The news for mortgage loans and credit on home loans this first week of 2012 is hot from Jo Garner, Mortgage Loan Officer with Evolve Bank & Trust in the Memphis, TN area. On the radio show today we discussed the Federal Reserve’s missive to the White House on how to fix the real estate and mortgage market. We talked about the new government imposed Guarantee Fee added to each Fannie and Freddie mortgage loan closing. And we gave updates on the phased roll-out of the government HARP 2.0 refinance program for borrowers underwater.
The main topic of the radio program was “How To Get Started Investing–Your Real Estate Journey.” The co-hosts were experts Richard Scarbrough, buyer and broker from First National Realty and Kevin Perk, owner of Kevron Properties and www.smarterlandlording.com
The Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe radio show airs every Saturday 9A to 10A CST on News Radio AM 600 in Memphis, TN. You can also listen live online at http://tunein.com/radio/WREC-600-s22371/
The Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe radio show covers a variety of topics including the latest mortgage news and rates and how it affects the homeowner or aspiring homeowners. Also covered on the show is helpful information about niche real estate mortgage products like the FHA 203K renovation and repair loan, the 100% VA loan, the 100% Rural Housing loan, Down Payment Assistance programs, Conventional combination loans, the My Community Mortgage and refinancing products.
This radio show covers answers to the questions on rent vs. buy, when does it make sense to refinance my loan, and more. Every week listeners get tips from the Real Estate Tip Of The Week and tips from the host and co-hosts of the program.
The Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe radio show is led by Jo Garner with Evolve Bank & Trust, a mortgage officer with over 20 years experience and a passion for listening and helping her customers accomplish what they set out to do with the right mortgage product. Jo Garner, Mortgage Officer Evolve Bank & Trust (901) 482-0354 www.MoneyShoppe.NET and www.MortgageLoansBlog.com
For starters, the Fed sent Congress a little missive on how to fix the housing and mortgage market. The large inventory of foreclosed properties owned by the bank, is keeping the house prices low and keeping households poor. The rent rates on houses are rising as more people leave homeownership and shift to renting. Here’s some ideas the Fed shared with the White House. They said
“Try #1.Creating a bank-owned property to transition from a home-to-rental program that relies on sales to third-party investors. This could work by(a) structuring competitive auctions; (b) making a more attractive deal to investors, or (c) providing investors with the debt financing.
- 2. Remove some of the obstacles preventing creditworthy borrowers from accessing mortgage credit.
- 3. Step up efforts to aggressively pursue loan modifications and work out plans for homeowners in money trouble instead of dumping larger numbers of foreclosures on the market
Other big news that will affect homeowners purchasing a home with a mortgage or refinancing one. Fannie & Freddie guarantee fee are adding 10 basis points for each loan closed. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will add the guarantee fee on all residential loans being pooled by 10basis points on April’s Fool’s Day. Many experts believe that this increase should start to reflect on mortgage applications in February, if not sooner. What that means to you, the homeowner, is that if you close on a mortgage for $200,000, you are going to pay over $200 more for cost at closing. If you were borrowing $100,000, you will be paying over $100 more in costs.
Rates are curiously still at their low mark. The 30 yr mortgage rate is around 3.875% to 4.25%. The 15 yr rates are running in the low 3’s to mid 3’s. The 5-1 ARM is still a great deal for homebuyers and homeowners who do not plan to be in the home for more than 5 years. This plan is also great for people who plan to make a substantial prepayment to principle within the first 5 years.
The 5-1 ARM is a fixed rate starting at around 2.75% for the first five years. After 5 years the rate becomes adjustable with safety caps. However, one important advantage of the 5-1 ARM is that after the loan becomes adjustable, the payment is recalculated each year only on the unpaid balance.
Jo Garner and her assistant, Susan Belew, have a list of customers who are waiting on the new HARP 2 mortgage refinance program to fully roll out. This is the new government program to help homeowners who are making their house payments on time but who owe more than the value of their house. This program has some restrictions. -one of them is that the loan must be backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Lenders are waiting for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to update their computerized underwriting systems with the new guidelines. The updates are expected in March.
For borrowers wanting to take advantage of the extra low mortgage rates available, Jo Garner and her very capable assistant, Susan Belew would like to review your mortgage terms to see if they can save you some money, call them at 901 482-0354.
If you know a realtor, homebuyer or seller who has been working on the sale of a home and recently had the loan turned down, please put them in touch with Jo Garner, mortgage officer with Evolve Bank and Trust. Jo and her team have been able to pull some real estate transactions out of the fire for people who have experienced a late hour turn-down from competing banks.
The Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe radio show has a mission to inspire and inform the public about relevant topics concerning real estate and real estate financing. Our purpose is to help homeowners achieve their goals in an economical and satisfactory manner.
Jo Garner can be found at www.mortgageloansblog.com and www.MoneyShoppe.NET or by calling (901) 482-0354 or emailing jogarner@mindspring.com
The link to the January 7th, 2012 podcast can be found at
http://www.600wrec.com/cc-common/podcast/single_page.html?podcast=jogarner
Jo Garner, Mortgage Officer at Evolve Bank and Trust hosts the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe program every Saturday. She covers mortgage and home loan news and real estate tips to homebuyers and homeowners needing credit and home loan finance products in the Memphis area and in every state in the nation.