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Refinancing Through the HARP Program

Finance

HARP Refinance

If you owe more than your house is worth, and want to refinance to today’s low interest rates, you need to check out the HARP program. Millions of homeowners with underwater homes are finding relief in a new version of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). Refinancing to lower interest rates could slash your monthly mortgage payment or shorten the time it takes to pay-off your mortgage.

The new HARP loosened qualification rules, making it it easier for underwater homeowners to qualify for a refinance. When HARP 2.0 was released in November 2011 you had to work with your original lender. Since March 2012, when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rolled out the automated underwriting systems, you can work with any participating HARP lender. That means more competition for your business and better rates for you

HARP 2.0’s Hurdles

There are two series of hurdles you must clear before you can refinance your loan under HARP 2.0. The first set of hurdles concerns the loan itself. The three key eligibility questions are:

  1. Is the loan owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac?
  2. If so, was the loan purchased by Fannie or Freddie on or before May 31, 2009?
  3. The loan was not refinanced under HARP before (some exceptions apply).

If you answer yes to these three questions, then your loan may be eligible for HARP.

Tip: If your loan is a FHA loan, then check out a FHA streamline refinance loan.

The second set of hurdles concerns your finances and property. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac set up the basic guidelines. There are two basic ways your loan can be processed:

  1. Manual Underwriting System: Only your original lender (who is also your current servicer) can process a HARP loan through the manual underwriting system.
  2. Automated Underwriting System: Any participating lender can process a HARP loan through the automated system.

Keep in mind that lenders are free to have stricter qualifying rules than the basic Fannie and Freddie requirements.

When shopping for a HARP loan, here are some of the main points to look out for:

  • Credit Score Requirements: Fannie and Freddie have no minimum FICO score requirements. However, each lender has its own credit score requirements, so if you are denied by one lender, keep shopping.
  • Income Requirements: Your original lender can approve a loan with no debt to income ratio (DTI) requirement. However other lenders must qualify you based on  your DTI. The rule-of-thumb for a HARP loan is a 45% maximum DTI.
  • Timely Mortgage Payments: The HARP program allows for no late mortgage payments in the last 6 months and one late (30 days) payment in the preceding 6 months. However, some lenders do not allow any late payments.
  • Investment Properties Qualify: You can refinance a second home or rental property under HARP 2.0.
  • Fees: Lenders are not consistent in the fees or the interest rates they charge for HARP 2.0 loans. Some lenders charge a few hundred dollars for HARP 2.0 loan fees, and others charge thousands. It pays to shop around, so you can compare interest rates and fees.
  • Condos: While HARP guidelines for condos are tricky, many more condo owners will qualify for a loan under HARP 2.0 than under the first version of HARP.

Applying for HARP
First, go to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Web sites to learn if either owns your loan and whether they bought your loan on or before May 31, 2009. If so, you can contact either your current mortgage servicer or shop around with the many lenders who are offering the HARP 2.0 loan. 

If your application is rejected, ask for the specific reason why. If you applied with your original lender, find out whether the lender used the manual or automated system. Request manual underwriting if your original lender turned you down based on automated underwriting, as it may result in your loan being approved.

It pays to shop for HARP 2.0 refinance. Many homeowners report one lender will reject their application, but another will offer them an attractive refinance. Second, lenders are not consistent in their offers. As mentioned, closing costs are all over the map. Interest rates vary, too.

Summary
HARP 2.0’s rules are technical. Each lender creates different overlays. If you believe you qualify for HARP 2.0, be persistent! The rules that are in place today could very well be expanded in the future. This is one instance in life where shopping can be the solution to your problem.

My Credit Cards

Finance

This announcement is a bit premature, but not everything that’s premature has to end in an evening of disappointment.

At the beginning of the year, I transferred the balance of my last credit card onto two different cards, each with a 0% interest rate.   One card got a $4,000 transfer and the other got $13,850.  The approximately $415 in fees I paid for the transfer saved me nearly $1500 in interest this year.

The card that got the big balance is the card we use for a lot of our daily spending.    On my statement dated 2/18/2012, the balance on the this card was $14,865.23.  At the same time, the smaller card had a balance of $3,925.09, for a total of $18,790.32.  When I started my debt-murder journey in April 2009, it had peaked at just under $30,000.

When my payments clear later today, that balance will be gone.

That is nearly $19,000 paid down in 8 months.

Now, the inheritance we picked up did accelerate our repayment a bit, but only by a few months.

Starting from $90,394.70 in April 2009, we have paid down $63,746.70, leaving $26,648.00 on our mortgage.

I’m more than a little excited, which–as usual–is the cause for the prematurity.

New goal: pay off the mortgage in 2013.

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Net Worth Update

Misc

I looked back at the spreadsheet I use to track my net worth, and realized that I have been filling it out quarterly, though I can’t say that has been on purpose.   Apparently, I get an itch to see my score about four times per year.

This quarter is the first time in a long time that my net worth has dropped.  We got our property tax statements last week and found out that our houses have dropped a combined $21,700.  Since we’re not planning to sell, that doesn’t matter much.

What’s interesting to me is that, even though our property values dropped $21,700, our total net worth only fell $10,567.  We’ve been hustling trying to get the Tahoe paid off.  It’s going a little bit slower than I had hoped, but it’s progressing nicely.

I do feel good that, even if I would have been focusing on my mortgage, I still would have lost the mortgage race.  That means my misplaced priorities of acquiring more debt to snatch a fantastic deal didn’t cost me the race.  Now, I’ll be forced to take a vacation in Texas, coincidentally in the same town as my wife’s long lost brother.   I think we can make that work.

I rounded off the credit card and vehicle totals because one is used every day and paid off every month and the other has a steady stream of money getting thrown at it, so the numbers change often.

All in all, I don’t have any room to complain.  I am looking forward to paying off the truck and focusing on the mortgage.  We could swing quadruple payments, which would pay off the house shortly after the new year starts.

Net Worth 4/13

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Carnival Roundup

Finance

 

Live Real, Now was included in the following carnivals recently:

 

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Growing Money Smart

Lifestyle Carnival hosted by KNS Financial

Carnival of Retirement #73 hosted by Hurricanes, Panties, Dollars

Carnival of Financial Independence #13 hosted by Reach Financial Independence

Yakezie Carnival hosted by See Debt Run

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by This, That and the MBA

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Master the Art of Saving

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #85 hosted by Master the Art of Saving

Carnival of Financial Independence #14 hosted by Reach Financial Independence

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Financial Conflict Coach

Lifestyle Carnival hosted by Master the Art of Saving

Carnival of Financial Independence #15 hosted by Reach Financial Independence

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Master the Art of Saving

Lifestyle Carnival hosted by Fat Guy, Skinny Wallet

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by The Money Mail

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #87 hosted by Free at 33

Carnival of Financial Planning hosted by Hurricanes, Panties, Dollars

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses

Finance Carnival for Young Adults hosted by Master the Art of Saving

 

Thanks for including my posts.

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Net Worth Update – January 2014

Misc

This may be the most boring type of post I write, but it’s important to me to track my net worth so I can see my progress.  We are sliding smoothly from debt payoff mode to wealth building mode.

Our highlights right now are nothing to speak of.  We did let our credit card grow a little bit over the last couple of months, but paid it off completely at the end of December.  It grew mostly as a matter of not paying attention while we were doing our holiday shopping and dealing with some car repairs.

That’s it.  We haven’t remodeled our bathrooms yet, but we have the money sitting in a savings account, waiting for the contractor.  We haven’t bought a pony yet, but we did decide that a hobby farm wouldn’t be the right move for us.  We’ll be boarding the pony instead of moving, at least for the foreseeable future.

Our net worth is up $13,000 since September.  Our savings are up and our retirement accounts are down because there are two inherited IRAs that we need to slowly cash out and convert to regular IRAs.

Net Worth Jan 2014

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Refinancing Your Existing Loan to Purchase An Investment Property

Finance

Many people are looking at the housing market slump right now as an investment opportunity.  Here are a few of the things that you need to know before getting a new home loan or refinancing your existing loan in order to make that happen.

 Amount You Want to Borrow

 A lot of borrowers go shopping for real estate and have exactly no idea how much money they can borrow. One of the first questions that you need to ask before going real estate hunting is how much can I borrow. You can ask a bank, lender, or financial institution to give you a ballpark figure of the amount of loan that you would qualify for. This will make it easier for you to narrow down exactly what type of property you can afford and what areas you can concentrate on.

 Amount of Interest You Will Pay

 Too many people are overly concerned with the purchase price of the home that they are buying. They fail to find out how much interest they will have to pay back to the bank in order to make their home ownership dreams come true. This is where a home loan calculator can be really useful. You can find out exactly how much interest you will repay over a 10, 20, or 30 year loan time period. You can also change the interest rate and down payment amount on those calculators to see if you can secure a lower monthly payment.

 Credit Score Needed to Qualify

 It doesn’t matter if you are buying a home for the first time or refinancing an existing loan. Your credit score matters. You need to start doing some research now if you want to secure a loan with a really low interest rate. This involves taking the time to see what credit scores traditional lenders are looking for and doing the work necessary to qualify for this loan. Your credit score will make a big difference in determining if an investment property purchase is a profitable endeavor or one that winds up costing you money. It will depend heavily on what kind of loan your credit score allowed you to negotiate.

 Make the Choice

 Once you know how much you will need and exactly how much you will be paying out over the life of another mortgage, you can decide whether you want to refinance your current home loan to get another one.  Adding on another huge debt to an existing one is a big risk.  Make sure to think it through fully before jumping in.

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