Bill McCord's Blog

President Obama is urging Congress to pass a bank tax, funneling the money over to the Federal Housing Administration which will then refinance non-GSE borrowers who are under water on their loans.

Wednesday morning the White House released certain details of its latest refi plan, opening up the initiative to borrowers with a minimum credit score of 580 and loan-to-value ratio of up to 140%. But there is one catch: these mortgagors must be current on their existing loan.

For loans with LTVs above 140%, lenders would have to write down the principal before refinancing, according to a White House fact sheet released to the media.

This plan will “help millions of responsible homeowners who make their payments on time but find themselves trapped under falling values or wrapped in red tape,” President Obama said at a rally in Falls Church, Va., Wednesday morning.

The White House estimates FHA will need $5 billion to $10 billion to fund this new refi program for private mortgages and create a separate mortgage insurance fund.

“This will help the FHA better track and manage the risk involved and ensure that it has no effect on the operation of the existing [FHA] Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund,” a White House fact sheet says.

To get the program off the ground, Congress will have to pass legislation that authorizes FHA to refinance higher LTV loans along with the proposed bank tax to fund the program.

The President calls the tax the “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee,” noting that it will be imposed on the “largest institutions based on their size and the riskiness of their activities.”

Washington insiders consider the bank tax a “non-starter” in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Mortgage servicers continue to modify 25,000 loans a month under the government’s HAMP program, but that pace could pick up later this summer as new changes to the effort kick in.

To date, servicers have completed roughly 930,000 modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program with 760,000 homeowners still current on those loans.

Recently unveiled changes could open the door for 1.5 million struggling homeowners (and real estate investors) to be eligible for a HAMP modification, according to analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

The Treasury is working on guidance to allow modifications of single-family loans on rental properties for the first time.

The new guidance will relax HAMP’s debt-to-income cutoff, reflecting borrower obligations to make payments on second liens and medical bills. HAMP currently excludes borrowers with mortgage payments that are less than 31% of their income.

Treasury also is increasing incentive payments to investors, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — when they agree to reduce the principal amount on a delinquent loans.

KBW managing director Bose George is skeptical the GSE regulator will allow principal reductions on Fannie/Freddie loans. However, principal reductions would make more underwater borrowers eligible for a HAMP modification.

Treasury wants to issue the new HAMP guidelines this month, but stronger modification results might not be seen until August or September.

“Treasury expects that homeowners may be evaluated under the new program beginning in May for trials starting June 1,” the department said in releasing its December report on HAMP activities Monday.

The new HAMP report shows 79,300 borrowers are currently in payment trials. In December, 23,300 borrowers completed the three-month trials and were granted a permanent modification. In November, servicers completed 26,900 permanent HAMP modifications

If you don’t want the lowest interest rate for as long as you own your home don’t bother reading this.

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.

TURNING 26 YEARS INTO 30 YEARS.

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. 

A recent nationwide survey asked a wide age range of Homeowners the following question:

“When is it smart to pay points to get your mortgage”?

Amazingly 83% of the respondents answered NEVER. This displays either an astounding ignorance of basic economics, or a desire to help Banks get richer.

The CORRECT ANSWER should be “When it saves me money with no extra risk“.

Put simply you pay points to get a lower Interest Rate. If you keep the loan for at least 5 years you will be showing a Profit. Every year from then on you add to that profit.

BUY IN HASTE, REPENT AT LEISURE.

John and Dave are as close to identical as is possible without actually being twins.

They both work at the same company, make the same money, had saved up the same 20% down payment for  a nice 2bed 2 bath condo in the same favourite complex for up to $250,000.

Problem was that only one unit was for sale back in April. Being good friends they agreed to spin a coin to see who got to buy 1st. John won and bought that one, and Dave waited for the next listing to come up.

That duly came up in late May and Daves offer of the same amount that John had paid was accepted.

They both got their 30 year mortgage for the same amount from the same Broker 6 weeks apart.

What’s interesting here is that for the next 30 years John will pay approximately $75/month more than Dave. This is due entirely to the drop in interst rates during the time between the 2 purchases.

Obviously John will hope to refinance to a lower rate as soon as possible but there is no guarantee that will be possible.

The most interesting part of this story is that due to the continued econonmic chaos it world wide Bond Markets mortgage interest rates are now even lower that Dave got, and are now at 40 year lows.

My message here is to pay more attention to how mortgages really work , and consider whether the 30 year fixed really is the best for you. For 90% of all buyers it is not.

If anyone would like to know how to make this decision just send me an e-mail and I’ll be happy to explain.

What’s the purpose of Credit Scores (FICO)?

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.

Potential home buyers, or anyone thinking of refinancing are finding that their credit scores are vastly more important now than in the boom years. However, they seldom know the effect of even one “minor”  bad credit event.

For example:

Tom has a barely o.k. 68O FICO score but makes a 30 day late mortgage payment. It will take 9 months for his score to get back to that level assuming no more late payments.

Dick has an good 720 Fico and makes a 30 day late payment. It will take 2 ½ years to get back.

Harry has a very good 780 FICO but after a 30 day late pay it will take 3 years for him to get back to that level.

The financial costs of  lower credit range from being unable to get any loan, to paying a higher interest rate and higher fees for anything below 720, finding it virtually impossible to get any loan below 640.

The moral is of course to pay your bills on time at all times.

NOTE: Getting and maintaining good credit is a greatly misunderstood process with mountains of free but inaccurate advice. I can strongly recommend Ken Strey kstrey@creditlinei2.org for pretty much anything related to your credit.

Here’s a question from a client who has just had an offer accepted on a bank owned (REO)  property.

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

There’s been a lot of babble in the media about the possibility of a Federal halt to ALL foreclosures. Being the MASS Media there seems to be 100% agreement that this would be catastrophic for the crippled Economy, and disasterously expensive for the poor Banks.

The reasons stated are that it will slow down the recovery which needs lots more honest decent folks to lose their homes.

I beg to differ.

I suspect that a moritorium would actually result in Banks putting more effort into Loan Modifications and, where not feasible, Short Sales, which cost 20% less than foreclosures but need a small element of intelligence. These options are both far less traumatic and would get the bad loans reseolved quicker.

Anyone care to guess why the Banks aren’t doing this already?

Given that the Banks caused this situation with their stupid lending practices, is it too much to ask that they give us a little help in digging out of it.