Kristine Dugan, ABR, BS, CRS, SFR
Your Resource for All Things Real Estate
Direct Phone: 702-332-7781 :: Email: info@HomeSearchVegasValley.com
Government Refinance Program HARP Changes to Help More Homeowners
Posted on November 24, 2011
Home Affordable Refinance Program (or HARP) was a complete disaster when it was first proposed a couple of years ago. Maybe that's a little too harsh - what I really mean is that the program was designed with a great intention, to help homeowners in need that want to continue living in their home but can't afford to at their current interest rate (mainly due to adjustable rate mortgages or the high interest rates that their loan was originally structured at); however the program wasn't realistic when the government made the guidelines for qualification. HARP was originally designed to help homeowners that owed between 80% and 105% of the value of their home. Soon the government realized that these ratios weren't very helpful since most homeowners were upside down on their homes. The program was soon modified to help homeowners that owed up to 125% of the value of their home. Yeah, the program was moving in the right direction but still wasn't helping many homeowners (especially in Las Vegas, Nevada where 85% of the Homeowners have owe double on their house than what it is worth).
The program has now been modified to help many more homeowners. Some of the new guidelines include:
- If you have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan, you will soon be able to refinance no matter how much you are upside down
- You will not be able to refinance through HARP if you have already used the program (which most haven't)
- You must be current on your mortgage for the past 12 months
I think these new guidelines are awesome! This should help many more homeowners and I would encourage anyone that falls within the guidelines to apply. To give you a little insight of how this could help you, if you got a mortgage for $300,000 at an 8% interest rate and were able to qualify for this program and refinance at 5%, that would save you $570 a month not to mention $207,000 over the lifetime of the loan! If you are interested in HARP, click here to review additional program guidelines.
To find out if Fannie Mae owns your loan, click here. To find out if Freddie Mac owns your loan, click here. If you have additional questions on HARP or other options regarding your home, feel free to contact me directly at 702-332-7781.
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