A few years back we purchased the KnowYourOptions.org domain and developed a website to help struggling San Diego North Valley homeowners to literally “know their options.” Our goal was to help our California neighbors to make informed decisions about homeownership.

Should you short sell? Foreclose? Get a loan mod?

It’s never an easy decision, but once you have all the facts (and the right counselor) that difficult decision becomes simpler. Fannie Mae recognizes this as well, which is why the organization purchased KnowYourOptions.org from us and redirected the site to KnowYourOptions.com™.

The new Fannie Mae site has the same intention that our original site had and continues to do an excellent job of informing the consumer how to stay in their home or how to leave their home. We fully endorse Fannie Mae’s current use of the site.

San Diego homeowners can certainly benefit. Here’s how.

• Find out if you have a Fannie Mae backed mortgage.

Fannie Mae backed loans could mean you have more options in dealing with your home loan. All this will be discussed when you meet with a housing counselor or broker, but it’s best to get as many of the facts as you can first. Use the Fannie Mae Loan Lookup form to find out for sure.

• View the local foreclosure prevention events calendar.

Find foreclosure education events in and around Southern California. These are in-person discussions that explain how foreclosure works and what you need to do.

• Watch videos from the video library.

You could search YouTube for hours to find the video with the information you need. KnowYourOptions.com has 20 videos covering short sales, died in lieu, forbearance, and more.

• Download the Fannie Mae financial documents checklist.

As you go through the process you’ll need to collect copies of documents to share with your mortgage company. Start now to prevent stress later. This checklist will help.

• Find your mortgage company.

The contact information of your mortgage company should be on your monthly statements, but you can also use Know Your Options and search the site for a web address and a phone number.

• Get the facts.

Read the frequently asked questions, learn the mortgage industry terminology, and know what it means to stay in your home or leave your home. WhatsMyOptions.com is also a great resource for this kind of information.

• Self-guided options finder.

By answering a few simple questions you can receive a personalized set of options.

What else would you like to know? Tell us what San Diego homeowners need.

The government backed loan modification program is helping more people, but how much is unclear.    The number of homeowners getting help from the governments massive foreclosure alternative program is growing, according to data released Tuesday by the Treasury Department,  however it is too early to tell  how many of these homeowners might still lose their property.

The administration will not release figures on completed modifications until December, however so far it  appears that very few trial modifications are becoming permanent, often because of a lack of documents.

In San Diego county and nationwide  Titanium Solutions Inc has been hired by mortgage servicers to go door to door gathering needed documents.  “Most people got into loan with assistance” and need similar help with the modification  process, said a Freddie Mac Senior Vice President Ingrid Beckles

Making Sense of Making Homes Affordable Program, Part 4 of 4

Can the Southern California real estate market depend on it?

Over the last several weeks we’ve analyzed the Making Home Affordable Program and how it has impacted the homeowner and real estate market. In this final post of the series, we talk about how the program has impacted Southern California specifically.

We reported back in May that foreclosures pushed California property values down 37%. Since March when the Making Homes Affordable Program launched, property values have crept back up only 2.6 %.

Like we reported in August , there are fewer Notices of Defaults showing up and homes are selling quicker reducing the number of bank owned homes on the market. These factors are causing a rise in home values – good news for sellers.

Is it the Making Homes Affordable program that created this small boost? Is it the natural evolution out of the recession?

Housing and Urban Development

Experts say it is both unemployment and unaffordable home loan payments that drove the problems with real estate, and it will require improvement on both fronts before a significant difference is seen within the housing market, which we are, surely but slowly, seeing.

If you are unemployed or have found yourself struggling to make your home loan payments, don’t give up on the HAMP and HARP programs or your future as a homeowner. There are reputable financial counseling organizations such as the Home Ownership Preservation Foundation, which provides one-on-one counseling to homeowners in need of help and considering foreclosure. They provide resources and advice on next steps.

Oak Tree Realty Group may be able to help too. To learn more about the Making Homes Affordable Program and how it has impacted Southern California home loan trends, contact Oak Tree Realty Group and speak with one of our specialists.

DIYLM Fizzle or Sizzle

A DIYLM is a Do It Yourself Loan Modification.  The decision to modify your loan is contemplated by many of homeowners today and some are successful, especially when they have the time and knowledge to understand the loss mitigation system.

Betting the Farm

DIYLM are faced with the questions such as what paperwork is required.  Where should I send the paperwork?  What is the correct telephone number to get answers? What are my legal rights?  What do I qualify for?  How much time do I have to save my home?  What to do after they say no?

The majority of  DIYLMS get tired and frustrated with the process and end up calling a professional who specializes in foreclosure alterative programs, and is a skilled negotiator.

What gets Loan Modification done

In order for a Loan modification to be successful, You have to ask for help!

It is okay to fall you need to ask for people to help you get back up on your feet.

A lot of people are suffering in silence here in San Diego County.  You are not alone! Ask for help. We are here to help you understand all of your options about alternatives to foreclosure.

POWER OF THIRD PARTY NEGOTIATORS

Most homeowners hired a professional in the first place regarding their home. Example:–Your appraiser was a professional. Your mortgage broker was a professional. Your escrow officer was a professional. You have hired a real estate broker or sales person, etc … In much the same way; a homeowners also need a Professional to represent them in negotiating with their lender.  The power of a third party neutral negotiator takes the pressure off of the homeowner because emotions can run high during the negotiating process.

To find out more about Keeping Your Home & Knowing Your Loan

Contact SD Short Sales ASAP for a FREE consultations 760-576-(HELP)

Oak Tree Realty Group

DRE Lic # 01371856

4025 Camino Del Rio South #300| San Diego CA | 92108

“Don’t Let things happen to you…Make them happen For you!”

Making Sense of Making Homes Affordable Program, Part 3 of 4

Do you qualify for HAMP?

The Making Homes Affordable program has two parts – the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which we talked about in a previous post, and the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which we’ll dig into here.

For 99% of Southern California homeowners facing foreclosure, we believe the HAMP is a better solution over HARP. A loan modification is beneficial when it doesn’t make sense to sell, which is the case for many Southern Californians because of rapidly declining home values.

Under HAMP, eligible homeowners are given two to three months to make lower home loan payments and if all goes well, the new loan with lower interest rates will take effect. After the fifth year, interest rates will increase and so will payments.

Pick the Best Loan Modification Program for You

There are modifications out there that secure a longer-term modification of 30 to 40 years. In other words, HAMP isn’t necessarily the best modification program.

What makes HAMP different from other modification programs is that the U.S. government is providing incentives to both the lender and the home owner to complete the modification. Essentially, the government is going out of its way to make sure three to four million home owners don’t go into foreclosure.

The problem is that many lenders aren’t providing modifications when they should. HAMP is a voluntary program, and truth be told, most lenders earn more from foreclosures and short sales than they do through a modification.

As of late there has been talk of homeowners completing a modification on your own. In our opinion, the do-it-yourself approach to home loan modifications is the same as representing yourself in the court of law. There is a certain expertise necessary.

Here are the basics for HAMP qualification:

• The modification you are seeking is for your primary residence
• You owe less than $729,750 on your first mortgage
• Your monthly home loan payments are more than 31% of your income
• You received your home loan prior to January 1, 2009

Self Assessment

When struggling to make payments or when in search for a lower interest rate, the Making Homes Affordable Program is not the only option. If you aren’t eligible for HAMP or HARP or if you prefer not to go this route, consider another option such as a partial claim, which is a 12-month, interest free second mortgage for FHA home loans or a repayment plan offered by some lenders that allows you to repay delinquent payments interest free.

Next up in our Making Sense of Making Homes Affordable Program series, we’ll talk about the impact of the program on Southern California foreclosures.  Sign up for our RSS to receive updates to your feed.

New Rule adopted by the Federal Reserve

Penalize  borrowers with weak credit    

This new rule increase the interest rate for High risk borrowers and Bar lenders from making a high cost mortgage without verifying that a borrower could repay the loan in the conventional way and not simply through foreclosure sale.

Since the Federal Reserve is the largest buyer of  U.S. Mortgage Back Securities “MBS“.  They want to protect their investment in the American housing market.  More rules to come.

Four Key  Rules to Protection for Home buyers

The final rule adds four key protections for a newly defined category of “higher-priced mortgage loans” secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling.  For loans in this category, these protections will:

• Prohibit a lender from making a loan without regard to borrowers’ ability to repay the loan from income and assets other than the home’s value.  A lender complies, in part, by assessing repayment ability based on the highest scheduled payment in the first seven years of the loan. To show that a lender violated this prohibition, a borrower does not need to demonstrate that it is part of a “pattern or practice.”

• Require creditors to verify the income and assets they rely upon to determine repayment ability.

• Ban any prepayment penalty if the payment can change in the initial four years.
• For other higher-priced loans, a prepayment penalty period cannot last for more than two years. This rule is substantially more restrictive than originally proposed.
• Require creditors to establish escrow accounts for property taxes and homeowner’s insurance for all first-lien mortgage loans.

This rule does not cover the more profitable Option ARM loan or the Adjustable Rate mortgages.

Original article

Making Sense of Making Homes Affordable Program

Do you qualify for HARP?

Under Obama’s Making Homes Affordable Program, homeowners who don’t qualify for most refinancing options may be eligible for a stable, lower-interest home loan under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). Even if you owe more then 80% of your home’s value, you might still qualify.

Here are some of the eligibility requirements for HARP:

• Your loan is backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
• You have made all of your payments on time
• You plan to stay in your home
• Your full mortgage is less than 125% of the current market value on your home

Housing and Urban Development

The Goal of HARP

The end-goal is to help four to five million homeowners take advantage of lower interest rates by getting them out of risky loans and into a loan with lower monthly payments. The two loans included in HARP are the Refi Plus and DU Refi Plus, both of which operate under fixed interest rates. Unlike an adjustable rate mortgage or interest-only mortgage, Refi Plus and DU Refi Plus provide stability over the long-term and helps homeowners to pay down the principal of their home loan sooner rather than later.

Keep in mind that lenders are not required to refinance loans under the program.

While there are incentives for a lender to do so, sometimes the fees and earnings from foreclosure sales exceed any incentive. For this reason it is important for the homeowner to advocate for him or herself and push for the refinance. Keep in mind that you don’t have to pay any upfront fees for a HARP refinance.

As previously reported, many critics are pushing for lenders to be more proactive in providing HARP refinancing. The forthcoming report card will reveal how many homeowners they’ve helped since March 2009.  We will be sure to publish those numbers including any information revealed of California lenders.

Check back with us on Friday Oct 1, 2009 when we discuss the modification program (HAMP) and whether or not it’s right for Southern California home owners.

The Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable program will offer assistance to as many as 7 to 9 million homeowners making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments, while attempting to prevent the destructive impact of the housing crisis on families and communities.

The Straight Facts

The U.S. Government established the Making Homes Affordable Program to stabilize the shaky real estate market. For San Diego homeowners with decreasing home values and increasing financial struggles, this is a welcomed relief.

As with many government programs, “Making Homes Affordable” is difficult to decipher. Do you qualify? Is it the best option? Can the Southern California housing market rely on it?

All of these questions are answered in this new series of blog posts from Oak Tree Realty Group. In the first post, we look at the basic facts.

There are two components of the program, both designed to avoid foreclosure: the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Here are the facts:

1. The goal of modification (HAMP) is to bring payments down to 38% of the home owner’s pre-tax monthly income. Government subsidies and the lender then work together to bring payments down even further to 31%.
2. The goal of refinancing (HARP) is to allow responsible home owners to pay less in interest.
3. 48 mortgage lenders participate in the voluntary program.
4. At the end of September, the government will publish a report card showing how many homeowners each bank has helped. Many lenders are racing to catch up so they don’t look bad.
5. An estimated 500,000 home loans will be modified/refinanced before the end of November 2009.
6. In total, $75 billion has been set aside to keep 3 to 4 million home owners out of foreclosure.

There is a big difference between 500,000 and 4 million. Will the government reach its goal by the end of 2012 when the program expires?

The efforts of the Obama administration are worthwhile, but despite all that, foreclosures will continue to rise in the San Diego area regardless of HAMP and HARP. Sure, the program helps some homeowners, but as we’ll discuss in future blog posts, it doesn’t help all homeowners.  Will it help you more than a short sale or the Fannie Mae Home Saver Advance?

Check back next week when we delve into the second part of the four-part series that discusses whether or not you qualify for HARP. Sign up for our RSS feed and receive future posts straight to your reader.