Florida Bond – HAMI $5k Down Payment Assistance

by Justin Miller on January 3, 2012 in Florida Bond Program with No comments

If you are looking to purchase a home anywhere in Florida and you don’t qualify for the $7500 Florida Assist Down Payment Assistance program you will want to look into the $5k Homeowner Assistance for Moderate Income (HAMI) loan.  This loan is typically behind an FHA, VA, or USDA first mortgage.  This is a bond, not a grant.  I have helped a lot of first time homebuyers in the Fort Lauderdale and South Florida area.   All you have to do is the 8 hour first time homebuyer education course and we handle the rest. 

In order to qualify you have to be within the income limits for your county and family size.  To find out the income limits for your County click on the link below, click on the First Time Homebuyer Program image in green, choose your County, and the Number of People Living in the Household:  www.floridahousing.org or contact me.

It is a 10 amortizing loan but accelerated if any of the following occur – a sale, transfer, other disposition of the property (including any involuntary transfer by or as a result of foreclosure or judicial sale or operation of law), refinance or satisfaction of the 1st mortgage.  It is repayable and never forgiven.   The interest rate is 5%.

Florida Bond – Florida Assist $7500 Down Payment Assistance

by Justin Miller on January 3, 2012 in Florida Bond Program with No comments

If you are looking to purchase a home anywhere in Florida make sure to find out if you qualify for the $7500 Florida Assist Down Payment Assistance program.  This loan is typically behind an FHA, VA, or USDA first mortgage.  This is a bond, not a grant.  I have helped a lot of first time homebuyers in the Fort Lauderdale and South Florida area.   All you have to do is the 8 hour first time homebuyer education course and we handle the rest.  

In order to qualify you have to be within the income limits for your county and family size.  To find out the income limits for your County click on the link below, click on the First Time Homebuyer Program image in green, choose your County, and the Number of People Living in the Household:  www.floridahousing.org or contact me.

It is a 30 year deferred loan but accelerated if any of the following occur – a sale, transfer, other disposition of the property (including any involuntary transfer by or as a result of foreclosure or judicial sale or operation of law), refinance or satisfaction of the 1st mortgage.  It is repayable and never forgiven.   The interest rate is 0%.

 

No Doc Stamps & Intangible Tax With The Florida Bond

by Justin Miller on January 3, 2012 in Florida Bond Program with No comments

Another great feature when using the Florida Bond to purchase a home in addition to getting up to $7500 in down payment assistance is that you do NOT have to pay any doc stamps or intangible tax.  On a $100,000 loan that is a savings of $550. 

If you are renting or thinking of buying you need to look into using this program.  All you have to do is the First Time Homebuyer 8 hour class which you will find very informative.  We handle the rest.

Shopping For A Mortgage

by Justin Miller on January 3, 2012 in Interest Rates, Mortgage Education 101 with No comments

I have written about this topic many times and that the days of shopping for a mortgage are gone.  Making sure you are dealing with an expert and someone who is honest is what is most important.   Jack Guttentag who writes a lot of mortgage related articles and an industry expert seems to agree with me now. 

In his article “5 Truths About Mortgage Shopping” he states that “I confess that it took awhile before I realized this myself. Over the years, I wrote several articles on “how to shop for a mortgage,” which I am now in the process of revising. The corrected title will be more like “how to minimize the loss from having to select a lender without knowing that lender’s price.”

He goes onto to say “The textbook analysis of competition assumes that buyers can buy at the prices quoted by sellers. In the mortgage market, however, lenders have no obligation to lend at the price they quote until they lock, which may take days or even weeks. In the meantime, the quoted price is very likely to change with the market, which is very volatile. Quoted prices are reset every day and sometimes during the day. ”

Unfortunately in the Fort Lauderdale and South Florida real estate and mortgage market there is a lot of fraud and some will quotes interest rates that don’t yet exist to try and get your business.  This is why the interest rate you quoted doesn’t matter, it’s what you are locked in at that does.  I highly recommend reading his article.

 

FHA Extends Waiver of Anti-Flipping Regulations Through 2012

by Justin Miller on December 27, 2011 in FHA Loans with No comments

This is for properties where the seller acquired the property and is trying to resell it within 90 days and is not a bank or bank disposition company.  It is important to note that 2 appraisals are required and everything on the home inspection must be fixed.

Here is FHA’s email announcement:

FHA Extends Waiver of Anti-Flipping Regulations Through 2012:

In an effort to continue stabilizing home values and improve conditions in communities experiencing high foreclosure activity, Acting Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner Carol J. Galante will extend FHA’s temporary waiver of the anti-flipping regulations. 

With certain exceptions, FHA regulations prohibit insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days.  In 2010, FHA temporarily waived this regulation through January 31, 2011, and later extended that waiver through the remainder of 2011.  The new extension will permit buyers to continue to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. It will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.

The extension is effective through December 31, 2012, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn by FHA.  All other terms of the existing Waiver will remain the same.  The Waiver contains strict conditions and guidelines to prevent the predatory practice of property flipping, in which properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers.  The Waiver continues to be limited to sales meeting the following conditions:

  • All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.
  • In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller’s acquisition cost, the Waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions and documents the justification for the increase in value
  • The Waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.

5 Things To Do Now When Buying A Home

by Justin Miller on December 15, 2011 in Mortgage Education 101 with No comments

This is a great Blog post from Trulia.com that is a must read for anyone who is buying a home.  Buying a home is very involved and document intensive when it comes to getting a mortgage.  If you want to alleviate some stress then you need to plan in advance preferably a month or 2.

If you fail to plan then you plan to fail and that is so true when it comes to buying a home and getting a mortgage in the Fort Lauderdale and South Florida area.  It is a unique market here and you need to surround yourself with professionals from the Mortgage Banker, to the Real Estate Agent, to your Real Estate Attorney.

All too often a buyer shops for the cheapest Mortgage Banker and Real Estate Attorney.  You get what you pay for in life and this is the largest asset and liability you will ever have.  You wouldn’t want to look for the cheapest Financial Planner, Doctor, Dentist, etc.  Don’t do it when buying a home.

The Florida Bond Program

by Justin Miller on December 8, 2011 in Florida Bond Program with No comments

The Florida Bond Programs is a great program to help borrowers with their down payment and closing costs. Not only does this help those that are tight on funds it enables them to have more money leftover after closing in reserve since owning a home has additional costs than renting.

These programs will qualify buyers who normally would be denied.   In order for the lending institution to do the bond loans they have to be approved and so does the individual Mortgage Professional.  FEMBi and I are approved. 

Here are some highlights:

  • Its for 1st Time Homebuyers only and that includes the spouse even if they aren’t on the loan and both have to do the homebuyer education
  • There are income and loan limits depending on the program and # of dependents
  • Homeowner Assistance for Moderate Income Loans (HAMI) – $5,000 loan payable in 10 years at a rate of 5%
  • Florida Assist – A loan up to $7500 at 0% and it’s a 30 year deferred loan – this is for median income households
  • No realtor or builder fees allowed
  • No doc stamps or intangible tax
  • The appraisal must show the property to have a 30 year remaining life

The information below is from the FloridaHousing.org website. 

For the Frequently Asked Questions – Click Here

To find an approved counseling agency in your area – Click here

To view the First Time Homebuyer flyer -  Click here

To find out the income limits for your County click on the link below, click on the First Time Homebuyer Program image in green, choose your County, and the Number of People Living in the Household:  www.floridahousing.org

 

Mortgage Inquiries & How They Affect Your Score

by Justin Miller on December 7, 2011 in Credit with No comments

There are a lot of misconceptions on inquiries and how they affect your credit score.  This is from MyFico.com and that is the scoring model we as banks use :

Does the formula treat all credit inquiries the same?

No. Research has indicated that the FICO score is more predictive when it treats loans that commonly involve rate-shopping, such as mortgage, auto and student loans, in a different way. For these types of loans, the FICO score ignores inquiries made in the 30 days prior to scoring. So, if you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won’t affect your score while you’re rate shopping. In addition, the score looks on your credit report for rate-shopping inquiries older than 30 days. If it finds some, it counts those inquiries that fall in a typical shopping period as just one inquiry when determining your score. For FICO scores calculated from older versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 14 day span. For FICO scores calculated from the newest versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 45 day span. Each lender chooses which version of the FICO scoring formula it wants the credit reporting agency to use to calculate your FICO score.

What to know about “rate shopping.”

Looking for a mortgage, auto or student loan may cause multiple lenders to request your credit report, even though you are only looking for one loan. To compensate for this, the score ignores mortgage, auto, and student loan inquiries made in the 30 days prior to scoring. So, if you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won’t affect your score while you’re rate shopping. In addition, the score looks on your credit report for mortgage, auto, and student loan inquiries older than 30 days. If it finds some, it counts those inquiries that fall in a typical shopping period as just one inquiry when determining your score. For FICO scores calculated from older versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 14 day span. For FICO scores calculated from the newest versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 45 day span. Each lender chooses which version of the FICO scoring formula it wants the credit reporting agency to use to calculate your FICO score.

Should You Buy or Rent?

by Justin Miller on November 28, 2011 in Mortgage Education 101 with No comments

There have been a lot of good articles of late showing that it is better to buy than rent right now because homes are so affordable.   I agree that it is a great time to buy depending on your situation.  There is a great article titled “How To Know Whether It’s Time To Buy” that gives the 6 things you need to consider to determine whether you should buy or rent.  Those include:

  • Examine the housing market – it all depends on where you are buying.  Although Fort Lauderdale and South Florida prices have fallen it is still location, location, location.
  • Consider additional costs – there are additional costs when owning a home such as insurances going up and maintenance
  • Look into the future – will your job still be where you are living or will you have to move?
  • Look into your personal future – do you plan to own for more than 5 years? 
  • Consider your personal finances – how much can you put down?
  • Think about opportunity costs – is it better to put less than 20% down?

Here is another good article on buying versus renting from The WSJ title “Stronger Lure For Prospective Home Buyers.”

Don’t Believe Everything You Read

by Justin Miller on November 23, 2011 in Mortgage Education 101 with No comments

Mark Twain said “if you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed and if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.”  You have to be very careful of what you read online.  Not only is there incorrect information but there are scams too. 

The federal organization overseeing the administration of funds from the 2008 bailout has cracked down on alleged scams that used Bing and Yahoo to lure vulnerable homeowners with ads for bogus mortgage modification deals….. Full Article

You need to make sure you are working with an expert and someone you feel you can trust.  The days of needing to shop for a mortgage are gone in my opinion.  If you are worried you aren’t getting a good deal then you should stop working with that person.  No matter what product or service you are buying you can always find someone or something cheaper but keep in mind you are giving something up, quality, advice, honesty, etc.  That is especially true in Fort Lauderdale and South Florida seeing as we are the top in the country for mortgage fraud.  A mortgage isn’t just an interest rate and is actually far from it.

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