Theres a lot of confusion about the HARP 2.0 Refinance program. Your big four bank might tell you one thing and a professionally licensed mortgage lender might tell you another.
2. HARP Refinance – Home Affordable
FAQ
There’s a lot of confusion about the
HARP 2.0 Refinance program. Your
big four bank might tell you one thing
and a professionally licensed mortgage
lender might tell you another.
3. Who is right? It depends on your
situation, but for the most part your big
bank is desperate to keep you.
They are not happy that the Home
Affordable Refinance has been opened
to all mortgage professionals.
4. Quite frankly, I’m surprised it
was. Nearly every change in the
mortgage / real estate industry in the
past few years has been big bank lobby
based. They have done absolutely
everything in their power to destroy
choice and steer you to them.
5. In the process they have practically
ruined the housing market. Go big
4, much appreciated. The only way to
make your product attractive was to
attempt to make everyone else suck as
bad as you do.
You failed.
HARP 2.0 opens things up. You are not
stuck with your servicer, the ridiculous
turn times or there untrained loan
officers. They hate that.
6. What is a HARP 2.0 Refinance?
The HARP Refinance program is a
mortgage refinance program designed to
assist underwater homeowner’s with
conforming / conventional home
mortgages refinance.
Created in 2009, the original HARP
program had too many restrictions.
Including adjustments to interest rate for
loan to value , LTV caps and limitations
to your current mortgage servicer, HARP
1.0 need an overhaul.
7. How Do I Qualify For a HARP
Refinance?
Your mortgage loan must have been
originated before June 1, 2009
Your loan must be owned or guaranteed
by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac - Not
showing up? Fannie and Freddie make
mistakes and their HARP search is pretty
fickle. We can always call for you. Just let
us know.
8. No mortgage lates in the past 6 months
and only ONE mortgage late payment in
the past year. Your HARP Refinance
must have tangible benefit.
Don’t worry about the sharks, if you
aren’t meeting the HARP program
benefit requirements then you’re not
going to get your refinance through
underwriting.
9. My Current Mortgage Lender Says I
Need to Use Them for My HARP
Refinance. Is That True?
Nope, you can finally dump your bank.
HARP 2.0 is available to all mortgage
lenders, you can actually use your
preferred lender. HARP experts with the
right set-up will have multiple outlets.
That means that you have options.
10. With options, you can choose the right
combination of interest rate, turn
time, closing costs and guidelines that fit
YOUR personal situation.
I spent 3 years a big bank. When we did
HARP loans, we were REQUIRED to lock
for 90 days. We were encourage to wait
30 days into the HARP process before we
locked the loan. The average time from
application to closing was 120 days.
11. They didn’t need to provide any level of
customer service, you were stuck. You
wanted a HARP loan, you needed them.
Now, they are stuck. Now their absurd
turn times, loan officers that don’t
respond, underwriting whims and overall
lack of respect for their customers will
result in customers FIRING that mega-
bank.
12. Does a HARP Refinance Have Closing
Costs?
People don’t work for free, of course a
HARP refinance has closing costs. It’s a
mortgage, you need a title agent /
closing attorney. People have to process
the loan and lenders have to underwrite
the loan as well.
13. You don’t have the money to pay closing
costs? Welcome to the economy. Not an
issue, you have options.
When you refinance every loan officer
should present you with multiple options.
You should get a NO COST HARP
refinance option, a LOW COST HARP
refinance option and a FULL COST HARP
refinance option.
14. As you may know, nothing is actually
free. The lower your closing costs the
higher your rate. It may only be .25
different then the other Home Affordable
Options, but to do a no cost refinance the
lender needs to cover the costs via
premium pricing.
Premium pricing is just a fancy term for
using the profit from a higher rate to
lender pay closing costs.
15. Does that mean that a NO COST HARP
refinance is a scam? Absolutely
not, premium pricing is a common way to
price a no cost refinance.
Get a loan officer that provides
options, review the options and decide
the best option for you.
16. Get a HARP Refinance Quote
We are just cracking the surface of HARP
2.0, stay tuned for more FAQ’s and
detailed Home Affordable Refinance info!
Fiind out more about Underwater
Refinance here:
http://www.harp-refi.net
