Insurance NOT Paid By Homebanc
May 1, 2008 | 1 Comment
Today I received this email from a gentleman seeking help because his homeowners insurance had not been paid by his mortgage company.
Your topic: "Homebanc Mortgage Escrow Accounts" came up when I searched it on google.
I have a Homebanc mortgage. I just got a call from my ins. co. stating that they haven’t received my homeowner ins. payment from my mortgage co. after 45 days. I contacted Homebanc and all their numbers and websites are disconnected.
Any news on this, or know what I should do? I’ve been sending my payments in to the same address, and never got a letter stating it was sold to another co., and the payments have been processed like normal. I’m thinking of not paying and seeing who contacts me.
Obviously he has an escrow account and has been making his payments. Unfortunately the insurance did not get paid as it should have. My advice to you would be to write a letter to the address that you are sending your payments to and ask that you be contacted to discuss your escrow account. If this is not successful then you will probably want to contact Countrywide Mortgage. My understanding is that Countrywide was assuming the servicing of Homebanc accounts. To add another twist, Bank of America is buying Countrywide so you may also contact Bank of America if Countrywide has no record of servicing your account. If none of these can provide you with the correct answer you may also contact your state department of banking and finance and ask for their guidance. You should have been notified that the servicing of your mortgage was being handled by a different provider. Unfortunately you were not.
The one thing I would recommend that you not do is avoid paying the payment to see who contacts you. Damaging your credit with a late payment is just not worth it. Sure it will take some time and phone calls to clear this up, but you need to know who is servicing your mortgage in case there is any other problem in the future.
Hail Damage in Atlanta
March 17, 2008 | 9 Comments
Tornado Hits Atlanta
This past weekend was one of the most interesting weekends the Metro Atlanta area has ever experienced weather wise. Friday evening about 10:00 a tornado touched down in downtown Atlanta. Extensive damage was done to the Georgia Dome, the Georgia World Congress Center and various additional buildings throughout the area. Airborne debris and high winds broke windows and lifted the roofs off of several structures. The SEC Basketball Tournament was suspended Friday Night and then relocated to Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Georgia Tech Campus when it resumed on Saturday.
Saturday Was Even Worse
While Friday evening was exciting, Saturday was even more eventful. Starting about noon storm after storm seemed to be like freight trains running through North Central Georgia. Even though it could have been much worse, there were two fatalities. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families effected
Have Your Roof Checked
The news broadcasts have shown much of the visible destruction. What cannot be seen is the damage that hail can cause to a roof. If your home was in one of the area that received hail, do yourself a favor and have a qualified roofer examine your roof for any hail damage. It is much better to catch it now before you have water damage to your roof and attic.
Avoid Foreclosure-Temporary Loan Relief Alternatives
February 20, 2008 | 2 Comments
One of the most important duties that I have is educating my clients and future clients about various aspects of the real estate market in Atlanta. With the current economic climate and foreclosure being discussed on virtually every news broadcast, it is important for consumers that are experiencing financial difficulty to know what their options are. In the recent post about How To Avoid Foreclosure I mentioned that there are some temporary alternatives that do not result in the loss of your home. Let’s take a closer look at what they are.
Forbearance
Forbearance is an agreement between you and your mortgage company that temporarily allows you to pay less that the full amount of your monthly payment or nothing at all during the forbearance period. Generally the mortgage company will consider forbearance when you can show that funds from a bonus, tax refund or other source will allow you to bring the mortgage current at a specific time in the future.
Loan Modification
A loan modification is a written agreement between you and your mortgage company that permanently changes one or more of the original terms of your loan in order to make the payments more affordable. Common loan modifications would include adding missed payments to the existing loan balance, changing an adjustable-rate-mortgage into a fixed-rate mortgage or extending the number of years for you to repay the loan.
A Repayment Plan
A repayment plan is an agreement between you and your mortgage company that gives you a fixed amount of time in which to repay the amount that you are behind on your mortgage. In this alternative you actually pay your regular monthly payment and add an additional portion of the past due amount to each installment. At the end of the repayment period you have paid back the amount that was delinquent.
Reinstatement
Reinstatement occurs when you pay your mortgage company the total amount that you are behind on your mortgage in one lump sum. A reinstatement generally occurs in conjunction with forbearance.
Knowing what options are available to you is often times half the battle. In many situations the best and least expensive alternative will be through working with your current lender or servicer of your loan. If your current lender has no desire to assist you, let me know. I can help you find a responsible lender that will help you or show you additional alternatives.
Interest Rates in Atlanta
January 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The Atlanta Mortgage Market
The mortgage market in Atlanta, along with most other markets, has been extremely volatile over the last few days. Lenders have been publishing rate sheets then retracting them, adjusting interest rates up then down and even preventing brokers from locking loans for borrowers. Typically loan officers get rate sheets from the lenders mid morning each weekday. Since Tuesday rate sheets along with revisions have been coming several times each day. Hopefully some of the volatility has eased from the market.
Fed Cuts Short Term Rates
When the Fed announced on Tuesday that they were cutting the Federal Funds Rate by .75 percentage points the phones began ringing off the hook. What must be understood is that this rate cut is for the interest rates that banks charge to each other. This is for "Short Term" loans and a mortgage is considered a long term loan.
Is It Time To Refinance
In the mortgage business one of the most often asked questions is, Is it time for me to refinance? The short answer to this question is maybe. The better question would be, Is it time to meet with a qualified loan officer to discuss my options? The easy answer to that question is YES. Several documents that you need to have with you so that you can obtain the best advise are your most recent statement from your mortgage lender and your warranty deed.
If you are currently in an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) also provide the loan officer with the information about when you adjustment periods are along with the amount of the adjustment.
A Big Win For The Little Guys
Much of the recent news regarding foreclosures has centered around how the borrowers entered into Adjustable Rate Mortgages and when they began adjusting upwards the borrowers just could not afford them anymore. With the current rates being in the 5.375% range for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, it makes perfect sense for any borrower in an ARM to seriously consider refinancing now.
Atlanta Real Estate Advocate
January 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
When thinking of the term advocate and applying it to the real estate market you would think that it would probably have something to do with being a consumer advocate. I would tend to think so also. There can be two different types of real estate advocates. There would be the buyer’s advocate whose sole intent is to protect the buyer’s interest and a seller’s advocate whose purpose would be to protect the seller. Let’s examine each type.
Purchasing a home is typically the most expensive purchase any of us will ever make. Not only should a buyer enlist the services of a qualified Atlanta Buyer’s Agent but also an individual that would be considered an Atlanta Real Estate Advocate. To be a good buyer’s advocate an agent should have a complete understanding of not only the legal requirements in representing a buyer as called for by Georgia law but also have a good working knowledge of construction techniques, current mortgage information, school information (both public and private) and most of all put the buyer’s interest above all others. For Atlanta First Time Buyers make certain that you get a complete understanding of the process of buying a home. Attending a buyer seminar or workshop is an excellent way to increase you knowledge and after all, knowledge is power especially in a real estate transaction.
Selling a home is also an enormous financial transaction. Rarely would any of us be involved in transactions for hundreds of thousands of dollars except with our homes. Doesn’t it make sense to put your trust someone who understands what is required in Selling a Home in Atlanta. The days of just putting a sign in the yard and answering the calls are gone. Having a solid marketing plan detailing the steps to be taken to properly market a home is the foundation for a successful transaction. To get a home sold in today’s market it is of utmost importance to have the home on multiple websites in order to obtain maximum exposure. One way to accomplish this is through an Internet Data Exchange (IDX) that makes your home available on every agent and broker website in the entire Atlanta Market and really helps when a buyer is searching for Atlanta Homes for Sale.
Having experience in assisting both buyers and sellers has helped me be able to understand the needs and wants of both buyers and sellers. Understanding what each wants pays off when a contract is being negotiated.
The nice part of all of this is that working with a real estate expert in Atlanta who will protect your interest doesn’t cost any more than working with a less experienced agent who may not be as qualified. It is impossible for one agent to be able to cover the entire Greater Atlanta Market effectively. Feel free to contact me for assistance with finding qualified REALTORS throughout Metro Atlanta to help with your real estate needs.
Bank of America Buying Countrywide
January 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment
It has been rumored for some time, however yesterday it seemed to gather increased reporting by some of the financial publications. Both Bloomberg and Reuters had extensive articles about Bank of America puchasing Countrywide.
As I was doing some research for this article I received an email from a Countrywide Loan Officer whom I have known for several years. The email was forwarded and the original is from Angelo Mozilo, Chairman and CEO of Countrywide to all Countywide employees so I would say that this pretty much takes this purchase out of the rumor category. Here is an exerp from the email:
"The highlights are the Bank of America has agreed to buy Countrywide but are going to run Countrywide under the Countrywide brand. This is what many of us wanted to happen – although many of our competitors did not want this to happen. This makes us by far the biggest mortgage company in the country!"
Last August when local lender Homebanc went out of business Countrywide took over their loan origination. Now with Bank of America buying Countrywide the largest mortgage company in the country has been created.
Last fall Bank of America elected to shut down their mortgage wholesale division and originate all loans in house. Now with this aquisition, perhaps the question that should be asked is does this in any way resemble a monopoly? You would have to guess that the Security and Exchange Commission will address this possible issue.
Here is the primary question that I have about this purchase and Bank of America becoming so large in the mortgage business, If the mortgage business in this country is in such bad shape why would Bank of America elect to buy Countrywide and increase their exposure? Sure they are getting Countrywide at a reduced price as Countrywide stock has tanked recently but what about loans that default in the future? Some of the articles that I read indicated that there is a chance that Countrywide was going to be filing for bankruptcy protection. Bank of America could have possibly bought Countrywide for less then.
We will all have to wait and see what the future holds with this purchase. My recommendation to anyone who is refinancing or purchasing a home would be to shop around for the best terms and conditions for your mortgage. Make sure to get a "Good Faith Estimate" and compare the costs from each of the lenders you have selected.
Green Holiday Lights
December 11, 2007 | 1 Comment
They are beautiful to look at and in many cases provide us with countless hours of conversation, so whats the big deal with the energy required to operate outdoor holiday decorations? A little higher power bill for the month of December has come to be expected. The problem is that when you take a major metropolitan area like Atlanta, and figure that outside lighting adorns probably 50% of all homes, when added all together there is a tremendous waste of power by simply not controlling how long the lights stay on. Energy efficiency has to do with, not only what kind of lights you use but also how long they remain illuminated.
Timing Is Everything
There is a simple way to fix this delima. Go to your local home improvement or hardware store and purchase a timer to use on your outdoor lighting. These timers can be as simple as allowing you to set the amount of time for you lights to remain on daily to containing photo cells to turn the lights on and off for you depending on when dusk arrives. All in all the photo cell timers are my favorite. You only have to set it once and that is when you are installing them initially. As an added benefit, if it is raining or has turned surprisingly cold, you don’t have to go out to do anything with these photo cell timers. They just come on and go off automatically and you determine the duration of how long your lights remain on.
Christmas Tree Decorating
December 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment
As has happened in years past, decorating the Christmas Tree around our home starts early in the morning with the assembly of the tree. To hold all the ornaments we have a nine foot tree that requires around 1400 lights. Once the tree is up and the lights are on, our trip down memory lane can begin. You see, over 30 years ago when Millie and I got married we started collecting Christmas Ornaments from every where we traveled too. Soon enough family members saw how much we enjoyed our ornament collection and elected to add to it with ornaments of things they noticed that we enjoyed; Barbie Dolls, Harley Davidson, Atlanta Braves, and of course Georgia Bulldogs just to mention a few. Today we have over 600 special ornaments along with over 100 filler ornaments that go on our tree.
So as you can well imagine, decorating the tree involves discussion about when and where we acquired certain ornaments, our first Christmas together and the "Baby’s First Christmas" ball from when our son was born. Perhaps a bit of this tradition is being passed on as we gave our son and his wife a "Baby’s First Christmas" ball to hang on their tree. I guess it goes without saying that we are really looking forward to Christmas Day and our son, daughter-in-law and grandson Lincoln coming over for the day.
I can only hope that as you are decorating for the holidays you have as much fun and as many fond memories as we do. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays To All.
Bank of America Mortgage Fees
December 6, 2007 | 2 Comments
At the end of October the was an article published in a San Diego Real Estate Blog about Bank of America doing away with their wholesale mortgage division. The article quoted officials at Bank of America saying that they would be concentrating on direct-to-consumer lending. The article went on to state that Bank of America had introduced it’s no fee mortgage program which would eliminate several hundred to a few thousand dollars in costs associated with closing a home loan.
At the time it was written, I stated that I have seen many instances in which a mortgage broker was able to offer better terms to a buyer than a Bank of America branch office. Guess what, this holds true today. Yesterday afternoon I went into a local Bank of America branch and saw on their bulletin board that they were offering 5.5% 30 year fixed rate mortgages. Wonderful, I thought. Here comes the kicker, the buyer had to pay 1.835 points to get the loan. Now what would that equate to on an average home? Let’s assume that the sale price of the home is $250,000 and the buyer is putting 20% down, that would leave a loan amount of $200,000. Now with 1.835 points (or 1.835%) the buyer would be charged $3,670.
A 5.5% interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage can be obtained through a morgage broker with out having to pay points. So the question is, why not utilize the services of a mortgage broker who shops various lenders every day in order to provide clients with the best possible terms available in the market.
Low Interest Rates in Atlanta
December 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment
WOW…5.5% interest rate on 30 years fixed mortgages in Atlanta. Two different investors each announced 5.5% interest rates today. Of course we don’t know how long they will last. So if you are thinking of buying a home in the Greater Atlanta area, now is the time to act. Take advantage of this low rate and save yourself a lot of money over the term of your loan.
With interest rates this low now could be an excellent time to refinance those adjustable rate mortgages, or as we have come to know them, ARM’s. If your ARM is scheduled to recast within the next six months or so, do yourself a favor and get in touch with myself at 770-318-2572 or my partner Judy Archer at 770-495-3607.
Again, we have no idea how long these rates will last, so call us now to see if it is possible for you to take advantage of this 5.5% 30 year fixed rate mortgage.
These rates are subject to change and are for qualified applicants. Call today to see if you qualify.
