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Making Home Affordable Plan

March 4, 2009 4 Comments

Earlier today, the details were released about the “Making Home Affordable” plan outlined by the Obama administration.

When this plan was first announced by President Obama here in Mesa a few weeks ago, my first reaction was “let’s wait for the details“.

My reaction now the “details have been released”?

I don’t know.

Really.

I really don’t have an opinion on whether or not the plan will actually help the number of homeowners as claimed by the media (9 million) – because after all, what most people really want to know is “will the plan help me in my situation” as in… “what’s in it for me“?

And each situation is individual, so be sure to speak with as many people as you can about your options. Real Estate Agents, Loan Officers, Hope Now, Loan Modification Companies, Loan Modification Attorneys – speak with all of these people if you are having trouble making your mortgage payment.

And it is entirely probable that they will all tell you different information — and hopefully with the sum of the pieces, you will be able to paint the picture of what is best for you in your situation.

Ok, sorry to ramble a little. Here is more information about the Making Home Affordable plan – be sure to read through it if you are wondering if the plan will help you in your situation. As always, let me know if you have specific questions.

Making Home Affordable — More Information From FinancialStability.gov:

Borrower Information: Making Home Affordable Refinance and Modification Options

Fact Sheet

Summary of Guidelines

Modification Program Guidelines

Counselor Q&A

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Filed Under: Arizona Home Financing Options, Government, Loan Modification, Refinancing in Arizona Tagged With:

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan: My Take

February 19, 2009 3 Comments

Yesterday, President Obama announced The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan right here in Mesa at Dobson High School.

Moments after the announcement, Fox Business asked me about my take on the announcement. To sum it up?

Wait a couple of weeks, ask me again and I might have a better idea of what I think after the details have been released.

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Filed Under: Government, Miscellaneous Fun

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan

February 19, 2009 Leave a Comment

Yesterday President Obama announced his Homeowner Affordability and Stability plan and people are saying it could help 7-9 million homeowners. That is quite a few families!

There are many numbers being thrown around when talking about this plan, but the real magic number of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability plan is one. One as in the number 1.

You.

Will this plan help You?

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability plan is generally segmented into attempting to help homeowners with “help” for 3 different groups:

  1. Help for those people who are owe slightly more than their home is worth and are current on their payments
  2. Help for those people who are not current on their payments and are on the path to foreclosure
  3. Help for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Help for people who owe slightly more than their home is worth and are current on their mortgage payments:

You can also read more about the help this group of homeowners can expect on the White House blog.

If you are in this group of homeowners, get ready! Start checking current mortgage rates and get ready for more information on what it takes to refinance your loan on March 4. On March 5th, get ready to get multiple mortgage quotes from your favorite lender loan officer. Chances are good that interest rates are lower now than when you got your mortgage.

Help for those people who are not current on their payments and are on the path to foreclosure:

If you are in this group of homeowners, my advice is to be patient. Many of you are in the process of attempting to get your mortgage modified, in the process of a short sale or short refinance. My best advice is to wait until more details are announced on March 4th.

The reason for this advice is two-fold: first, your lender is probably trying to figure out exactly what the plan means to them so they can help you and second, nothing “worse” is probably going to happen to you by waiting for more information.

You can also read more about the help this group of homeowners can expect on the White House blog.

Help for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

No matter what group of homeowners you fall in, this will be going on “behind the scenes” while you are working on your individual situation. The US Treasury is going to increase its funding commitment to both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will continue to buy up mortgage backed securities and increase the size of the mortgage portfolios.

This is important to you because it will help ensure that someone will buy your mortgage – which will mean that you can actually get a mortgage. In simple terms, if there are no buyers of mortgages, then mortgages are not available.

If you own a home and are wondering if the new Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan will help you, my best advice is to wait until March 5 when more information is released.

At that point, you should be able to know if the magic number is called.

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Filed Under: Government, Loan Modification, The Business of Mortgages Tagged With:

Will Interest Rates Go To 4.5%?

December 5, 2008 4 Comments

As seen on ABC 15 News…

Will Interest Rates Go To 4.5%? %spacebasename

What do the Oklahoma Sooners and a 4.5% interest rate have in common?

They may both be part of a land grab.

Ok, not really, but the national (and local) media sure did jump on the story that broke in the WSJ about the possible plan for the government to do everything in its power to lower the target interest rate for people buying a new home to 4.5%. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Arizona Home Financing Options, Arizona Mortgage Rates, Buying a New Home in Arizona, Government, Miscellaneous Fun, The Business of Mortgages

New Standard Good Faith Estimate Effective January 2010

November 12, 2008 1 Comment

Today it was announced that HUD has adopted a new 3 page Good Faith Estimate as part of its RESPA reform package that will be standard among all lenders and go into effect in January of 2010.

The new standard Good Faith Estimate is part of a RESPA Reform package that has been in the works for years.  Before the announcement, HUD reviewed approximately 12,000 comments and in considering these comments made changes to what was going to be a 4 page Good Faith Estimate.

According to Brian Montgomery, HUD’s Assistant Secretary of Housing:

“We have carefully considered the concerns expressed from every corner of the mortgage market in developing this rule. I am convinced that we successfully balanced the needs of consumers with those in the business of homeownership. None of us can lose sight of the fact that millions of Americans simply don’t understand all the fine print of their mortgages and this, in many respects, is at the heart of today’s mortgage crisis.”

Personally? I think it is a good idea. It will help standardize information that the consumer is getting from different lenders so that the consumer can make an informed choice and more easily match up the Good Faith Estimate with the Final HUD-1.

See the new Good Faith Estimate Form.

See the new HUD-1 Settlement Statement Form.

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Filed Under: Government, Mortgage Guidelines, The Business of Mortgages Tagged With:

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 – House Votes “NO” But Debate Rages On

September 29, 2008 Leave a Comment

We mentioned (in jest) late last week that “On tap for next week: the world is coming to an end” and after today, I have to wonder.

Today, the House voted “no” to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the markets responded by promptly going in the tank and posting the largest-single-point-drop-in-one-day-in-history.

But wait.

According to Bloomberg, Secretary Paulson is working with Congress to salvage the “Bailout Bill” after the House rejected it.

Said Paulson:

“We need to work as quickly as possible; we need to get something done, we believe that our plan, and the plan that we developed with congressional leaders and worked so hard, is a plan that works. And we need a plan that works.”

Yep.  That was well said.

WE NEED A PLAN THAT WORKS.

Now if only it was that cut-and-dry…

Stay tuned for more developments as they happen.

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Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 – Draft

September 28, 2008 Leave a Comment

Love it or hate it, the “bail out bill” goes to a vote in the House on Monday and the Senate on Wednesday.

It is still in DRAFT form, but I think it is safe to expect some form of this bill to pass into law this week.

For all those of you who like reading the fine print of your tax forms, you can see a summary of the bill as well as the a full draft of the bill in it’s proposed form.

(Hat Tip Phoenix Real Estate Guy for making these easy to find…)

Just in case you needed to see it again — this is what a TRILLION dollars looks like in numerical form:

$1,000,000,000,000

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