How do I find out if Fannie Mae owns my loan?
One of my most frequently asked questions is “How do I find out if I have a Fannie Mae home loan?”
The Fannie Mae DU Refi Plus has made it ever more important to know if your existing loan is a Fannie Mae loan. To find out who owns your loan you simply need to go to the Fannie Mae website and check using your address. You will need to tick a checkbox indicating you are the owner of the property or have authorization to check on behalf of the owner.
Mortgage answers should be delivered only by licensed mortgage professionals. Your agent should serve in the transaction and transference of the property and not be relied upon for accurate mortgage information. Experienced, license mortgage professionals spend hundreds of hours every year in training, compliance updates, and working with clients similar to you with resolving their mortgage needs. Nothing against agents and the smartest ones will tell you, “ask your mortgage professional”. To see if they are licensed simply go to the NMLS Custom Access site.
I am a multi-year veteran of the industry who has served in the highest offices in the industry. I can help you get the best deals and avoid getting ripped off!
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3 important points to mortgage qualifications
The mortgage process, especially for those who are denied or delayed, is an enigma to most. Understanding a few basics, three in fact, can help open the windows and let some light on the mysterious inner-workings of mortgage lenders. Getting denied or being quoted a higher rate than you heard advertised need not be a huge question mark.
Every conventional lender, those who lend according to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines, builds their lending criteria equal to or more stringent than the guidelines offered by those to mortgage holding giants – unless they are selling to Ginnie Mae or another mega investor. In those guidelines are some very simple first steps so important to the lending process they can be the cause for the vast majority of denials or increase costs of credit.
- Image via Wikipedia
Whether you are applying for money to purchase a home or to refinance one you currently own these three points are crucial to your success in obtaining a good mortgage.
Number One: Employment and Income
Chances are if you skip around from job to job, especially in different industries, and you have large gaps of time between them you will be considered too high risk at least for a prime loan. Even if you have steady employment history if your income is not verifiable to the amount you need for a good debt ratio you can also be denied or incur the cost of risk in the form of a higher interest rate.
Hope for Home Owners with a Fannie Mae Loan
Fannie Mae mortgagors have long been jealous of FHA mortgagors because they have the FHA streamline refinance. Enter the FNMA DU Refi Plus. If you have an existing Fannie Mae home mortgage which does not have mortgage insurance you can refinance all the way up to 105% of the appraised value of your home provided you are current with your mortgage payments, are currently employed and meet a couple of other criteria.
Even if you have a second mortgage you can qualify for the loan as long as the second mortgage holder with agree to re-subordinate the mortgage. There is no maximum combined loan to value (CLTV) on the DU Plus and so long as there is no mortgage insurance on the existing loan there is no mortgage insurance on the DU Plus.
Novation Mortgage will request the subordination agreement from your existing lender and you will only need to get involved if for some reason they refuse to agree to re-subordinate. Don’t worry if you do not fully understand what all that means. When you call I will explain it to you in detail. In fact I may explain it to you even if you think you already know so that I make sure I know you understand – as they say on TV “that’s just the way I roll.”
If your home is in Georgia or Florida and it is the home you live in full time (primary residence) don’t hesitate to call me at 678-946-0101 and ask about the Fannie Mae DU Refi Plus or the FHA streamline refinance.
Can I Refinance If …
Some of the questions make us snicker but then we realize the reason most people are in bad shape is because they didn’t take time to ask basic questions when they were getting into a loan that would put them into bad shape. Here are a couple of answers to various “can I refinance if” type questions.
Can I refinance if I have been late on payments?
Maybe. It depends on what type of payments you have been late on, how long ago your last late payment was and what type of loan you are applying for. For example some lenders will allow you to do an FHA streamline refinance if you have been late on payments including mortgage payments and others will not (Novation allows FHA streamline refinances so long as the mortgage is current at the time of closing).
Can I refinance if my home is currently listed for sale?
No. But Novation will allow a refinance with the listing canceled and a good explanation why it was listed then canceled. We will not allow a cash-out but only rate and term on recently listed properties.
Can I refinance if I have had a foreclosure?
Maybe. It depends on how long ago the foreclosure was. It does not matter if the foreclosure was a primary residence, second home or investment property. As of today there are no conventional loans outside of the FHA streamline refinance which will allow a refinance to anyone who has had a foreclosure within the last 36 months as of the date of application.
Can I refinance from a non-FHA loan using an FHA streamline?
No. The FHA streamline is designed only for FHA loan to FHA loan refinance. You can still do an FHA refinance but not using the FHA streamline. One reason to do this would be to do a rate and term refinance up to 95% of the appraised value or a cash out refinance up to 85% of the appraised value.
Can I refinance if I have only been renting the home?
Not unless you have a true lease/purchase that was set up and recorded that way. Then it will actually be treated as a purchase rather than a refinance. The old practice of refinancing a property into the renters name from the owner’s name is gone. That was a sub-prime guideline that died with sub-prime loans.
Can I refinance if I lost my job?
The FHA streamline and Fannie DU Plus refinances only require employment verification or 1 year of tax returns for self-employed borrowers. If you are W2′d and we cannot verify employment you likely cannot refinance.
Can I refinance if I got a divorce?
If your former spouse is on the loan and on the title you will have to have a Quite Claim Deed and you will have to do a non-streamline refinance. You will have to qualify for the loan without your former spouse’s credit or income. You can use alimony and child support as supporting income provided there is a history of on-time payments and a future of realistic expectations you will continue to receive them.
If you are the type who likes to do all the research you can online before you start calling around let me remind you that (a) the mortgage banking industry changes every day – what was true today (April 9, 2009) may not be true even one day later (b) there are a dozen inexperienced loan officers in the business publishing information to every 1 who has 10 years or more of accurate experience (c) I have met people who claim to have decades of experience who are consistent in their errors. I belong to a group of professional mortgage bankers who spend much of our time critiquing each other and weighing one another against the truth. That helps guaranty our accuracy and honesty to you.
You can keep reading or you can pick up your phone and call me directly at 678-946-0101. We service the Georgia and Florida residential real estate markets and through my group of mortgage banking masters I am sure I can refer you to one of them if you are not in my area of practice or expertise.
The Ever Changing World of Appraisals
Appraisers have it easy. All they have to do is look at some numbers on the computer and take a few photos.
Oh, really?
Mortgage lenders rely on everything the appraiser does. Not only the originating lender but every investor who buys that loan throughout its life.
Fannie Mae has some very strict guidelines which change regularly and the appraisers are required to keep up with them just as the lender is. A few real estate agents keep up with Fannie Mae issues and all those who read my blog(s) do for sure. In fact it probably is not a bad idea to ask your agent if they read my blogs or attend any of my training – that way you’ll know they keep up with cutting edge information that can make or break your deal. (Self-serving? No, but a good point!)
Fannie Mae now requires comparable data not only on your subject property (the home you are buying) and the immediate comparables but the complete pool of available inventory. Fortunately they do not mean each individual sold home or home for sale but even just requiring this aggregated information can make a huge difference.
From the Fannie Mae Letter Announcement 08-30
(The 30th Announcement in 2008)
2009: Last great real estate investment frontier?
Be optimist or pessimist the numbers do not lie. What do the numbers say about the US real estate market in the last two years? Dismal, at best. John Burns, CEO of John Burns Real Estate Consulting, always gives grades in quick glimpse -and easy to comprehend- A, B, C, D, and F like most public school students his age and mine would have received for homework.
The not so surprising news is that I could find nothing in his report which scored an A. Also not surprising is there are plenty of D’s and F’s (we skipped E for some vapid reason).? Three particular grades should be of interest to every real estate investor and also should be understood why it is of interest.
First there is the D given to the existing home market. This means values are still declining while the existing inventory rose to 10.8% – that means lots of supply (increasing) and at best pent up demand. For the investor this is all green lights. Unfortunately Fannie Mae in some insane moment of cannibalism, or perhaps it was cannibisism, slashed the limit of properties on credit from ten to four. Bad move and a slice at the Achilles heel of the US economy. It is possible they are willing to re-look. All this points to a fantastic time to be a first time real estate investor.
Flying Fickled Finger of Fate
Next there is the F given to the new home market. We all know housing starts have hit the lowest number since reporting began in 1959. While 1959 was a banner year for planet earth that was still a long time ago and a lot of opportunity for bad housing starts have passed. Congratulations to 2008, you win the Fickled Finger of Fate award. What this means for investors is more opportunity for rehabbed properties. While the rules on flipping have changed (you really need to understand the rules before you think you’re going to be the next future felon on TV) you can still successfully acquire and rehab homes for decent profit.
Finally there is the F given to housing supply. With housing starts dipping to an even further record low of 625,000 this means people are stacking up in the homes of relatives, roomate situations in large complexes and more. The need is growing while the market is slowing. Positioning yourself for the future by acquiring one, two or even three single family investment properties in your area may just position you for some very substantial earnings over the next three to five years.
So it there were a category for investment opportunities I would see that as an A+ for the savvy mind. The problem with real estate investing over the last 8 to 10 years was the notion that “anyone could do it”. Sorry, if you cannot keep a job, forget to pay your light bill and have never balanced a check-book you really are not a good candidate to be a reale state investor. On the other hand, if you have 20% down (a very reasonable amount) a credit score in the higher six-hundreds, and patience you owe it to yourself to get into the pool while both ends are reasonably shallow.
Call me, let’s talk 866-946-0120 -Ken
Secrets of Real Estate Investing?
You have seen them: the secrets of real estate investing. Anytime you see that word “secret” get out your wallet. I can tell you for a fact there are no secrets. In fact, anything that is a secret hasn’t been used. Gurus could not pack rooms for thousands of dollars if you accepted that there are no secrets. Alas, there are no secrets. But there is a randomly issued series of letters (ie blog posts) and let’s call this The Billionaire Real Estate Investor’s Super Top Secret Number One.
Alas, again, there are no secrets. But there are some really important things to learn!
Here are the CONVENTIONAL (Fannie Mae) FINANCE basics of real estate investing:
Borrower must be full doc – this means able to prove income and assets with acceptible documentation.
Borrower must not own more than three properties on credit.
Minimum loan amount – generally is $50,000
Property must be in move-in condition (there are caveats)
Interest rates at 80% LTV and below are very decent right now
Minimum of 15% down payment must be sourced and seasoned
Expect to pay a minimum of 20% down even in the face of the previous statement
Your MIDDLE credit score really is going to need to be in the high 600′s
Closing costs, depending on how desperate the bank or loan officer is, are going to be around 3% on a $150k loan
PMI companies do not currently offer insurance on investment properties (unless something changed before you read this)
Join me the next time for The Billionaire Real Estate Investor’s Super Top Secret Number Two: How to beat the Fannie Mae four property limit
But see, these are not secrets. They are just some things that not everyone knows. When you really need answers just pick up the phone and give me a call at 678-946-0101 or email me at REIBroker AT gmail.com
Fannie Mae Calling a Halt On Foreclosure Sales
“In connection with the streamlined modification program announced jointly by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae on November 11, 2008, Fannie Mae is instituting a halt to all foreclosure sales on occupied single-family properties as well as to the completion of evictions from occupied single-family properties scheduled to occur from November 26, 2008 through January 9, 2009. Servicers and foreclosure attorneys (or trustees) must institute the halt on foreclosures for eligible homeowners no later than November 26, 2008.” – AllRegs
One major impact this could have on the market is to show a markedly lower number of foreclosure filings during the next few weeks. This could even spur a small recovery in areas most primed to rebound -time and numbers, only, will tell.
If you have any questions about this and you are NOT facing foreclosure and you are in our service area of Georgia or Florida feel free to contact me at 678-946-0100
Breaking the Fannie Barrier of Four Properties on Credit
I am still amazed that many investors and agents do not know that Fannie Mae dropped the total number of loans on credit to four when an investor is purchasing a new property or refinancing an old one. They simply will not allow more than four properties on credit. Not smart on their part but they do have the word Government in their designation.
Fannie Mae limits to four the number of properties which can be held on credit when:
The loan being sold to Fannie is secured by a second home or investment property.
You can have unlimited home loans on your credit when you are financing a primary residence.
Any loan that is not being sold to one of the GSEs (Fannie or Freddie) is probably not subjected to these limits. The full information can be found at the Fannie website which I have linked from ken.novationmortgage.com for your downloading convenience.
There is good news ? at least one portfolio investor has agreed to purchase loans for investment properties outside of the Fannie guidelines. They will purchase or fund a total of two additional loans regardless of how many loans the applicant has on credit at the time of closing. Even better news is they will allow cross-collateralization of two properties on each loan so it is possible to add up to four more properties to your collection. Before you go out and start making offers you need to call me and make sure you and the properties qualify.
The property must be a single family residence in good condition in the state of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio or Kentucky. We are currently working on other states. The loans are available on a five year balloon with a 3 year 2 point pre-payment penalty at roughly 9.9% interest or a fixed 30 year with a 3 year 1 point prepayment penalty with a slightly lower rate. Rates change daily as does the APR based on the loan amount. Average APR is about .25% higher than the interest rate.
The borrower, in order to qualify, must be able to fully document his or her income ? there are no stated income options available for these loans. To borrow up to 75% of the purchase price the borrower must have a 691 or higher middle credit score, not FICO but middle. If the FICO score is the middle score then that is the score we use. We pull all three bureaus. The debt to income ratio including the new loan must be no higher than 45% – in other words these loans are for serious investors who have a business plan and do it right. If you write off everything including the kitchen sink and show a low Adjusted Gross Income for the last two years you are not going to qualify regardless of why your income is low. We do not add back depreciation and interest on these loans at this time.
If you are ready to qualify you can phone me or one of my staff members at 866-946-0120 or you can visit ken.novationmortgage.com and click on the link that says FANNIE BUSTER and complete the short pre-qualification online.
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Daily Rates for Qualified Buyers
Today |
Last Week |
|
| 30 Year Fixed | 3.50% | 3.61% |
| 15 Year Fixed | 2.88% | 2.92% |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.31% | 2.51% |
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