Orlando Mortgage Blog

An interest rate forecaster went for an eye exam last week and when the doctor was finishing up asked him, "So, how did I do doc? Does it look like I'll need stronger contacts?"

The doctor turned off his equipment, smiled and responded, "I can't believe you waited this long to come in to see me. Your forward and lateral vision has gotten much worse since your last checkup and your current contacts can't be doing you much good... but once again, your hindsight is nearly perfect."

Ok, I worked hard for that one folks. But, all you procrastinating fence sitters out there (love using double entendre when I can), opportunity and decision time may soon be upon you once again.

Apparently even the so-called experts, talking heads and sometime self ordained financial guru's can't get together on whether interest rates are going up, by how much and how fast after the Fed's stop artificially supporting the mortgage market. Well, the crutch gets put away March 31. Few believe rates will sink lower.

The latest market factoid (heard the rumor/not seen the source) being kicked around is that as much as 37% of U.S. mortgages still carry rates higher than 6% today. Whether due to being upsidedown in equity or off the planet for a while these folks haven't taken advantage of lower rates. That's remarkable for those that still can with both fixed and ARM rates having been at or below 5% for at least a year. The difference between a $200,000 payment at 5% vs. 5.5% is nearly $62 a month...and some folks are still waiting? On what? Want to read more?

So you'd like to take advantage of these historic rates, but you believe your home value has dropped and are concerned about being forced to take Private Mortgage Insurance on a new conventional loan or Mortgage Insurance on an FHA loan. Not to mention whether you have enough equity to finance the costs of closing. In either case you've convinced yourself you'd rather stick with that 6%+ rate (over 35% of home mortgages are said to still be at over that rate level) because of it. Well...

When you Refinance your current mortgage...

The appraisal that is completed on the new loan will establish the value at that time and the new mortgage amount will determine whether or not your new loan exceeds 80% financing. Exceeding 80% is the trigger that would require PMI again generally speaking. If it's 80% LTV or below on your owner-occupied or second home you are in the clear. Losing the PMI portion of the old payment could be another advantage of refinancing the current loan.

There is an alternative available called the Home Affordable Refinance Program also known as "HARP", available to current Fannie and Freddie held mortgage borrowers and the availabilty of that Federal program has just been extended to loans funded no later than June 30, 2011. Most lenders allow up to 105% of the appraised value today without PMI, though the program authorizes up to 125%. This makes refinancing possible today for many that would otherwise not be eligible on a standard conventional basis with or without PMI and without MI on an FHA loan. You can see all the details by clicking on this link to HARP ELIGIBILTY .

Or contact me for personal assistance with your questions.

Bill Wilbanks

If you've ever wondered what the various taxes are based on your state, the following link should be very interesting to you. Read on...

Looks like he doesn't want to shake up a SHAKY recovery right now...Read more.

After being benched for nearly two months due to personal health issues, I'm happy to be back in the game and eager to get rolling once again. Needless to say I need pipeline business and anxiously await hearing from you all. Please give me a call with your conventional loan questions and situations today.

Bill Wilbanks

"I see interest rate movement in your future", said the fortune teller. You don't need a lot of forsight to make that call...

The market will almost always pre-judge coming events and pricing reacts as much if not more to the anticipation in the market of some future event(s) than what's happening today. The attached article should be of interest to anyone thinking of mortgage financing in coming months. Read on...

Washington wanted Fannie and Freddie to find new and different ways to open up home ownership for those that were not getting a piece of the homeownership pie in the early 2000's, ended up taking control of them both and now mandates them to find ways to save many of those same buyers from foreclosure through refinancing and modifications. Is it a success? It might be if those same folks were able to qualify today...but apparently many don't, if they ever did.

I've touched numerous times on what I believe will happen in the next few months when the Fed's stop buying Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS's)...I believe rates can easily be a full percent higher in a very short period of time. All you fence sitters are running a serious chance of losing a remarkable opportunity if you wait too long. It's time to stop being greedy now, do some serious thinking of your mortgage position and jump on board before it's too late.