Florida Real Estate and Mortgage News
Many homeowners have lost their homes or are on the verge of losing their homes due to job loss, illness, etc. The new trend though is homeowners that can afford their mortgages walking away because they may owe more than the home is worth. Not only is this irresponsible but will wreak havoc on your credit file for 7 years. Below is a story that covers this trend.
Are you Trying to Negotiate an Affordable Loan Modification??? Read the 10 steps to doing so that will expedite the process.
10 steps to negotiating an affordable loan modification
DETROIT – Feb. 12, 2009 – Ralph R. Roberts, consumer advocate and spokesperson for Federal Loan Modification Law Center, LLP, released a list of the top 10 steps homeowners can take to negotiate an affordable loan modification. The following steps apply to homeowners working directly with a lender, as well as to those teaming up with an attorney or alternative third-party representative.
1. Come clean. It can be tempting to bend the truth when you are trying to convince a lender to approve a loan modification. Only by laying all your cards on the table and disclosing the truth can you begin to develop and implement solutions that will put you back on the path to long-term financial health.
2. Understand your lender’s point of view. As far as your lender is concerned, it all boils down to money. You are most likely to be approved if you can show modifying your loan will cost the lender less than a foreclosure.
Foreclosures may be up from year to year but it looks like more and more homeowners are able to work something out with their current lender to stop foreclosure proceedings. We are seeing a massive shift in lender reaction to borrowers who are behind on their mortgage for a legitimate reason such as a job loss or illness. Not everyone can be helped but at least the conversation is beginning and lenders are finally seeing that it may be best to work something out with the homeowners that can and want to pay their mortgage. Some homeowners fell on hard times and are back on track but find themselves three months behind on their mortgage. It’s difficult to come back from this as most lenders will not take a partial payment. They want all three mortgage payments at once in order to catch up. That is just not doable for many homeowners.
The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act (H.R. 3221) was signed by the president last week and helps homeowners that are in foreclosure stay in there homes and also gives incentive for first time homebuyers to purchase now. The legislation gives first time homebuyers a refundable tax credit that works like an interest-free loan of up to $7,500 (to be paid back over 15 years). The credit will begin to phase out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $70,000 ($140,000 in the case of a joint return). This part of the legislation is an effort by Congress, the Senate, and the president to spur purchasing and help stabilize a declining Real Estate market.
Good news today for homeowners that are having problems paying their mortgage each month. The housing bill is almost ready to be passed into legislation. At first there were rumors that President Bush was going to veto it due to one or two items that he wanted removed but that changed this week. He is still opposed to certain parts but the most important part of the legislation is the infusion of liquidity to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both of who have been rumored to be under-capitalized. This is the reason that the Senate, Henry Paulson, and the president are pushing this bill through. In the process, it is slated to help 400,000 homeowners that are either in foreclosure or very close to foreclosure and help them to get into lower 30 year fixed mortgage payments. We still have a ways to go but good thing they are passing something that will help stop the bleeding of foreclosures and put some confidence back in our consumer. Read more about this in the article below.
President Bush drops opposition to housing bill
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Congress is moving quickly to pass a housing package that aims to help 400,000 strapped homeowners avoid foreclosures and prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from collapsing.
Apparently foreclosures are still rising in Florida but at a much slower pace which is a great sign. This is probably caused by lenders working with current borrowers who are behind on their payments. The lenders are realizing that it’s better to just arrange a payment plan with the borrowers than to foreclose and have to take on an additional property. Couple that with the hefty cost of the actual foreclosure process. I hope this continues and more homeowners have the opportunity to stay in their homes. Check out the stats from RealtyTrac below.
Foreclosures in Florida continue to rise, but at a slower pace.
The number of homes in some process of foreclosure in June rose nearly 8 percent over last month, to 40,351, a new report from RealtyTrac shows. That means one in every 211 homes in the state was facing some kind of foreclosure.
Good news is coming for first time home buyers. The Senate is in the process of passing a bill to give first time home buyers up to an $8,000 tax credit for buying a home. This is a great time for first time home buyers as rates are still low, prices have come down substantially and are now affordable, with this new tax credit. Homeownership is within reach for a lot of first time home buyers and we are seeing many of them taking advantage of the low prices. This bill is primarily focused on helping current homeowners that are in foreclosure or are on the brink of foreclosure. It will allow more Americans to stay in their homes and work with the current lender to make that happen. It won’t fix all the problems but it’s certainly a start. Some might say too little to late but at least the government is finally showing up to the party. The article below reports on this bill.
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Struggling homeowners who can’t afford their mortgages and banks facing big losses would get government help under a foreclosure rescue that has broad bipartisan support.
Thursday July 10, 5:00 am ET
By Alan Zibel, AP Business Writer
Foreclosure filings continue to rise as US housing crisis drags on
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of homeowners stung by the rout in the U.S. housing market jumped last month as foreclosure filings grew by more than 50 percent compared with June a year ago, according to data released Thursday.
A lot of homeowners are experiencing tough times right now and one of the questions that I get all the time is about loan modifications. What is it? Should I do it? Will it save my home? If you are currently behind on your mortgage in this current market, it is very tough to refinance to catch up with your mortgage. Lenders have made guidelines very strict and these types of loans are getting harder and harder to find. And if it’s not the lenders, many homeowners have seen the equity in their house drop 15-20% in this past year. If you don’t have equity in the house, you are very limited with options to Refinance.
This is where loan modifications come into play.
