FHASecure: A Helping Hand for Those Who Did Not Refinance in Time

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Update January 9, 2009:  This program is no longer available effective December 31, 2008.

[photopress:piggydrown.jpg,thumb,alignright]This afternoon I received our Mortgagee Letter from HUD with the nitty gritty on FHASecure.   Since our company is a HUD Approved Mortgagee lender (we’ve been providing FHA financing since our inception back in 1976); we are also approved to help distressed home owners who have adjusting ARMs via a FHASecure refi.

FHASecure is “a temporary program designed to provide refinancing opportunities to homeowners

Quick reminder to lock in your mortgage

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On the first Friday of every month, the Jobs Report comes out.   Tomorrow is the big day.    As I’ve written about this topic before, this economic indicator tends to have a huge impact on mortgage interest rates.  

It is the consumers choice to float or lock a mortgage interest rate.   My preference is generally always to lock.   Especially during these historic times in the mortgage industry.   Locking in a mortgage interest rate not only secures that rate for your loan, it may also preserve that mortgage program.     With some lenders pulling back on certain programs, a few of them are honoring the loans that are locked and underwritten.  

Please do not assume that your mortgage rate is locked.   Make sure you have a written lock confirmation (a Good Faith Estimate is not a lock confirmation).   If you have a mortgage in process, you may want to contact your Mortgage Professional to confirm it is locked and what their read is on the current situation.  

It pays to be extra cautious right now.  

Help! My Laptop is quitting on me.

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I think my Toshiba Satellite laptop finally bit the dust.  I seem to have one of [photopress:iStock_000001883855XSmall.jpg,thumb,alignright] the few models that DO NOT have the battery being recalled.  Yet it’s one hot mama.   This morning it has shut down three times (before I can even read an email).   I simply cannot function in the mortgage world without my lap top.  So off the the lap-top market I go!

My needs are quite basic.  We use Encompass for our Loan Operating System (LOS) and therefore, I believe I need Windows XP (not Vista).  Of course it needs to support my blogging efforts and I’m toying with getting a built in camera.  I really have enjoyed watching how Morgan has evolved his blog: Blown Mortgage.  Although I’m pretty sure he’s using something more sophisticated than a built in camera for his video-documentaries.   I’d like the screen to be large enough for me to read without having to pull out my glasses yet have the computer light enough for me to carry without having to wheel it around.  Last, my Toshiba had built in software that seemed to fight with everything, like my iTunes and my backup hard drive.  I think I’m leaning towards an HP brand.

What ever it is, I need it now.   Any ideas?  Do you have a Lap Top that you’re in love with? 

I’m taking my laptop to Best Buy (where I bought it about three years ago) to see if the Geek Squad can breathe some life back into it.   I was hoping to stall this purchase until Encompass (and Mortgage Master) is Vista compatable.   

I’m writing this post from our “house” desk top which I swear has gerbals running on a habi-trail inside of the CPU!  🙂

The newbie's assessment: SEA v. CHI summers!

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It’s amazing how when you move thousands of miles away from your comfort zone your life inevitably takes a 360 degree spin. This summer has been breezier and more brisk than I’ve ever experienced, primarily because it was my first Seattle summer and first (of many) away from Chicagoland.

My top 10 list of why Seattle summers significantly trump the Windy City summers (augment the list if you wish!!!):
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1. That’s easy – no humidity, stickiness or blazing heat that makes you feel like your feet will sink right through the molten-like ground.

2. No need to wear tank tops or shorts everyday, if at all.

3. If you live in Seattle you’ll barely, if ever, clamor for an air conditioner (every Chicago-area resident knows that the air conditioner is a summer mainstay if you are to survive).

4. You can haphazardly cross the summer streets without worrying about getting plowed over by erratic cabbies. Shortly after my arrival here, I could not help but be shocked when I realized the immense respect Seattleites have for crosswalks.

5. The constant picturesque views that the amalgamation of the sun, Space Needle, Puget Sound and surrounding lakes provide.

6. No bugs – or barely any. Ever live in Chicago? Pesky mosquitoes are summer bullies that relentless chew you up with no respite. Bugs love the muggy Chicago summers, and they are a constant companion to the blistering heat.

7. Wearing outerwear at night; you definitely won’t require a jacket on a summer evening in Chicago.

8. Coffee chillers are not necessary. Not a big fan of coffee chillers, always like mine piping hot and during summers in Seattle it doesn’t get fiery enough to yearn for a chiller instead of a cappuccino or drip.

9. The seafood is wondrous, though this is not exactly summer specific since this is the Pacific Northwest.

10. The Cabernet Sauvignon tastes so much sweeter when you are not dripping sweat.

FHA Secure: A Political Power Move Disguised as a Helping Hand to Those in Need

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Bush offered America some presidential words this morning to let us know he’s on top of this whole subprime meltdown, credit crunch, liquidity crisis. On his agenda: An FHA bailout in the form of a new feel good loan program: FHA Secure. Let’s pause for a moment and reflect back on how well HUD is currently doing. First of all, in order to originate an FHA loan, the stack of paperwork, hoops to jump through, policies and procedures, exceptions to the policies and procedures, and updates to the policies and procedures, are, shall we say, astronomical, and I’m just talking about qualifying the applicant, let alone underwriting and the appraisal process.

One reason (of many) why brokers pushed subprime loans was because the borrower who qualified for an FHA loan couldn’t get that loan with a broker. Why? Because it also takes an enormous amount of effort for a mortgage broker to become an FHA-approved lender. It’s the small details that really count to HUD, such as annual HUD audits, net worth requirements, submitting audited financial statements, presenting a quality control and compliance plan, and paying your loan originators as W-2 employees. Many brokers pay LOs as 1099 workers. For some small to medium sized broker firms, it was a business decision: make more money selling subprime and leave the hassle of originating FHA loans to the banks. “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya

And now for something completely different…Seattle Neighborhood Round-up

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Headlines come and go…life goes on in our Seattle Neighborhoods….

A refreshing Alki twist on an old time summer favorite. On Beach Drive Blog some resident wildlife captured in aerialist feats of fishing. Discovered at West Seattle Blog rare sightings of pink birds are anticipated to be seen in West Seattle yards soon.

Happy 500th Ballard Avenue blog! At Large in Ballard tips us on the BBQ at the BCC.

Up on Capitol Hill at CHS the moon shone a little less brightly last Tuesday and has photos to prove it.

Issaquah Undressed spots a horse of a different color and composition…scrap iron. The City of Redmond Neighborhood BLOG reports on some stormwater solutions happening in Redmond.

Over at Kirkland Weblog a dancing hot dog delights drivers…and captures children’s’ attention at the corner of 124th and 116th. Week 35 at Kirkland 52 drops the hint of fall.