San Francisco Ca, As you have heard, basically…EVERYWHERE IN THE MEDIA, lenders require A LOT of documentation to close a loan when purchasing or refinancing a home in this day and age. Loans are definitely fully documented and without question YOUR BEST DEFENSE IS A GREAT OFFENSE!

That being said here is what you must have prepared with your lender and agent when prepared to write offers:

• A Cover Letter – Tell your story and make sure your lender know your story. Don’t forget to include any skeletons dangling in your closet, collections, alimony, child support or unpaid IRS liens. Paint a pretty picture but explain any skeletons.
• A completed loan application – review for accuracy.
• If you own property already tie all mortgages from your credit report to your properties.
• If you own property already submit mortgage statements and proof of insurance and property taxes.
• Tri Merge Credit report – your lender will pull this. Get a copy, don’t pull your own. Especially if you are writing on bank owned properties. Most bank owned properties want you pre approved with their institution. That means if you go out and look at offers on 5 houses owned by 5 different banks you may have 6 credit checks! Keep them to a minimum.
• Photo ID.
• Income documentation – 1 month paystubs, 2 years w2’s, 2 years complete tax returns, and business returns if the borrower owns more than 25% of a company.
• Earnest money deposit receipt, copy of check and proof cleared borrower’s account.
• Most recent months bank statements or (Per AUS findings).
• Provide letter of explanation for all large deposits (Anything Greater than 10% of gross monthly earnings must also be documented) including paper trail- cancelled checks, corresponding bank statements, etc.
• Gift Letter and Paper trail: Gift Letter, Donors ability to gift and transfer from donor to borrower with final balance in account.
• Contract fully executed.
• Short Sale approval.
• Copy of any inspections and clearances (Per contract or appraisal).
• Preliminary Title Report (Usually received 2 days after escrow is opened).
• HOA certification form and copy of Master Liability Policy and Insurance Policy for a condominium.

While this may sound a little overboard this is exactly what is needed upfront to close FAST in today’s market. For more information on getting pre approved for your California home loan text or call 510.282.5456, or email us at info@garrick.biz

San Francisco Bay Area Home Affordable Refinance Guidelines include:

- Removing the 125 percent loan-to-value.

- Waiving risk-based fees on borrowers who take shorter term mortgages and reducing those fees for others.

- Eliminating the need for a new property appraisal where there is a reliable AVM (automated valuation model) estimate provided by the GSEs

- Eliminating certain representations and warranties required of lenders to obtain the GSE guarantee. This will protect lenders from many of the buy-back requirements they face under current guidelines

- Extending availability of the program through the end of 2013

For more information on getting pre approved for your California HARP 2.0 Refinance home loan text or call 510.282.5456, or email us at info@garrick.biz

Alameda, CA: On March 13^th and 14^th we saw huge rate increases.  Our beloved 3.875% “Best Execution” went to 4.125% with most lenders.  In fact over the past two days we have seen a dramatic increase in rates –

For those that want to know WHY rates moved higher so quickly:

I Refer to Matthew Graham of Mortgage News Daily -

“(NOTE:  For most of this discussion, we’ll actually reference 10yr Treasury yields, even though it is Mortgage-Backed-Securities (MBS), that most directly influence lender’s rate sheets.  When markets are undergoing bigger shifts than they’ve recently seen, 10yr Treasuries are a better indicator to measure the progress and severity of those shifts.  We’ll ALWAYS make note of any major discrepancies between MBS and Treasuries on the occasions where we talk about both.)

There are several layers of causality.  We discussed the “perfect storm” of events that drove rates higher yesterday.  That discussion included Greece’s recently fully-approved 2nd bailout, a slightly more upbeat FOMC Announcement, slightly stronger Retail Sales, and the general trading dynamics that left bond markets “susceptible” to the weakness. 

Yesterday, we talked about that susceptibility as leaving room to run up to about 2.13% in terms of 10yr yields.  Today’s rout was the next destination in that technical framework. What begins as a test of higher-than-recent interest rates can quickly turn into a brutal disintegration if certain dominoes fall.  Without attempting to explain every esoteric concept of the underlying markets, suffice it to say that between yesterday and today, some very big dominoes started falling, and we’re not sure if they’re done yet.”

WHAT NOW?

Rates are still phenomenal so if you haven’t locked in on your refinance I don’t think you missed out on anything…you were just waiting for the bottom, and when you wait for the bottom it is very easy to miss the bottom.  That being said, it is of course very possible to see rates go even lower, we are still near historic lows!

For more information please feel free to comment, call 510.282.5456 or email info@garrick.biz.

Direct Link:

http://youtu.be/5N0ouGW1h-A

On March 7th HUD announced that FHA mortgage insurance is going up on April 9th for ALL FHA loans. A .10% increase.

Not only that but FHA is raising the upfront mortgage insurance premium from 1% to 1.75%

THEN they announced some good news – For case numbers assigned after June 11, 2012 which are refinancing an FHA loan which was endorsed prior to June 1st 2009 there will be a decrease to the monthly mortgage insurance to just .55%.

Now this is huge because rates were anywhere from the high 4’s to mid 5’s in 2009 and FHA mortgage insurance was .55%. Since then, or course, we have seen rates go down but mortgage insurance keeps going up. Every year!

Let’s take a look at an example –

Say you have a $300,000 Loan

30 Year fix 5.25%    Payment = $1656        MI .55% = $137.50    Payment = $1793

30 Year Fix 3.75%    Payment = $1389      MI 1.15% = $287.50    Payment = $1676

*After June 11 2012* 3.75% (est)  Payment = $1389   MI = $137.50   Payment = $1526

 So this is a great step in the right direction for helping FHA homeowners who don’t want to throw away money on monthly mortgage insurance.

If you are a homeowner looking to see if you are eligible contact me to see when your FHA loan was endorsed. If you are a Realtor make sure you dig through your closed database and see if your clients qualify. There is never a better time to ask for a referral than after you save somebody Money.

If you need further assistance please feel free to comment, call 510.282.5456 or email info@garrick.biz

Related Links:

FHA Mortgage Insurance is on the Rise

How Long Until You Can Buy Again After a Short Sale, Foreclosure or Bankruptcy

Direct Link

http://youtu.be/GRLKjW9jJ3Y
On April 1^st the Federal Housing Administration is increasing both upfront and annual premiums for its insured single family loans.  The annual increase will be .10 % to make the annual mortgage insurance premiums 1.25% mandated by the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011.

But that’s not all! FHA is exercising its authority to raise other fees for the specific purpose of strengthening FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMI).

The upfront premium, which went down in 2010 is going right back up to 1.75%.  A .75% increase from the current 1% premium. This change will happen on all FHA loans regardless of amortization terms. Borrowers WILL still be able to finance this charge

But that’s not all…. June st there will be one last increase of an additional 0.25 percent on FHA-insured loans with principal balances over $625,000 bringing the total hike on “Extended Loan Limit High Balance” FHA to 0.35 percent. 

Acting FHA Commissioner Carol Galante said, “After careful analysis of the market and the health of the MMI fund, we have determined that it is appropriate to increase mortgage insurance premiums in order to help protect our capital reserves and to continue encouraging the return of private capital to the housing market. These modest increases are one of several measures we are taking towards meeting the Congressionally mandated two percent reserve threshold, while allowing FHA to remain a valuable option for low- to moderate-income borrowers.”

FHA estimates that the premium changes will, in the aggregate, add more than $1 billion to the MIF based on the current volume projections through Fiscal 2013. 

For questions on FHA financing Contact Wendy Werdmuller of Team Werdmuller at Wendy@garrick.biz NMLS# 242612 DRE Lic #01826247

Related Links

How Long Until You Can Buy Again After Short Sale Foreclosure or Bankruptcy?

http://the-buzzz.com/2012/02/10/how-long-until-you-can-buy-again-after-short-sale-foreclosure-or-bankruptcy-in-alameda-ca/

Guidelines for Buying a 3 to 4 Unit Property Using FHA Financing

http://the-buzzz.com/2012/01/19/guidelines-for-purchasing-a-3-4-unit-property-with-fha-financing-in-alameda-ca/