Archive for the ‘2) General’ Category
Steven Jones | Access National Mortgage, Bank- Recruiter
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009D.C. area mortgage companies be careful… Steve Jones called our office to directly solicit our employees. He has been asked in the past to stop, and he has not. It has come to the point of harassment. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures (for some).
Steven Jones targets DC metro area mortgage companies. He will call and leave a message with your LO’s like “hey Jim, Chris Miller referred you to me, please give me a call…“. Sounds like potential business. He will go through your entire website for loan officer names and he will call them all.
If you’re a mortgage company local to the metro dc area, let your phone receptionist be well aware of an enemy who is trying to take your employees.
Today Steve claimed to be working for Access National Mortgage, www.accessnational.com. I’m sure she works for any Employer willing to pay him to find employees. I wonder if Access National would approve of Steve’s tactics if they knew what he is doing.
Anyone in the business long enough understands slimy cut throats exist… and as long as there is good money to be made in real estate and it’s financing, there will be the cream of the crap selling the other side’s greener grass.
Access National is out of Virginia, 1800 Robert Fulton Drive. 703-871-1300 or 800-931-0370, info@accessnational.com. There’s no reason Steven Jones can’t be like the ethical Staffing companies out there who get their clients through referrals or advertising or networking, the same way every other business man and woman has to do it.
Stop the circus from pitching their tent in your own back yard and let’s keep salesmen who spend their days providing no real value to society, exposed. Spread the word and help protect yourself and others.
Writing off Discount points
Saturday, February 7th, 2009Loan Discount Points you paid on a refinance are generally not deductible in the year you pay them. Discount points are any points you paid to ‘buy down’ your interest rate. The longer you are likely to stay in your home, the more it makes sense to pay upfront points for your lower rate.
(Calculate how many months it will take to make up for paid points)
If these items are paid on a refinance, they usually must be amortized over the period of the loan. If you sold or refinanced again in 2008, you can deduct whatever amount remained from your earlier refinance if you refinanced with a different lender. If you refinanced with the same lender, the points must continue to be deducted over the life of the loan.
However, if part or all of the funds are used to improve your main home, the portion attributable to that use is deductible provided that all the other requirements for deducting points is met.
Points on a second home must be deducted rateably over the life of the loan.
Mortgage insurance tax deduction | pmi write off through 2010
Saturday, February 7th, 2009A provision that allows homeowners to treat mortgage insurance premiums the same as interest is in place through 2010. The deduction applies to premiums paid or accrued (including for prepaid mortgage insurance) on acquisition (not on refinancing) debt for mortgage insurance.
It is phased out for taxpayers (both single and married filing joint returns) with adjusted gross incomes over $100,000.
more comments on PMI deduction | What is pmi?
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Bob Kearns, Maryland Loan Officer
New RESPA disclosure rollout | mortgage disclosures
Friday, February 6th, 20092009 new RESPA roll out
Homebuyers will soon have “improved” mortgage disclosures to help with their decision making, the result of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rules finalized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in November. Although the new disclosures are not required until January 2010, we would expect to see lenders start rolling out the new procedures in 2009, both to make sure they are in place and functioning effectively before the due date and to try and demonstrate they are consumer-friendly.
Under the new RESPA rules, there will be a standardized good faith estimate intended to enable borrowers to more easily review and compare mortgage rates and settlement charges. The three-page GFE form will consolidate closing costs into major categories and display total estimated charges on the front, so a borrower can easily compare loan offers. HUD will specify which closing costs can and cannot change at settlement and limit the amount fees can change.
A revised HUD-1 settlement statement, which borrowers receive at closing, would cross-reference the line on the GFE to make it easy to compare estimated and actual charges. HUD estimates that the new process will save the average borrower $700 on closing costs. Who knows how in the world they come up with that number. It’s amazing how the bad work of a few lenders penalizes us all, and the mandated solutions implemented by bureaucrats. We already provide the lowest rates and costs for our clients without HUD interfering…. we have to, how else would we stay in business?? The markets take care of themselves, if we dont provide the best service at the lowest cost we will not be in business long… the fundamentals of our systems and economy ARE strong.
Lenders would have three days after receiving all the relevant information to provide a mortgage shopper with the GFE. However, the lender would have to wait for a go-ahead from the potential borrower to verify the information provided in order to give the borrower the opportunity to shop for other offers, if so desired. Click here to view the new forms at hud.gov © 2007, Real Estate Information Services, Capitol Assets, & Choice Finance®
2009 mortgage landscape | fha, va, usda, low rates, high inventory
Thursday, February 5th, 20092009 mortgage landscape
Most prospective mortgage shoppers should be aware by now that mortgages are tougher to get. “Stringent” is the word we keep hearing used to describe the tests for borrowers these days. That’s putting it mildly! The traditional touchstones of risk avoidance—solid credit scores, sizable down payments, documented income, sensible debt-to-income ratios and adequate reserves—are not just back in vogue, they are being judged with an even more critical eye.
Just when you would seem to have cleared the bar for the vanilla mortgage programs at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have definitive standards, some lenders are imposing even tougher ones. Finally, when you do clear all the hurdles, you will have to pay higher fees. In most cases, you should probably count yourself fortunate to have that opportunity; many won’t.
As for those exotic loan products, such as 100% financing programs and no- or low-documentation loans, they are now gone entirely, extremely limited or exceptionally costly. Stated income loans are now illegal in the state of Maryland. And the risky mortgage products that married low teaser rates with so-so credit scores have vanished, along with many of the lenders who offered them.
But piercing the gloom of the mortgage market, there are some bright rays of sunshine: dramatically falling mortgage rates. Mortgage rates began their recent plunge in late November after the Federal Reserve announced that it would be buying a ton of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac mortgage paper. Rates started falling immediately, even though the Fed program won’t start until February 2009.
When rates dropped below 6% for 30-year conforming fixed-rate mortgages, that got the attention of refinancers, who stormed mortgage lenders to board the low-rate express. Potential homebuyers have started to pay attention, too. Rates have continued to drop since, to just above 5% in mid-December. And the Treasury Department is reported to be weighing a program to facilitate mortgages as low as 4 1/2% for purchases (but not refinances, it is said). The conforming limit is the basic maximum for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans across the country.
Along with FHA, that is where the money is these days. For 2009, the conforming limit is $417,000, the same as it has been since 2006, but in high cost areas it is 115% of the median home price, to a maximum of $625,500. That’s a reduction from the temporary limits in effect in 2008, 125% of the median, up to $729,750. Need a mortgage higher than the conforming limit? You are now in jumbo no man’s land, territory where many lenders fear to tread.
Jumbo loans can’t be sold to Fannie or Freddie. Lenders used to be able to securitize them to sell to investors. That is now difficult, if not impossible, so the lender has to keep them in their portfolio and assume all the risk. As a result, lenders are asking markups of 1 to 1 1/2% above conforming rates and imposing standards so strict a stoic would beg for mercy.
MD jumbo limits – Virginia jumbo limits
Need a low-downpayment loan? A popular option ( 3 1/2% down required) is FHA. The 2009 base FHA loan limit is $271,050, but in higher cost areas it is 115% of the local area median home price, up to a maximum of $625,500 fha jumbo limits. As with conforming loans, this is a reduction from the 2008 max of $729,750.
Need 100% financing? A veteran with full eligibility can purchase a home costing up to $417,000 anywhere in the U.S without a downpayment through a VA loan. The VA does this by guaranteeing 25% of the loan amount. VA loans are now available without a downpayment for loan amounts up to 125% of the median price for a single family residence in a county. That means no-downpayment loans of up to $1,094,625 in the very highest cost areas.
You can also see if your property is eligible for 100% financing through the USDA program. Call us to run the address. You can also find USDA mortgage rates here.
© 2007, Real Estate Information Services, Capitol Assets, Choice Real Estate, Inc. & Choice Finance®
Loan modification dilemma
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009Homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments or who are poised to do so in 2009 will find that mortgage lenders are more willing to try to keep them in their homes and avoid foreclosure than in previous years. Lenders have learned a lot, but maybe not enough. Major loan modification initiatives are underway at a number of the country’s biggest lenders: Bank of America (and its Countrywide Financial unit), Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase, to name just a few prominent ones.
The FDIC, in its role as receiver of IndyMac Federal Bank, is vigorously and notoriously modifying mortgages of faltering borrowers in what they view as a lab experiment in avoiding foreclosures. And there are programs at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and VA to help troubled borrowers. One thing is true of all these efforts.
If a troubled homeowner doesn’t seek out assistance from their lender or respond to them when they take the initiative in seeking out the homeowner, there isn’t much they can do to help! Generally, the point of contact is the loan servicer’s loss mitigation department. Unfortunately, borrowers whose loans have been securitized and are owned by investors may not be eligible for a loan modification if the investor is maintaining a hard line about such programs, so help won’t be available. While lenders have varying approaches to modifying loans, some of the options being employed include: freezing or lowering the mortgage interest rate; extending the term of the loan from to 40 or even 50 years; recalculating the monthly payment based on a lower principal amount (without actually lowering the principal balance) and cutting the loan balance.
Unfortunately, it has been found that many recipients of modifications, maybe 50%, redefault (fall behind) on their mortgage payments again within six months. Some of the redefaults are due to deteriorating incomes, while others are a result of modifications that didn’t reduce mortgage payments enough. The FDIC’s aggressive program reworks mortgages so they don’t exceed 31% to 38% of monthly income. If you engage in talks with your lender about a modification, it is important to try to negotiate a restructured mortgage payment that will work for you long term.
2009 Florida mortgage loan limits | Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
Tuesday, December 23rd, 20082009 Florida mortgage loan limits
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Maryland limits | Virginia limits
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$417,000 Alachua County
$417,000 Baker County
$417,000 Bay County
$417,000 Bradford County
$417,000 Brevard County
$417,000 Broward County
$417,000 Calhoun County
$417,000 Charlotte County
$417,000 Citrus County
$417,000 Clay County
$448,500 Collier County
$417,000 Columbia County
$417,000 DeSoto County
$417,000 Dixie County
$417,000 Duval County
$417,000 Escambia
$417,000 Flagler County
$417,000 Franklin County
$417,000 Gadsden County
$417,000 Gilchrist County
$417,000 Glades County
$417,000 Gulf County
$417,000 Hamilton County
$417,000 Hardee County
$417,000 Hendry County
$417,000 Hernando County
$417,000 Highlands
$417,000 Hillsborough
$417,000 Holmes County
$417,000 Indian River County
$417,000 Jackson County
$417,000 Jefferson County
$417,000 Lafayette County
$417,000 Lake County
$417,000 Lee County
$417,000 Leon County
$417,000 Levy County
$417,000 Liberty County
$417,000 Madison County
$417,000 Manatee County
$417,000 Marion County
$417,000 Martin County
$417,000 Miami-Dade County
$529,000 Monroe County
$417,000 Nassau County
$417,000 Okaloosa County
$417,000 Okeechobee County
$417,000 Orange County
$417,000 Osceola County
$417,000 Palm Beach County
$417,000 Pasco County
$417,000 Pinellas County
$417,000 Polk County
$417,000 Putnam County
$417,000 St. Johns County
$417,000 St. Lucie County
$417,000 Santa Rosa County
$417,000 Sarasota County
$417,000 Seminole County
$417,000 Sumter County
$417,000 Suwannee County
$417,000 Taylor County
$417,000 Union County
$417,000 Volusia County
$417,000 Wakulla County
$417,000 Walton County
$417,000 Washington County
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Maryland 2009 Jumbo-conforming, Super Conforming limits
Monday, December 22nd, 20082009 MARYLAND Jumbo conforming loan limits (and D.C., DE)
-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-
Fannie Mae Jumbo-conforming | Freddie Mac Super Conforming
Virginia loan limits — Florida loan limits
FHA loan limits
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$417,000 ALLEGANY, MD
$494,500 ANNE ARUNDEL, MD
$494,500 BALTIMORE, MD
$494,500 BALTIMORE CITY, MD
$625,500 CALVERT, MD
$417,000 CAROLINE, MD
$494,500 CARROLL, MD
$417,000 CECIL, MD
$625,500 CHARLES, MD
$417,000 DORCHESTER, MD
$625,500 FREDERICK, MD
$417,000 GARRETT, MD
$494,500 HARFORD, MD
$494,500 HOWARD, MD
$417,000 KENT, MD
$625,500 MONTGOMERY, MD
$625,500 PRINCE GEORGE’S, MD
$494,500 QUEEN ANNE’S, MD
$417,000 ST. MARY’S, MD
$417,000 SOMERSET, MD
$417,000 TALBOT, MD
$417,000 WASHINGTON, MD
$417,000 WICOMICO, MD
$417,000 WORCESTER, MD
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$625,500 WASHINGTON, D.C.
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DELAWARE
$417,000 KENT
$417,000 NEW CASTLE
$417,000 SUSSEX
4.500% 30 year fixed rate, .750 points | MD, VA, DC, DE, FL
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008December 17th, 2008
Today’s mortgage rates have dropped dramatically. Contact Choice Finance and see what your options are so you can decide what makes sense for you. Due to high call volume, we recommend you complete a request form on our website. This way we get all your details and can respond with accurate information. We can also put together options with and without points, and without closing costs.
Don’t delay, you never know how long these rates will last AND every day the processing times to get you to settlement are getting longer and longer.
Contact us for options | Points vs. no points vs. no costs scenarios
4.875% 30 year fixed rate
Wednesday, December 10th, 20083:00pm today, rate repricing
Lock in a 30 year fixed rate at 4.875% for a point. This repricing may not last long… if you are a refinance candidate and you have been floating, don’t miss this window of opportunity.
Buy early in 2009, maximize your tax benefits
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008If you have decided that 2009 will be the year you become a homeowner, then consider doing it as early in the year as possible, because delay has one certain cost. For every day that passes after January 1, you will find it more difficult to take full advantage of the tax benefits during your first year of ownership. This results from the way the federal income tax system (and most state income tax systems) works for those who itemize deductions. Buying a home is typically what turns short-form 1040A and 1040EZ filers (who take the standard deduction) into long-form 1040 itemizers. To get the benefit of deductions for home mortgage interest and property taxes, two of the largest deductible items for most tax filers, you must first exceed the standard deduction. For 2009, the standard deduction will be $11,400 for married persons, $5,700 for singles and $8,350 for single heads of household.
Deductible items that are typical and common to both homeowners and renters include state and local income taxes, personal property taxes and charitable contributions. Together, these items are rarely enough for taxpayers to itemize. However, adding mortgage interest and real estate taxes usually lifts the total itemized deductions above the standard deduction, making it advantageous to itemize.
Unfortunately, many first-time buyers still wind up taking the standard deduction during their first year as homeowners. If you purchase late in the year, your mortgage interest and real estate taxes may be insufficient to make you an itemizer. As a result, you essentially lose the tax benefits of homeownership during the first year, whether for just a few weeks or a few months.
However, if you purchase your home early in January, you will get nearly a full year’s worth of mortgage interest and property tax deductions and should have no trouble exceeding the standard deduction and, thus, maximizing your tax benefits. That could be worth real money to you, so don’t wait, especially in view of the current market’s attractive conditions for buyers. © 2007, Real Estate Information Services, Capitol Assets, Choice Real Estate, Inc. & Choice Finance®
Contact me to discuss your financing options for your upcoming purchase
2009 FHA loan limits | Hud site, calculator
Thursday, December 4th, 2008USDA, Guaranteed rural housing program- Maryland, Virginia..
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008GRH USDA mortgage program | MD, VA, DE, FL, more..
Some key features of this program include:
- No private mortgage insurance (pmi). This is huge!
Also, VA loans have a funding fee, and this program has a Guaranteed Fee that can also be financed into the loan.
- 6% seller help/credit is allowed
- No minimum contribution from your own funds. FHA has a 3.5% downpayment requirement and your typical conventional loan requires cash reserves. This program requires neither.
- This program offers a fixed rate option for a one unit, primary residence. Maximum loan amount is $417,000.
See if your property is eligible here
Contact me to discuss this program and get you qualified.
888-475-0700, Bill Mulligan
Virginia Title Insurance rates and charges | begin 12/01
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008Virginia closing costs for a purchase and refinance
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Virginia title fees & insurance calculator
Rate for regular first Deed of Trust title insurance shall be per thousand:
Up to $250,000 of insurance written………………………………………….. $2.90
Over $250,000 and up to $500,000, add…………………………………….. $2.70
Over $500,000 and up to $1,000,000, add…………………………………… $2.30
Over $1,000,000 and up to $2,000,000, add………………………………… $1.85
The minimum premium for a standard loan policy shall be $200.00.
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Reissue Title insurance rates for loan policies, per thousand:
Up to $250,000 of insurance written……………………………………… $2.03
Over $250,000 and up to $50,000, add…………………………………… $1.89
Over $500,000 and up to $1,000,000, add………………………………. $1.61
Over $1,000,000 and up to $2,000,000, add…………………………….. $1.30
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If the amount of insurance desired under the loan policy is in excess of the regular owner’s policy or loan policy, the excess shall be computed at the regular rates under the applicable bracket or brackets.
A loan policy cannot be issued for an amount less than the full principal debt. However, a policy can be issued for an amount up to 20% in excess of the principal debt to cover interest, foreclosure costs, etc.
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Title insurance rates for 2nd mortgages:Up to $200,000………………………………………………………….. $150.00
When will real estate prices bottom out?