Hiram GA real estate listings and homes for sale, home buying, home selling information – GA-Homes

Real Esate Blog

CRACKED HOUSES, WHAT THE BOOM HAS BUILT!

July 22nd, 2009 12:19 AM

Another effect of the housing boom that peaked in 2005 is the lowering of standards and quality built into these homes. Construction defects increased with the boom and now many people are finding serious problems with their homes. Foundation problems seem to lead the list, followed by water penetration and mold. A lack of skilled workers, short cuts, a rush to make money and an overwhelmed government policing staff all lead to this disaster. This has left many with homes that repairs would cost more than the home is worth. One example is a lady in Minn whose home needs $228,000 to repair and the home is only worth $190,000 when repaired! Foundation problems can be very expensive and sometimes not even repairs can solve the problem. Many builders faced with these claims simply declare bankruptcy and go on leaving the homeowners holding the bag. Most home warranties are only good for 10 years, after that, you are on your on. Also many contracts for new homes contained clauses the required the homeowner to first allow the builder to make the needed repairs, and if not, for the whole action to go to formal arbitration before the homeowner could even file a legal action. The time consumed by this process pushed many people beyond the 10 year warranty period and thus, no protection. I hope you had an independent home inspector go over your new home before you signed on the dotted line. I have found over the years that new homes were found to have more problems, and certainly, potentially, much more severe problems than home years older. Buyer beware!

Posted by Phil Turner on July 22nd, 2009 12:19 AMPost a Comment (0)

OWNERS WHO CAN PAY ARE WALKING AWAY FROM THEIR HOMES!!

July 18th, 2009 12:23 AM

This is an update on a blog I wrote a couple months ago. Then I stated that some homeowners who could afford their mortgage payments were walking away because of the loss of value. Owing more than the home is worth is causing many to allow foreclosure and walk away. Now, there is a new study which discloses that fully 25% of foreclosures are people who could continue to make the payments but have made a strategic decision NOT TO! Wow, this is much greater than I originally thought. And the study indicates the problem is GROWING. Moral restraints are lessening because there are so many foreclosures and being foreclosed has lost some of its "black cloud". This only adds to the problem of declining values because of foreclosures, the more foreclosures the lower the home values go. Not since the great depression have so many homeowners owed more than their home was worth, so, many are just moving on. This is regrettable on any level.

Posted by Phil Turner on July 18th, 2009 12:23 AMPost a Comment (0)

APPRAISALS BECOMING A PROBLEM!!

July 11th, 2009 11:49 PM

It appears that appraisals are becoming a drag on home sales. Appraisers are caught between the proverbial "rock and a hard place". How do you give a "fair" appraisal for a nice home in a neighborhood with foreclosed homes being the most recent sales?? In a normal market this was not a problem because there was always other comparable sales in the subdivision. Now, the appraiser may have no "regular" comps to go with. And the foreclosures are sure to be low priced. If a normal seller finds a buyer, it may be impossible to get a high enough appraisal to clear the lender. Many sales are falling apart for this very reason. Just more bad news for regular sellers! How do you compete with foreclosed homes. If you are not in foreclosure, how can you get a "fair" appraisal on your home?? The appraiser fears loosing his creditability and very job if he goes too high on any home, yet the seller cannot compete with the price of foreclosed homes. I have no answer but something is needed or "good" homes are going to linger on the market or sell at unfair prices.

Posted by Phil Turner on July 11th, 2009 11:49 PMPost a Comment (0)

LOSING FAITH IN HOME OWNERSHIP??

July 8th, 2009 12:43 AM

A new survey, this week, reports nearly half the participants no longer believe home ownership is a realistic way to build wealth. Wow!! I know the last few years have been unkind, to say the least, on home ownership. I know many, if not all homeowners, have lost some value in their home. Even this loss simply takes them back to where they were in the early to mid '90's. Think about it, what other "investment" gives you a roof over you head, a place to sleep, raise your kids and enjoy, yet still has a very good chance of actually increasing in value. What alternative is there? Renting is certainly not going to increase your wealth, living in a cave or with mom & dad is not going to help you retire. People invested in the stock market did no better, and probably worse, over the last few years. For the life of me, I cannot think of a better place to put your money. The main reason homes have increased in value has not changed. Our population continues to grow and they are not making any more land, so what land exist is all there is ever going to be. If you own even a small, less than 1/3 acre of land, under your home, I believe the value will go no where but up as time goes on. More and more people are looking for something that cannot be created so where can prices go but up?? Home prices will return to past levels and go up from there, supply and demand will make sure of that. That's my word!

Posted by Phil Turner on July 8th, 2009 12:43 AMPost a Comment (0)

NEW HOME SALES

July 3rd, 2009 12:52 AM

The chart below most clearly illustrates the decline in new home sales of the last few years. The chart is hard to read here because I has to shrink it so it would fit. But, for your info, new home sales peaked in 2005 at somewhere around 1.35 million unit per year. They are now running around .2 million per year. Wow! What a drop! Will we ever see that 1.3 million units per year again?? I doubt it in the short run (2-4 years) but I do believe we will increase greatly over the current 200,000 unit per year. Demand has certainly not declined that much, just the uproar over homes prices and availability of credit.

Posted by Phil Turner on July 3rd, 2009 12:52 AMPost a Comment (0)

PRICE REDUCTION ON FOR SALE HOMES!

June 29th, 2009 12:12 AM

Trulia just released a study on price reductions on listed properties in major cities across the US. Not a pretty picture at all. The Atlanta market did manage to rank only 30th. But they still are seeing 25% of homes listed reducing the sale price, trying to get a home sold. And the average reduction is 11%. I'm not talking about getting a home sold for 11% less than sale price, I'm talking about an 11% reduction to try to get an offer on the home! This doesn't consider that the majority of these homes will reduce their price further to accomodate the buyer. With most agents informing the sellers to expect lower prices, most of the homes are low priced when they go on the market, so another 11% reduction just to try to get an offer is a real killer.

Posted by Phil Turner on June 29th, 2009 12:12 AMPost a Comment (0)

ARE SOME HOMEOWNERS HOLDING UP PAYMENTS??

June 23rd, 2009 1:18 AM

Speculation is ongoing that many homeowners are withholding their house payments on purpose!! It seem with all the current conditions it may be that some owners are stalling on purpose. Why?? Well, there are many reasons.

1. Fear of losing their job.

2. Falling home values leaving them upside down.

3. Fearing if they are current on their payments they may not qualify for goverment assistance.

4. People who are current are getting no concessions from their lenders.

5. The decreasing stigma of defaulting on their loan, if GM can do it, why not me?

6. Uncertainty on the future of the economy in general, is it going to get worse than now?

While I do not advocate this, I can certainly understand some people are choosing to withold their payments.

Posted by Phil Turner on June 23rd, 2009 1:18 AMPost a Comment (0)

ARE MORE GOVT REGULATIONS THE "ANSWER"?

June 19th, 2009 4:36 PM

Well, the good 'ole US Govt is on a roll. Last week the President proposed more sweeping changes in government regulation. They propose creating an independent and powerful "Consumer Financial Product Safety Commission" to regulate financial products such as mortgages and credit card. Now, I do not know about you, but I have very little faith in the government's ability to meddle in any business. Just look at some of the businesses they have meddled in, railroads and postal service for instances. Not exactly success stories! And they have a large portion of the blame for the crisis we are now knee deep in. The government complains bitterly about the subprime loans that were developed in the '90's and grew to terrible proportions in the early 2000's. Yet, it was Barney Frank and the banking committee who got the ball rolling to begin with. They complained and finally got Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lower the standards for home loans citing the lack of ethnic people's able to qualify for home loans. Once Freddie and Fannie lowered their standards, the rest of the mortgage industry had to get on board or be crushed by these quasi government entities. So, we ended up giving 100% loans and low interest rates to less than qualified borrowers. I can't wait to see what this new "Commission" comes up with to "help" consumers with new mortgages and credit cards. It scares me to death!!

Posted by Phil Turner on June 19th, 2009 4:36 PMPost a Comment (0)

HOMEOWNERS AND TAXPAYERS GETTING UP-IN-ARMS!

June 16th, 2009 12:39 AM

Quality homeowners and taxpayers are bristling at the goverment funding of new home buyers. They did not get any help buying or keeping their homes and yet their tax money is going to assist first time home buyers to the tune of $8000.00 each? Now the goverment is even allowing first time home buyers to apply this $8000 to their cost at closing making it a virtual 100% mortgage. Taxpayers cry that 100% loans were part of the reason the housing market got into trouble in the first place. Homeowners scream that they have seen their home value slide to where they are underwater and therefore cannot qualify for refinancing to the lower rate of 4.5%. If they can make their payments at 7% rate, it is a sure thing they could make their payment at 4.5% rate. But, No!, they cannot qualify for a refi!! Something is definitely wrong with this picture!!

Posted by Phil Turner on June 16th, 2009 12:39 AMPost a Comment (0)

WHAT A GREAT TIME TO BE A HOME BUYER!!

June 12th, 2009 10:55 PM

I cannot believe there has ever been, or perhaps, will never be, a better time to buy a home. With all the foreclosures on the market and the pressure that puts on normal home prices, homes are more affordable, to more people, than ever before, interest rates are unbelievably low and you may get goverment assistance of $8000. If you have ever considered buying a home, you should be making the move now! We may never see this opportunity again, why not take advantage of it?? Interest rates are already starting to creep up, the goverment programs are set to expire in November, now is the time to act!!

Posted by Phil Turner on June 12th, 2009 10:55 PMPost a Comment (0)

WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING IN THE LOCAL MARKET??

June 9th, 2009 4:08 PM

With the news from TV and Washington all over the place, what's really happening in our local Atlanta market? The following is strickly "my opinion" and not a scientific study by any means: TV says homes are selling again! Well, yes.......and no. I am having a very nice increase in homes sales which should be good news. BUT....I am only selling foreclosed homes where the value is obvious, which does not help the average homeowner at all. In fact it hurts the average homeowner becaue it shows how much value is being lost. I'm talking about homes that sold for 160-170k when built just a few years ago and I'm selling these for high 60's now!! I also just sold a home, a builders model, never lived in, that was supposed to bring 368k. It sold for 215k. So, do not feel so good about the increase in home sales. This is not good for anyone except those who are buying at these prices!

Posted by Phil Turner on June 9th, 2009 4:08 PMPost a Comment (0)

LET'S TALK "CLOSING COST"

May 27th, 2009 11:30 PM

CLOSING COST, A BIG MYSTERY?

Let's me ATTEMPT to clear up this mystery somewhat. Closing cost are a term you will surely hear when you go to buy a home, yet it is mostly misunderstood. Cost paid at closing by either the buyer or seller are commonly called "closing cost". These include approximately seven groups of cost to be paid by either the buyer or the seller, Here are the seven groups and a simiplified explanation of each and who has to pay each cost.

SALES/BROKERAGE COMMISSIONS: This is a cost the seller must pay because the seller has contracted with a Real Estate broker for assistance in selling the home. This normally runs from 5-7% of the sale price but can vary according to the contract the seller has signed with the listing broker. This is not negotiated by the buyer, it is between the seller and the seller's broker.

ITEMS PAID IN CONNECTION WITH THE LOAN: This is the cost of making the loan to buy the propertyand is charged by the lender. This is a "true" portion of closing cost and, believe it or not can be negotiated between the lender and the borrower, thoiugh this is rarely done. Most buyers simply accept what the lender offers. These cost consist of several "fees" the lender charges and is mostly "profit" for the lender to initiate the loan. This can consist of some, or all, the following fees: Loan Origination Fee, Loan Discount Fee, Appraisal Fee, Credit report, Inspection Fee, Mortgage Insurance Application Fee, Undrwriting Fee, Document Preparation Fee, plus whatever new ones the lender can add to increase his profit. The buyer is responsible for these fees but the seller is allowed to contribute to these cost.

ITEMS REQUIRED BY LENDER TO BE PAID IN ADVANCE: These are simple and usually consist of three items. Interest from date of closing to the first of the following month, Mortgage Insurance Premium, Hazard Insurance Premium (better know as Home Owners insurance). Once again these cost are the responsibility of the buyer but the seller is allowed to contribute to these cost (excluding the interest).

RESERVES DEPOSITED WITH THE LENDER: Usually referred to as "prepaids" these cost are the buyers responsibility and normally the lender will not allow the seller to contribute to these cost. These consist of a few months of Home Owners Insurance, Mortgage Insurance, Property taxes, and in some cases Annual Assessment ( for condo and HOA fees). If the buyer is having to pay any of these fees into escrow with the lender they are included here. For the lenders protection, the lender wants to be sure when the Property Taxes, Home Owners Insurance, and Mortgage Insurance come due they have enough of the buyers cash on deposit to make these payments even if the buyer is behind in the regular mortgage payment. The Goverment controls exactly how much of the buyers money the lender can hold so there is a very complicated formula used to compute this amount. It amounts to an extra 2-3 months of premiums for these items.

TITLE CHARGES: These consist of as many as 10 or so, charges plus any the lender can get away with adding. Basically these assure the lender and the buyer that the property has a clear title so ownership is not in dispute. These fees include Title Examination, Title Insurance, Attorney Fees, Tax search, Notary Fees, plus the lender may add Document Preparation, Courier Fee, etc. These are the responsibility of the buyer but the seller is allowed to contribute.

RECORDING AND TRANSFER CHARGES: These are somewhat smaller fees charged by the state or county for taxes, recording the sale and new title. Parts of these fees are the responsibility of the seller and parts are the responsibility of the buyer. The seller must pay the transfer tax, and the mortgage release fee. The buyer is responsible for the recording fee and mortgage fee but the seller is allowed to contribute to the buyers fees.

ASSITIONAL SETTLEMENT CHARGES: This is a coverall for anything not included in the other groups and may include payments to a pest control company for a termite letter, charges for a survey if required, and the lender will usually add charges for "post-closing fee", recording/processing fee, etc. These can be the resonsibilty of either the seller or buyer depending on who incurred the charges. If any are the responsibilty of the buyer then the seller is allowed to contributre.

WOW, this is really a mess and very hard to understand, but you can blame the good ole US goverment for the mess. It is intended to fully inform both the buyer and the seller of all the cost involved in the transaction. And you know, if congress gets involved, it is going to be confusing even with very best intent. Hope this helps you have some understanding of the "closing cost" on a real estate sale.

Just as a point of interest, "closing cost" excluding the real estate commissiond will usually run around 3% ($3000) of the sale price on a home selling for $100,000. The cost go up numerically with the cost of the home but because some fees remain the same for any priced home, then the higher priced the home, the lower the cost will be on a percentage basis. In other word a $200,000 home would not cost $6000 in closing but closer to $5500, etc.

Posted by Phil Turner on May 27th, 2009 11:30 PMPost a Comment (0)

TRULY "FREE" CREDIT REPORT

May 24th, 2009 11:46 PM

GA RESIDENTS GET FREE CREDIT REPORT

As a resident of Georgia you are entitled to truly "free" credit report from all three agencies. Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union all will give you a free summary credit report just for asking. Georgia law makes this possible so get yours. See what is on your report and immediately contest any inaccurate entries. You can get these reports by going to each individual web site or easier yet, go to https://annualcreditreport.com and see all three in one place. It is very important for you to see what is on your report before making an application for a mortgage so any mistakes can be corrected or dispute incorrect information contained in these reports. This summary report will not contain your credit scores but does have all the info used to arrive at your credit score. Why not do it today, it's "FREE".

Posted by Phil Turner on May 24th, 2009 11:46 PMPost a Comment (0)

FORCLOSURE VICTIMS, GOOD FOR RENTERS ??

May 20th, 2009 12:45 AM

If you are like me and have rental properties the question arises "what to do with people who have lost their home to foreclosure?" Personally, I believe this gives us landlords a good market for our rental properties. There are many people who had homes and lost them to foreclosure and now need a place to live. Since their credit is severely damaged for several years at best, I think this is a good opportunity for us landlords to get a better class of renters. If you figure these people, at one time qualified for home ownership, I would think "most" of them would be good candidates for renters, at least for a few years before they can again be homeowners. All I would want to be sure of, is their job is secure and the rental price well under what they were trying to pay for house payments. "Most" should be able to make consistant rental payments of up to, say 70% of their previous house payment. I probably would not go over 70% unless there were other considerations, but if they went into foreclosure trying to make $1500 mo. house payments, I would rent them a home for $1000 and feel pretty comfortable. If we landlords only look at credit scores, I think we may miss a very good opportunity, since the damage done to a credit score by a foreclosure is so great. Look a little deeper and you just may find a good renter for a number of years.

Posted by Phil Turner on May 20th, 2009 12:45 AMPost a Comment (0)

NEGOTIATIONS!! IMPORTANT!!!

May 16th, 2009 1:59 AM

Just how important is the ability to negotiate when you are representing a client in a real estate transaction? Well, do you want to get the very best price on/for you home? Are you the person who walks into a car dealership and pays the sticker price for your new car because the salesman is "so nice"? Car dealers love these people and laugh all the way to the bank. If you have more money that sense you can get away with this kind of behavior. But if you are like, I suspect, most of us are, you want the most you can get for the least amount of money. I ceratinly do! Then the ability to negotiate is uptmost importance. And negotiation is much more than dickering back and forth on price. To be a really good negotiator takes, not only inate ability but years of learning. If you cannot "read" people you have lost to begin with, and that is the part that takes years of face to face negotiaton to learn and get good at. I happen to be very good at it and it came with over 40 years of learning. First from my father, who was in sales most of his 40 yrs of work. As a young child I watched him bargain for every car we owned, and it amazed me how many times he got his price because he walked away from the deal that was being offered. Many times the salesman chased him to the car to catch him before he left and gave him his price. Then I spent all my adult life in sales of one kind or another. With this as a firm footing. They say practice makes perfect and I don't think I have reached perfection but I work at a very high level. I have even taught classes in a real estate license school to other agents on how to negotiate. If you are a buyer or a seller, let me show you how much I have learned and save you some big bucks in the process.

Posted by Phil Turner on May 16th, 2009 1:59 AMPost a Comment (0)

WHERE TO FIND GOV HOMES FOR SALE

May 13th, 2009 12:58 AM

Today there seems to be much interest in goverment foreclosed homes, be it HUD or VA. A lot of people are ending up on my web-site because they are referred here by Google, MSN, Yahoo etc. searching for this info. There are a number of sites that provide this info so I'm going to give you the sites that I use when researching goverment foreclosures. You will not be able to bid on these home because it is limited to only a group of real estate brokers like myself. But you can see what is available. The site I use most is: http://www.homesales.gov/homesales/mainAction.do?FormAction=GetCounties&state=GA&stateName=Georgia The other site I use is: http://www.realtytrac.com/states/Georgia.html Both of these site are good for certain uses. Realtytrac also includes homes going up for sale on the court house steps. This can be misleading since many of these are brought up to date by the homeowner and never are foreclosed. But it is interesting to look through all this info. Be my guest and when you find a proeprty you are interested in, be sure to call me for expert assistance.

Posted by Phil Turner on May 13th, 2009 12:58 AMPost a Comment (0)

HOME SALES...UP, DOWN, OR SIDEWAYS

May 9th, 2009 12:01 AM

With all the data coming out of Washington it is hard to see what is really happening in the housing market. It seems the way they record home sales is by dollar volume, not units sold, which makes it appear home sales are still slowing since the home prices are about 18% lower than '08. In reality the number of homes being sold is up nicely from '08, it is just that they are selling for much lower prices than '08. Confusing, isn't it... In the most distressed markets, California, Arizona and Nevada, the number of home sales are showing very large increases, some over 100%. With this "boom" in sales the inventory is beginning to come down and that should lead to somewhat higher prices in the future. In my own business I am selling more homes than last year, just at lower prices. Foreclosed homes are leading the parade and resales have not gotten on board as yet. But, If the supply of foreclosed properties drops, then resales should get better. Just waiting to see that happen. Maybe by next year at least.

Posted by Phil Turner on May 9th, 2009 12:01 AMPost a Comment (0)

FIXED RATE MORTGAGES FALL BELOW ARM's

May 5th, 2009 4:35 PM

Wow, I cannot remember a time when fixed rate (30 or 15 yrs) were actually below ARM's (Adjustable Rate Mortgages). Why anyone would take out an ARM is beyond me. In "Normal" times you could save on the monthly payment by using an ARM, not so any more. Fixed rates are around 4.48-4.78 (15 yr-30yr) while ARM's are around 4.85. Now, if we can just get by this "recession" and get homes selling again, we can all rejoice!

Posted by Phil Turner on May 5th, 2009 4:35 PMPost a Comment (0)

MORE "MESS" COMING ON THE TOXIC ASSET FRONT???

May 2nd, 2009 12:18 AM

Just when we thought it couldn't get worse, a new devil is popping his head up according to some. It seems that in bundling, derivative, packaging of these mortgage into toxic assets, many details were not taken care of. Such as recording the new owner, or even who the current owner is. Some homeowners facing foreclosure are finding no one even knows, or can prove, who owns the mortgage so they cannot foreclose if fought by the homeowner. WOW... what a mess we have gotten ourselves into. If the note holder cannot prove his ownership of the note through properly recorded records, they cannot force foreclosure and the homeowner may get ownership of the property without even paying the note, lol. Remember, to be legal, all transactions must be recorded properly and in this messy environment this was not always done. Many judges, nationwide, have thrown out these foreclosure because the lender could not prove legal ownership of the note. Amazing...... to much buying and selling has complicated the process and who knows if, or when, it can be straightened out!!

Posted by Phil Turner on May 2nd, 2009 12:18 AMPost a Comment (0)

INDEPENDENT LENDERS SHORT OF CASH

April 28th, 2009 12:13 AM

While many mortgages are made by big banks like Chase, Wells Fargo, etc. Many used to be originated by small lenders and these small lenders required short term funding to make these mortgages until they could get them sold on the open market. There are about 1000 of these independent lenders who depend on what is called "warehouse funding" to operate. The number of warehouse lenders has dwindled to about 10, where there was 30 in 2007. These small lenders have accounted for about a quarter of the loans made and now they are having a big problem finding funding to make the loans. Just a part of our tight credit market.

Posted by Phil Turner on April 28th, 2009 12:13 AMPost a Comment (0)

ALL HOMEOWNERS SHOULD LOOK INTO A "REFI"

April 24th, 2009 12:19 AM

I know it can be a real hassle, cost you some closing cost and the requirements can be harder to achieve, but every homeowner should, at least, look in a refi. The rates are just too low to ignore and probably not going much lower if at all. A refi could save you big bucks now and over the 30 years of the mortgage. If your current mortgage is 6% or higher, it will be well worth the cost to bring that interest rate down to 4.5-4.8%. More money in your pocket and less interest for years!! Get over the fear and get it done.....today!

Posted by Phil Turner on April 24th, 2009 12:19 AMPost a Comment (0)

FORECLOSURE RESCUE SCAMS

April 20th, 2009 11:54 PM

All homeowners should be aware of the many foreclosure scams popping up across the country. Internet, TV, they are everywhere and if you fall into the trap you could end up out more than just the mortgage. The goverment is getting into this scam thing through HUD (Housing, Urban Development), DOJ (Department of Justice), and FTC(Federal Trade Commission). These agencies are cracking down on these scams, just be careful you do not get caught up before the feds track them all down. Best bet for the homeowner is to work with their bank and not have someone do it for them. Too many scam artist taking advantage of desperate homeowners who have enough problems already, so be very careful.

Posted by Phil Turner on April 20th, 2009 11:54 PMPost a Comment (0)

WEBSITES FOR INFO ON GOVERMENT PROGARAMS

April 17th, 2009 12:09 AM

Here are some websites for you to gleen info on the many goverment progarams now available to homeowners:

1. Loan modification and refi progarams: www.financialstability.gov

2. Federal $8000 tax credit: www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00,html

3. Renovation credit homeowners: www.enrergystar.gov/indexs.cfm/c=products.pr_tax_crdit#c1

4. Renovation credit businesses: www.enrergy.gov/additionaltaxbreaks.html

Info is available, just have to look for it.

Posted by Phil Turner on April 17th, 2009 12:09 AMPost a Comment (0)

FALLING HOME VALUES = 20% OF MORTGAGES UNDERWATER

April 13th, 2009 12:06 AM

Falling home values have brought 20% of mortgage holders "underwater" as of Jan 1st 2009. "Underwater" means you owe more on your mortgage than the home is worth on today's market. And with home prices still in a decline, this number will probably grow even more. And the jobless rate is still climbing so that will add to the problems. A really sad state of affairs for sure. I can find no silver lining in this circumstance. I am still confident home prices will recover, I just cannot predict when it will happen. Hang in there and sooner of later we will get out of this mess.

Posted by Phil Turner on April 13th, 2009 12:06 AMPost a Comment (0)

HUD MODIFIES "HOPE" PROGRAM

April 10th, 2009 12:44 AM

The HOPE (Hope for Homeowners) program has been revised to assist more homeowners in trouble. Here are the revisions:

1. Increase the loan to value ratio to 96.5%

2. Eligible borrowers whose mortgage payment is on more than 31% of their monthly gross income and total debt of not more than 43% of their total gross monthly income. Those with debt to income ratios of 38% on their mortgage and 50% on total debt can qualify for 90% financing

3. Elimination of the trail modification, as this measure was too complicated.

4. permitting upfront payments to secondary leinholders.

All the old requirements are still on the books, just with these changes.

Posted by Phil Turner on April 10th, 2009 12:44 AMPost a Comment (0)