HARP Program Refinance up to 105% LTV

 This is a program that helps home owners who’s property values have declined in value due to the current economic downturn causing the Loan to Values ratio to go above what lending limits would (in the past) allow for to be able to refinance.  This program was created for those home owners who had obtained what is considered a conforming loan or the non Sub Prime Loans.  These are loans that are owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac the two main Home Lenders in the market GSE’s); this program does not apply to FHA Loans or non Freddie or Fannie loans.  If your not sure what type of loan you have or who owns your loan there are several ways to find out; first if you would like, you can always contact me Andrew Hahn president of  Capital Advantage LLC. mortgage lending and I’ll be glad to help you and that applies to any questions you may have regarding any mortgage issue.  Located and licensed in the State of Colorado; specializing in loan origination in Colorado and the Denver Metro area.  If you would rather work on this yourself the easiest way to find out is to call your loan servicer or the company you send your payment to.  You can also go to Fannie Mae’s website CLICK HERE or Freddie Mac’s website CLICK HERE and input your information to check online.   I have found that online you need to get the information exactly as it is on your payment coupon or it might not be accurate, that’s why I would suggest calling your servicer.  Now the HARP Program well allow a refinance up to 105% of the current value of your home.  Now here is one of the really good benefits of this program, if your first mortgage at the time you obtained it was at 80% or below you were not required to pay MI (mortgage insurance) so with the new loan even at the higher loan to values your are NOT required to get mortgage insurance THIS IS BIG and for those who do have MI you only pay at the current rate that you pay now.  Mortgage Insurance premiums are/were based on loan to value; so if your loan was 85%  Loan to Value your premium was charged at a lower rate and the premiums adjust in 5% increments, but with that said if you pay MI now, then your used to it in your payment and your saving based on an interest rate reduction would still be a savings because the MI part of the payment would not go up.  For those people that obtained a first and a second mortgage you can still qualify for this program; the first mortgage can go to a Loan to Value of 105% so were good there now what we need to do is contact the company that has the second mortgage and ask them to subordinate to the new first mortgage (to allow the new first mortgage) what we need to do is call the second mortgage and ask  if they well allow this.  In the beginning second mortgage companies were not to keen on this idea but as time has gone on they are becoming more receptive to allowing the new first as it saves you money making your payment more affordable.  As it goes the second mortgage company usually charges a fee to subordinate they’re loan; I know USAA does not charge and some companies charge up to $350.00 up front. Again that’s why we need to call to find out if they allow the subordination and what are there terms and another factor what is there time frame.  Some lenders can do it in a couple of weeks where some are taking up to 6 to 8 weeks. It’s a bit of a workout but if you can reduce your interest rate to today’s low rate it is well worth the effort.  Now the amount of savings is a bit more complicated than just saying if you can lower your rate by 1% it’s worth doing.  On lower loan amounts say $100,000 or less you might need to reduce your rate by more than 1% in order to have a refinance make sense on the other hand for loan amounts over $250,000 maybe a .5% rate change well be worth it.  I would just say that it costs you nothing to give me a call and have me put together a mortgage analysis to determine what options you have and to be able to know  what makes the best sense for your situation.

Andrew Hahn is the President of Capital Advantage LLC. a residential Mortgage lending company located in Commerce City Colorado. Andrew Hahn has over 18 years experience in residential lending. I  have lived and work in Commerce City for over 6 years. My business’s website has many helpful pages set up to add a convenience to the Commerce City residence such as LOCAL RESOURCE PAGE just click on the highlighted name and it well take to the page. Andrew has also established a Mortgage blog to help answer questions and to help explain changes to the mortgage process, if you click on the highlighted link it well take you to the mortgage blog Denvermortgagelending.com and if you have any question that you would like to ask please go to the comment section and leave your question and Andrew Hahn well get back with you. For those who live in Commerce City give Andrew Hahn a call.