Adding Value by Dennis O'Hagan

Benefits of 15-year mortgage hard to beat

Why those lured by smaller payments on 30-year loan should reconsider

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, April 30, 2012.  Inman News®

The case for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages has never been stronger because, in the post-crisis market, the rate advantage over the 30-year has never been larger. The rate advantage is about 0.875 percent, whereas prior to the crisis, it was 0.375 percent to 0.5 percent.

Consider two $100,000 loans, one a 15-year at 3.125 percent and the other a 30-year at 4 percent. The respective payments are $696.61 and 477.42. After 15 years, the borrower with the 15-year loan has paid $39,454 more but is out of debt whereas the borrower with the 30-year loan still owes $64,543.

But there is a counterargument. A disciplined borrower can choose the 30-year loan and invest the difference in payment between the 30- and the 15-year loans, in that way offsetting the higher interest rate on the 30-year loan. Some financial planners recommend this approach to their clients as part of a program to build wealth faster.

The challenge in making such a program work is that the rate of return on the invested cash flow must exceed the rate on the 30-year loan by an amount that depends on how much higher the 30-year rate is than the 15-year rate.

Thinking of buying a home? Fixed Mortgage Rates Hold Near Record Lows...

RISMEDIA, Saturday, April 28, 2012— Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates down slightly and hovering just above their record lows as markets waited for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.88 percent and has been below 4 percent all but one week in 2012. The 15-year fixed, a popular refinancing choice, averaged 3.12 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.88 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 26, 2012, down from last week when it averaged 3.90 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.78 percent.

Results showed that the 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.12 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.13 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.97 percent.

Additionally, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.85 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.78 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.51 percent.

The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.74 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.81 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 3.15 percent.

"Fixed mortgage rates held near record lows this week as the markets waited for the Federal Reserve's (Fed) April 25th monetary policy announcement following two days of deliberations,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“The Fed stated that it expects economic growth to remain moderate and then pick up gradually. In addition, it noted that labor market conditions have improved in recent months and it anticipates the unemployment rate will decline gradually.

"The housing market has also shown some improvement as well. The Federal Housing Finance Agency's purchase-only house price index rose at a monthly rate of 0.3 percent in February. Moreover, 12 out of 20 metropolitan areas experienced increases over the month, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller® 20-city indexes, led by a 2.1 percent gain in Phoenix. New home sales in March were stronger than the consensus market forecast and February's sales were revised upwards to the strongest pace in almost two years. However, the Fed's statement warned that despite some signs of improvement, the housing sector still remains depressed."

For more information, visit www.freddiemac.com.

HAMP Extension Offers Homeowners Hope...

Restoring the American Dream: HAMP Extension Offers Homeowners Hope

By Keith Loria

RISMEDIA, Friday, April 06, 2012— During President Barack Obama’s most recent State of the Union address, he spoke about the American Dream of owning a home and how that dream has been shattered for many due to the collapse of the housing and mortgage markets over the last few years. However, Obama offered hope to homeowners recently by extending the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which can help many homeowners refinance and take advantage of historically low interest rates.

HAMP also offers incentives to mortgage lenders to encourage them to refinance and modify existing mortgages by lowering interest rates and reducing mortgage balances to the current value of the property.

Launched by the federal government in 2009, HAMP was slated to expire on December 31, 2012, but was extended for one year until December 31, 2013. The extension of the program included an expansion of the eligibility rules to make it available to even more homeowners.

It is believed that millions of additional homeowners will now be eligible to take advantage of the federal program to bring down the costs of owning a home and even help many avoid foreclosure altogether.

In February, new eligibility criteria were released to mortgage lenders and servicers and homeowners may begin submitting applications under the new rules in May. Until then, homeowners can submit applications for modifications under HAMP to their lenders under the existing eligibility guidelines.

There are several changes to the HAMP guidelines that homeowners should be aware of:

-Homeowners found to be ineligible under the current debt-to-income ratio of 31 percent may now be eligible under the new criteria.

-Previously, non-owner occupied homes and owner-occupied homes with tenants were not eligible. However, the new guidelines would allow tenants in part of the home as long as the home is owner-occupied, or the owner intends to take occupancy. It is believed that approximately 700,000 landlords will be eligible under the revisions to HAMP.

-People who were approved for a HAMP trial period, but did not make the payments as scheduled, would be eligible for consideration for a modification under the new eligibility criteria.

-Homeowners who missed payments under an approved HAMP modification, as opposed to a trial period, would be eligible to reapply under the new rules.

In addition to the HAMP extension, the Obama administration announced that it would triple incentives to owners of mortgages that reduce home loan debt and expand eligibility to borrowers struggling under the weight of other liabilities such as medical bills. The extension will apply to all loans, including those held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage financiers.

For more information about the new HAMP guidelines, contact our Lender today.

HUD Announces More Than 42 Million Dollars In Counseling Grants to Help Families Find and Keep Housing...

RISMEDIA, Wednesday, March 21, 2012— As part of its continuing effort to help families find decent housing and to prevent future foreclosures, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced more than $42 million in housing counseling grants to 468 national, regional and local organizations. As a result of this funding, hundreds of thousands of households will have a greater opportunity to find housing or keep their current homes. See list of all counseling agencies awarded funding today.

“The HUD-approved counseling agencies this funding supports are crucial in helping struggling families on a one-to-one basis to manage their money, navigate the homebuying process, and secure their financial futures,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “We fought hard to persuade Congress to restore funding for housing counseling in HUD’s budget and now we’re working to make these important resources available as quickly as possible.”

Housing counseling grants will assist families in becoming homeowners, many for the first time, and remaining homeowners after their purchase. They also provide assistance to renters and the homeless, and offer financial literacy training to individuals and families.

“These funds are complemented by the roughly $2.5 billion provided to the states as part of the $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement. Most states can use those funds for foreclosure prevention activities such as housing counseling and legal aid services,” added Secretary Donovan.

More than $36 million in grant funds will directly support the housing counseling services provided by 27 national and regional organizations, 6 multi-state organizations, 16 State Housing Finance Agencies (SHFAs) and 419 local housing counseling agencies. In addition, HUD is awarding $2 million to three national organizations to train counselors who will receive the instruction and certification necessary to effectively assist families with their housing needs.

Counseling agencies will also receive $4 million to help assist senior citizens seeking reverse mortgages or Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM). These agencies will provide counseling for the rapidly growing number of elderly homeowners who seek to convert equity in their homes into income that can be used to pay for home improvements, medical costs, and other living expenses.

National and regional agencies distribute much of HUD’s housing counseling grant funding to community-based grassroots organizations that provide information and guidance to low- and moderate-income families seeking to improve their housing conditions. In addition, these larger organizations help improve the quality of housing counseling services and enhance coordination among counseling providers.

Grant recipients help homebuyers and homeowners realistically evaluate their readiness for a home purchase, understand their financing and downpayment options, and navigate what can be an extremely confusing and difficult process. In addition to providing counseling to homebuyers and renters, these organizations assist homeless persons in finding the transitional housing they need to move toward a permanent place to live.

Grantees also help combat predatory lending by helping unwary borrowers review their loan documentation, and avoid potential mortgage scams, unreasonably high interest rates, inflated appraisals, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions that can result in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and even foreclosure. Likewise, foreclosure prevention counseling helps homeowners facing delinquency or default employ strategies, including expense reduction, negotiation with lenders and loan servicers, and loss mitigation, to avoid foreclosure. With foreclosures at critical levels nationwide, these services are more important than ever.

HUD awards annual grants under the housing counseling program through a competitive process. Organizations that apply for grants must be HUD-approved and are subject to monitoring and oversight to maintain their HUD-approved status.

Read a summary of each grant, organized by state.

More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov.

Housing High Point: Pending Sales of Existing Homes Up to Nearly Two-Year High...

RISMEDIA, Monday, March 05, 2012— (MCT)—More Americans are signing contracts to buy existing homes than at any time in nearly two years, boosting the housing industry’s slow recovery, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ index of pending home sales.

The measure is up 2 percent to 97 in January after slipping 1.9 percent in December. The index of deals for previously owned homes is up 8 percent compared with the 89.8 level from January 2011.

Last month saw the highest point on the index since April 2010, when consumers drawn by a home-buyer tax credit pushed the figure to 111.3. That was the last time the measure exceeded 100 — the benchmark for industry health.

The index showed year-over-year increases in every region—a 9.8 percent increase in the Northeast, a 10.8 percent rise in the Midwest, a 10.5 percent boost in the South and a smaller 0.7 percent uptick in the West.

Contracts are usually signed a month or two before a deal closes and the home purchase is finalized, making the pending-sales index a leading indicator for where the market is headed. The REALTORS® group said last week that existing home sales in January were up more than 4 percent to an annual rate of 4.57 million.

Housing experts such as Lawrence Yun, the REALTOR® group’s chief economist, credit the sliding unemployment rate—which fell in January to its lowest point in three years —as well as a downward trend in home prices and a supply of homes that is at a nearly seven-year low.

“Movements in the index have been uneven, reflecting the head winds of tight credit, but job gains, high affordability and rising rents are hopefully pushing the market into what appears to be a sustained housing recovery,” Yun says in a statement.

Housing Bright Spot: Pending Home Sales Rise, Market on Uptrend

RISMEDIA, Tuesday, February 28, 2012— Pending home sales are on an upward trend, which has been uneven but meaningful since reaching a cyclical low last April, and are well above a year ago, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 2.0 percent to 97.0 in January from a downwardly revised 95.1 in December and is 8.0 percent higher than January 2011 when it was 89.8. The data reflects contracts but not closings.

The January index is the highest since April 2010 when it reached 111.3 as buyers were rushing to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says this is a hopeful indicator going into the spring home-buying season. "Given more favorable housing market conditions, the trend in contract activity implies we are on track for a more meaningful sales gain this year. With a sustained downtrend in unsold inventory, this would bring about a broad price stabilization or even modest national price growth, of course with local variations."

The PHSI in the Northeast rose 7.6 percent to 78.2 in January and is 9.8 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index declined 3.8 percent to 88.1 but is 10.8 percent higher than January 2011. Pending home sales in the South increased 7.7 percent to an index of 109.1 in January and is 10.5 percent above a year ago. In the West the index fell 4.4 percent in January to 101.9 but is 0.7 percent above January 2011.

"Movements in the index have been uneven, reflecting the headwinds of tight credit, but job gains, high affordability and rising rents are hopefully pushing the market into what appears to be a sustained housing recovery," Yun says. "If and when credit availability conditions return to normal, home sales will likely get a 15 percent boost, speed up the home-price recovery, and thereby significantly reduce the number of homeowners who are underwater."

For more information, visit www.realtor.org.

Deadline to Request Mortgage Review Extended to July 31...

RISMEDIA, Thursday, February 23, 2012— People seeking a review of their mortgage foreclosures under the Federal banking agencies' Independent Foreclosure Review now have until July 31, 2012, to submit their requests.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) announced yesterday that the deadline for submitting requests for review under the Independent Foreclosure Review has been extended. The new deadline, July 31, 2012, provides an additional three months for borrowers to request a review if they believe they suffered financial injury as a result of errors in foreclosure actions on their homes in 2009 or 2010 by one of the servicers covered by enforcement actions issued in April 2011.

The deadline extension provides more time to increase awareness of how eligible people may request a review through the Independent Foreclosure Review process and to encourage the broadest participation possible.

As part of enforcement actions issued in April 2011, the OCC, Federal Reserve, and the Office of Thrift Supervision required 14 large mortgage servicers to retain independent consultants to conduct a comprehensive review of foreclosure activity in 2009 and 2010 to identify borrowers who may have been financially injured due to errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies in the foreclosure process. If the review finds that financial injury occurred, the borrower may receive compensation or other remedy.

Borrowers are eligible for an Independent Foreclosure Review if they meet the following basic criteria:
• The mortgage loan was serviced by one of the participating mortgage servicers.
• The mortgage loan was active in the foreclosure process between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010.
• The property securing the mortgage loan was the borrower's primary residence.

For more information, visit www.occ.gov/independentforeclosurereview.

More Than 95 Percent of Refinancing Borrowers Choose Fixed-Rate Mortgages

RISMEDIA, Friday, February 17, 2012— In the fourth quarter of 2011, fixed-rate loans accounted for more than 95 percent of refinance loans, based on the Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) Quarterly Product Transition Report released recently. Refinancing borrowers clearly preferred fixed-rate loans, regardless of whether their original loan was an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) or a fixed-rate.

An increasing share of refinancing borrowers chose to shorten their loan terms during the fourth quarter. Of borrowers who paid off a 30-year fixed-rate loan, 43 percent chose a 15- or 20-year loan, the highest such share since the first quarter of 2003.

Fifty-eight percent of borrowers who had a hybrid ARM transitioned to a fixed-rate loan during the fourth quarter, while the remaining 42 percent chose to refinance into the same type of product.

"Fixed mortgage rates averaged 4.00 percent for 30-year loans and 3.30 percent for 15-year product during the fourth quarter in Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, well below long-term average,” says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.

“The Bureau of Economic Analysis has estimated the average coupon on single-family loans was about 5.2 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011. It's no wonder we continue to see strong refinance activity into fixed-rate loans. “

"For borrowers motivated to refinance by low fixed-rates, they could obtain even lower rates by shortening their term. Compared to a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the interest rate on 15-year fixed was about 0.7 percentage points lower during the fourth quarter. And for borrowers who plan to remain in their current home for only a few years, the hybrid ARM allows for even a greater interest-rate savings. The initial interest rate on a 5/1 hybrid ARM was about 1.1 percentage points lower than on a 30-year fixed-rate loan."

For more information, visit www.freddiemac.com.

Do Homeowners owe a 3.8% tax on their home sale?

A rumor about a 3.8% federal tax on all home sales has again hit the in-boxes of Texas consumers and real estate agents. So, is there such a tax for all home sales? No.

The facts are that individuals with incomes over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for married couples) will be subject to a 3.8% tax on profits of more than $250,000 ($500,000 for couples) from the sale of a primary residence. So, a husband and wife who make more than $250,000 a year and sell their home for a $510,000 profit would pay $380.

Homeowners in HOAs now have a few more property rights...

Thanks to the last Texas Legislature and efforts by the Texas Association of REALTORS®, property owners in homeowners associations are now guaranteed the right to place religious displays on their front doors; fly the U.S., state, and military flags; and install rain barrels and solar panels on their property. Other recent legislative changes will make HOA meetings and records more accessible to all HOA members and will prevent HOAs from using nonjudicial foreclosures powers.

Texas Association of REALTORS® Vice President of Governmental Affairs Mark Lehman was quoted in a San Antonio Express-News article summarizing the changes.