Showing posts with label Fannie Mae. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fannie Mae. Show all posts
Friday, February 8, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Hamp Program Extended
By: Ruben Gonzalez Jr.
Prudential California Realty (DBA)
President Obama in a recent State of the Union address spoke about homeownership and how the American Dream has dissipated for many due to lingering challenges in housing and mortgage lending.
The President offered hope to more homeowners by extending the Homes Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) until Dec. 31, 2013, and widening the program’s eligibility criteria.
HAMP allows qualifying homeowners with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgages made prior to June 1, 2009 to refinance to a better rate and more favorable terms. It also provides incentives to participating mortgage lenders that reduce principle for qualifying borrowers.
Millions of additional homeowners may be eligible for HAMP to reduce their homeownership costs and avoid foreclosure. Originally, the program was designed to reduce mortgage borrowers’ debt ratio to 31% of their incomes, and those below that threshold were not eligible. These borrowers may now apply for HAMP consideration, as can borrowers struggling under the weight of other liabilities, such as medical bills.
Eligibility also has been extended to owners of rental properties – as many as 700,000 landlords may qualify for loan modification under HAMP.
Moreover, borrowers who were approved for a HAMP trial period, but did not make the payments as scheduled, would now be eligible for consideration under new guidelines. Also, homeowners who missed payments under an approved HAMP modification would be eligible to reapply under the new rules.
The Obama administration announced it would triple balance-reduction incentives to lenders, paying up to 63 cents for every dollar lenders take off mortgage principal. The administration also said it would offer incentives to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce principal on loans. Previously, the government had only offered incentives to private lenders and banks.
If your mortgage is owned, insured or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA or USDA you may be eligible for HAMP consideration. Contact your mortgage servicer for details.
Ruben Gonzalez Jr. can be reached at (562) 507-0754 or E-mail. Prudential California Realty (dba) is an independently owned and operated broker member of BRER Affiliates Inc. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are registered service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc. and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Used under license with no other affiliation with Prudential. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Monday, May 3, 2010
HOW TO SELL YOUR HOME & AVOID FORECLOSURE
The Four Fundamentals of SELLING YOUR HOME:
- PRICING - When looking at comparables, see what has sold in your immediate area within the past three months, look at what is "for sale" and look at what sales are pending (in escrow/under agreement).
- UPLOAD Photos/Video - Stage your property, then take pictures and video. Professional photographers do this the BEST!!!
- DISCLOSE - Honesty is ALWAYS to best policy, so tell potential buyers what's wrong before they figure it out themselves. This will eliminate cold feet and/or re-negotiations.
- CLEANLINESS = $$$ - Potential buyers will likely pay more if the property is clean and clutter free.
Fannie Mae's Incentive to AVOID FORECLOSURE
This coming July, Fannie Mae will be allowing financially troubled home owners to either complete a "deed in lieu of foreclosure" or a short sale and be eligibile to apply for a new Fannie backed loan in TWO years. Presently, if you complete a deed in lieu of foreclosure, you must wait four years (5 years if foreclosed upon).
Mortgage rates SLIGHTLY LOWER
Freddie Mac reports for the week ending April 29th
- 30 year fixed dropped to 5.06% from 5.07%
- 15 year fixed held steady at 4.39%
- 1 year ARM rose to 4.25% from 4.22%
Questions/Comments
Contact me @
SEE YOU AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD!!!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The Rescue of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac
Hi Neighbors,
I know everyone is wondering what effect this Fannie & Freddie take over by our administration will take on our market and all in all what it means? Well Pete Mitchell sent me this letter today explaining this federal takeover very matter of factly and in terms we all can understand...
Enjoy and get informed!
THE RESCUE OF FANNIE & FREDDIE
What does the federal takeover ultimately mean?
Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt north nearly 290 points as investors cheered the Treasury Department's weekend takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
This decisive move immediately boosted the morale of stock market investors and real estate investors. In fact, you may feel the same way Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson does: on CNBC Monday, he expressed his belief that the takeover, "more than any other action that I've seen done here, has advanced the ball" in leading the real estate sector toward recovery.1
You could almost hear Wall Street wiping its brow and exhaling: "Whewwwww." As Moody's.com chief economist Mark Zandi put it, "This takes a major financial threat off the table."2
What might this mean for the housing market? Well, mortgage rates fell half a percentage point Monday =- and they could fall further in coming weeks.3 Zandi, in fact, thinks rates on 30-year FRMs could dive to around 5.5% (they were averaging about 6.35% nationwide on the morning of September 8th).2
While the takeover isn't exactly a "magic wand" that will reduce the glut of unsold homes or erase America's foreclosure problem, it will restore a great deal of confidence in the housing and credit markets.
The reasons for the takeover. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, respectively created by the federal government in 1938 and 1970, buy mortgages from banks and other lenders. They convert and resell bundled loans as mortgage-backed securities, generating money enabling banks to make new loans. Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee about half the home loans in the United States. If they had collapsed, the U.S. housing market would have faced an unprecedented catastrophe =- and stock markets around the globe would have taken a painful plunge. Fannie and Freddie absorbed $14 billion in losses within the last year, and battled rumors of insolvency all summer.1
Both mortgage giants will now be placed into conservatorship =- a move akin to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in which they will be permitted to restructure their operations.
Fannie and Freddie will keep doing business as usual, but they will now operate directly under the authority of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (which was created this spring to regulate them). David Moffett, the former CFO of U.S. Bancorp, will become the new head of Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae will now be run by Herb Allison, former CEO of retirement plan administrator TIAA-CREF.4
The near-term plan. At Sunday's press conference, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson cited the three goals of the takeover: "market stability, mortgage availability and taxpayer protection."5 He presented a plan with the following short-term objectives:
- The Treasury Department will make a major stock purchase in both firms, buying as much as $100 billion in senior preferred shares in each company so that Fannie and Freddie can stay solvent.4
- The Treasury will also buy new mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie and Freddie, in order to help keep
mortgage rates low.6
- In addition, the Treasury Department will also provide Fannie, Freddie and a dozen other federal home loan banks with secured forms of short-term financing.4
- Fannie and Freddie will continue to make loans "without limits".6
- Both companies will quit paying dividends to shareholders, thereby saving up to $2 billion per year.6
Paulson told reporters Sunday that buying up both firms' debt would cost taxpayers nothing, and possibly even result in a profit for taxpayers. The long-term cost of this rescue, he noted, would depend on forthcoming business conditions.6 (For the record, the New York Times estimates the bailout could require tens of billions of dollars.7)
Permission to grow =- and an order to shrink. Paulson commented that the size, structure and governmental relationship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to be determined by the next U.S. President and Congress, noting that "government support needs to be either explicit or nonexistent." They are currently GSEs (government-sponsored enterprises), privately owned but publicly chartered.
Paulson said that both firms will be permitted to "modestly increase" their investment portfolios until the end of 2009 ? but starting in 2010, both Fannie and Freddie will be asked to reduce their investment portfolios by 10% each year. Both companies' portfolios currently total above $1.4 trillion; the goal is to shrink them to a total of $500 billion. Additionally, Fannie and Freddie will have to pay quarterly fees to the Treasury Department beginning in 2010 for the financial support they received under the bailout plan.7
So a severe restructuring and reduction is in store for these quasi-public mortgage firms, which must now be held responsible for questionable accounting methods, relaxed standards, and a blind eye to a bursting U.S. housing bubble.
Sincerely,
Pete Mitchell, AAMS, AWMA, CFIS
Pete Mitchell is a member of the American Bar Association and National Ethics Bureau
Citations.
1 articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Dispatch/market-dispatches-090808.aspx [9/8/08]
2 money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/can-fannie-freddie-deal-fix-housing/162786 [9/8/08]
3 news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20080908&id=9109753 [9/8/08]
4 bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ajcw4yxxPGJ8&refer=news [9/7/08]
5 mcclatchydc.com/251/story/51965.html [8/22/08]
6 csmonitor.com/2008/0908/p01s01-usec.html [9/7/08]
7 nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/08fannie.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin [9/7/08]
If you have any questions please contact me! Have you seen the prices today here in out fair city? Don't get left behind, the time to buy is NOW!!!
See you around the neighborhood!
Friday, July 25, 2008
REALTORS® Hail Housing Bill
Washington, July 24, 2008
Today's passage of The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 by the House of Representatives will help bring stability to the housing market and stem the rising rate of foreclosures, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
NAR thanked Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., and the House of Representatives for their bipartisan efforts in getting H.R. 3221 passed.
“Realtors® are in the business of building communities, and our 1.2 million members understand that this legislation will go a long way in helping people buy and keep their homes,” said NAR President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif. “We look forward to prompt Senate action to finalize this bill, helping ensure that every American who can afford to own a home and wants to do so will have the opportunity and that everyone who responsibly owns a home is able to keep it. This bill must get to the president quickly, and we urge him to act immediately to sign it into law.”
NAR has expressed ongoing support for the major features in the housing package. The legislation includes Federal Housing Administration Modernization that will simplify and make FHA-backed mortgages more available while helping thousands of families refinance existing mortgages and keep their homes. Other important components of the bill that NAR supports are reform of the government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), permanent increases to both GSE and FHA loan limits, a first-time home buyer tax credit and a program to expand FHA that would allow more homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
“The $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers is a needed stimulus for a weak housing market,” said Gaylord. “This bill would extend the tax credit availability through June 2009, which would have a further positive effect on the housing market.”
Mary Trupo 202/383-1007 mtrupo@realtors.org
Well things ARE looking more and more positive and the great news is Washington is getting on the band wagon. FHA is here to stay!!!
See you around the neighborhood!
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