June 28
Industry Hopes FHA Loans and Buying Incentives Will Bring Quick Home Sales
[ by Victoria Belle-Miller ]
Buying Incentives Plus FHA Loans Can Help Boost the Housing Market The Mortgage Bankers Association reported last week that mortgage applications have decreased by 27%, partly because the home buyer's tax credit ended in April. Because of the large number of unsold homes, different companies and states are launching temporary buying incentives to get those homes sold, in an effort to stabilize the housing market. Now is a great time to take advantage of these incentives to buy a home before market conditions change-especially if you use FHA financing to receive additional benefits! Housing prices have greatly declined in recent years, and, when you finance with an FHA loan, you can also receive a low interest rate; these two factors are great reasons for you to purchase a home now because you can save thousands of dollars on your mortgage and have fewer out-of-pocket expenses! Certain states are offering incentives that you can use in conjunction with FHA loan benefits. For example, some areas in Illinois are offering buyers 1% cash back on their new home purchase and New York State is refunding buyers $9000 on select apartments. The state of New Jersey is even allowing sellers to buy down interest rates for buyers, so that their interest rate will be permanently lower over the life of their loan. Take Advantage of Incentives and FHA Financing to Buy a New Home Today! In the current housing market, many homeowners are anxious to get their houses sold, so you may be able to negotiate with sellers to receive even more benefits. You should consider speaking with a mortgage broker to learn about housing incentives in your area. You can also learn how to receive additional benefits by financing with an FHA loan, which is great for first-time home buyers because they offer low rates and have a low down-payment requirement. Call (877) 264-4736 today to speak with an FHA loan specialist who can provide you with more information about current housing incentives and general information about the benefits offered by FHA loans! 09:50 AMJune 21
Purchase a Home with an FHA Loan Now to Maximize Your Savings!
[ by Victoria Belle-Miller ]
Use an FHA Loan to Take Advantage of Favorable Market Conditions The first time home buyer's tax credit has ended, but there are other great reasons for you to purchase a new home now! The National Association of Home Builders is urging people to buy homes because of the favorable conditions available to home buyers. Buying a home with an FHA loan presents even more advantages for you! Why Buy a Home with an FHA Loan Now? Interest rates are currently at historical lows, making now a great time to secure a low mortgage rate before they increase. With an FHA loan, many people can secure a lower interest rate than would have been available with another type of home loan, which can reduce your monthly mortgage payment by hundreds of dollars! This leave you with more money in your pocket for other expenses, to put toward a savings account, or anything else you wish. Housing prices are also much lower than they would have been at this time a year ago. In addition to low housing priced, the minimal down payment required on an FHA loan (3.5%) means thousands of dollars in savings up front. These savings make it possible for people who have struggled to amass a large down payment to finally realize their dream of homeownership! Get Your FHA Loan Process Started Today! New housing construction increased by 41% in April of this year, which means there are a multitude of homes for you to choose from for your purchase. When you finance with an FHA loan, you will have access to the aforementioned benefits of low rates and a low down payment, as well as flexible credit and income guidelines. You can have less-than-perfect credit and still be eligible for an FHA loan! So, take advantage of low rates and low housing prices to finally purchase that home you have always wanted! To learn how to apply for an FHA loan today, contact an FHA loan specialist at (877) 264-4736! 02:34 PMJune 16
Government Assists the Unemployed With Their Mortgages
[ by Victoria Belle-Miller ]
Are You Unemployed? Find Temporary Mortgage Relief Though HAUP The Home Affordable Unemployment Program (HAUP), which is another component of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), was created to help unemployed homeowners who may have trouble keeping up with their mortgage payments after losing employment. The program, which will be effective starting July 1, will either temporarily reduce your monthly mortgage payments or suspend your payments altogether for a period of at least three months or until you are reemployed. Through the program, the government hopes to prevent foreclosure by assisting those who have become victims of the failing economy. Are You Eligible for HAUP? To be eligible for this program, you must be unemployed and you must be eligible to receive unemployment benefits by at least the first month of your participation in HAUP. You must be sure to request a forbearance before you get too far into debt, in other words, before you have missed three monthly mortgage payments. When you participate in the program, your monthly mortgage payment will be reduced by 31% or less of your gross monthly household income, helping you to make ends meet. If you plan on applying for HAMP, your situation will first be evaluated for the Home Affordable Unemployment Program. If you are eligible, you will have to have a forbearance first before you can participate in HAMP. Once you have found employment or if you have 30 days left until your forbearance expires, your case can be reevaluated for consideration in HAMP. If you already are participating in HAMP and have not yet received a permanent modification, you can be eligible for HAUP as long as you have not missed the first three mortgage payments of your HAMP trial period. Receive Forbearance on Your Monthly Mortgage Payments! If you are unemployed and unable to make your monthly mortgage payments, the Home Affordable Unemployment Program can be very beneficial to you. Speak with a loan specialist today at (877) 264-4736 to learn if you qualify! 11:17 AMJune 11
Loan Modification Program Creating More Trials Than Triumphs
[ by Victoria Belle-Miller ]
Loan Modification Program is Still Lacking Success When the Home Affordable Modification Program was introduced by the current Administration, many desperate homeowners saw the program as a way out of their troubled financial predicaments. But the program has not had as much success as the government previously hoped. Instead of the loan modification program helping struggling homeowners, unfortunately, for some, it is only making their situations worse. Instead of Solving Problems, Loan Modifications May Create More About 155,000 homeowners enrolled in trial loan modifications have been denied permanent loan modifications because they are were found ineligible for the program for either missing payments or experiencing a reduction in income. Many have even become victims of tremendous bank errors when the banks enrolled them in the trial even though they were not actually eligible. These homeowners are now being forced to repay all the money that was discounted for them during the trial, and many simply cannot afford it. The amount of money homeowners owe after being dropped from the program can be thousands of dollars, which raises their original mortgage payment significantly, especially when banks require the money to be repaid over a short span of time or in a lump sum. If homeowners cannot repay the money quickly enough, their homes will face foreclosure and their only options will include a short sale or handing their homes over to the bank. So who is to blame for this loan modification madness? Banks Are Partly to Blame for Loan Modification Failures Why were ineligible homeowners admitted to the loan modification program in the first place? Well, some were not required to document their income, especially borrowers who were delinquent on their mortgage payments and were ushered into the loan modification quickly in an attempt to prevent further delinquency. Later, when banks discovered that their income was not sufficient to continue making their monthly mortgage payments, they were dropped from the program. Also, some banks did not run the eligibility tests prior to admitting homeowners into the trial loan modification that would have shown if the homeowners were eligible for the program. But, starting June 1, all income will have to be documented, and that documentation will have to be reviewed before a homeowner can be admitted into the trial program. This may reduce the number of trials modifications offered, but it should also reduce the number of homeowners who are later kicked out of the program due to ineligibility. There are 800,000 homeowners currently in trial loan modifications, and the U.S. Treasury estimates that at least one third of those homeowners will be dropped from the program. Many homeowners have expressed regret over ever starting the loan modification program because they now find themselves in more debt than when they started, and their options are now much more limited because the program destroyed their credit. The government is taking small steps toward change with the documentation review requirement, but if that had been enforced from the beginning, it's possible a lot of these problems could have been prevented. To learn more about alternatives to loan modification programs or the upcoming changes to these programs, contact an FHA specialist today at (877) 264-4736! 11:52 AMMay 14
