Can You Avail of Obama’s Home Refinancing Program?
President Barack Obama launched a home refinancing program this year to help homeowners cope with the financial crisis that has hardly hit the country. Since real estate suffered the worst of all the consequences brought about the economic recession, Obama saw that it was imperative to create something that would help troubled homeowners who are dealing with job loss and foreclosure threats.
This project, aimed at protecting homeowners from losing their houses, has criteria for homeowners. Basically, the criteria points to homeowners that are currently troubled and facing threats of losing their homes. If your house reduced in value by around 16 percent, you can take advantage of this plan and refinance to a program that has only around 4 percent in interest rate. How do you know if you qualify? Here are the criteria:
- Your home mortgage loan should be under Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
- The sum of your loan should me more than 106 percent of the value of your house.
- Your monthly mortgage payments should be 32 percent of your monthly income.
- The total of all your credit payments should not be more than 56 percent of your previous tax income.
- The total equity of your home that you already own is not more than 21 percent.
If you qualify for the program, you can start looking for banks that would help you with your home refinancing. The Obama administration is giving $1,000 cash advantage to banks that would participate in this, so there can be a lot of companies that would give great offers for you.
You can also seek expert advice from counselors from HUD. They can be your representative as you apply for a refinance, giving you the best opportunities to refinance and get the best deal with the lending institutions. Of course, it would also be great if you yourself are in the know about the latest in the real estate market, as well as about home mortgages.
If you are aware of what is happening, you would be able to assert and push for what you deserve. Home refinancing can be the best solution for your current situation. Be informed and start your application as soon as you can.
