Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.

As part of the Servicing Alignment Initiative, on August 21, the FHFA issued a press release entitled FHFA Announces New Standard Short Sale Guidelines for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
To view the Freddie Mac Bulletin, please click here.

To view the Fannie Mae Announcement SVC 2012-19, please click here.

Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2010-10

Fannie Mae issued Lender Letter LL-2010-10 titled, Extension to Fannie Mae’s Alternative Modification™ to the Home Affordable Modification Program.

Extension to Fannie Mae’s Alternative Modification™ to the Home Affordable Modification Program

Introduction
In Lender Letter LL-2010-04, Fannie Mae’s Alternative Modification to the Home Affordable Modification Program, Fannie Mae introduced an alternative to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) for those borrowers who were eligible for and accepted into a HAMP trial period plan but were subsequently not offered a HAMP permanent modification because of eligibility restrictions.

Lender Letter LL-2010-07, Extension to Fannie Mae’s Alternative Modification™ to the Home Affordable Modification Program, extended the eligibility timeframe for borrowers who were sent an initial HAMP offer or started a HAMP trial period prior to May 17, 2010 and whose first trial period plan payment was scheduled on or before June 1, 2010. Lender Letter LL-2010-07 also clarified certain requirements for participation in the Alternative Modification (Alt Mod™) program.

Revised Eligibility Timeframe
The purpose of this Lender Letter is to extend the timeframe for servicers to submit their Alt Mod cases into the HomeSaver Solutions® Network from September 30, 2010 to November 30, 2010. This extension is being provided so that servicers will have sufficient time to complete the processing of modifications for borrowers who meet the eligibility requirements for the Alt Mod program as set forth in Lender Letter LL-2010-04 and Lender Letter LL-2010-07. All other program and eligibility requirements remain the same.

Servicers may contact their Servicing Consultant, Portfolio Manager, or the National Servicing Organization’s Servicer Support Center at 1-888-FANNIE5 (888-326-6435) with any questions regarding this Lender Letter.


Gwen Muse-Evans
Vice President
Chief Risk Officer for Credit Portfolio Management

To view the online Lender Letter, please click here

Fannie Mae Advantages

Fannie Mae is offer up to a 3.5% incentive for buyers who purchase and close on a Fannie Mae-owned home by December 31, 2010.

To be eligible for this incentive:

     Offers must be accepted on or after September 23, 2010

     Property sale must close on or before December 31, 2010 and close within 60 days of offer acceptance

     Buyers must be owner-occupants - auction, pool, and investor sales are excluded.

Call our team today to see if we can find you one of these great properties.

Stephanie Woods Team

928-237-4455

INTEREST RATES ARE DOWN.

According to Freddie Mac, 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage average fell further to 4.87 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Oct. 8 from 4.94 percent last week. “Such low rates are spurring mortgage demand,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, in a statement.

"Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans were the lowest since mid-May; 15-year FRMs were at a record low since data were first collected in 1991 and 5-year ARMs also hit an all-time record starting in 2005. Compared to a year ago, consumers could shave almost $134 off their monthly mortgage payments on a 30-year fixed-rate loan for $200,000 by refinancing.

In addition to spurring mortgage demand, applications were up to a 19-week high over the week ending in Oct. 2, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association – applications to purchase a home were at the strongest pace since the beginning of 2009.

Weekly Foreclosure List 8/31/09 thru 9/07/09

Good Morning

Hope you enjoyed your Labor Day Weekend. It's always nice to have that extra day off. It was a busy week for foreclosures. There were 36 listed this week!! That's almost triple that was listed last week. Take a look at the link for these listings in the week of 8/31/09 thru 9/07/09. Please call us if you would like any more information or would like to see any of these. Have a great week.

http://www.paarmls.org/prs/maildoc/sd_AAAa001Je20090908091249.html

Don't forget to bookmark our page and check back frequently for the latest area Foreclosures and hot pre-listings.

Janette &  Jessica
Buyers Agents
The Stephanie Woods Team
928-237-4455
prescottreoagent@gmail.com

1ST TIME BUYERS ARE SHOPPING

The market is definately picking up. 1st time buyers are out and shopping. If you are looking for a place of your own to call home pick up the phone and give us a call today. We are a hard working dedicated team willing to put in the footwork to find the right place for you.

The Stephanie Woods Team

928-237-4455

prescottreoagent@gmail.com

Call today!!

Fannie Mae Toughens Guidelines On 2-Unit Homes, Trailing Spouses And Retirement Portfolios

Mortgage approvals are getting more difficult. Again.

After reviewing recent unemployment data and market fluctuations, plus patterns of mortgage fraud, Fannie Mae is making major mortgage guideline changes for the first time in more than 6 months.

The changes are broad, impacting 15 separate areas of the mortgage approval process as detailed in Fannie Mae's official announcement.

Across-the-Board Guideline Changes:

• Credit, income and asset documentation can't be more than 90 days old. The former guidelines allowed for 120 days.


• Lenders must compare actual federal tax returns from the IRS to a borrower's supplied income documentation. Previously, this review step was at the lender's discretion.


• "Tip" income must be verified.


• Trailing secondary wage earning is now prohibited. This means that P&G employees relocating to Cincinnati can't use a spouse's "expected" Cincinnati income until that spouse actually has a job.


• Stocks, bonds and mutual funds get assigned 70% of current market value. Formerly, this was 100%.


• Retirement assets get assigned 60% of current market value. Formerly, this was 70%.

By themselves, these bullet points would kick more than a handful of home loans out of the underwriting queue but of all the changes Fannie Mae is making, the most impactful one may new its new restrictions on mortgages for 2-unit properties.

Until now, Fannie Mae had treated duplex homes as somewhat "safe", granting them the same liberal underwriting policies as for a single-family home. Because of defaults and fraud prevention efforts, though, Fannie Mae decided to make getting approved for a 2-unit property decidedly more difficult.

Minimum credit scores are higher and maximum loan-to-values are lower.

When your 2-unit is your Primary Residence:

• Purchase: Maximum LTV lowered to 80%; 640 minimum FICO.


• Rate-and-Term Refinance: Maximum LTV lowered to 80%; 640 minimum FICO.


• Cash Out Refinance: Maximum LTV lowered to 75%; 680 minimum FICO.

When your 2-Unit is an Investment Property

• Purchase: Maximum LTV lowered to 75%; 660 minimum FICO.


• Rate-and-Term Refinance: Maximum LTV lowered to 75%; 660 minimum FICO.


• Cash Out Refinance: Maximum LTV lowered to 70%; 680 minimum FICO.

Overall, Fannie Mae's new 2-unit guidelines restrict loan-to-value limits by as much as 15 percent and raise minimum FICOs by up to 40 points -- 2 major shifts in policy. Because of it, going forward, fewer 2-unit mortgage applicants will qualify for mortgages and that should slow both purchase and refinance activity in the 2-unit market until the market returns to balance.
It's especially tough for owners of more than 4 financed properties.

Fannie Mae has said September 1, 2009, is the "effective date" for its underwriting changes so not every lender is underwriting to the new rules just yet. It's expected that by August 1, all of them well.

Therefore, if you know that you have a 2-unit home to refinance, or that you need your stock and/or retirement portfolio to qualify for your mortgage, consider moving up your timeframe to the next two weeks. Lenders often implement new guidelines without advance warning and that could leave you in the cold.

Better to get a good rate today than to be ineligible for a great rate tomorrow. If I can help you plan for an upcoming mortgage, call or email anytime.