Why then, have so few people on the whole not taken advantage of 30 year fixed rates in the 3s? The big problems of course are jobs and home equity. High unemployment and disappearing equity have made it hard for people to take advantage of these rates.

There are programs designed to help of course. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both have loan programs under HARP that allow someone to renegotiate/refinance their loan if it is a Fannie/Freddie loan and it is in good standing AND the borrower qualifies based on credit and other qualifications. These loans have been considered a bust because the government expected up to three million of these loans to be done and instead got under 900,000.

There is another program that has been in exiistence for years that could be a huge help to millions of homeowners who have FHA loans. The program is called a streamline refinance and it allows borrowers to get new FHA loan at a lower rate to replace their current FHA loan with little or no qualifying. The problem is that over the last few months FHA’s monthly mortgage insurance premuim has more than doubled making it hard to save money by streamlining an FHA loan. Even if the rates drop significantly the increased cost of the mortgage insurance eats into the savings significantly and the loan then won’t qualify.

One little change is needed to help millions of people save money and it won’t cost anyone a dime. FHA simply needs to lower the cost for it’s mortgage insurance for streamline refis. Either lower it across the board or lower it back to the original rate at the time the borrower took out the loan. This would allow people, perhaps millions of them, to get a low rate and save on their monthly payments. This money will then flow back into the economy and spur some needed growth.

FHA would actually benefit from this change as well since there would be a huge increase in the numbers of FHA refis and the new upfront insurance premiums would pay the administrative costs while the monthly MI payments would stay the same on all of the loans refinanced. This is a real win-win.

We’ve all heard by now that the president is looking to expand refinancing options to more amaericans. Here is a way that it can heppen that is easy to change, doesn’t cost anything and frankly, isn’t some hair-brained, “let’s give everyone a loan so I can get re-elected” idea. Best of all, it’s a HUD program so the executive branch has complete and immediate control over any change as well.

We at Evergreen feel that while the move will keep interest rates low longer it will not drop rates down to even lower levels. If rates do continue their downward trend it will be due to an ever failing Europe and a weak economy here at home. In other words, it will be the REAL economic issues that matter not a change in the Fed’s balance sheet.

Let’s face it $400 billion just isn’t that much money today and can’t move a stagnant, aenemic market on it’s own. Ultimately, what we need are jobs. Lots and lots of stable, good paying jobs. If we can get people back to work we can build confidence again and get people and businesses spending money again. The rest will take care of itself.

Sooner or later this WILL come to pass. (Hopefully sooner) When it does rates will rise, home prices will soar and those who didn’t take the plunge and buy a home or investment today will be left grumbling about how they always seem to miss the bottom of the market. Rememer this post when I tell you “I told you so”.

Enter, the Middle East and North Africa. One of the big influencers on bond and mortgage markets are instability in the world. Thanks to Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Tunisia and perhaps many more to come we have a unique opportunity to get lower interest rates. As of today, we are in rally mode and rates are indeed dropping. This will not continue for long so you must take action if you want a great rate. Sooner rather than later this will all be over in the eyes of the market. When it is rates will likely spike up to where they should be.

Obviously, we don’t want instability, protests, civil war, etc.. in any part of the world but we need to be aware of the like benefit to our markets that this represents. Jump in and get your deal before it goes by the way of Quadaffi.

For investors the Homepath loan will finance up to 90% of the value of the home also with no mortgage insurance and no appraisal.

To find a home that qualifys for the Homepath loan you can go to http://www.homepath.com

Old Payment = $1,135.58
New Payment = $1,033.64
Payment Savings = $101.94
If they save the $101 @ 4.5% they will have: If they save the $101 @ 6% they will have:
$6,782 in 5 years $7,047 in 5 years
$15,271 in 10 years $16,552 in 10 years
$25,897 in 15 years $29,373 in 15 years
$39,210 in 20 years $46,666 in 20 years
$76,698 in 30 years $101,456 in 30 years

Wow!!

If this represented your situation, and you listened to all the “gurus” telling you not to bother refinancing, you would
actually LOSE up to $101,456! Do yourself a favor. Put that $101,456 back in your pocket by calling me today! Although
I’m not promising that you will qualify to save exactly this much money, I will help you save as much money as possible
in your situation. As a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist TM(CMPS®), I am committed, qualified and equipped to
help you evaluate your options and make smart choices.

Best of all you get all this with a great low, fixed rate. For more information on the program or to view properties in your area go to www.homepath.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact:
Josephine Nicholas
734.385.6170 or josephine@icheadlines.com

How Financial Reform Impacts Homeowners and Buyers

Ann Arbor, MI, July 16, 2010 – “Homeowners and buyers who are sitting on the sidelines should get moving today unless they want to get blindsided by the impact of a new law,” said Gibran Nicholas, Chairman of the CMPS Institute, an organization that trains and certifies mortgage bankers and brokers. “The massive financial reform law that just passed Congress has two main components that could very negatively impact homeowners and homebuyers in the future.”

#1 – Harder to qualify for a mortgage
“The new law dictates certain guidelines that lenders must follow when making loans,” Nicholas said. “Some of these guidelines are simply a copy of the current situation. However, now that the guidelines are built into law, lenders will find it even more difficult to loosen their guidelines once the economy and housing market improves.” For example, consider a business owner with a very high 750 credit score, plenty of equity in their home, no history of late payments, and plenty of cash in the bank. If this responsible homeowner experienced a loss in their business last year, they may be prevented from qualifying for a home mortgage under the new law because of the temporary decline in income from their business. The new law requires lenders to document a borrower’s income, but it does not specifically state the terms under which loans can be made. “Regulators may address this ambiguity when writing the regulations implementing the law,” Nicholas said. “However, if they don’t, many lenders will be tempted to tighten their guidelines even further in order to err on the side of caution and stay in compliance with the new law.”

#2 – Higher mortgage rates
“There are two sections of the law that will cause mortgage rates to increase in the future,” Nicholas said. “The new law requires lenders to keep a 5% stake in the mortgages that they originate unless the loans meet a certain criteria. This means that lenders won’t be able to offload some of the higher risk associated with these loans, and interest rates on these types of loans will go up.” For example, homeowners who have had financial or credit challenges due to divorce or bankruptcy, business owners with fluctuating income, and other homeowners and buyers who fall “outside the box” may need to pay higher rates on their home loans in the future. “Also, the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remains uncertain,” Nicholas said. “The market doesn’t like uncertainty, and mortgage rates could go a lot higher in the future depending on when and how the issue of Fannie and Freddie is resolved.”

“To be clear, there are a few positive elements to the bill,” Nicholas said. “These include consumer protections involving pre-payment penalties and loans originated in states that have laws that prohibit lenders from pursuing judgments against homeowners who owe more than the value of their homes. However, the main takeaway for homeowners and buyers is that is that mortgage rates are currently very low, and lending guidelines are not as bad as they could be once the new law goes into effect. This means that if you can qualify for a mortgage now, you should do so, and not gamble your homeownership goals on the future impact of the new law.”

About CMPS Institute: CMPS is a training, examination, certification and ongoing membership program for mortgage professionals. Recognized for its preeminence within the industry, the CMPS curriculum goes above and beyond the minimal licensing requirements, and represents the core knowledge expected of residential mortgage professionals. Over 5,500 mortgage professionals have gone through the program since its establishment in 2005. For more information or to find a certified professional near you, please visit the CMPS Institute or call 888.608.9800.

But here is the real reason why listings are up:  Interest rates are at an all-time low.  Despite the constant bombardment of negative media coverage, the vast majority of existing homeowners are very credit worthy, live within their means and have stable income.  Experienced homeowners have seen interest rates in the 5′s, 6′s, and 7′s in the last several years.  And those that have owned homes for longer have seen double-digit interest rates.  So, they know that when interest rates are at an all time low – it is time to make a move.

The idea is that if they were ever going to move to a different school district, move up or down in size, etc. now is the time to do it.  Sure, they might get a little less for their house this year compared to what they might sell it for a couple of years down the road but that is more than offset by the huge savings in mortgage and interest payments.

This means that homebuyers also have attractive interest rates which is another good time to sell, because more people buy when interest rates are low.  Buyers are a little slower to “pull the trigger” on a sales contract because there is moderate amount of inventory around.  But many of these potential homebuyers already missed out on the tax credit window because they thought the government would keep extending it or maybe they just weren’t ready to enter the market yet.  Regardless that window of opportunity has shut.  Don’t miss this even bigger window of opportunity!

Mortgage rates can make a right turn at any second.  Mortgage rates are not low because of anything that the Federal Reserve, Treasury, or Obama administration is currently doing.  Mortgage rates are low because of global fear about the economy and financial system.  This causes banks and investors to hoard their cash and park it into nice, safe and boring mortgage backed securities.  You earn a very low interest rate in return for safety.  But the financial markets and the global economy will turn around, and when it does it will move mortgage rates up with it.