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 Scott Short  Thursday, February 10th, 2011  The only good thing about interest rates going up is the “fence sitting” buyers jump in to the market.
Normally December and January are relatively slow months, but not this time. We are experiencing a high volume of borrowers wanting to buy now. Some of the buyers trying to qualify for a home loan are more challenged. Along with the lenders’ tightening standards, we in the lending industry are taking longer to figure out creative solutions to help more of your clients qualify. We are seeing more credit-challenged, budgetchallenged, employment-uncertaintychallenged and house-challenged borrowers. This is the time your mortgage professional needs to know how loans were structured back in the early 1990’s.
Almost every loan will need full documentation of the following: three months of bank statements (underwriters are scrutinizing the bank statements for overdrafts and unusual deposits), explanation letters for credit (especially all inquiries), job status (state employees need a supervisor to write a letter to address the borrowers’ furlough impact now and in the foreseeable future), motivation to buy (they are not just buying a home for a displaced family member who lost their home in foreclosure) plus other scenarios that defy the imagination some days.
At the time of this writing, HUD/FHA had not issued an extension for the “less than 90-day flip rule.” My sources inform me that HUD is working on it (not sure what “it” is going to look like when it comes out). We have seen a majority of the lenders that offer the program retract from offering the program for flips where the seller re-sells for greater than 20% over their purchase price.
Continue reading: 2011 Starts off with a Bang
Caylyn Brown Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
Throughout 2010, NAR made significant progress educating Congress and the Obama Administration that a stable and sustainable housing market is the primary building block for any economic recovery. NAR had a series of successes in the regulatory and legislative fields, some of which are highlighted below.
As we look ahead to 2011, NAR will [...]
Scott Short Thursday, December 9th, 2010
All I can say is WOW! This year has not been boring. Game changing events happened almost every month.
We started out the year with total confusion in the mortgage industry due to the new Good Faith Estimate (aka: GFE 2010). It took most mortgage professionals at least a month or two to understand the new form and the impact it would have on the consumers and themselves.
Consumers received overinflated GFEs to protect the loan officer from underdisclosing everyone’s fees in the transaction. If certain fees were underdisclosed, the loan officer would have to pay for it out of his/her pocket. One of the mysteries with the new GFE 2010 is that there is no place on the GFE 2010 to sign. There is a separate form for signatures. Now where is the consumer benefit from this change?
While struggling with the new GFE 2010, HUD/FHA released a waiver that they will allow “less than 90-day flips” to be financed with FHA loans (another program with a ton of misinterpretation).
Oh, did I forget to mention that HUD/FHA decided January 1, 2010 to adopt HVCC (Home Value Code of Conduct) practices for all their FHA loans. The industry thought HUD would have seen the “train wreck” Fannie and Freddie created with HVCC and steered away. But in the spirit of follow the leader, HUD jumped in with both feet. Can you say complexity, when you have HUD’s version of HVCC and the new appraisal requirements for the “less than 90-day flips?” This is just another reason the industry slowed down even more at the beginning of the year.
Continue reading: Real Estate Finance Forum – The Year in Review
Scott Short Monday, October 11th, 2010
CalHFA just brought back their FHA program as of September 7, 2010
It is a 96.5% of the sales price, 30-year fixed FHA loan not to exceed $417,000 loan amount. The borrower will need a 620 minimum (middle score of the three bureaus) credit score. Purchase money only loan. Requires homebuyer’s education for each borrower. The borrower must be a first-time home buyer (FTHB) or a qualified veteran pursuant to Heroes Earning Assistance & Relief Act of 2008, or located in a federally designated target area. Income and sale price restrictions do apply. Only single family residence, one unit including condo/PUD. Non-owner occupants not allowed. Manufactured homes and non-permitted additions are not allowed on the program. FHA less than 90 day flips where the seller is reselling for greater than 20% of their purchase price also not allowed on the program.
This new CalHFA FHA loan will allow the buyer to utilize the CHDAP (CalHFA Down Payment Assistance) program in conjunction. The buyer can borrow up to 3% of the sales price or appraised value, whichever is less. If you add 96.5% (FHA 1st mortgage) + 3% (CHDAP) = 99.5% loan, the buyer’s down payment would be ½%.
The program requires a minimum investment into the purchase of 1% of the buyer’s own funds. For more in depth details contact your authorized CalHFA mortgage professional. CRHMFA Homebuyers Fund (aka: National Homebuyers Fund) also announced a new loan program called the “CHF Platinum program”. The new CHF Platinum loan program provides downpayment for low-to-moderate income individuals and families purchasing a home in California as their primary residence. The downpayment assistance is currently in the form of a grant, sized at 3% of the first loan amount and can be used for downpayment and/or closing costs. This is not a bond program and not limited to first time home buyers. Eligible first mortgages include 30-year fixed term FHA, VA and USDA.
Continue reading: Change is Still in the Air
Scott Short Friday, September 10th, 2010
FHA announced as of October 4, 2010 that they will change their mortgage insurance costs to the borrower. Before the change, the up front mortgage insurance (the mortgage insurance that is financed into the loan) was 2.25% on or after October 4. It will drop to 1.00%. The monthly mortgage insurance which is added to the borrower’s monthly payment will increase from .55% to .90% (annually on amortized loans over 15 years). Your clients will qualify for less now that the MMI has nearly doubled. It would have benefited the buyer/ borrower if the upfront mortgage insurance went up and the monthly mortgage insurance went down since the upfront mortgage insurance is financed over 30 years (or whatever the amortization might be).
New competition for Short Sales
FHA has turbo charged one of their existing programs, the Short Refinance for Borrowers with Negative Equity Positions. This is a program designed to help borrowers (non FHA currently) to refinance down to 97.75% of their current appraised value, requiring their current first mortgage lender to reduce their principle by at least 10% or more. Remember, all these programs are voluntary for the servicing lender. If a second mortgage exists they will have to re-subordinate back into second position after the new first mortgage. (Max CLTV or Combined Loan to Value is 115%)
Fannie created a website on August 3, 2010: “Know Your Options”
This site was developed to assist consumers in financial distress. This link https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/kyo/index.jsp enables you, the Real Estate professional, to learn more about Fannie Mae’s new website and what it offers your clients.
Additional Resources
Obama Administration Announces Additional Support for Targeted Foreclosure-prevention Programs to Help Homeowners Struggling with Unemployment (http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2010/HUDNo.10-176)
Continue reading: FHA is Busy Making Changes…
Steve Goddard Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
SAVING YOU TIME
We’ve enhanced our C.A.R. Member Legal Services to help you find answers to your legal questions as quickly as possible.
- Updated Legal Blog: The C.A.R. Legal Blog is a forum where you can have your legal questions answered by C.A.R. attorneys. Submit questions by clicking on the “Ask New Legal Question” link on the blog and submit your question as a comment. Answers to questions on the blog are provided in the comment section below the question. You even can submit follow-up questions or comments to the answers if desired. Click here to access the newly revised Legal Blog.
- C.A.R. Legal Webinars and Videos: We do our best to keep you informed about the legal issues that impact your business. In case you missed a recent legal webinar, or want to see what new legal videos we have to offer, click here.
- Automated Legal Hotline: E-mailing your legal questions is now even simpler! You can submit your Legal Hotline questions easily with our new automated Legal Hotline service. You no longer have to wait on hold–simply fill out the form and one of our attorneys will call you back to discuss your question in more detail.
Don’t spend your time searching for market trend statistics. We’ve put all the data in one place for you. Click here to find out what we learned from the 2009 housing market by reading our most recent TRENDS in California Real Estate newsletter. It’s free for members.
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Continue reading: Your Membership, Your Way – February 2009
Caylyn Brown Friday, January 22nd, 2010
The Federal Housing Administration will raise the minimum down payment for its least credit-worthy borrowers, the agency announced Tuesday.
The change is among a number of major changes the FHA is making to ensure its long-term financial soundness.
Borrowers with credit-rating scores below 580 will be required to put down at least 10 percent. [...]
Caylyn Brown Thursday, January 21st, 2010
FHA 90-day anti-flipping rule waived The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Friday it will eliminate for one year the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) 90-day anti-flipping rule.
FHA’s anti-flipping rule generally prohibits insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. That rule already has [...]
Chris Ly Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Written by Kenneth R. Harney
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan made it official last week: Applicants for FHA insured mortgages in the coming months are going to be hit with higher costs and tougher credit standards.
In congressional testimony, Donovan said some of the changes are likely to include the following:
Number one: Higher downpayments. The current minimum is 3.5 percent. Donovan didn’t say how much higher the agency might push it, but congressional critics want to see at least a five percent minimum.
Number two: Look for FHA’s generous “seller concessions” to be cut in half — from the current six percent to three percent of the loan amount — and maybe even lower.
Continue reading: Washington Report: Higher Costs, Tougher Standard
Chris Ly Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Will 2010 be a year of recovery or double-dip recession? What’s on the horizon that may change the way you do business next year? Here are the developments and personalities we’ll be watching.
1. FHA Under New Command
When the FHA announced in late September that it was hiring a chief risk officer—for the first time in the agency’s 74-year history—it was taking preventive action. The agency had seen the market share of FHA-insured mortgages grow to almost 40 percent from about 4 percent four years ago, and its new chief, David Stevens, was not taking any chances with financial safety. When the agency’s capital-to-insurance ratio had dipped below 2 percent in one of its reserve accounts, Stevens—a veteran mortgage and real estate executive who has held key posts at Wells Fargo, Freddie Mac, and Long & Foster—immediately took steps to assess and manage FHA’s risk. The government insurer hasn’t had a major technology upgrade or staff increase in more than a decade, yet demand for the FHA’s stabilizing presence continues to grow. Can Stevens meet the demand without jeopardizing safety and soundness? Given the no-nonsense steps he’s taken to shore up his agency’s credit position, the answer appears to be yes.
Continue reading: 10 to Watch in 2010
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