 30 Yr Fixed with no problems at all.
My three Credit scores were 745, 768 & 795 and my LTV was at about 50%
I could have gotten a 15 yr fixed at 4.75%
I have a Condo in Denver. Great area, near light rail, parks and biking trail that gives access to anywhere in the city. I have great credit but I was advised by my bank (Wells Fargo) that they will not refi me because the person that did the appraisal gave the value a lesser value than my loan balance. I know the value of it has dropped, but not by 30%.
I just closed a refi lowered my interest too $10,000 cash out and lowerred my monthly payments. It did help that my credit rating was GOOD (over 780). But there should be some reqard for doing the right thing all these years and not getting tied up in DEBT.
I’ve been a mortgage broker for the past 11 years and immediately saw problems when the ‘Option ARMS’ were introduced. Unfortunately, time has proven me right. Greed was the culprit on behalf of both the lender AND the borrower.
I’m proud to say I did not advocate the ‘Option ARMS’ and, as a result, lost business because customers/borrowers insisted on the loans even AFTER I had counselled them about the pitfalls.
The media continues to blame the lenders when, in fact, the borrower is equally responsible for the current fiasco.
I recently refinanced my home and signed close to 100 documents. Many of those documents were disclosures about the ‘loan type’. Please remember, all those ’sub-prime’ loans that are now being foreclosed on HAD TO SIGN DISCLOSURES INDICATING THE LOAN TYPE, AND THE PARAMETERS OF THE LOAN. Should I really feel sorry for these people when these people signed simular documents? Is it the lenders’ fault if the borrower doesn’t take the time to read the disclosures?
When are people going to become accountable, and responsible? Yes, the lenders are at fault as well. But not totally. The media needs to be ‘more balanced’ in reporting the sub-prime morass. Thank You.
It’s disappointing to constantly hear the news report how poor the housing market is. As a Real Estate Agent and a Loan Officer, my business is booming. It’s a matter of learning what a client wants/needs and educating them on how to get it. First time home buyers are totally unaware they can purchase a home without having to pay any money out of pocket! Why pay rent if you can own and think of the tax advantages! Are you aware if you rent a home for 6 months, making timely payments, you may apply for a loan to purchase that home as a refinance? You will need 6 months additional on time rent payments from where you lived before.
What docs are needed to start a loan process? 2 years tax returns, 2 months bank statements, 30 days pay stubs, driver license and social security. If anyone says there are no fees? Be smart there are always fees, where are they putting them? Compare lenders good faith estimates and truth in lending. Ask questions. Don’t accept a prepayment penalty. There are literally hundreds of programs something to suit almost everyone. Best advice, pay your debt on time! I’m here to answer any questions you might have bluedevilduke@msn.com or 336-314-7248. It’s a great time to buy and refinance combining those higher interest loans – don’t think about it…do it!
As some others have mentioned, this article paints a pretty bleak picture unneccesarily. The fact of the matter is the lenders that have full sign-off approval authority for FHA are doing a whole lot of business. With FHA people can still qualify for a little under 6% at 5.75% as of this morning and prime borrowers can still get down to 5.5%. Those would be for full documentation. Some stated programs are still available. I did a loan yesterday with a 670 score, stated W2, to 80% and his rate is 6.125%. If anyone has any questions or wants a free analysis, give me a call at 1-866-312-6682 ext. 313.
The frustrating part is that lenders are not in the business of helping you out. Lenders are in the business to make their shareholders profit. So even if you can reduce your overall debt-to-income ratio by half, and you are disqualified on another issue — like less than a year on the job and in a new industry, or one mortgage late in the last 12 months, you are out of luck. Unless you are working with someone who knows all the rules and ever changing guidelines, you may get declined when you should be approved. I see this happen every day. Borrowers need to work with an experienced person. If you are looking to refinance in Oregon, Washington or California, check out my testimonials at joshleake.com.
We just finished our ReFi.
Jeff Finble from Laramie Mortgage in Oklahoma City was our specialist. He is a wonderful guy and an avid Fisherman like myself.
He was able to get us approved at a 40 year fixed at only 8.65%. Our PMI was costly, but Jeff explained that if we forego vacations for the next 4 years, that will cover it. And the entire transaction cost only $3700. which we rolled into a second mortgage with an excellent 7.25% rate.
WE did pull our son from college for this year, but if everything goes as Jeff has laid out, he should be able to return in 2010.
I would recomend Jeff to anyone looking to solve their mortgage problem. He is also a Gold cap Distributor for the Amway Corporation and can get a big discount on volume purchases.
Call him, you’ll be glad you did. We are.
On January 14, 2008 the FDIC web site began posting the rules for reimbursing depositors in the event of a bank failure. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is required to “determine the total insured amount for each depositor….as of the day of the failure†and return their money as quickly as possible. The agency is “modernizing its current business processes and procedures for determining deposit insurance coverage in the event of a failure of one of the largest insured depository institutions.†( http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2008/fil08002.html#body )
The implication is clear, the FDIC has begun the “death watch†on the many banks which are currently drowning in their own red ink. The problem for the FDIC is that it has never supervised a bank failure which exceeded 175,000 accounts. So the impending financial tsunami is likely to be a crash-course in crisis management. Today some of the larger banks have more than 50 million depositors, which will make the FDIC’s job nearly impossible.
Good luck.
It’s worth noting that, due to a rule change by Congress in 1991, the FDIC is now required to use “the least costly transaction when dealing with a troubled bank. The FDIC won’t reimburse uninsured depositors if it means increasing the loss to the deposit insurance fund….As a result, uninsured depositors are protected only if a bank acquiring the failed bank will pay more for all of the deposits than it would for insured deposits only.†(MarketWatch)
Great. That’s reassuring. And there’s more, too. FDIC Chairman Shiela Bair warned that “as of Sept. 30, there were 65 institutions with assets of $18.5 billion on its list of “problem” institutions;†although she wouldn’t give names.
So, what does it all mean?
It means there’s going to be an unprecedented wave of bank closures in the US and that people who want to hold on to their life savings are going have to be extra vigilant as the situation continues to deteriorate. And it is deteriorating very quickly.
Right now, many of the country’s largest investment banks are holding $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities and other structured investments that are steadily depreciating in value. As these assets wear-away the banks’ capital, the likelihood of default becomes greater. This week, Fitch Ratings announced that it will (probably) cut ratings on the 5 main bond insurers (Ambac, MBIA, FGIC, CIFG,SCA) “regardless of their capital levelsâ€. This seemingly innocuous statement has roiled markets and put Wall Street in a panic. If the bond insurers lose their AAA rating (on an estimated $2.4 trillion of bonds) then the banks could lose another $70 billion in downgraded assets.
That would increase their losses from the credit crunch–which began in August 2007—to $200 billion with no end in sight. It would also impair their ability to issue loans to even credit worthy customers which will further dampen growth in the larger economy. Structured investments have been the banks’ “cash cow†for nearly a decade, but, suddenly, the trend has shifted into reverse. Revenue streams have dried up and capital is being destroyed at an accelerating pace. The $2 trillion market for collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) is virtually frozen leaving horrendous debts that will have to be written-down leaving the banks’ either deeply scarred or insolvent. It’s a mess.
There were some interesting developments in a case involving Merrill Lynch last week which sheds a bit of light on the true “market value†of these complex debt-pools called CDOs. The Massachusetts Secretary of State has charged Merrill with “fraud and misrepresentation†for selling them a CDO that was “highly risky and esoteric” and “unsuitable for the City of Springfield.†(Most cities are required by law to only purchase Triple A rated bonds) The city of Springfield bought the CDO less than a year ago for $13.9 million. It is presently valued at $1.2 million—MORE THAN A 90% LOSS IN LESS THAN A YEAR.
Merrill has quietly settled out of court for the full amount and seems genuinely confused by the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s apparent anger. A Merrill spokesman said blandly, “We are puzzled by this suit. We have been cooperating with the Secretary of State Galvin’s office throughout this inquiry.â€
Is it really that hard to understand why people don’t like getting ripped of?
This anecdote shows that these exotic mortgage-backed securities are real stinkers. They’re worthless. The market for structured debt-instruments has evaporated overnight leaving a massive hole in the banks’ balance sheets. The likely outcome will be a rash of defaults followed by greater consolidation of the major players. (re: banking monopolies) The Fed’s multi-billion bailout plan; the “Temporary Auction Facility†(TAF) is a quick-fix, but not a permanent solution. The real problem is insolvency, not liquidity.
The smaller banks are dire straights, too. They’re bogged down with commercial and residential loans that are defaulting faster than any time since the Great Depression. The Comptroller of the Currency,John Dugan–who is presently investigating commercial real estate loans—discovered that commercial banks “wrote off $524 million in construction and development loans in the third quarter of 2007, almost nine times the amount of 2006â€. The commercial real estate market is following residential real estate off a cliff and will undoubtedly be the next shoe to drop.
Dugan found out that, “More than 60% of Florida banks have commercial real estate loans worth more than 300% of their capital, a level that automatically attracts more attention from examiners.†(Wall Street Journal) He said that his office was prepared to intervene if banks with large real estate exposure maintained unreasonably low reserves for bad loans. Dugan is forecasting a steep “increase in bank failures.â€
According to Reuters: “Dozens of U.S. banks will fail in the next two years as losses from soured loans mount and regulators crack down on lenders that take too much risk, especially in real estate and construction,” predicts Gerard Cassidy, RBC Capital Markets analyst. Apart from the growing losses in commercial and residential real estate, the banks are carrying over $150 billion of “unsyndidated†debt connected to leveraged buyout deals (LBOs) which are presently stuck in the mud. Like CDOs, there’s no market for these sketchy transactions which require billions in cheap, easily available credit. They’ve just become another anvil dragging the banks under.
On January 31, Bloomberg News reported: “Losses from securities linked to subprime mortgages may exceed $265 billion as regional U.S. banks, credit unions and overseas financial institutions write down the value of their holdings.†Standard and Poor’s added that “it may cut or reduce ratings of $534 billion of subprime-mortgage securities and CDOs as default rates rise.†Another blow to the banks withering balance sheets. Is it any wonder why the “new loans” spigot has been turned off?
Surprisingly, there’s an even bigger threat to the financial system than these staggering losses at the banks. A default by one of the big bond insurers could trigger a meltdown in the credit-default swaps market, which could lead to the implosion of trillions of dollars in derivatives bets. The inability of the under-capitalized monolines (bond insurers) to “make good†on their coverage is likely to set the first domino in motion by increasing the number of downgrades on bond issues and intensifying the credit-paralysis which already is spreading throughout the system.
MSN Money’s financial analyst Jim Jubak summed it up like this:
“Actually, I’m worried not so much about the junk-bond market itself as the huge market for a derivative called a credit-default swap, or CDS, built on top of that junk-bond market. Credit-default swaps are a kind of insurance against default, arranged between two parties. One party, the seller, agrees to pay the face value of the policy in case of a default by a specific company. The buyer pays a premium, a fee, to the seller for that protection.
This has grown to be a huge market: The total value of all CDS contracts is something like $450 trillion….. Some studies have put the real credit risk at just 6% of the total, or about $27 trillion. That puts the CDS market at somewhere between two and six times the size of the U.S. economy.
All it will take in the CDS market is enough buyers and sellers deciding they can’t rely on this insurance anymore for junk-bond prices to tumble and for companies to find it very expensive or impossible to raise money in this market.” (Jim Jubak’s Journal; “The Next Banking Crisis is on the Way”, MSN Money)
Jubak really nails it here. In fact, this is what Wall Street is really worried about. $450 trillion in cyber-credit has been created through various off balance sheets operations which neither the Fed nor any other regulatory body can control. No one even knows how these abstruse, credit-inventions will perform in a falling market. But, so far, it doesn’t look good.
The enormity of the derivatives market ($450 trillion) is the direct result of Greenspan’s easy-credit monetary policies as well as the reconfiguring of the markets according to the “structured finance†model. The new model allows banks to run off-balance sheets operations that, in effect, create money out of thin air. Similarly, “synthetic†securitization, in the form of credit default swaps (CDS) has turned out to be another scam to avoid maintaining sufficient capital to cover a sudden rash of defaults. The bottom line is that the banks and non-bank institutions wanted to maximize their profits by keeping all their capital in play rather than maintaining the reserves they’d need in the event of a market downturn.
In a deregulated market, the Federal Reserve cannot control the creation of credit by non-bank institutions. As the massive derivatives bubble unwinds, it is likely to have real and disastrous effects on the underlying-productive economy. That’s why Jubak and many other market analysts are so concerned. The persistent rise in home foreclosures, means that the derivatives which were levered on the original assets (sometimes exceeding 25-times their value) will vanish down a black hole. As trillions of dollars in virtual-capital are extinguished by a click of the mouse; the prospects of a downward deflationary spiral become more likely.
As economist Nouriel Roubini said:
“One has to realize that there is now a rising probability of a ‘catastrophic’ financial and economic outcome, i.e. a vicious circle where a deep recession makes the financial losses more severe and where, in turn, large and growing financial losses and a financial meltdown make the recession even more severe. That is why the Fed has thrown caution to the wind and taken a very aggressive approach to risk management.†(Nouriel Roubini EconoMonitor)
“In the fourth quarter of 2007, new foreclosures averaged 2,939 a day, double the pace of a year earlier.” (RealtyTrac Inc.) The banks are presently cutting back on home equity loans which provided an additional $600 billion to homeowners last year for personal consumption. Bush’s $150 billion “stimulus package†will barely cover a quarter of the amount that is lost. As consumer spending slows and the banks become more constrained in their lending; businesses will face overproduction problems and will have to limit their expansion and lay off workers. This is the downside of “low interest†bubble-making; a painful descent into deflation.
Capital is now being destroyed at a faster pace than it is being created. That’s why the Fed is looking for solutions beyond mere rate cuts. Bernanke wants direct government action that will provide immediate stimulus. But that takes political consensus and there’s still debate about the gravity of the upcoming recession. The pace of the economic contraction is breathtaking. This week’s release of the Institute for Supply Management’s Non-Manufacturing Index (ISM) was a shocker. It showed steep declines in all areas of the nation’s service sector—including banks, travel companies, contractors, retail stores etc—The Business Activity Index, the New Orders Index, the Employment Index, and the Supplier Delivery Index have all contracted at a “historic†pace. Everyone took a hit. “The numbers are so terrible, it’s beyond belief,†said Scott Anderson, senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co.
The $2 trillion that has been wiped out from falling home prices, the slowdown in lending activity at the banks, the loss $600 billion in home equity loans, and the faltering stock market have all contributed to a noticeable change in the public’s attitudes towards spending. Traffic to the shopping malls has slowed to a crawl. Retail shops had their worst January on record. Homeowners are hoarding their earnings to cover basic expenses and to make up for their lack of personal savings. The spending-spigot has been turned off. America’s consumer culture is in full-retreat. The slowdown is here. It is now. We are likely to see the sharpest decline in consumer spending in US history. Bush’s $150 billion will be too little too late.
America’s place in the world has been guaranteed not by what it produces but by what it consumes. The American consumer has been the locomotive that drives the global economy. Now that engine has been derailed by the reckless monetary policies of the Fed and by shortsighted financial innovation. When equity bubbles collapse; everybody pays. Demand for goods and services diminishes, unemployment soars, banks fold, and the economy stalls. That’s when governments have to step in and provide programs and resources that keep people working and sustain business activity. Otherwise there will be anarchy. Middle class people are ill-suited for life under a freeway overpass. They need a helping hand from government. Big government. Good-bye, Reagan. Hello, F.D.R.
The Bush stimulus plan is a drop in the bucket. It’ll take much, much more. And, we’re not holding our breath for a New Deal from George Walker Bush.
By Mike Whitney
Email: fergiewhitney@msn.com
Eighteen months ago I took out a first mortgage for $80,000 with a down payment of $30,000. Last week I decided to look into refinancing. Without giving any information about my creditworthiness I was told that the interest rate for refinancing (secondary market) was about 1.5% higher than the rate for original mortgages. It is not my house and it is not my ability to repay.
I am a mortgage broker that is licensed in NY & CT…if anyone has any questions please feel free to email me at Robert@lendingresource.net or call me at 914-804-9889 to see if I may be able to help on any situations
There are plenty of good loans being offered by Banks, refinance with us, visit my site at http://www.calfine.com, must have good credit. Looking to refinance shop our rates. California Borrowers only, we cover California with Low Rates.
Essentialy you need to look at the numbers to see if it makes sense. I am a former financial anlyst of Ford turned mortgage banker. The break even on closing costs should be between 24 and 30 months to make sense. The reason for that is that most people refinance their home every 5-7 years so you need time to actually see the return on the investment of refinancing. I also advise my clients to take the new savings and apply them to their roth ira or retirement account because they will see an overall increase in their value over those months. The power of interest is awesome.
i have an mba in finance from the university of michigan so if you have any questions email me @jaykess01@yahoo.com. I underpromise and overdeliver.
I work for a Private Lender and am a mortgage banker. My company has about 200 different programs to help with the refinance or purchase of your home. If you want good and honest answers and/or to help you take a look at the refinance possibilities out there for you, please do not hesitate to email me. It is jmcalister@surepoint.com. We do have FHA programs as well as conventional.
Anyone looking for a real bank and not a broker, you should check out Concord bank. We’re based out of Long Island, Ny but we do loans in all states. We’re sponsors of the New York Islanders, New York Dragons arena football team, and Long Island Ducks minor leagye baseball. Check out our website at http://www.concordmc.com
This whole banking situation is way to funny,It really shows how stupid americans on the whole really are. First we have the dummies that used there home equity as there own ATM machine and now owe more than there house is worth, then we have those that bought homes they really could not afford in the first place and only got in due to vodoo numbers loans just to get you in and let you deal with the mess later. Then we have the dummies that signed up for resetting loans,intrest only,ARMS and so on and so on. I do not blame the banks they do what they are in business to do make money at any cost just in case you did not know you american dummies out there, banks are in business for one thing and one thing only and that is to seperate you from your money period. So it is in your best intrest to get in and out of bed with them asap.Smart people never bite off more than they can chew and it is way better to live within your means than above. But this problem like all shall pass in a few years and the banks even learned a big lesson dont lend to sub prime folk with out a huge down stroke.So know i am just goona set back and wait for a 15 year product to show itself in the low 4’s and refi this hoome and pay it off as fast as possible like my other home. I do realize i might not be able to buy a new car in the next 15 years but with the intrest saved i will never be in this mess
The problem is the appraisers. My house appraised for allot less than comps showed but he just picked the first two on the list.
HI CAN I REFIANCE FRON 6.28% TO 5% WITHOUT A CLOSEING COST .IAM WITH COUNTRY WIDE.MY CREDIT SCORE IS OVER 700. I GOT ABOUT $50,000 EQUITY.
Unfortunately I did not understand the relationship of mortgage rates and the 10 year treasury note. I got an itch to refi after I heard of the .75% cut the Fed made and thought that would affect mortgage interest rates in a positive way. Unfortunately, the opposite was true. My bank allows a one time streamline to current rate for 200$ fee. I am at 6.25% on a 30 year mortgage. The rate at the time I inquired was 5.25%, perfect. By the time they had gotten our credit scores, verified our employment (2 hours later) the rate had jumped to 5.875%. We are waiting and hoping they come down.
ill believe that when i see it. anything over 80% loan to value is considered high risk and thats why the banks DEMAND mortgage insurance. ill believe 5.75 at 87% with no PMI when i see it…..
Actually about a year ago i had a 2 year ARM and it had adjusted to around 13%. I couldn’t afford that but unfortunately during the year i lost my job and my credit took a hit. So i had to go the subprime way where i got 10% through New Century before they went bankrupt. Well it was a year after and i still had a prepayment penalty my credit score was only 550 and i was getting sick of paying a high rate. I paid $8500 in interest in 2007 on only 84k. I think thats ridiculous. So i started searching to see if i could go FHA and get a much lower rate. I ended up going to Ace Mortgage who is one of the leading FHA brokers. I just recently got my loan done and i am now at a flat 6% with no prepayment penalty. It took them a while to get the loan done(we started in November and closed end of January). So it is possible for those who have subprime mortgages to get out. My credit wasn’t the best but now i have a 6% loan.
Bought a condo in Stamford, CT and closed in September. Original 5/1 was set at 6.5%. Refinanced two weeks ago for a 30yr fixed at 5.25%.
Daylight Discount Mortgage is the BEST compnay out there, by far. Licensed in 14 states. Check out their pricing calculator @ http://www.daylightdm.com.
I have been approved (will close next week) to refinance at a 30 Year Fixed at 5.75% with my credit union (vs. 6.5% 5 year ARM, and 7.7% second mortgage). It’s a condo townhouse with stable home values, and close in location.
Even though the LTV is only 87%, I will not have to pay any PMI or take out a 2nd mortgage.
My credit score is good (avg 750).
to Lynn in portsmith switch your lender from GMAC to Chase Home Mortgage they do loan for what is called a non-warrantable condo. Which is what your complex has become.
Middle class new homeowners are in a “catch 22″. I’m able to afford my current mortages (w/3yr ARM), but I have been turned down for a refi, even with good credit. I have been basically told that my home is now worth less then when I brought it, in Feb. All that I wanted to do was to refi at a 30 fix and a better rate. This market makes me scared.
Hello all
I just bought a new place at an inerest rate 6.68 in August 2007.
I am new to all of this and at times feel overwhelmed with the weatlth of information and roadblocks
I have FICO score of above 660
Can anyone suggest a reliable mortgage company for refinancing
Thanks
If any of you have a mortgage, you should educate yourselves on what’s out tehre for specific credit scores. I’m not an ownerof a bank but i’ve been a branch manager for 3 years and there’s plenty of programs out there. Right now FHA is going to cause the next refinance boom and turn this economy around. Whether you have a 400 credit score or a 800 you can refinance at a 6% at 97% LOAN TO VALUE rate and term. so if you have a 5.75% this doesnt apply to you, than again you shouldbt be complaining but if you have that 8% with no more equity go to FHA at 97.75% equity to be exact and get into the 6% fixed payment with NO PREPAYMENT PENALTY. email me at mmaxwell@concordmc.com and i’d love to see if i can help you out.
My name is Dilip Shah. I bought house in Dec. 2006in Cleveland. I am sure I bargained and got good rate for 15 years fixed @ 5.60. Third Federal bank approved my loan with full assessment of credit score and other required points.
Since I took loan , I determined to clear my loan within 7 years to 10 years. I am paying regular instalments plus keep extra bucks to my account to pay towards principal. By paying $ 10000. towards principal I would be able to reduce my debt to 24 months.
One has to develop the strategy and have to have determination.
Now with reducing Mortgage rates I am watching daily CNN website and trying to find the bottom rate.
Now if we talk about refinancing , Its’ very hard for even regular instalment payers,which I read headlines today.
it incurrs lots of additional cost and the situation is where it was.
Instead I checked for Re-modification of loan which costs just say $425 , one time processing fee and can reduce my instalment by $ 23/- a month. Which looks net savings of about $ 3000 with your regular tenure.
I am a mortgage loan officer and I have been refinancing my customers reducing their rate over 1% which has been saving them from $150.00 to $250.00 depending the size of the mortgage. You have to be careful of what kind of fees the lenders are charging. I work for a National Direct Lender and we have one fee of $395.00 paid to us for a document reveiw fee. Also, we offer streamline refinances for conventional, FHA and VA loans. I feel it is very important keep the closing cost as low as you can since who wants to roll high closing cost into their mortage which will result paying interest them over the life of the loan. I have been in the mortgage field since 1992 and I have seen all different markets. IF anyone has any questions please feel free to call me at 401-286-8817. Also, be very careful of mortgage brokers they tend to have much higher closing cost.
We refinanced from a 30 year interest only at 5.875 for the first 5 years to
a 30 year fixed at 5.625 through Countrywide. The entire transaction from the first contact to closing took 8 days….very easily done!
I’m on 15 year mortgage.My banker called and offered to refi down to 5.125. I said OK. I was paying 6 percent. They lowered again. I closed at 4.875. Cost: $395.
I am trying to refinance a townhouse condo that I have had for 11 years. I am after a 75% loan to value. GMAC Mortage has number of mortgages with me on properties including this one. We have a 800 credit score and plenty of income and reserve. GMAC is having problems as there loans are Ginny Mae or Freddie Mac, and there is one owner of condo’s in the complex that owns several units that brings his ownership to 10% of the complex. GMAC is having a hard time getting my loan placed. I feel that some of the qualifications are going to drive prices down farther.
I paid off my mortgage in 2007 when the @#$^ hit the fan and now I could care less what those bass turds do!
I agree 100% with Ryan.. I am in the same problem, But in my case I have three medical bill and my fico is 620. I always paid evrything on time. I also know a person who bought a house couple years ago and did not make their mortgage payment for 11 month and have a fico score of 700..something need to change…
Refinancing is not as difficult as the press is letting on to be. I own a mortgage company, if you have credit scores above 620 it is no problem to refi. Email me at dogden@paramountmortgages.com if you need any help or have any questions. I will be glad to help.
My mortgage was for 248,000 at a rate of 6.875% on a 5 year ARM, Advisors Mortgage Group Toms River, rate and term refiananced me into 5.875% on a 30 year fixed. Now I’m locked into this new low rate. They’ve exceeded my expectations!!
I am continueing to read all of the negetive hype that is fueling the real estate nightmare. Please stop making it sound as though people will find if impossible to buy or refi. I have been a lender for 25 years and there are still plenty of good, safe, fixed rate loans available. The rediculous nature of the market in parts of the country like the northeast, Florida, and California, the ARM loans, the interest only loans, the wildly inflated values, are not affecting much of the country to this degree of crisis. If you want to buy a home in Missouri come see me. I have great loan programs ready to go.
If your credit stinks and you can’t REALLY afford the house, then your credit stinks and you can’t really afford the house. I think there needs to be a huge reorientation of American’s expectations about what size house they can afford. Smaller is better anyway, less property taxes, less heating/cooling costs, less property insurance.
This housing boom was unsustainable and all about greed. Just face it- you can’t REALLY afford a $500k house!
In Austin, TX, bought 100% financed for $343k in Dec. 2005 with 12 and 2nd. Refinanced to 80% at $380k (house went up in value in our market) for about the same payment in Dec. 2007, with $37k cash out–no problem with excellent credit. Our market did not have the huge gains in previous years, and we are in an economic boom phase in Texas, populationa and jobs are still exploding hear, while the housing market is gaining steadily.
I have a first mortgage and an HELOC with Countrywide. I have not been late and have paid on time constistently, but when I attempted to consolidate to a lower fixed rate they just go by scores and the fact that I have cosigned my daughters student loan and was pushed over to a another consultant that would have put me in a higher rate than the current combined rates on my 2 mortgages. I just dont get the logic. Im trying to reduce what I pay and its so frustrating that they continue to make it counter productive. They have no problem putting you in antoher variable rate but I’m just just trying to reduce overall debt and help pay down other debt and it just stinks. i know its the way it is , but they should take a hard look at the people not just the scores.
I’m trying to get a 30 yr. fixed on my home, and because there have been a few foreclosures in my city, my home appraised for little more than we paid for it. Because of this, the LTV ratio is too high and I can’t refinance. Would like to get out of this ARM, but I can’t seem to do it right now. Even a 770 credit score doesn’t help much in this scenario.
My wife and I just refinanced our house from a 30 year mortgage and 6.5% with 26 years left on it to a 20 year 5.15% fixed and took out enough to pay off all our credit card debts and extra to buy a few things for our house and still have money left over. We are now paying about $300 less per month on out mortgage then we were paying on our prior mortgage and credit cards. If all things go well we will pay off the loan in about 17 years with the extra money we have.
I am in the process of going from a $575k jumbo at 6.25% to a $415k conforming at 4.667%. I did it through Charles Schwab Bank and it is my second refinancing. It was the easiest mortgage I have ever gotten, at least so far. I went from well employed to comfortably retired, but it didn’t seem to matter. Obviously, the savings are terrific.
Okay, this article is only touching the tip of the iceberg. FHA deals can help a lot of people, but the problem is the loan amounts only help out a small number of people. Not to mention credit scores don’t make any sense at all, how can someone have 20 mortgage lates in the last two years, and have a 700 credit score, when someone has paid ontime for 5 years, have one medical collection for $50 have a 650. I think that is where we need to investigate further.
President Obama your stimulus package is a good idea, but all mortage brokers are not cooperating. I called my mortage holder, CU Members Mortgage, PO Box 2988, Fort Worth, Tx 76113, 800-937-6002. They told me that they did not have to participate in your program and for me to get some help I need to default on my loan and then I may qualify for one of their programs but there is no assurance that I will qualify. I explained that I am disabled and have been since 1997 with a host of chronic illness and am concerned about becoming homeless. I have high health care cost and trying to keep a roof over my head while receiving disability checks. They feel because I am paying my mortgage I do not need help, but what they do not know or seem to care there are other bills and house care needs that are not being taken care of because I choose to pay the house not. With me being in terrible health my biggest fear is being on the streets with no medicine its like a death warrant is put on my head. I have a FHA loan, I called them they also state I must be in default for help. Why would the federal govt want us to fall before they can pick us up. They say call your lender when you see yourself in trouble and about to fall ie loose your home because your payments along with everything else is going up and you can not keep up and there response is to default and possibly loose your home. People like me are falling thru the system yet we are trying to help ourselves. I need help.