Making Home Affordable Program
Help for America's Homeowners
Please use the self-assessment tools provided on MakingHomeAffordable.gov to see if you are among the 7 to 9 million homeowners who may be able to benefit from Making Home Affordable.


Does Freddie Mac Own Your Loan?
Use our secure look-up tool to find out if Freddie Mac owns your mortgage

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In support of the Federal Making Home Affordable Program, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will offer two initiatives that will help keep more families in their homes, stabilize communities and assist homebuyers during this difficult time. Under the plan, eligible homeowners can:

Refinance your mortgage to a new, potentially lower interest rate, with additional flexibility to assist many homeowners who have previously had difficulty refinancing due to declining property values. You'll need to be current on your mortgage payments to qualify for this refinance.
Obtain a modification on your mortgage that can potentially reduce your monthly payment, or offer other alternatives that can help you keep your home. This program is for homeowners who are delinquent in their mortgage payments, in the foreclosure process, or are current on their payments but have recently experienced significant hardship. Significant hardship includes circumstances that may make it difficult for you to pay your mortgage going forward.
Through these and other options, the U.S. Treasury, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae hope to help more troubled and current borrowers with critical solutions through these initiatives that will help stabilize home ownership for the nation's families and their communities.

How Can I Qualify?
Refinance
If you are a homeowner who is current on your mortgage payments but unable to refinance because your home value has decreased, you may be able to refinance to a lower rate, lower-risk loan through the refinance solution that is part of this program.

Loan Modification
If you are a homeowner who is behind in your mortgage payments, in the foreclosure process, or is current on your payments but have recently experienced significant hardship, you may be able to modify your loan to a lower rate through the Making Home Affordable Modification Program. Significant hardship is circumstances that may make it difficult for you to pay your mortgage going forward.

Examples of loan modifications through the program:

Borrower in imminent default
Delinquent borrower (not in foreclosure)
Delinquent borrower in foreclosure
What If I Can't Qualify?
If you are working with your lender to keep your home, known as retention, there are several options:

Reinstatement: Your lender may agree to let you pay the total amount you are behind, in a lump sum payment and by a specific date. This is often combined with forbearance when you can show that funds from a bonus, tax refund, or other source will become available at a specific time in the future. Be aware that there may be late fees and other costs associated with a reinstatement plan.
Forbearance: Your lender may offer a temporary reduction or suspension of your mortgage payments while you get back on your feet. Forbearance is often combined with a reinstatement or a repayment plan to pay off the missed or reduced mortgage payments.
Repayment Plan: This is an agreement that gives you a fixed amount of time to repay the amount you are behind by combining a portion of what is past due with your regular monthly payment. At the end of the repayment period you have gradually paid back the amount of your mortgage that was delinquent.
Loan modification: This is a written agreement between you and your mortgage company that permanently changes one or more of the original terms of your note to make the payments more affordable.
If you and your lender agree that you cannot keep your home, there are a number of liquidation terms you should understand:

Short Payoff: If you can sell your house but the sale proceeds are less than the total amount you owe on your mortgage, your mortgage company may agree to a short payoff and write off the portion of your mortgage that exceeds the net proceeds from the sale.
Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure: A Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure is a cancellation of your mortgage if you voluntarily transfer title of your property to your mortgage company. Usually you must try to sell your home for its fair market value for at least 90 days before a mortgage company will consider this option. A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure may not be an option if there are other liens on the property, such as second mortgages, judgments from creditors, or tax liens.
Assumption: An assumption permits a qualified buyer to take over your mortgage debt and make the mortgage payments, even if the mortgage is non-assumable. As a result, you may be able to sell your property and avoid foreclosure.
While refinancing is not necessarily a good option when facing foreclosure and can sometimes even be a predatory practice, there are instances where it may help. Talk to your lender to see if refinancing is an option for you.

Our refinancing calculator may be a valuable tool when talking with your lender about your options.

APPLICATIONS FOR PURCHASE AND FOR REFINANCING UP NICELY AS MORTGAGE RATES REMAIN UNDER 5 PERCENT
McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.87 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 9, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 4.78 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.88 percent.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.54 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.52 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.42 percent.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.93 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.92 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.56 percent.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.83 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.75 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.18 percent.The 1-year ARM has not been lower since the week ending September 29, 2005, when it averaged 4.68 percent.
(Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.)
“Mortgage rates rose slightly this week but still remained historically low,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have averaged below 5.0 percent for the last four weeks, which should keep homeowner affordability at record levels.
“Given these low rates, housing demand has strengthened. Conventional mortgage applications both for refinancing and for home purchases have increased over the past five consecutive weeks ending April 3. Since the end of February, applications for home purchases were up about 22 percent and nearly 129 percent for refinancing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.”
Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.

House Hunting - Is Time To Start?

Once you know how much money you can borrow and have an estimate of your closing costs, you'll know the price range you can afford. You might already have your "dream home" in mind. Perhaps you want to settle down in a particular neighborhood, or maybe you just need more space for your growing family.

Even if you know exactly what you're looking for, the house hunting process can be overwhelming. It takes time.

The First Step – A Reality Check:
It’s fun to look at houses. And this part of the process is very exciting, but don't let your excitement rule the house-hunting process.

Stick within your budget – don't look at homes above what you can afford – even if it's "just a little" more.

Don't let your heart rule over your head. You may fall in love with a property, but if it is beyond your means, it is not the right house for you.
Be flexible. Don’t be disappointed if the houses in your price range differ from your dream. Buy the home you can afford rather than the home that "has it all."

Compare what you'd like to have with what you really need.

Some good house-hunting tips:
Take pictures inside and outside the home.
Bring a spouse, family member, or friend.
Make sure the house fits into your budget.
Ask about utility and maintenance costs.
Think of commuting time and costs.
Consider your monthly budget – can you afford the renovations and maintenance that you'll need to do?

Don't make a "spur-of-the-moment" decision.
Additional tips to make the house-hunting process easier:
Concentrate on a few neighborhoods.

Decide what's most important to you about the neighborhood you want. This can greatly narrow down your search.

Find a real estate agent. They'll have many more listings than you can find on your own.

Compare homes. Make sure you know what you would get and what you would miss in each house before you make a decision.

40 Year Mortgages?

40-Year Mortgage Rates: Lower Payments, Less Equity...

For years, the standard in the mortgage lending industry was a 30-year fixed rate loan. As opposed to other, shorter term mortgages, the low payments of a 30-year option was attractive to first-time homebuyers and those wishing to get much more house for their dollar. Yet as times change, home values have increased and mortgage companies have continued to change their services to suit their clientele. Now, savvy home buyers are choosing an even more cost-effective financing alternative: the 40-year mortgage.

There are two types of 40-year mortgages: the 40-year fixed rate mortgage and the 40-year adjustable rate mortgage, or ARM. There is a wide selection of 40-year ARMs available; lenders offering 40-year loans can provide more information.

The primary benefit of a 40-year fixed rate mortgage is lower payments, which means that it opens up the possibility of home ownership to a much larger demographic. Thanks to new 40-year mortgage programs, renters are finding that they can more easily become homeowners; homeowners wishing to upgrade to a new home are discovering that they can now afford much more; and those who may have a difficult time qualifying for a shorter term loan may find that the 40-year fixed rate mortgage is something that they can qualify for, based on the standard mortgage industry requirement of a low debt-to-income ratio.

The downside to 40-year mortgages is that because they are for a longer term, borrowers end up paying more interest. In other words, you'll be paying more for a home financed with a 40-year fixed rate mortgage in the long run than you would with a 30-year term loan?10 more years worth of interest, in fact.

More interest means less equity. Since more interest is attached to the loan, each monthly payment will contribute less to the principal than it will to the amount of the interest. Therefore, the longer the mortgage period, the longer it takes to build equity in your home.

However, since the majority of homeowners pay off their home loans early, it's possible that a borrower wouldn't have to pay interest on the entire term of the loan anyway. That often makes 40-year fixed rate mortgages good alternatives for people who are only planning on owning their home for a short time or who are buying homes in an area that is appreciating rapidly.

40-year mortgage rates are calculated based on current market standards.

Generally speaking, 40-year mortgage rates run about one-quarter to one-half of a percentage point higher than a 30-year fixed rate loan.

Likewise, interest rates for 40-year adjustable rate mortgages also vary, yet they are established with an introductory rate which lasts from 3 to 10 years, and then adjusts annually afterward based on the market.

The best way to find out what the current rates are is to use a 40-year mortgage calculator. We offer one on our website, just click here. Thank you.

Where to Find 40-Year Mortgages?

40-year mortgage companies were few and far between up until June 2005 when Federal lending program Fannie Mae began buying 40-year loans. Before that time, taking on a 40-year mortgage was too high of a risk for lending companies. Yet now, thanks to Fannie Mae, there are several 40-year mortgage companies who are willing to offer these attractive long-term loans.

Visit us @ Peak Home Loans