Roseville Loan Guy » Rates

The ALL-TIME, all time lows are here!

Greg Cowart — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:32:00 +0000

Interest rates on homes continue their downward trend. GSE Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year fixed-mortgage rate sank to 3.91% last week, setting an all-time record low. 15-year fixed rates settled in at a historic low at 3.21%.

To put the declines into perspective, today’s homebuyers are paying over $1,200 less per year on a $200,000, 30-year fixed-rate loan than they would have just a year ago today!

Can I refinance NOW????

Greg Cowart — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:12:11 +0000

The gov recently announced some great changes to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP). The updates to the program are aimed at those who have spent the years since the recession began keeping up with their mortgage payments as others walked away (read why ”walking away” is a misnomer here and here) from their houses even though they can make the payments. The idea here is to help millions more homeowners save some money on their house payments by helping them take advantage of today’s historically low interest rates, even if they don’t have any equity to qualify for a standard conventional mortgage.

Eligibility:

1. Your loan must be guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Follow these links to find out…

http://www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup/

https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/

2. Your loan must have been acquired by Fannie or Freddie before April 1, 2009.

3. You haven’t already refinanced under HARP (or if you have it was between March and May of 2009).

4. Your Loan-To-Value ratio must be higher than 80%. This just means you have less than 20% equity. If you have 20% equity or more a standard conventional refinance is what you need.

5. You haven’t been late with a mortgage payment in the last six months. In the last year, you haven’t been 30 days late more than once. Because the program will last through Dec. 31, 2013, there’s still time for borrowers to get on track.

6. There must be a tangible benefit. You must end up with a lower payment or trade in an ARM (adjustable) for a fixed rate mortgage.

What about my home’s appraised value?

The biggest challenge to getting a HARP loan up until this point was, even though appraisal guidelines were relaxed, you still had to be close to having some equity. You could be underwater but not that much. The good news is some mortgage holders will be eligible no matter how much they owe or how much the house is worth when Fannie and Freddie rolls out the Property Inspection Waiver. For others, there is still a Loan-To-Value ceiling.

If you have a fixed-rate mortgage with a term of up to 30 years, there’s no maximum LTV ratio, meaning there’s no maximum amount you can owe on your home if you qualify for the Property Inspection Waiver.

If you have a fixed-rate loan but the term is over 30 years (very rare), you can only owe 105% of what the house is worth.

Do you have an adjustable rate loan? As long as you didn’t sign up to pay on it for more than 40 years, or fewer than 5, you can owe 105% of what your house is worth.

Have a recent bankruptcy or foreclosure?

The standard waiting period has been removed for folks who have those blemishes on their credit histories. You still have to qualify for the loan but a recent foreclosure or BK won’t automatically disqualify you for a refinance.

When can I apply?

The program begins on December 1^st however many of the changes that will help a lot of people won’t roll out until next year. Of course I’ll keep everyone updated on the program as it rolls out, this is about to help A LOT of people save thousands on their mortgage payments and also give a little boost to Sacramento area real estate values as it saves some people from losing their home.

New refinance system being considered

Greg Cowart — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:32:35 +0000

The administration is now considering a new refinance program that would provide millions of homeowners with new, lower interest, lower payment mortgages…

The initiative would reportedly allow borrowers with loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance at today’s rates, even if they are in negative equity or have bad marks on their credit. Two Columbia business professors say such a move would save homeowners an average of $350 a month and pump an extra $118 billion into the economy, the report stated.

This would be wonderful for Sacramento area homeowners that can’t currently qualify a refinance at today’s low rates, and in turn have a positive effect on the local economy as people have more money to spend every month. There really is no negative. Since this would apply to mortgages already backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac there is no additional risk to the government. In fact it will reduce risk to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by making it so homeowners can more easily make their monthly mortgage payment. Let’s see how this all plays out in today’s Washington…

Roseville students spruce up seniors’ homes as part of R.O.S.E.

Greg Cowart — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:29:08 +0000

I like to focus on the positive things in this world as much as possible. I know, that makes me a little abnormal these days, but it’s what I see we need in the world today. Luckily, there is a lot to be positive about in our area, this is just one story…

Roseville students spruce up seniors’ homes as part of R.O.S.E.

Program connects teens with senior citizens in community

LINK

Housing in the US never as “undervalued” as it is today…

Greg Cowart — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:22:50 +0000

Continued depreciation of property values in 2010 has made housing more undervalued relative to income than ever before. Using the latest Case-Shiller home price index American housing was 21% undervalued when compared with disposable income per-capita.

This data includes the index published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and shows that housing in the 4^th quarter of 2010 was 15% undervalued as measured against American’s disposable income. The results point to the idea that housing is exceptionally undervalued, and the gap has gotten bigger.

Current low housing prices, coupled with historically low interest rates (the 20 year average is 7% but a minimum down FHA loan can be had for 4.5% today), explains why the monthly mortgage payment on a median priced house bought with a 20% down payment has fallen to an all-time low of 13% of the median income. Real estate costs now appears close to fair value when set against rents according to the numbers (and I have seen plenty of people buy for less than they were paying in rent recently).

These low prices and rates mean there is plenty of scope for housing to perform well in the near to mid-term. Also, the Sacramento market currently has MANY more buyers than there are properties to sell in this low-mid price range, so the demand is there to keep it moving.

Looking at the long term, as I have talked about a number of times recently, a sharp fall in the mortgage delinquency rate throughout 2010 means there will be fewer homes in the foreclosure pipeline, and as current foreclosure pipelines continue to shrink we should see a return to a more normal real estate market in the Sacramento region. This will not happen overnight but with less and less first payment defaults, there will be less and less foreclosures going forward.

So, with home prices as “undervalued” as any time in history, what are you waiting for?

~Greg

Free or “No Cost” Refinance? Do they exist?

Greg Cowart — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 01:10:01 +0000

If you’re like me you can’t go anywhere without hearing ads for FREE and so-called “No Cost” refis. If only it were that easy. The truth is, there is no such thing as a no cost refinance. The lender is simply taking a higher rebate from the bank and applying it to your fees. But how do they get this higher rebate from the lender? By charging a higher rate of course. So, even though they are paying your closing costs for you, are you getting the best deal?

If anyone is interested in HOW this works and WHY this is a bad idea, please leave a comment here. Many mortgage companies have no idea how finances work, only how to market and get the phones ringing. These people are doing Sacramento area consumers a disservice incessantly blasting this message all day, every day. But hey, they just want to sell you a loan. It doesn’t matter if it’s the right loan for you or not.

Sure a no-cost refinance sounds great, but it simply isn’t. It’s one of the worst financial decisions any of us can make.

How crazy is it?

Greg Cowart — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:37:17 +0000

Just a quick look at last week’s mortgage bond market. Up and down (red is bad) in huge strokes all week long. I hope you see how important it is to work with a mortgage professional that not only has access to this data, but understands how to use it to your advantage. It could make a huge difference in how much interest you pay over the life of your loan!

Here’s to hoping this week starts off with a bang and we can keep these historically low rates for a little while longer (so far it’s already looking good)!

-Greg

HUD making major changes… Are they good or bad for future homeowners?

Greg Cowart — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:31:51 +0000

I received a letter from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) informing me that there are going to be sweeping changes to the FHA mortgage insurance program starting next month. This is something that has been talked about for some time but nothing had been finalized. The major change is in FHA’s Up Front and annual mortgage insurance premiums, the Up Front premium is being reduced my more than 50% (from 2.25% to 1%!) and the annual premium is being increased from 5.0% or 5.5% (depending on loan-to-value ratio) to .85% or .9%. But what is FHA mortgage insurance and what does this mean?

I was once told that FHA IS MORTGAGE INSURANCE. FHA is the government’s program that allows more Americans to own homes. They have both purchase and refinance programs designed to allow those with less of a down payment (equity for refiance customers) and/or lower credit scores than the conventional mortgage market will allow. To keep the program safe and tax payers off the hook for FHA losses, HUD employs a mortgage insurance premium to keep the program viable. EVERY FHA LOAN HAS MORTGAGE INSURANCE (MI). This MI premium keeps the program solvent, allowing for the program to continue and more people to become homeowners.

Recently, with the decline of conventional financial availability, FHA’s market-share has grown. So much so that they needed to make a change to keep the program running well. These changes will make a negligible difference to homeowners payments but will keep the program up and running for the long term. Up until these changes took place the UFMIP premium for an FHA loan was 2.25% of the loan amount. Although this amount is not required to be paid by the homeowner at closing it is financed into the loan, making the loan amount thousands of dollars higher than it otherwise would be and increasing the monthly payment accordingly. The annual MIP was .55% (or .50% with at least 5% down payment) but that is not being raised to .90% (or .85% with at least 5% down payment). This, of course, is going to increase monthly payments.

What does this mean? Well, not much in the beginning. Those obtaining FHA financing will have smaller loans, a good thing, but their monthly payment will be increasing but about the cost of a trip for two to the movies (without popcorn, candy, and drinks!). Not a bad price to pay to keep these programs viable and starting out with a smaller loan. But that still seems like a negative on the surface. Higher monthly payments, no matter how small the increase may be, is a negative.

However that is not looking at things in the long term. One thing to remember is, FHA’s mortgage insurance is only required to be in place for 5 years, or when the mortgage balance reaches 78% of the original purchase price, whichever comes last. Anyone that keeps their home long enough to realize the deletion of the annual MIP will see huge savings over today’s situation. To keep it simple, their monthly mortgage payment without the MIP will be less from day one because they are only financing the Up Front MIP of 1% of the loan amount, not a whopping 2.25% as they are today, so their loan amount is smaller. That principal and interest payment is the same for the life of the loan and when that MIP premium they are paying for the first 5 years falls off, their payment will be reduced drastically.

In the short term this change will not mean much to people; loan amounts will be a little smaller, the overall payment will be a tad higher, and this valuable program will stay in effect for more Americans to utilize to become homeowners or refinance to today’s incredibly low rates. Those that keep their homes/loans for 5, 10, 15, 20+ years will realize huge savings in the later years. Seems like a win-win to me.

Your Local Expert,
Greg Cowart

This week in review (it was a crazy one!!!)

Greg Cowart — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:17:16 +0000

Today’s payroll flop — only 20,000 real jobs created in May — will take some time to settle all the way in. Immediately: 10-year T-notes are 3.22% (from 3.36% yesterday and 3.99% six weeks ago), and the best mortgages below 5.00%.

The payroll report has confirmation: new unemployment has held high for five months; May retail sales look soggy and auto sales flubbed in May.

In days ahead, the entire recovery camp from government to stock-pushers has more than explaining to do. It must change its mind.

All in one fur-ball: How can mortgage rates be so low, and home prices so low, home affordability the best ever measured, yet housing defies recovery? One unifying answer: credit. Not enough, and wildly too tight. The credit dearth is perfectly rational. At default rates like these, nobody knows what new loan is safe to make, and underwriting has been overtaken by hand-shaking, eye-glazed panic. The horrifying conundrum: new loans will inevitably produce new losses, yet without enough new loans, losses on existing ones will be greatly higher.

The good thing for us is hidden in the above. Rates are at all-time lows and home affordability has never been better, the perfect storm. And even though it may not seem like it, we’re lucky here in California. Throughout the rest of the country the loss of the $8,000 home buyer tax credit has taken it’s toll as purchase applications are down sharply from a month ago (even though prices are the same and rates are lower) but we have another $10,000 tax credit available to use here in California! The local Sacramento area market is actually looking up with an every so slight month-over-month and year-over-year price increases in housing. Uber-low rates, dropping unemployment rates, and value in home prices coupled with that free $10,000 tax credit available to many Californian homebuyers should help that continue until the economy and national housing starts to pick up as well.

The glass is half empty, but it’s actually more than half full. Somehow…

“If You Don’t Buy a House Now, You’re Stupid or Broke”

Greg Cowart — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:08:17 +0000

Not my words, but the title of a very interesting article in the new Businessweek by Marc Roth. Definitely worth the read as it not only applies to the market as a whole, but the greater Sacramento Real Estate Market as well…