However, a new option is now possible.

The much maligned Fannie Mae is now allowing some people who avoided Foreclosure through either a Short Sale or a Deed in lieu of Foreclosure to get a regular Conventional Mortgage again.

The good news is that Fannie Mae will buy those loans from Banks that make them. It does not mean that all Banks will offer them.

Banks that do offer these loans will typically apply tougher standards than normal to offset what they might consider an increased risk.

To qualify you must have had good credit before and since the Short Sale / Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure.

If you can meet this requirement here are the times after which you will have a good chance to buy your own home again (at vastly lower prices and interest rates than you had before).

TWO (2) Years up to Maximum 80% Loan to Value | 20% Down Payment

FOUR (4) Years up to Maximum 90% Loan to Value | 10% Down Payment – Subject to Private Mortgage Insurance underwriting guidelines.

SEVEN (7) Years above 90% Loan to Value | with less than 10% Down Payment – Subject to Private Mortgage Insurance underwriting guidelines.

Everyone (except me) is telling you to just take a 30 year fixed mortgage.

 I’m saying that may be true for a lot of people, but is not true for the majority.

Q1. Are interest rates on 30 year fixed mortgages at all time lows? YES

Does this mean that everyone buying or refinancing should get a 30 year fixed mortgage? NO

Q2. Are interest rates on 5 and 7 year fixed rate ARM’s also at all time lows?  YES

Q3. Is the interest rate the same on all types’ of loans? NO

The rates on both 5 and 7 year ARM’s are substantially lower than the 30 year.

Q4. Is the difference worth bothering about? YES

Take a $300,000 30 year fixed mortgage at 4.0%. Payment is $1,432/m

Take a $300,000 7 year fixed ARM at 3.75%. Payment is $1,389/m. Savings after 7 years $3,162.

Take a $300,000 5 year fixed ARM at 3.5%. Payment is $1,347/m. Savings after 5 years $5,100.

Q5. If Bob and Alice are buying their first home and plan to start a family after 3 years is, it likely that the nice little 2 bed, 2 storey townhouse they get will suit them for the next 30 years? NO

Q6. Would it be smart for them to take a 5 or 7 year ARM and save thousands of dollars which will be useful when they inevitable move up to the detached house with a garden when the children come along. YES

The golden rule of mortgage selection is that one size does not fit all.

Your mortgage should be the one best suited for you at this time in your life and considering your future plans and expectations.

IF YOUR LOAN AGENT DOES NOT ASK YOU HOW LONG YOU EXPECT TO BE LIVING IN THE PROPERTY THEN THEY CANNOT ADVISE YOU WHAT WILL BE THE BEST LOAN FOR YOU.

It’s not always a good idea to refinance a mortgage simply to lower the Monthly Payment.

Before you refinance a 30 year mortgage which has 26 years to go, and take a new 30 year loan, you must compare the total amount which will be paid over the life of each loan before deciding whether it makes economic sense.

The smartest way to take advantage of lower interest rates would be to calculate the amount you would have to pay each month in order to have the new loan paid off in 26 years, and then make an extra payment each month to achieve that highly desirable result.

If the new lower payment plus the extra to make it a 26 year loan is less than the amount you are currently paying then go for it. If not then you should reconsider other options before proceeding.

I cannot go into details regarding other options within a simple post such as this, but I can assure you they do exist. However the regular Loan Officer is not going to bring them to your attention. 

To provide a Lender with an independent opinion on the probability that a possible Borrower will pay a Loan as agreed.

How is the score determined?

By looking at the history of payments on previous debts and developing a numerical SCORE which reflects that history. For example:

A score of 800 or more is EXCELLENT. Lenders compete for your business.

A score between 700 and 799 is GOOD. No major problem getting a Loan.

A score between 640 and 699 is POOR. Will pay higher interest rate for a loan.

A score below 640 is BAD. Very difficult to get a Mortgage at an acceptable rate.

NOTE. These examples relate to Mortgages. Other types of Lenders will have different score standards

What exactly is FICO?

The Credit scoring system developed by the Fair Isaac Co and used by the 3 major Credit Bureaus, EXPERIAN, EQUIFAX, and TRANS UNION. Each of these interprets the data slightly differently so produces a slightly different score.

What is MOST important in producing the score?

35% is Payment History. (Do you pay on-time, any Bankruptcies, foreclosures, debt Judgments etc?)

30% is Amount Owed. (Total amount owed as a percentage of credit available.)

15% is Length of Credit History. (Old debts are better than new debts.)

10% is New Credit. (Too much is a Negative.)

10% is Type of Credit. (Credit Cards, Store Cards, Mortgages etc.)

Where can I learn more?

www.MyFico.com is the Public information site for the Fair Isaac Company.

BEWARE of Credit Repair/fixing SCAMS. Anyone who wants money up front should is probably a SCAM.

John Doe, his wife, and 4 children live in a small city North of San Francisco and had rented till around 2006 when they bought a nice house with more space than they had ever had. All was well till John lost his job in 2009, and 10 months later lost his house to Foreclosure.

He now lives in that same house as a Renter paying $1,800/month rent versus the $2,500/month and mortgage he previously paid as its owner.

This is the result of new type of Real Estate Investor buying multiple Bay Area foreclosed homes to be rented both for short term profit, and long term Capital Gains.

In this case the Investor is McKinley Capital Partners who have joined with a New York hedge fund who have so far bought about 300 homes and plan to add up to 500 more.

Some very basic research has shown me that this process is replicated in many other markets where the values have stabilized and an upward trend is very likely in the near future.

If you want a reasonably accurate valuation of your property there will be 50 local real Estate Agents willing to provide a “free” Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)in the hope that if you are selling you will consider hiring them.

If you need a detailed estimate you can pay a profesional Appraiser between $200-$300 for it. In both cases you will get a valuation based on local knowledge of the house, it’s condition, and the circumstances of the comparable sales i.e. Short Sale, Foreclosure, Probate etc.
Now consider whether a computer program having non of this highly relevant data might be able to provide a more accurate result.
I’m a great believer in the old saying that we get what we pay for. Zillow is a perfect example of that.

FANNIE  MAE owns a good percentage of all Foreclosed homes (R.E.O’s) in todays market, and for many reasons they are more agressive in trying to get them sold.

HOMEPATH is the fantastic program they have developed to make this happen.

HOMEPATH MORTGAGE allows ANY Buyer (not just 1st timers) to buy a Fannie Mae owned house with:

0 LOW DOWN PAYMENT. 3% which can be from Savings, Gift, Grant (see CHP at http://mccordrealtyservices.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=542 ) or virtually any other source.

0 NO LENDER REQUESTED APPRAISAL.

0 NO MORTGAGE INSURANCE (P.M.I.).

0 EXPANDED SELLER CREDITS FOR Closing Costs.

0 FLEXIBLE TERMS i.e. 30 yr fixed, 3,5,7, Year Adjustables etc

o O.K. FOR PERSONAL OR INVESTMENT properties.

0 VERY FLEXIBLE CONDO REQUIREMENT (more so than FHA).

IN ADDITION

There is the HOMEPATH RENOVATION MORTGAGE which is designed for properties needing moderate renovation work. As well as all the benefits of the regular HOMEPATH  progran this provides up to $35,000 cash for Repairs and Remodelling.

This amount is added to the regular mortgage based on the value of the property once the work is completed.

Any active Buyer should be sure to check any available houses covered by the HOMEPATH Programs.

For more information contact me at bmccord@rwnetwork.com or scroll down the the next item here.

How about a mortgage loan program that GIVES you up front 3% of the price of the home you want to buy, and that:

0 Never has to be paid back.

0 Is NOT limited to 1^st time buyers.

0 Works with FHA and V/A loans.

0 Down to 620 credit scores.

Here’s a simple example:

Tom and Jenny earn $6,300 per month between them, and over the past year have saved $5,000 toward the down payment on a house they love priced at $300,000. Therefore the lowest possible down payment allowed is 3.5% of that price i.e. $10,500

Add in reasonable closing costs of 1.5% ($4,500) and they are about 2 years away from being able to buy.

Using the CHF program they will receive a grant for $9,000, add in their current cash of $5,000 and they are Ready to Buy right NOW.

I think this would qualify as good news for Tom and Jenny, and  many other wanna-be homeowners in similar situations.

If you would like more information contact me at bmccord@rwnetwork.com or http://www.nhfloan.org/programs/CHF_Platinum/Guide_CHF_Platinum.html 

If selling your house through a REALTOR you will probably have been told never to get into conversation with buyers or Agents viewing your home, and refer ALL questions to your Realtor.  

If you are typical you will ignore this advice the 1st time someone asks a simple question such as “where are you moving to”. Where’s the harm in telling this friendly guy you just got notice that your 5 year adjustable mortgage is going up to 6.75%,  and since you got laid off 9 months ago and your unemployment benefits are coming to an end  you won’t be able to pay that for much longer. In other words you’re pretty desperate and it’s only going to get worse.

Is it likely that this friendly fellow is going to feel sorry for you and offer you his top price? Or is it more likely he smells blood in the water and is going to give you a low ball take it or leave it bid? 

And just what benefit did you get from the conversation that made it worth ignoring the good advice you Realtor had given you?

Neither a potential buyer or buyers agent can tell you anything your advantage, but by talking to them you can give a considerable amount of useful information away.

AND:

Allways remember that Social Media web sites are not designed to keep your conversations and opinions private. Quite the opposite.

Question.

Hi Bill, I was talking to a friend about REO and wanted to get your expertise on the matter.  She mentioned recently there were news about how bank were approving foreclosure while owners were doing a refi and other things, so at the end of the day even the bank didn’t own title to the property.  The loan is sold off to multiple lenders and Title is unclear.  Have you heard about it?

My Answer.

Hi Lisa,   As with many things described as “News” in ourMass Media this is just another Urban Legend. In this case one that shows absolutely no knowledge of reality. What it is talking about is a mixture of different situations based on rumours and hearsay, in all cases relating to either Short Sales, or loan modifications, usually from the 29 States where “mortgage” law is different than in California.

It has nothing to do with REO properties which by definition are fully owned by a Bank. There is no other “Owner”. Title is in the name of the Bank and will be delivered by them to the new owner as in any other purchase. An owners Title Insurance  policy will, as always, be paid for by the current owner (the Bank) and given to the new owner through Escrow. There is nothing different today than when you bought your house.

New questions are allways welcome at bmccord@rwnetwork.com

From: Lisa Ly

Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2010 8:11 AM

To: bmccord@rwnetwork.com

Subject: REO Question