Military Veterans easy /inexpensive streamline refinance!
Miliatry veterans that have used their VA Eligibility to purchase a home can easily streamline refinance!
In many cases there is no appraisal, no income or asset verification to qualify!
The new VA Funding fee is .50% which is financed on top of the eligible loan amount and the closing costs can be rolled into the loan.
AND there is a huge resale advantage! With interest rates being unbelievably low, upon resale, an NEW eligible veteran could assume the existing loan at the low refinanced rate. All things being equal, when it comes to resale time, the assumable low rate VA loan could be the deciding factor between houses!
Spread the word to all the veterans out there. First, THANK YOU for keeping us safe, second, time to pay less on your American Dream!
Having a dream is good, owning one is better!
Leslie Nilsen
Owner/ Broker
First Class Financial Services
602.294.9288
MB#0902810 / NMLS#162494
*** Underwater on your mortgage? GOOD NEWS… HARP “2.0” to roll out 11/15/2011!
The specifics of the changes are not yet clear however…
First, you need to know if your loan is Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac owned (ONLY eligible on loans originated 5/2009 or prior). You can find out by going to these links:
AND
https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/
Take note of which entity you determine currently owns your loan. Your loan officer will need this.
Second, it is pretty clear that the new roll out will have NO RESTRICTION as to appraised value! I know! I was excited too! This means, regardless of your value, if Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac own your loan and if you qualify, you can refinance!
With rates at historic levels, this will bring out the masses so be prepared! Find out who owns your loan and have the following items ready:
Paystubs for the last 30 days
Statements for ALL asset accounts (all pages)
2010/2009 W2s
Mortgage coupon/statement for your current mortgage
2 forms of ID for all borrowers.
Currently, the HARP loan requires you refinance ONLY the way you originated the loan (for example, if it was owner occupied when you got the current loan, you can ONLY refinance if the property is still your primary residence) I do not know if this requirement will change.
The changes are expected to roll out on 11/15/2011 for December 1 submissions. I will advise on Monday 11/15 about the changes. Stay tuned!
Having a dream is good, owning one is better!
Leslie Pelletiere, Owner
First Class Financial Services, proudly mortgage lending since 1999!
602.294.9288(O)
602.294.9830(F)
MB#0902810
NMLS #162494
AZDFI Loan Officer # LO-0911453
Arizona mortgage refinance? Can I still qualify if I am under water?
Remember, the Obama administration has recommended to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to allow eligible borrowers to refinance up to 100% of their property value through the HomeStability refinance option.
Most homeowners who are under water are because they have a 1st AND 2nd mortgage. The home stability option will ONLY allow you to refinance the first mortgage balance. For example, the house value is $200K. The first mortgage balance is $200K. The second mortgage balance is $50K. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow you to refinance the $200K balance (if eligible) under the home stability option and not be required to carry new private mortgage insurance! This is huge! It is still here AND it won’t be around forever!
In order to determine initial eligibility, the borrower needs to reference BOTH of these websites:
Fannie Mae:
http://www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup/
Freddie Mac:
https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/
The borrower enters their home mortgage information into both sites. The site will return an answer as to whether Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac “owns” the mortgage. Based on that information we can determine the specifics as to the eligiblility to refinance under this option. Once this option is gone, borrowers will not be able to refinance unless they have 20% equity in their homes. This is an opportunity we cannot pass up!
There are ALOT of caveats to this loan so be sure to contact me if you have questions!
Having a dream is good, owning one is better!
Leslie Pelletiere, Owner
First Class Financial Services, proudly mortgage lending since 1999!
602.294.9288(O)
602.294.9830(F)
MB#0902810
NMLS #162494
AZDFI Loan Officer # LO-0911453
Arizona Market Update June 2011
Arizona Market Update June 2011
Thank you again to Sarah Moran of Equity Title Agency (sarahm@eta-az.com) for providing this up to date info!
Here is the Market Update through the end of June 2011.
WOW: Total active listings have dropped by another 2320 units over the beginning of last month. As of July 6, we sit at 28,887 Actives for Single Family Homes and Condos. Sales are at 10,512 for the last 30 days (as of July 6), which continues to trend up. We are currently sitting at a 2.6 months of supply. If you subtract out the AWC Contracts (which are included in Actives in the Cromford Report), we are at 2.1 months of supply. Traditionally, 3-4 months of supply indicate a balanced market. We are in a Seller’s Market!
Distressed Market: Short Sales represent 27% of the Closings for June (compared to 21% in May) and 39% of the active Listings for a 3.9 Months of Supply. Distressed Sales (Short Sales and REOs combined) accounted for 68% of the total sales for June. The listing success rate for Distressed Properties is up to 74.3% and for Short Sales is at an all-time high of 63.9%! Don’t avoid these listings! They are closing with greater success rate!
Closings: There were 9450 closings in June 2011 vs. 9353 closings in June 2010 ~ which equates to a 1% increase over last year!
Reality Check: The Median Sold Price for Maricopa County for June 2011 was $124,000, which is a 3% increase over last month! In June 2006, the Median Sold Price was $266,523! In June 2000, the Median Sold Price was $136,400. Use this at your listing appointments to help explain what has happened to our market and get realistic list prices!
We currently sit at a 2.6 months of supply valleywide. And we are finally seeing movement in the high-end market. In the MLS, there were 92 properties that sold for $1+ million for the month of June – and currently in the $1+ million segment, there is an 11.7 months of supply – and listings have dropped by 133 units.
Having a dream is good, owning one is better!
Leslie Pelletiere, Owner
First Class Financial Services, proudly mortgage lending since 1999!
602.294.9288(O)
602.294.9830(F)
MB#0902810
NMLS #162494
AZDFI Loan Officer # LO-0911453
Buy AZ investment properties! Buy AZ investment properties! Buy AZ investment properties! (subliminal message)
Buy AZ investment properties! Buy AZ investment properties! Buy AZ investment properties! (subliminal message)
NOW IS THE TIME! Buy Arizona Investment Properties!
Why am I saying this again? I know from personal experience! I recently got married. Yes. Yay for me! In doing so, we bought a house together. This required me to determine what I was going to do with the house I already owned. Never having been a landlord, I was concerned. My fear was outweighed by the fact that I am underwater on my mortgage. Leslie Landlord here I am! S
o, I listed it as a rental in MLS and waited. What? 35 minutes? That is probably a liberal guess. My phone INSTANTLY started ringing. Literally.
Now I know I am not telling you anything you don’t already know I just thought from hearing my personal experience you may have a different listening for the story.
In 21 days, I had over 15 people look at it. More who just called but were eliminated from the amount of the monthly rent. I have put my heart and soul into remodeling the property so I wanted to find just the right tenant. In the end, I had several applications, all from qualified tenants, to choose from! Hopefully, I found the tenant that is going to care for my property as their own, and given their prior landlord verification, they will leave it nicer than when they got it! Now thats the tenant anyone would want!
With rates being CRAZY low, property availability still abundant enough to find viable options and even HOMEPATH financing which allows for 10% down and no appraisal…why would you NOT want to look into the next level of investing?
Wish me luck!
Having a dream is good, owning one is better!
Leslie Pelletiere, Owner First Class Financial Services, proudly mortgage lending since 1999!
602.294.9288(O) 602.294.9830(F)
MB#0902810
NMLS #162494
AZDFI Loan Officer # LO-0911453
Arizona real estate market update!
Thank you Sarah Moran of Equity Title for providing me some up to date info on the Arizona real estate market!
This is the Market Update through the end of May 2011.
Good News: Total active listings have dropped by another 3051 units over the beginning of last month. As of June 12, we sit at 31,227 Actives. Sales are at 9963 for the last 30 days (as of June 12), which is trending up. We are currently sitting at a 3.1 months of supply. If you subtract out the AWC Contracts (which are included in Actives in the Cromford Report), we are at 2.4 months of supply. Traditionally, 3-4 months of supply indicate a balanced market. We are teetering on a Seller’s Market!
Distressed Market: This represents the percentage of distressed properties that are being listed and sold. Short Sales currently represent 21% of the Closings and 39% of the active Listings for a 5.7 Months of Supply. Distressed Sales (Short Sales and REOs combined) accounted for 65% of the total sales for May.
Closings: There were 8848 closings in May 2011 vs. 8536 closings in May 2010 ~ which equates to a 4% increase over last year!
Reality Check: The Median Sold Price for Maricopa County for May 2011 was $120,000. In May 2006, the Median Sold Price was $253,418! In May 2000, the Median Sold Price was $125,000. Use this at your listing appointments to help explain what has happened to our market and get realistic list prices!
We currently sit at a 3.1 months of supply valleywide. And we are finally seeing movement in the high-end market. In the MLS, there were 98 properties that sold for $1+ million for the month of May – and currently in the $1+ million segment, there is a 12.3 months of supply – down drastically from previous months. An astounding 93% of the closed MLS Sales for May were less than $400,000!
MONTHS OF SUPPLY
East Valley: 2.7
NorthWest: 3.0
Paradise Valley: 6.1
Luxury ($1mil+): 12.3
Southwest: 2.7
Peoria/Glendale: 2.5
Camelback Corridor: 3.8
Cave Creek: 4.4
Ahwatukee: 3.3
Scottsdale: 4.8
Apache Junction: 3.3
Fountain Hills: 4.4
Buckeye: 3.4
Desert Ridge & Tatum Corridor: 3.3
Thank you again Sarah Moran from Equity Title Agency for providing this “we are teetering on a seller’s market” info! LOVE THAT! Sarah can be reach at Equity Title at sarahm@eta-az.com or 602-769-1438.
Having a dream is good, owning one is better!
Leslie Pelletiere, Owner
First Class Financial Services, proudly mortgage lending since 1999!
602.294.9288(O)
602.294.9830(F)
MB#0902810
NMLS #162494
AZDFI Loan Officer # LO-0911453
How can I help make your Arizona mortgage process easier?
How can I help make your Arizona mortgage process easier?
1. First and foremost, buying a home is in the top 5 most stressful things one will do in their lifetime. I certainly do not expect you to understand what, when, why and how. ASK! Call. E-mail or to make it a bit easier there is also a wealth of information online.
2. You can apply for your mortgage online at https://secure.web-loans.com/security-logon.aspx?timeout=1 – this is a SECURE webpage allowing you to enter your e-mail address, save your data and come back to it at a later time.
3. How much is it costing you to rent and what are the financial benefits to buying? You can compare renting versus owning here: http://fcfs.net/loancenter-calculators-rentvsown.aspx
4. How much can you borrow? Use this calculator to help you find out – http://fcfs.net/loancenter-calculators-prequalify.aspx
5. How will making an extra monthly payment affect the payback of your loan? Use this calculator – http://fcfs.net/loancenter-calculators-extrapmt.aspx
6. Check out the Frequently Asked Questions section – http://fcfs.net/faq.aspx
Your question may be covered here too! No question should go without asking!
Remember, my goal- Having a dream is good, owning one is better!
Leslie Pelletiere, Owner First Class Financial Services, proudly mortgage lending since 1999!
602.294.9288(O) 602.294.9830(F)
MB#0902810 NMLS #162494
AZDFI Loan Officer # LO-0911453
AZ Mortgage at 100% financing? YES!
AZ Mortgage at 100% financing? YES!
You can still have access to 100% financing on specific properties available through the USDA Rural Housing program. There are income and property restrictions so be sure to speak to your loan officer about availability. Through the USDA Rural Housing website, your loan officer can specify the property address of the Arizona property you are interested in and it will advise if the property is eligible. As the name implies, it is typically on RURAL properties but in Arizona that can include areas of Anthem, Maricopa, Buckeye, and outlying areas so don’t dismiss without checking.
There are also income restrictions for the borrowers depending on the size of their family and monthly income. The website also allows your loan officer to run the eligibility here too.
Listing agents… check your property against the website. Your listing may be eligible and it would be a great sales tool to highlight on your listing! Ask your loan officer, they can run them for you!
Having a dream is good, owning on is better!
Leslie Pelletiere, Owner First Class Financial Services, proudly mortgage lending since 1999!
602.294.9288(O) 602.294.9830(F)
MB#0902810 NMLS #162494
AZDFI Loan Officer # LO-0911453
AZ Mortgage Question of the Day: IF my ex-husband signs a quit claim deed, does that remove him from the mortgage liability?
AZ Mortgage Question of the Day: IF my ex-husband signs a quit claim deed, does that remove him from the mortgage liability?
No. The quit claim deed ONLY deeds the ASSET of the property to the remaining party. It does not remove responsibility from the mortgage. The mortgage would need to be refinanced with the remaining borrower qualifying to carry the mortgage alone. Once the new mortgage is closed, the escrow company would take care of recording the new deed in the remaining party’s name.
IF the one borrower signs a Quit Claim deed but does not have the remaining borrower refinance, BOTH borrowers are still liable on the mortgage and it’s repayment requirements. It also will remain on BOTH borrower’s credit reports.
Many borrower’s make this mistake during a divorce. Especially if they are trying to handle their divorce without an attorney. It makes sense that if a borrower deeds the ASSET to the other party, that also transfers the mortgage liability, however this is not the case. It is very important to handle this correctly during the proceedings as it can affect the leaving party in their ability to mortgage qualify down the road. Providing the divorce decree and the quit claim deed will not suffice in removing the mortgage liability when qualifying.
Having a dream is good, owning one is better!
Leslie Pelletiere, Owner
First Class Financial Services, proudly mortgage lending since 1999!
602.294.9288(O)
602.294.9830(F)
MB#0902810
NMLS #162494
AZDFI Loan Officer # LO-0911453
AZ Mortgage Question of the Day: My wife mortgaged our primary residence only in her name, do I need to count that against me when I qualify?
Simple answer, YES. Arizona (and many other states- see below) is a community property state so debt is considered “common” between husband and wife regardless of who signed the note. This is important for several reasons but primarily for asset requirements. Every loan has a “reserve” requirement. This means “a number of months of principal/interest/taxes and insurance for EVERY property that you own needs to be available in liquid funds.”
IF the wife, in this case, holds the Arizona mortgage note but BOTH parties are on the deed, this is considered community property and is subject to reserve requirements. We want to make sure that the amount of assets available meet the reserve requirement.
Reserves are considered checking, savings, stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and retirement accounts. Retirement accounts only receive credit for 60% of their balance (due to restrictions on having access to the money).
Special rules apply to spousal property and income in the community property states:
- Arizona
- California
- Idaho
- Louisiana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Texas
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Having a dream is good, owning one is better!
Leslie Pelletiere, Owner
First Class Financial Services, proudly mortgage lending since 1999!
602.294.9288(O)
602.294.9830(F)
MB#0902810
NMLS #162494
AZDFI Loan Officer # LO-0911453
First Class Financial 