Hi, this is Kerri from the Bay Area Short Sale Angels. We are one of Bay Area’s number one short sale team. So a lot of you have heard of the new HAMP program that’s out there. It’s actually not new, it’s been around for a while, but it’s just got a breath of fresh air. President Obama made sure that they changed the rules so that now if you qualify for the HAMP program you can refinance your home no matter how far underwater it is. So that’s great news for people who have actually stayed current on their mortgage and they want to take advantage of the low interest rates that are happening right now. These homeowners wouldn’t qualify before because their houses were completely underwater. Now they qualify as long as they fit certain criteria.
First of all, it has to be a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loan. There’s an easy way to find out if your loan belongs to either one of them. Go to their website and look at their loan lookup. The first one is fanniemae.com/loanlookup. Then you can enter your address to find out. The next one is freddiemac.com/mymortgage. So if you go on those two websites and you find out that your loan is owned by either Fannie or Freddie, then you can go onto the next qualification. The next qualification is your principle residence. That means that you’ve lived in the house for the last two out of five years. So even if you’re currently renting it out, if you lived in it for 2 out of the last 5 years, then it still might qualify for your principle residence.
The next qualification is that your loan has to be at or under $729,750. The last qualification is that you have to be current on your mortgage. You can only have one late payment in the last year. So, if your loan fits those qualifications, then it’s definitely worth your while to see if you can refinance using the HAMP program and lower your interest rate. If you’re planning on staying in your house, it’s a fantastic deal.
Again, I’m Kerri from the Bay Area Short Sale Angels where we believe there’s nothing worse than doing nothing. We are one of Bay Area’s number one short sale team and we look forward to talking with you soon.