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There's the old saying that two things in life are certain; death and taxes! Taxes are the hot topic these days, and our friends at Southern Maryland Law have some great advice for tax payers.
http://www.southernmarylandlaw.com/tax-time-is-the-best-time-for-preventative-legal-medicine/
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced the extension of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) by two years to December 31, 2015. The program was set to expire December 31, 2013. We applaud this decision and will continue to fully support HARP for eligible homeowners seeking to avoid Foreclosure.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to extend the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) by two years to December 31, 2015. The program was set to expire December 31, 2013.
“More than 2 million homeowners have refinanced through HARP, proving it a useful tool for reducing risk,” said FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco. “We are extending the program so more underwater borrowers can benefit from lower interest rates.”
In addition, FHFA will soon launch a nationwide campaign to inform homeowners about HARP. This campaign will educate consumers about HARP and its eligibility requirements and motivate them to explore their options and utilize HARP before the program ends. HARP is uniquely designed to allow borrowers who owe more than their home is worth the opportunity to refinance their mortgage. Extending the program will continue to provide borrowers opportunities to refinance, give clear guidance to lenders and reduce risk for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and taxpayers.
To be eligible for a HARP refinance homeowners must meet the following criteria:
The loan must be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
The mortgage must have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before May 31, 2009.
The mortgage cannot have been refinanced under HARP previously unless it is a Fannie Mae loan that was refinanced under HARP from March-May, 2009.
The current loan-to-value (LTV) ratio must be greater than 80 percent.
The borrower must be current on their mortgage payments with no late payments in the last six months and no more than one late payment in the last 12 months.
Borrowers should contact their existing lender or any other mortgage lender offering HARP refinances. Check here to see if your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have helped approximately 2.2 million borrowers refinance their homes since HARP was introduced by FHFA and the U.S. Department of the Treasury in April 2009.
Homeowners who have experienced a hardship, and do not qualify for this program, should be aware there are other alternatives to Foreclosure. Please contact your Certified Distressed Property Expert at DeHanas Real Estate to learn more details.
For homeowners who are in danger of losing their home to Foreclosure, it is common to feel like you are all alone and that there is no one who can help. This simply isn’t true. There are real people who have been in the same situation who have found solutions. Take, for example, Dan and Jessica M. of Grand Blanc Township, Michigan.
For Dan and Jessica, their homeownership dream always involved building a house on a piece of land. “We build a house on half an acre,” said Dan.
In order to achieve their dream, they stretched a little beyond what they were comfortable with by getting two adjustable rate mortgages, a common practice at the time. “The introductory rates were 8.5% and 11.5%, but our lender said, ‘Don’t worry, you can refinance after two years.’”
For a while, they were getting by. Then, a couple of things happened. “We had our first child, and soon afterward, Jessica lost her job,” said Dan. “Soon, bills started piling up.”
Because they believed they’d be able to refinance, they started paying their bills on credit cards. “We hung on for the full two years hoping we could refinance at a lower interest rate, but when the time came, our lender said no because our home’s appreciation was too low.”
Dan and Jessica needed help. A friend referred them to a real estate agent who was a Certified Distressed Property Expert®. The agent answered their questions. Most importantly, the agent explained the difference between a Foreclosure and a short sale. In a short sale, the bank agrees to allow the home to be sold for less than the amount due on the loan.
“With this information, we were able to decide that a short sale was our best option.”
It was a stressful process, but the agent helped them tremendously. She even kept a potential buyer from walking when the process was taking longer than expected. “Honestly, if it weren’t for her, the buyer would have left and we’d have been stuck.”
Dan and Jessica’s story is just one of many. I have a report entitled “How to Avoid Foreclosure” which tells other stories of real homeowners who faced foreclosure and found relief. Download the report, read the stories, and then contact me for a free, confidential consultation.
The Board of Education is continuing a yearlong comprehensive high school redistricting process. The objective of the redistricting is to create an attendance zone for the new St. Charles High School and to relieve overcrowding at existing high schools. The redistricting will be comprehensive and have impact on all six existing high schools. Students impacted by the redistricting will not change schools until August 2014; however, the Board started the process early to provide ample research, feedback and notification time. Here is a Link to the B.O.E. web site, It would be prudent to look into what’s happening and how it affects your family and make yourself heard on the subject. It you don’t then you will have to take what you get and live with it.
For a complete listing of school zones click here!
Well Folks… it seems that spring may have finally sprung! That being the case, one of the things that always comes to my mind along with spring conditions is the need to get the yard and home back into ship shape. That means spring cleaning and de-cluttering! Some of us love it, some dread it! Personally I love this time of year! It’s difficult to single out a particular reason but I’m sure it has to do with the weather and all of the spring flowers! It’s a glorious time of year, alive with new life and rebirth! There is also the byproduct of all of this cleaning and de-cluttering, Unwanted stuff and the trips to the dump along with the Yard Sales that become as common as the daffodils sprouting in the yards that host them. It’s to those who pour over the penny saver and news papers eagerly looking for the end product of seasonal cleaning compulsion that this BLOG is directed.
While on an wandering web trek, I came across a free site that I think will make the avid yard sale hunter giggle like a child. It’s called www.gsalr.com and it touts itself as the world’s largest Garage Sale, Yard Sale and Estate Sale Marketplace. Whether it is or isn’t I don’t propose to know but I can tell you it’s very easy to use and really slick. People post their sale information and it add it to the data base and plots the sale on a map. You as a shopper put in your desired geographical area, Date range or day of the week and it will bring up every sale on the map as push pins. When you mouse over the push pin it gives whatever details the seller included! Contents of the sale, rules, times etc. it’s very simple and very cool! Now the best part! You can save your selected sales and then print them on a map with driving instructions for a carefully planned day of sifting through other peoples trash and treasures! Give it a Shot I’m sure you will find it as entertaining as I did! Happy Yard Sailing!
Displaying blog entries 1-5 of 5
