Many homeowners still struggle today with high loan rates on big mortgages based on formerly bloated home values. Qualified homeowners are taking advantage of historically low refinance rates to lower their monthly mortgage costs. However, millions are “under water” with loans that are higher than their homes’ current value, and therefore do not have enough equity in their homes for a traditional refinancing transaction.

For underwater homeowners, there is hope in HARP, the Home Affordable Refinance Program. HARP was initiated in 2009 for those whose mortgages are owned by government entities Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The federal government has recently liberalized the qualification guidelines so that more homeowners can participate, lower their mortgage rates, and pay down their loans more efficiently.

What’s New with Harp?
The overall goal in the revamped HARP 2.0 program, which ends December 31, 2013, is to allow more eligible borrowers and lenders to participate more easily. The basics are that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which regulates Fannie & Freddie, has removed the ceiling on the accepted loan-to-value (LTV) ratio-the percentage of the loan amount to the property’s value. High LTVs= greater risk to lenders so this figure determines fees that borrowers are charged for their loans. Formerly the LTV ceiling to qualify for HARP was a whopping 125%. In fact, In some cases an appraisal is not even required!

To qualify for HARP, homeowners must meet all the program criteria including:
* A Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan-sold to either entity on or before May 31, 2009.
* The current loan-to-value ratio must be at least 80% .
* Current on their mortgage with no late payments in the last 6 months and only one late payment in the past 12 months.

HARP 2.0 has been released and guidelines do vary from lender to lender, so contact your mortgage professional for more information and to see if you can qualify.

Robert Snyder
Mortgage Advisor
Silex Financial Group, Inc.
Cell: 973.495.8925
Fax: 973.966.1063
Email: Bob@bobthebroker.net
www.bobthebroker.net
nmls #207771

There is always business out there, you just have to hustle and think outside the box to find it.  Gone are the days of sitting back and waiting for the phone to ring.  If you are like most real estate agents then hosting open houses is something you routinely do to create more business.  The goal is simple when hosting an open house: expose your name to the neighborhood, help showcase your clients listing and MOST importantly make contact with new prospects that need a Real Estate Professional. 

There is nothing “outside the box” about an open house.  The question is, are your open houses successful or do you spend the time reading the Sunday paper.  If you’re cutting coupons on Sunday afternoons then maybe you need to stop advertising your open house in the local newspaper and find new ways to draw a crowd.  Today open house advertising on the Internet has become THE way to drive traffic.  With fewer and fewer people buying newspapers and the advent of smartphones, Wi-Fi hotspots and notebook computers, open house advertising has moved almost entirely to the web

One strategy I really like is the use of Facebook ads.  Facebook ads work much the same way as other Pay Per Click ads, however, there are a few significant differences.  The biggest difference and key is that Facebook allows you to target your ads so they are seen by your specific demographic (i.e. Age, Sex, Location and often their interests).  Facebook ads are great because you can start with low budgets, analyze results and make changes.  Facebook ads also allow you to target based on profile key words, so they can be more effective than search ads.

If you are going to spend a Saturday or Sunday hosting an open house you owe it to yourself to make it a success.

Robert Snyder

Mortgage Advisor

Jacob Dean Mortgage

Cell: 973.495.8925

Fax: 973.966.1063
Email: Bob@bobthebroker.net

www.bobthebroker.net

Check Out My You Tube Channel!

Become a Fan: Facebook  

Follow Me On: Twitter

If you are in need of a mortgage in Morris County, Middlesex County, Sussex County, Bergen County or anywhere in New Jersey please give me a call!

For anyone in the New York/New Jersey area this is very important!

As of now, the temporary conforming loan limits are set to expire on September 30, 2011. There has been some recent chatter inn Congress about extending these limits. Barney Frank recently said that he believes the Obama administration will support keeping the loan limits where they’re at now. He also told the WSJ he believes many House Republicans will support doing so, given current housing market concerns.

“I think there’s a very real chance they’ll get extended,” Rep. Frank told the WSJ.

“Temporary loan limits” were enacted in 2008 as part of the government’s economic stimulus package. This was because private money left the mortgage market, home buyers that were unable (or unwilling) to bring a large enough downpayment to get their respective loan sizes to $417,000 or less found themselves without financing.

20 percent down didn’t matter anymore. You had to bring as much money as needed to get to the magic $417,000 number.

In areas like New York and New Jersey this left a large sector of the housing market a complete disaster.

In February 2008, to help more Americans get financing, and to help the housing market recover quicker, Congress agreed to let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitize mortgages for more than $417,000, based on local home prices.

The “variable loan limit” concept proved to be a success and was later rolled into the 2008 Housing and Recovery Act which made “high-cost areas” permanent, but with a slightly different formula. Under the Housing and Recovery Act, loan size limits are not to exceed $625,500.

The Housing and Recovery Act limits take effect October 1, 2011 — one day after the original, temporary limits expire.

Starting October 1, 2011, today’s high-cost conforming loan limits will be reduced in the New York/New Jersey area from $729,750 to $625,500. This means that home buyers will have to bring an extra $104,250 to the closing table if they want to avoid having to pay jumbo mortgage rates. Fixed jumbo mortgage rates are traditionally higher than conforming fixed ones.

Mortgage rates may still be low come October, but you may not be eligible for them because of your loan size. Refinancing households should pay attention, too. You won’t be able to refinance a $729,750 mortgage to new conforming loan without paying $104,250 at your closing toward your loan balance.

October 1, 2011 is coming up quick. If you’re buying a home this fall, or thinking of a refinance, make sure you act sooner rather than later. The clock is ticking. As we have seen recently, we cannot rely on Congress to get anything done!

Robert Snyder

Mortgage Advisor

Jacob Dean Mortgage

Cell: 973.495.8925

Fax: 973.966.1063

Email: Bob@bobthebroker.net

Check Out My You Tube Channel!

Become a Fan: Facebook

Follow Me On: Twitter

If you are in need of a mortgage in Morris County, Middlesex County, Sussex County, Bergen County or anywhere in New Jersey please give me a call!

There is no way to predict the bottom of the market. If I had a crystal ball maybe, but I don’t. So what makes me say that now is a great time to buy? Prices are down and so are rates, add a large inventory to the mix and you have a great trifecta. You want more, how about the large number of “cash” transactions in the market. I have spoken with many realtors recently that are getting cash offers on their listings. Why is that such a big deal? Cash offers mean investors. The investors are getting in the market now. That to me is a sure sign that values are near or at their lows!

There have been a number of articles in the media recently to support my beliefs. Yes, even the ever negative media has started to see the light. Here are a couple of those articles that I think are worth a read:

Why It’s Time To Buy – <The Wall Street Journal

Return of Optimism for US Housing – CNBC

Now just because there are a couple of articles out means that everything is rosy, I am certainly not saying that. I do believe that when we look back we will say that 2011 was the year to buy a house!

Robert Snyder
Mortgage Advisor
Jacob Dean Mortgage
Cell: 973.495.8925
Fax: 973.966.1063
Email: Bob@bobthebroker.net 

www.bobthebroker.net 

Check Out My You Tube Channel!

Become a Fan: Facebook  

Follow Me On: Twitter

If you are in need of a mortgage in Morris County, Middlesex County, Sussex County, Bergen County or anywhere in New Jersey please give me a call!

This is an excellent post from David Krichmar. People ask me all the time what the point of Twitter is. David does a great job af answering that question. www.Bobthebroker.com

Via www.DaveYourMortgageGuy.com:

Of course there are probably a million reasons to be on Twitter. Like how about to find out what Kim Kardashian ate for Lunch???? But lets talk about 5 reasons that it will help your business. And trust me for the life of me I could not figure out how Twitter was even helpful to my business. Because lets be honest Justin Bieber Tweeting is not Helping my business!! But, I have finally come up with at least 5 ways that it can help.

A Free Profile- I teach a MCE class on social marketing, etc and my biggest thing is if its free(profile) why not do it. I suggest having a profile on any website that gets traffic, facebook, youtube, twitter, trulia, activerain, etc. This is one more example. By being on as many sites as possible you increase your internet prescience.

ReTweet- for those of you who do not know how to start blogging or what to Tweet about, ReTweet is your option. This allows you to Retweet an article you find on the internet and have it posted on your Twitter Page. Most major websites give the option of “ReTweeting” just look for the ReTweet button on the left hand side where the article starts

Communication- Now more then ever it is important to be available thru any communication option. I have had clients find me off of Twitter, ActiveRain, Facebook and FaceBook advertisements, Trulia, Message Boards and the list goes on. You may hate Twitter but your possible future client may love it and found you because of Twitter.

200 Million- Twitter is no longer that short version of the Facebook status option. There are over 200 million members and they are tweeting over 110 million times a day

Super Charge your Blog- I recently read an amazing Article by Karen Fiddler about how when she posts her blogs on Twitter she received 38 immediate views. This is 38 views that she would not normally get. So Twitter brings your blogs more exposure then you would normally get. And remember the more traffic(clicks) your blogs get the higher they appear on the 1st page of Google. Which is the Super Bowl for all of us bloggers, its gets no better. Immediately after reading Karen’s Article I test it and I received 15-35 more views right away on my blogs.

For quite some time I could not figure out how Twitter was even remotely helpful to my business. And I now can honestly say I have figured it out. Its EXPOSURE!!!!! The more places my blogs appear the more traffic I get. Now remember Twitter limits you to 140 characters, so keep it short and for your links use short URLs. I hope you found this helpful. And if you have any other amazing reasons to use Twitter please leave a comment!

David Krichmar

Mortgage Banker/Broker

Schmidt Mortgage Company

Approved MCE Instructor

Office:832-689-6012

David.Krichmar@gmail.com

www.DaveYourMortgageGuy.com

Robert Snyder

Mortgage Advisor

Jacob Dean Mortgage
Cell: 973.495.8925

Fax: 973.966.1063

Email: Bob@bobthebroker.net

www.bobthebroker.net

If you are in need of a mortgage in Morris County, Middlesex County, Sussex County, Bergen County or anywhere in New Jersey please give me a call!