Good morning Memphis! And it’s going to be a hot one. You are on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program with me, Jo Garner, Mortgage Officer with Evolve Bank and Trust. With us today is Attorney Ron Cohen, affliated with Ballin Ballin and Fishman and one of the owners of Premium Title.
Glad to have you on the show again Ron. Are you ready to talk real estate this morning?
Also with us today is Jenett Rochester from Premium Title in Memphis. Hello, Jenett , glad you join us. I bet you’ve been VERY busy lately helping homeowners get their loans closed.
Today our topic is “Cutting The Mortgage & Getting Along With Contractors, Strangers & Nasty Neighbors.” Got a question about this topic or any OTHER topic regarding your real estate you would like to discuss, please call us at (901) 535-9732. That’s 901 535-WREC. We’ve got room around the table for you.
The European economic crisis is keeping our mortgage rates low, but we could tell earlier this week that investors are looking for any excuse to drive the rates up again. The Federal Reserve’s commitment to keep our economy puttering along is also keeping us at historic low rates.
The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 3.89 percent from 3.91 percent last The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.16 percent from 3.17 percent the previous week, while the benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 2.97 percent from 3 percent.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program, also known as HARP, is still making the headlines in the mortgage offices. Refinance applications make up 81% of the total loan applications right now.
If you or someone you know needs to refinance to a lower rate and does not want to get an appraisal, then please call me here on the air at 901 535 WREC or call me directly on the off-air line (901) 482 0354 so we can talk privately.
The HARP program does not require an appraisal in most cases so it is great for people who are underwater with their mortgages. The HARP program also works for refinancing your primary residence, 2nd home and investment property.
The existing mortgage needs to have been backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac since before May 31, 2009. You need to have no over 30 day late pays in the last year so the mortgage needs to be paid on time.
In addition to the very popular HARP program, FHA has a streamline refinance with no appraisal but FHA wants you to pay your own closing costs. Luckily we can keep those costs low with a little help from our friends here, Attorney Ron Cohen and Jenett Rochester.
Now, while we are talking about the FHA streamline refinance loan, if you have an FHA loan now and it was originated prior to May 31 2009, you may be able to refinance with almost no upfront MIP and a monthly fee that is about half the amount of the current monthly mortgage insurance
Want to talk about how to refinance YOUR loan? Want to talk about some very low costs ways to purchase a home? Whatever challenge you are facing today with your real estate, let us try and find a solution. Call us at 901 535-9732. That is 901 535-WREC.
Ron and Jenett: I am very anxious to get into our topic today “Cutting Your Mortgage & Getting Along With Contractors, Strangers & Nasty Neighbors.”
We can talk more about cutting the mortgage in a few minutes, but what about the other part of the topic…getting along with contractors, strangers and nasty neighbors?
Four Questions to ask Ron Cohen and Jenett Rochester:
Questions to ask Jo Garner :
1. What is a typical range of savings homeowners can see by cutting down the length of time on mortgage?
Jo’s answer paraphrasing : Chris Noke, a Manhattanite and a client of mine, traded in his 30-year fixed mortgage of $315,000 at 5.75 percent for a 20-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.625 percent. His payment went from $1,838.25 to $1,847.17 (almost the same), but he eliminated eight years of interest.
If you can handle the same monthly payment (or even a little more), consider reducing the term of the mortgage when you refinance. With rates so low, you might be able to get the same payment for a 20-year loan as your current 30-year mortgage. Shorter terms mean lower rates.
2. Question for Jo :What are some various ways you see people shortening the terms on their mortgages?
Jo’s answer paraphrases
Merge first and second mortgages
Extract equity
Get rid of an ARM
Splitting a jumbo loan
Question 3: How hard is it to get a mortgage right now?
It can be done especially if you have a good mortgage lender advising you and cheering you on.
With the tighter restrictions today, be ready to supply all pages of your bank statement and be able to provide a complete signed tax return with all schedules. If you are refinancing
Jo Garner, Mortgage Officer Evolve Bank and Trust (901) 482 0354 jogarner@mindspring.com www.MONEYSHOPPE.NET
Ron Cohen, Attorney 312-346-1145 Kusper & Raucci, Chartered Chicago, IL
Looking for legal advice on how to deal with contractors, homeowner’s associations and nasty neighbors? Listen to the podcast from June 23, 2012. with Attorney Ron Cohen, with Jenett Rochester and mortgage officer Jo Garner for solutions to real estate legal solutions.