WHAT’S ALL THE HYPE ABOUT HARP ? (source: Mortgage Market Guide and Sharla Ellis)
We have had questions on what HARP is (since the enhancements were just announced), so here you go:
On Monday, October 24th, 2011, The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced their enhancements to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). The HARP program came about during the credit crisis to help borrowers refinance who may be “under water” on their homes.
What’s Really New?
First, it’s important to realize that the president’s proposal is not a new program, but a revision to the current Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). However there are some big changes that you can let people know if they ask you.
Refinance…No Matter How Underwater
Now homeowners can refinance no matter how underwater they are! Before homeowners could only refinance if they were 25% or less underwater, and even then many banks only let people who were 5% or less underwater refinance.
No Appraisal Necessary?
With the program’s revision, it’s possible that an appraisal won’t have to be performed. That’s great news because it can help people save time and money. But this is only the case if Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac can electronically estimate the value through their valuation models.
But Keep in Mind…
These updates to HARP apply only to people whose mortgage is currently secured by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac…and whose loan was securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac prior to May 31, 2009. So the chances are that people who have refinanced since May 2009 will not qualify to refinance under the HARP revision.
What’s Next?
As of now, the revisions to HARP have been proposed by President Obama and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This directive has been given to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and they now have until November 15, 2011 to give guidance and details regarding how these changes will be run.
David Freese grew up in St. Louis, one of America’s great baseball towns. I can only imagine how many times he may have dreamed of hitting a game-winning home run in the World Series for his hometown team, the St. Louis Cardinals.
On Thursday night, he did it!
…and you can live your dream too.
Everyone can move closer to living their dream by following 3 simple steps.
1) Know your dream… If you don’t have a Life Plan or a Vision for your business, there is no dream. To get what you want, you have to know what you want at a heart level.
2) Do more than dream… David Freese did more than dream. He worked at honing his baseball skills to the point that, during his high school senior year, he recorded a .533 batting average (which remains a school record) and was offered a scholarship to play baseball in college. Determine what you need to do to put yourself in position to live your dream, and then take action!
3) Assess and adjust… After his senior year in high school, David felt burnt out. He decided to quit baseball and enroll in school to study computer science. During the summer after his freshman year in college, he visited his high school and realized that he still had a passion for baseball. He returned to the game during his sophomore year in college and today plays for his hometown St. Louis Cardinals. David assessed his desire to play baseball, made the necessary adjustments, and went on to become a hometown hero.
On Thursday night, David Freese hit a triple to tie Game 6 of the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. Then in the 11th inning, he hit a home run to win the game. He was named the World Series MVP.
David Freese is living his dream and you can, too!
At a campaign stop in Nevada on Monday, President Obama announced an expansion of the HARP (Home Affordable Refinance Program) which would eliminate the current maximum LTV of 125%. The initiative is being looked at as a way to reward those homeowners who have been good payers of their mortgages but, because of declining home values, they could not take advantage of today’s lower interest rates.
While the actual details on the program will not be released until next month, here’s the buzz:
It will only pertain to loans currently being serviced by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
Because of the removal of the LTV cap, appraisals may not be required
With the only qualifying criteria announced being that the last six payments be on time, it is possible that income documentation may be streamlined and credit scores might be more forgiving
Fees allegedly will be reduced
Incentives may be offered to people who shorten their repayment time
It also sounds that the banks may be given some incentive by not holding them liable for the underwater portion of the new loan (a major incentive for sure).
The government is on the hook for these loans already. By lowering the payments (by offering lower rates), they will likely help these loans to continue to perform and make it less likely for the underwater homeowner to walk away.
The original HARP was expected to help 5 million families. After two years, it has yet to reach 900,000; therefore, estimates ranging from 800,000 to 1.6 million borrowers who may benefit need to be taken with a grain of salt.
Whether the Administration is looking for purely political rhetoric points or not, my advice to underwater homeowners is too keep an eye out for the final guidelines because you just might be able to lower your payments.
Posted by: http://www.kcmblog.com
Many leaders are now in the process of creating their plans for 2012. In this Leadership Moment, Daniel explains why you must review your Vision before you put your next Business Plan together.
Las Vegas – Clark County has a population of approximately 2 million people. The average sales price is currently $120,000, down from $320,000 in 2006. Values have dropped approximately 60% over that period.
Denny graduated from UNLV in 2001 and Jaime was his baseball coach at the time. Jaime suggested that Denny get his real estate license, while Jaime was traveling the world building power plants.
Denny began by focusing on helping buyers get into the first phases of new construction and ride the appreciation up.
Jaime joined him in real estate with a vision on opening their own real estate franchise.
The division of labor is based on Denny being the “Face of the Business” while Jaime keeps the machine running.
Running into problems with other agents selling Bank-Owned properties while simultaneously approaching asset managers and moving into the world of providing BPO’s, the team began to make significant progress in this emerging market.
Denny & Jaime focus on striving for their client’s happiness at the end of the process.
The Seybert Valez Team’s mission is to provide a smooth path from initial contact to closing. Every segment of the business is compartmentalized and departmentalized and all team members are cross-trained.
There are a lot of things I used to do. I used to change my own oil, I used to wash my own car, and I used to shine my own shoes.
Although it’s con¬ve¬nient to get my shoes shined while I’m at the air¬port, it’s not always the most pleas¬ant expe¬ri¬ence. Some¬times the per¬son barely looks up as they slap some paste on my shoes and wipe it off, try¬ing to get the job done as fast as pos¬si¬ble. But not Jerry.
Today Jerry shined my shoes.… and he really made them SHINE!
Right away I could tell that this guy was dif¬fer¬ent. He seemed to care more than any¬one else. He seemed to actu¬ally take pride in shin¬ing my shoes.
There was a point when he was putting the final touches on the shine that he just looked up at me and smiled. I had already been admir¬ing the work he was doing, but that smile topped it off. I said, “Man, I believe this is the best shine I have ever had.” Jerry kept right on smil¬ing… in fact, his smile was so big that he was actu¬ally bit¬ing his lip to hold it back.
He was proud of his work, and I was thrilled to be the recipient.
What have you done today that makes you proud of the results and brings joy or value to some¬one else?
In the mid¬dle of all the hus¬tle and bus¬tle of a major air¬port, Jerry took the time to do great work, and add the smile that topped it off.
What can you do like that today?
At the recent Building Champion’s Experience, I had the opportunity to share ideas on how to build productive, high performing teams. In this blog’s limited space, I can’t get into the same level of detail that I did during my presentation to this energetic group, so I welcome your questions and comments.
There are two key ingredients that are needed before you can begin to build a high performance team:
Commitment
What is your level of personal commitment? Building a team takes work and requires change. You will need a conscious, disciplined plan to do it. But can you really succeed in today’s competitive business environment without a high performing team?
Willingness
What we know about high performers is that they need to feel that they are contributing and making a difference. This means they need direction and operating parameters. What changes might this require on your team? As leaders, we must be willing to give up some control and decision-making. Are you willing to get comfortable with that? Mistakes will be made, but this is how an organization grows, retains top people, and makes a difference.
Given that you are committed and willing to move toward a high performing team — which is a good move — there are some operating conditions that must be met. It requires a focus on clarity, honesty, understanding, expectations and performance.
Clarity
Your vision and strategy must be clear and compelling. It must be widely understood by the team, the whole team. All employees — especially high performing team members — must have a clear understanding of game plan and where they are going. Honesty
You must be brutally honest in assessing team and individual performance. Are you willing to make critical change if needed? If you are being honest in your evaluation, there will likely come a time when it becomes necessary. Understanding
With honesty and objectivity, make sure there is a clear understanding of the team’s and key individuals’ strengths and weaknesses. Clearly understand the key actions necessary to improve. It may mean making personnel changes. Expectations
Setting the performance bar high enough is a must. High performers thrive on challenges and increased expectations. Don’t be reluctant to keep moving the bar up. Performance
Results are a team effort, but ultimately the leader has no one to blame but him or herself. Take responsibility for performance. Don’t forget this point.
If these conditions are in place, then you need to address some of the weaknesses you may have allowed to exist or have missed. The include concessions, details, inclusiveness and leadership.
Concessions
Sometimes doing the right thing is difficult, so we make concessions. We allow unproductive behaviors to continue. These need to be addressed and changed. This can be difficult, but it must be dealt with before you can hope to more forward to more productive behaviors. Details
Leaders can sometimes get out of touch with reality. It helps to dive into the details and to see what the real issues are. Get out from behind your desk and make sure you know what is really happening from the people who do the work.
Inclusiveness
Top, high performing people want to contribute and make a difference. Input and participation must be encouraged and welcomed. Employees at all levels can make a difference. Leadership
Leaders who say, “Do as I say, not as I do” cannot build a high performing team. The leader must set the tone and positively influence the whole team by both their words and their actions. Remember, employees are watching you.
If you believe that your employees are the key to separating your company from the pack, then creating a high performing team is a must. Not only is it critical to your success, but it can also be exciting and create an atmosphere you enjoy working in.
I have always been fascinated by the power of incremental change over time. Most people underestimate this. They think they have to take massive action to achieve anything significant.
I am not opposed to massive action. I have used it myself to achieve certain results. But it causes most people give up before they ever start. They just don’t think they can make the investment.
For example:
I have a friend who needs to lose fifty pounds. He can’t seem to get started. Why? Because he thinks he will have to go on a radical, unsustainable diet.
I overheard a man at the coffee shop complaining to his friend that he hasn’t taken a family vacation in years. When his friend asked why, he said, “We just don’t have the money.”
One of the guys I mentor confessed that he had never read the Bible all the way through. When I asked why, he said, “You mean, other than the fact that it’s about 1200 pages long?”
What these people don’t realize is that they could make small, daily investments that would soon lead to big results. Here are seven examples to get your creativity flowing.
Losing Weight. Earlier this year, I lost eleven pounds in six weeks. A friend of mine lost 83 pounds in a year. Both of us did it using LoseIt. We didn’t do much other than record what we ate daily. By becoming aware of what we were eating, we made healthier choices.
Paying Off Debt. One of my friends paid of $15,000 in debt in less than a year. She didn’t do anything radical. She simply setup a budget, took opportunities to make extra income, and cut back on gourmet coffee and other non-essentials. She used Dave Ramsey’s “debt snowball” to pay off her smallest debts first, then the larger ones.
Improving Profitability. In a publishing division I used to run, we decided to improve our margins by 2% over one year. We chunked it down to one-half percent per quarter. We focused on targeted price increases and expense control. It dropped over a million dollars to the bottom line that year.
Writing a Book. I have used my blog to write several books. I mapped out the book and then wrote it one 500-word post at a time. Using this method, you can write a 50,000 word book in 100 days. At my pace of about five posts a week, that takes just twenty weeks. Plus, you get great feedback along the way.
Running Long Distances. When I started running, I could barely walk a mile. Then I discovered Jeff Galloway. I started running for one minute and then walking for two. Gradually, I increased my distance and the time I was running. Within a year, I was able to run my first half marathon.
Reading the Bible. The bible is a big book, no doubt. But in less than 15 minutes a day, you can read the entire Bible through in a year. Here’s an online plan I used for several years. Currently, I am reading through The NKJV Daily Bible (Thomas Nelson).
Saving Your Marriage. I had another friend in a really bad marriage. On the advice of his mentor, he started practicing “5 for 5.” He simply walks in the house after work, moves within five feet of his wife, asks her about her day, and listens for five minutes. Though a small start, it has now grown to 30 minutes a day. Their relationship has reversed course.
I’m convinced you can do almost anything if you are willing to clarify your goals and then make the incremental investment over time to achieve them.
