My First Boise Idaho Home Loan – Boise Mortgage Loans

Homeowners across the US are asking if they qualify for the Obama refinance campaign. The program is suppose to assist approx 4 million home owners with some type of re-structuring of their current mortgage situation. 

What the campaign was basically design to do is assist homeowners with an refinance their existing mortgage.  There would be no “cash out”.  Just reducing the rate.  Most people looking to refinance have rates in the 6.5 to 7.5% range.   When the rates were approaching 4.5%, earlier in the year,  a refinance was definitely worth looking into.  It still might be if your rate is above 6.5%.

Here are some basic questions for homeowners who are considering the program.

• Who “owns” my loan?  Is it Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or someone else?  Most mortgages are “owned” by one company and “serviced” by another or the same.   Find out who owns your loan. 

1. Call the customer service number on your monthly payment coupon that you get in the mail each month.  Ask them “who owns my loan”?  If you are put on hold for 2 0r 3 hours…
2. Go to the Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac sites and follow the steps to see if they own your loan.

It is best for the homeowner if their loan is owned by Fannie Mae.  That will give the homeowner more choices of which lenders they can use.   If the loan is owned by Freddie mac, the homeowner must go back to the original mortgage company that issued their current mortgage.

If the loan is not owned by Fannie or Freddie, the home owner doesn’t quality for the program.

• What IS the program all about?   Due to the dropping home values across the US, may home owners have not been able to refinance using the normal loan-to-value guidelines of 80%.  The best scenario, for a refinance to happen is to keep the new mortgage less the or equal to no more than 80% of the appraised value..  If you go above the 80% mark, then the lender will require private mortgage insurance.    It is a monthly fee that most homeowners try to avoid which would cancel out any refinance savings.  Go to www.micanews.com for more information about MI.

 What the Obama program allows is for the loan-to-value go above the 80% level, without MI.  There is much, much more to the program then I put in one paragraph.      Contact your local lender for all of the details your home loans.  The actual guidelines are 4 or 5 pages.

What homeowners need to know is:

• It will lcost you.   Be prepared to pay for an upfront, non-refundable, appraisal fee, anywhere from $400-600.    An appraisal will be done regardless of the value.  If it comes in to low, meaning you owe more than the property is worth,  you are out the fee.  See ya later.
• This process takes a long time.  The investors  that own these loans, are not in a big hurry to lower your interest rate AND allow your equity position go above the 80% level.
• The reality.   The mortgage company, in Boise, I work for, has about 15 loan officers and very few have been able to get these loans closed.   The investors who own these loans, make it very difficult.  The companies probably feel that this group of homeowners are a heart beat away from foreclosure and they just aren’t worth it.   I don’t know,  just a guess.  

What does a homeowner do if all of this doesn’t work?  There are not many “good” options.  The first decision for a homeowner to make is; HOW BADLY DO I WANT TO KEEP MY HOUSE?

If the answer is YES, then you have some work to do.  I would start with a complete overhaul of your household expenses by putting pen to paper and MAKE A BUDGET!  I know that can be a very painful statement, but it has to be done.  You will have to make some tough decisions and do what you have to do to keep your mortgage current.  If a homeowner finds themselves wasting  money,  that could be the difference in saving your home.  There are tons of money saving tips online. Take the time and TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE!  Sell one of your 3 cars and ride the bus?  Cut up all of your credit cards?  Major changes need to be made if you are not managing your money properly.

A homeowner also needs to keep communicating with their lender.    Many homeowners have been successful with having their rate reduced and sometimes a principal reduction. 

 It is a homeowners responsibility to at least try rather than  just walk away from their mortgage home loans.

Guild Mortgage – Boise Home loans – Craig Ballhagen 208-713-3309

Idaho First Time Home Buyer Instant Gratification

Request for No Obligation Boise Home loan Analysis

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Upfront disclosures are the “meat and potatoes” of the Boise home loan that Boise home buyers are applying for.   These disclosures are duplicates of the final Boise loan documents that the Boise home buyer will be signing at the end of the transaction. 

For many years the disclosures where taken for granted and abused by lenders.  What I mean by that is, the borrower was never given the opportunity to review and sign these critical documents at least 7 days prior to going to the closing table. 

My wife has been an escrow officer for 20 years and would sign 10 to 15 transactions a day.  She would come home from work and talk about the frustration of having to prepare the official loan documents, AND take an additional 15 to 20 minutes to have the home buyer sign the documents that were to be signed prior to the appointment.    

Signing 2 sets of Boise loan documents on the same day defeats the whole purpose of upfront disclosures.  Why does this happen?  Lenders are often too lazy or “too busy” to bother.  This is a huge disservice to home buyers.  The home buyers are given no opportunity to ask questions and make any changes. Instead they are put in a “take or leave it” position.  The moving truck was out front and they would lose the house and their deposit if they didn’t sign.  The Idaho first time home buyers had no choice. 

I would ask my wife, and other escrow officers, how often does this happen?  They would say about half the time and it would usually be the same mortgage companies over and over.  That is the way they did business. 

Finally times have changed. As of August 1^st, 2009 the new 3-7-3 rule has been put in place.   The new rule means that the Idaho first time home buyer MUST have their upfront disclosures 3 days after their mortgage Boise loan application has been submitted.  They must have these disclosures a minimum of 7 days before they can sign their final Boise loan documents.  And if there are any changes to the loan terms, there is a 3 day waiting period before the home buyer can go to sign their final Boise loan documents. 

It is the responsibility of ALL Boise loan officers to educate ALL home buyers.  We need to be the ones who guide the next generation of Idaho first time home buyers.  It is not only the right thing to do, but it will be one of the first steps in bringing some credibility back to our industry.

Please go to my Boise Idaho first time home buyer “Bill of Rights”.

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• No HVCC for Boise Idaho First Time Home Buyers

Guild Mortgage – Boise Home loans – Craig Ballhagen 208-713-3309

Idaho First Time Home Buyer Instant Gratification

Request for No Obligation Boise Home loan Analysis

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Everyone needs a little levity from time to time.  I would like to compile a few “scary stories” from buyers, agents, Boise loan officers, escrow officers and anyone else who can share their experience with others. 

Many of us have come across some Boise home loan transactions that we definitely do not want to relive, but we can laugh about it now. 

Please share your experiences that you have had or stories that other people you know have had.  Don’t use actual names or places, the idea is not harm reputations or hurt other people’s livelihoods, just look at the lighter side of this sometimes crazy industry we are in.

My “scary story” happened a few years ago, I think 2005.  I had a couple come to Boise wanting to purchase an owner occupied Boise home loan using an 80/20 stated income Boise home loan program.  They were self employed real estate agents from Southern California.  I asked if they were moving to Boise and they said “yes” and we continued the Boise loan process.  At that time there was no job seasoning requirements, meaning they could move to Boise with one day on the job and still qualify.  One thing I thought was strange was only one of them were going to be on the loan.  Which is still ok, many married people do that. 

After we completed the mortgage Boise loan application they left my office and we stayed in touch by cell phone because they were heading back out of town.  When I called back to ask additional questions, I found out the couple were at another mortgage Boise company in Boise applying for another owner occupied Boise home loan.  They were buying the home next door to the home they were purchasing with me.  At that point I realized what the couple was doing. 

After calling a few title companies, in Boise, I found out the fraudulent couple was buying 3 to 4 homes EACH (all owner occupied) in other markets.  The couple was driving from Boise to Vegas to Phoenix to Florida and back to Seattle, all purchasing 3 to 4 home EACH in all of these cities.  Talk about scary.  Wow! We immediately notified all of the local title companies and canceled their loan. 

The kicker was these people were (hopefully not anymore) real estate agents advising their clients to do the same! These people soon experienced their own “mortgage meltdown”.

Please send me your “scary stories” in the comment box and I will post them.  Maybe we call all learn from these experiences and become a bit wiser.  Thank you.

Idaho First Time Home Buyer Instant Gratification

Request for No Obligation Boise Home loan Analysis

Guild Mortgage – Craig Ballhagen 208-713-3309 – Boise Home loans

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