Exchange your time for favors from others in a virtual time bank. Here's how it works:
Have questions or comments? Just click the comment link below and let us know what's on your mind. We'd love to hear from you.
The Obama administration recently announced that borrowers with little or no equity in their homes will have yet another year to take advantage of a refinancing program that so far has made little progress.
The initiative, known as Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), was set to expire in June. But, so far, it has reached fewer than 200,000 of the up to 5 million borrowers federal regulators hoped it would help.
The program is aimed at the millions of borrowers whose home equity has been diminished by falling home prices, or who owe more than their homes are worth, making it impossible for them to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates. Originally the program targeted borrowers whose loan balances were slightly higher than their property's value. The program was later expanded to include borrowers who owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are worth.
These underwater borrowers are at greater risk of foreclosure, and the administration hoped that lowering their payments would decrease their chances of falling behind.
But the program ran into several problems. Many borrowers were too underwater to qualify and the program was limited to loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the mortgage financing companies. The initiative was also dogged by delays as lenders struggled to update their computer systems to accommodate the program. Another obstacle was that many homeowners have second mortgages or private mortgage insurance, which can get in the way of refinancing a primary loan.
And for some borrowers, the costs associated with refinancing, such as closing costs, were not worth the lower interest rates, especially for homeowners worried they might lose their jobs or might hit another financial crunch later.
With tax time here again, here are some of the most common mistakes people make while doing their taxes. Avoid these to save yourself money, and a possible audit.
Questions or comments? Use the comment link below to sound off. Your email address will never appear on this site along with your comments, even though it is needed to post a comment (to help us prevent spam).
The US federal government is looking to get out of the housing market whether we are prepared for it or not. Actually, the scheduled date of the fed pull out has been narrowed down to be within a few months time.
By this happening there will be an increase in 30-year fixed rate mortgages that will not only raise the cost of the home, but effectively will wipe out any hope of a housing recovery plan working out for home buyers.
In late 2008, interest rates were at record highs (around 6%) so the government had to step in and start buying mortgage-backed securities to try and maintain a healthy market. But now the government is going to stop this because they believe the market is stable enough to survive on it’s own. By doing this so suddenly, many housing advocates and federal officials believe this will make interest rates rise to an unaffordable amount.
The cost of homes is going to sky rocket because of the financial wave of costs associated with home ownership. If you are looking to buy a home, the time to make the purchase may be now because you don't want to risk the increase of mortgage rates that are soon to come. Otherwise, the cost you will pay for buying that dream home will be higher, and in a lot of cases, more than many people will be able to afford.
Our March 2010 Newsletter is now online…
http://lagunaniguelrealestateandhomes.com/newsletters/2010/march-2010/
