Thoughts on the Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia Real Estate Market » financing resources

Is the First Time Home Buyer Credit Coming Back?

Katie Wethman — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:12:23 +0000

With the precipitous 27% drop in July housing sales, the first time home buyer credit is getting renewed interest from some heavy hitters in Washington, including Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, according to The Hill. Though admitting that just one month of numbers was too little data to say whether the credit will be revived…

“In an interview on CNN, Donovan said the administration is “concerned” about the path of the industry. He defended the Obama administration’s record on supporting the housing market, amid new signs that the market is struggling alongside the broader economy.
Donovan did not rule out a further homebuyer tax credit to support the market.”

While plenty of blogs out there are again predicting real estate Armageddon, personally, I don’t think that the huge drop in July sales really should have been ‘unexpected’ at all. But no one wants to read a meh headline like “Home sales drop as expected in July as would be normal following any artificial force on a market.” (OK, I’m sure editors would shorten that headline, should it ever exist.)

Think about all the second half 2010 first time home buyers who pulled forward so that they could close before June 30 to get their extra $8000. We essentially ‘used up’ the first time buyer segment for at least a few months, and probably the remainder of 2010. By the Spring 2011 market there will be a new crop of buyers. Unless Congress intervenes first, that is.

Note to Congress: Spring is NOT the time to have a first time buyer credit expire. It was a double whammy…end of the usual Spring market–giving a credit to buyers who were going to purchase those homes anyway–PLUS the expiration of the credit. Next time, make the credit active in the late Fall and through February so that buyers are buying up the old inventory and foreclosures that otherwise would be sitting.)

And here’s another tip…if you want to jumpstart home sales with a buyer credit, don’t start hinting around about it to the press…Secretary Donovan essentially just wiped out what few first time home buyers there currently are, who are now all going to wait to see if there’s another credit.

Stay tuned.

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FHA Loans Getting More Expensive – Again

Katie Wethman — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:55:38 +0000

Bill HR 2981 was passed by both the House and Senate, paving the way for higher charges for FHA borrowers. The majority of FHA loans are 30 year mortgages with a loan-to-value of at least 96.5%, which will see an increase in the monthly fee from 55 bps to a whopping 90bp, but on the flip side will see a reduction in the upfront mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) from 225 basis points down to 100 basis points.

So in other words, the up front fees (this amount is often rolled into the loan balance) will go down, but the monthly charge goes up, hampering the monthly affordability for many borrowers.
The change is due to go into effect September 7, 2010.

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Mortgage Rates Hit Historic Lows: Should I Refinance?

Katie Wethman — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:33:54 +0000

Back in 2008, I wrote a blog post about refinancing, and given that rates are once again reaching (new) historic lows–in the 4.5% range for 30 year fixed money up to $729,750!–I thought it was time to revisit, and update, the post.

When deciding whether to refinance, the best thing to do is calculate the break even number of months where your closing costs equal the savings in your monthly payment. If you’re going to be in the new loan that number of months, then you should seriously think about locking in that savings.

Historically, a rule of thumb is that if rates are 1% lower than what you’re currently paying, you should at least look into it. Remember rates change several times each day, so don’t be surprised if you call one day and then the next day rates are back up again. The decision of whether refinancing makes sense for you — even with a 1% drop in rates — can get complicated very quickly given our recent market conditions though.

You need to think about is the current market value of the home and your equity in it. That’s important because if you got a loan a few years ago, credit conditions have changed dramatically and you may not be happy with the loan options available to you right now, even if the rates are low. For example, if you have two trusts on your current home loan (popular a few years ago in order to avoid paying Private Mortgage Insurance) then that option is no longer available. Banks are requiring private mortgage insurance for anything higher than 80% Loan-To-Value (LTV) – in other words, unless you have 20% equity in your home, you will be required to get one loan and pay the PMI. Second trusts are no longer available in almost any situation. In fact, it’s rare to find a bank willing to lend more than 90% of the current market value of the home, which becomes an issue if your home has depreciated in value. So if you have two trusts it may not be as lucrative for you to refinance as you think, even with lower rates. Similarly, if the home has depreciated at all then you may run into issues as well because your LTV has changed and you will have to pony up some big cash to make up the difference in your “underwater” home.

Let’s take an example: Let’s say you bought a home at $400K with $20K down. Let’s say further that now it’s worth $390K. (The bank will require you to pay for a non-refundable appraisal, which costs about $350-400, to justify the current value of the home before you refinance. And the bank has to choose the appraiser, so don’t bother paying for one on your own and then shopping it around.) The bank may only be willing to lend 90% of that amount (depending on your credit and other factors), or $351K. But you only have $20K equity in the property and still owe $380K. That means in order to finance you have to come up with the difference of $380K-$351K = $29K PLUS your closing costs (similar to costs when you first purchased, and includes county fees, lender fees, title fees, etc.)

Even if your property hasn’t depreciated at all, the bank’s new policy could very well be to lend no more than 90%, and then you only borrow $400K * 90% = $360K, leaving you to still come up with $20K (= $380 you owe less the $360 the new bank is willing to lend) PLUS closing costs.

Finally, even if the property hasn’t depreciated, and even IF the bank is still willing to lend you 95% of the value—in this example the entire $380K you owe—then your payment still may not be as low as you expect because now you’re required to have a single loan at 95% LTV which requires PMI (rather than your current two trusts at 80% + 15%).

Closing costs can generally be rolled into the loan amount if you have enough equity to meet the LTV requirements. But unfortunately a lot of people will have to come up with cash if they want to refinance. But if your property has held its value, and/or you have sizable equity in it, then it’s almost definitely worth it to re-fi. So the bottom line is that there are a lot of variables to determine whether or not it’s worth it to refinance. It’s best to talk to a lender to figure out your specific situation. Contact me if you want my recommendations on lenders I would (and do) personally use (my recommended lenders can lend nationwide).

Closing costs, by the way, vary by lender and by settlement company, just like with a purchase. When a lender gives you a good faith estimate, you should focus on the “Lender Fees” to see what they’re charging you, and compare that across lenders to find the best deal. Those fees are negotiable. But banks need to make money too, so don’t expect them to charge nothing. Also look at the settlement company fees, also somewhat negotiable. You do NOT need to use the settlement company the bank recommends. Contact me if you want a recommendation on who I personally would use. (I always recommend local settlement companies, so sorry for those readers outside the DC metro area.)

Paying Points: Whether or not to pay points to get a lower rate is a judgment call, and depends on how long you’re going to stay in the property. A point equals 1% of the loan amount. So you might get a quote for 4.785% (no points) and 4.5% (1 point). If you have a $380K loan then that means you pay $3800 at closing to get the 4.5%. So you just calculate the savings in payment, divided by the $3800, and that gives you the number of months you need to keep that loan in order to make it worthwhile to pay the point.

So as you can see there are several variables in the decision of whether or not to refinance, so the best advice I can give is to (1) have a realistic idea of what your home is worth and (2) talk to a lender. Even if you start down the re-fi road and one of these scenarios ends up being bad news for you, the worst case is that your out the $400ish for the appraisal and you keep your current loan.

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Washington, DC, & Northern Virginia Real Estate Market Update: July 2010

Katie Wethman — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:36:30 +0000

Summer is upon us, and with it, a slowdown in the market. Though the tax credit certainly has had an impact, it is NOT unexpected to have a slow down in summer. We’ll need to wait another month or so to really compare apples to apples once the May and June data are out. Looking at the Northern Virginia stats for May, though, we can see that once again inventory dropped and contracts went up–even AFTER the credit deadline had passed. Buyers and builders alike are catching on the the steadily dropping supply of homes: UrbanTurf reports the return of apartment-to-condo conversions, and CNN is reporting a possible housing shortage to come.

In other news…

Read the Washington Post article about the difficulties of obtaining financing for certain condo buildings in our area, with some commentary by Katie Wethman of the Wethman Group.

And finally, given our recent heat wave, you may be cringing at those high air conditioning bills — this is a great time to think about some energy efficient upgrades for your home, while you can still take advantage of the tax credits that expire at the end of this year!

Congratulations Arlington on being named the #1 Best City for Families by Parenting Magazine!

As always, if we can be of assistance with your real estate needs, or you know someone looking to move, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Potential Extension of June 30 Settlement Deadline & FHA Loans About to Get More Expensive–AGAIN!

Katie Wethman — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:49:05 +0000

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has co-authored a proposal to extend the June 30 settlement deadline for the first time buyer credit until September 30 to give lenders more time to process the incredible volume of contracts trying to close. The surge in loan volume has created delays around home appraisals and the usual delays associated with short sales are also creating headaches for buyers hoping to take advantage of the credit. Of course, savvy buyers know that many short sales will NEVER close, so the extension may not help them at all. Read more about why short sales never close here.

The House also passed legislation this week granting the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) the authority to raise the annual fees it charges borrowers to help shore up the agency’s dwindling cash reserves. The fee is currently capped at 0.55 percent of the value of the loan. The bill raises the cap to 1.5 percent. FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens said it wants to raise the fee for new borrowers to 0.9% next year to help raise capital and also make the fees more consistent with private mortgage insurers. FHA has certainly been a good deal for buyers recently, with very competitive rates and low insurance charges, which resulted in FHA’s share of purchase loan market from 3% in 2006 to 30% recently. As the agency raises those fees, it plans to somewhat lower the upfront fees it charges borrowers.

Buyers: FHA is still a great option in 2010–low rates and fees, and only 3.5% down. If you’re interested in starting your Northern Virginia home search, contact us.

More: Attend a free first time homebuyer class in Arlington.

Search: See homes for sale in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC.

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Financing Condos in a Mixed Use Building

Katie Wethman — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:13:21 +0000

As if condo buyers didn’t have enough headaches trying to buy a condo with the new FHA rules in place, many are also running into troubles with “mixed use” buildings, i.e., condos that have residential units but also commercial space (usually on the ground floor or street level), as is common in urban areas like ours.

Examples of this commercial space may be a grocery store or restaurant on the bottom floor of the building or a convenience store as part of the lobby…all of which is very convenient, however, may create difficulties for obtaining the loan you want. Under current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines, financing becomes an issue if the commercial space is more than 20% of the entire project. If it’s more than 25%, you cannot do an FHA or VA loan either.

After finding what seemed to be the perfect condo for one of our buyer clients in Alexandria, it was disappointing to learn a Whole Foods occupied 43,000 square feet (28.6%) of the building, taking some popular financing options off the table for our buyer.

Ilyce Glink has this to say on the new financing rules for condo buyers:

Developers who built multi-use properties, with commercial, retail or restaurants on the first floor and condo units above may find that their properties will not be approved for financing.
Fannie Mae guidelines require that no more than 20 percent of a building’s floor area ratio (FAR) can be commercial. So if the building has 3,000 square feet, with a 1,000 square foot shop on the first floor and two 1,000 square foot condos above it, the property will likely not be “approved” and a buyer will not be able to get financing.
All this is bad news for condo buyers. Buyers who didn’t close before the end of 2009 may now find themselves rejected for financing if they are buying in a condo building that has not been approved or can’t be approved. Can you imagine the headaches this will cause?
Lenders say that buyers who need a loan to close on their purchase should ask whether a building is approved for financing before bothering to go for a showing.

She continues…

While there are some waivers being granted, condo buyers all over the country will find it more difficult to finance their purchases. These days, if you can’t finance a property, the number of prospective buyers will decline, and the property value could tumble.

What does this mean for buyers? Expect headaches, long waits, bigger down payments and higher interest rates if you’re buying a condo in a mixed use building that has too much commercial space–assuming you can get financing at all! And if you’re thinking of putting an offer in, it’s wise to do some legwork on the building and with your lender before you go through the effort.

This is all thanks to the “tightening” of the credit markets that’s been going on since the bubble burst. Will some of these rules loosen in the future? I hope so. Otherwise, current owners in buildings with high percentages of commercial space need to be prepared to wait it out.

This information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Every situation is different and you should check with your agent and a lender about specific properties.

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Will the New FHA Rules Kill Arlington Condo Sales?

Katie Wethman — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:21:23 +0000

On February 1, HUD and FHA rolled out major changes to the condo approval process. Previously, buyers wishing to use FHA financing had two options: If the condo was listed in the FHA’s “Approved Project” database, you were good to go. But if it wasn’t, buyers had the option of going through the (now in hindsight relatively easy and straightforward) “Spot Approval” process, which typically could be completed within 30 days or so at minimal cost. Spot approvals had to be obtained on individual units for each transaction — it was an exception-based process. Given that condos are the main option for many first time buyers, who may lack the 10-20% down payment required in conventional financing, we saw an explosion in the use of FHA financing, which requires just 3.5% down, in the past few years, and a lot of spot approval applications.

The approved database remains in place and is the easiest option, but the new rules scrap the whole Spot Approval system completely, and now require condos to go through a lengthy and expensive HRAP (HUD Review and Approval) or DELRAP (D.E. Lender Review and Approval) process. The good news is that once a community is through the HRAP or DELRAP process, their approval will potentially remain in place for several years and applies to the entire building, and future buyers can simply coast in on that approval. You need only to check the database.

The process is much more cumbersome than the previous spot approval application, though, and these rules are all new. As a result some lenders are deciding it’s not worth the time (4-6 weeks) or cost (several thousand dollars per review) to jump in to this arena just yet. Some are letting other lenders “bite the bullet” on this one and will jump in later, after more condos are through the process and they can ride the coattails of lenders before them.

So what effect will this new hurdle in obtaining FHA financing have on Arlington’s condo market?

In the past 30 days, according to MRIS statistics, financing for sold condos (excluding retirement communities) was as follows:

Surprisingly, more than HALF the sales used Conventional financing! This would indicate that the condo market isn’t going to come to a screeching halt after all. But is there a difference based on price point?

Financing Used in Arlington Condo Sales by Price

Clearly there is heavier dependence on FHA in the under $300K and $300-500K price points, but I’m surprised it isn’t even heavier that this data indicates. This indicates to me that the lower priced condos (under $300k) are going to be disproportionately affected, but also are unlikely to completely halt. And look at the high percentage of all cash deals in that segment!

So it may take us a few weeks, or even months, to get the majority of condos through this painful new HRAP/DELRAP process, but hopefully in the long run it will be easier for everyone. While we’re going through this initial launch phase, keep in mind that settlement times will be MUCH longer (remember that June 30 $8000 credit settlement deadline?) and buyers may incur thousands of dollars in extra cost if they’re the unlucky “first mover” in a building trying to do FHA.

* If you know you are going to use FHA to buy a condo, being under contract by April 30 is NO guarantee that a currently ‘unapproved’ condo can get through this process by June 30. *
*My advice is to get under contract EARLY if using FHA to buy a condo if you’re trying to beat the tax credit deadline. *

And for those who can’t or won’t do FHA, remember ‘cash is king’ and you’ll likely need at least 10% as a down payment for a conventional loan.

And here’s another tip: If you’re looking at condos priced above $400,000 or so, contact me to discuss an important option that you may be completely missing in your search that would completely eliminate this issue!

To start your condo search, contact us — we’d love to help you!

Learn More: Attend a free First Time Home Buyer Class

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VHDA Loans Allow Financing of Down Payment

Katie Wethman — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:01:23 +0000

The Virginia Housing Development Authority has extended its Homebuyer Tax Credit Plus program to match the deadlines of the Federal First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit.

VHDA’s program lets borrowers use a second mortgage to finance up to 5% of the sales price (enough to cover FHA’s 3.5% down payment requirement) by using the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit–effectively allowing borrowers to “monetize” the credit. The second mortgage helps cover the down payment and closing costs, with zero interest and no payments for the first 12 months. Borrowers then have the option of paying it down within the first 12 months, using their $8000 credit to pay it off, or paying it off over 29 years.

There are restrictions on the program, of course. Purchase price is limited to $408,100, and gross household income for two or fewer persons cannot exceed $86,900 for the Washington, DC, MSA, including Northern Virginia.

The deadline for the program matches the newly extended deadlines for the tax credit, so buyers must be under contract by April 30 and settled by June 30, 2010.

If you need help starting your home search, or finding a lender, please contact us.

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Learn More: Sign up for our free first-time home buyer class at Arlington Central Library on Jan 26 at 7:00 pm (registration required) Details and registration information can be found here.

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FAQ: High Investor (Low Owner-Occupancy) Ratio Condos: How Can I Buy or Sell?

Katie Wethman — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:07:18 +0000

One of the most common issues a condo buyer or seller faces in obtaining financing is meeting the owner-occupancy ratio required by lenders or the FHA. Owner-occupants means the units are actually occupied by their owners as primary residences, rather than those owners who choose to rent out their units. Renting units out is particularly popular with long-time owners, who bought a unit years ago, used the equity to buy a bigger property which they moved in to, and kept the original condo as an investment property. A good way to build wealth, but now causing headaches for other owners in the building.

The tightening of the credit markets in the past few years has been particularly hard on condos. Even long-standing buildings in the most popular parts of the Washington area are now facing problems with financing. This obviously matters to buyers because it’s difficult to get financing. Many condo owners, however, don’t realize until they go to sell that it’s an equally big problem for them—if loans aren’t available at competitive market rates, then the pool of potential buyers becomes very, very small.

FHA has always been harsh on condo lending (see post here for more). They currently require at least 51% of the units to be owner occupied as one of the many hoops they make condo buyers jump through. New rules on the horizon call for this to be reduced to 50%. That same set of new rules (which has been delayed in implementation several times) calls for the pre-sale requirements of new construction projects to be eliminated. Currently, at least half of a project must be pre-sold before FHA will do loans in a building.

But in today’s climate, even conventional loans can be difficult to get in a low owner-occupant ratio building. Many conventional loans (or rather, the investors who purchase those conventional loans) require the building to be 60% or even 70% owner occupied! If the loan is Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac eligible then certain requirements apply as well. Who would have thought that conventional loans, with their larger down payments, would be stricter than FHA?!

So what can you do if you are a seller trying to sell (or refinance) your unit in a high investor ratio building or a buyer trying to buy one?

First, ask your lender whether the condo is subject only to a limited review, rather than a full review. Many lenders aren’t aware of the limited review option. In a limited review, the lender doesn’t even ask for the occupancy percentage.

Next, see if there are any REO (bank owned or foreclosed) units in your building. Recent changes allow lenders to count REO as owner-occupied.

While these rule changes may help, if the ratio is still too high, then as a seller you have no choice but to find a buyer who has all cash or is willing to take on a non-30-year-fixed mortgage, for example a 5/1 ARM or 7/1 ARM. Rates are low enough now that you have a shot at that, especially if you are able to offer the unit at a low enough price that a buyer is willing to take the risk. And as a buyer, the 5/1 or 7/1 is not a bad option if you don’t plan on staying in the condo very long, or as long as you have reasonable caps on the interest rate hikes going forward.

If you’re looking for a top notch lender to help you refinance or purchase in a high-investor building, please contact me. I recently refinanced my own condo which fell in between 50% and 75% owner occupancy so faced some of these challenges. And if you need to sell your high-investor condo, let’s talk about your options and how a marketing plan might need to be adjusted.

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Should I Refinance?

Katie Wethman — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:13:00 +0000

I’m getting a lot of questions lately about whether or not to refinance. I’m looking into it myself, actually, so thought I’d share some thoughts.

First, let’s talk about rates and the elusive 4.5% that some government agencies announced, then recanted, as a ‘target’. First, that rate may never get here. Second, it may have restrictions around it (like only available to purchases) if it does get here. Third, rates are bouncing really darn close to that number now. Note that the rate also applies only to the conforming limit (currently $417K). “Jumbo conforming” (loans between $417K and $625K) will be higher, and regular “jumbo” above $625K are higher still. (As an aside, if your current loan balance is near one of these breakpoints, you should think about paying the difference down to get into the ‘better’ loan category.)

So, personally, I’m right on the verge of pulling the trigger. A bird in hand, as they say. Best thing to do is calculate the break even number of months where your closing costs equal the savings in your monthly payment. If you’re going to be in the new loan that number of months, then you should seriously think about locking in that savings.

First thing to think about is the current market value of the home and your equity in it. That’s important because if you got a loan a few years ago, credit conditions have changed dramatically and you may not be happy with the loan options available to you right now, even if the rates are low. For example, if you have two trusts on your current home loan (popular a few years ago in order to avoid paying Private Mortgage Insurance) then that option is no longer available. Banks are requiring private mortgage insurance for anything higher than 80% Loan-To-Value (LTV) – in other words, unless you have 20% equity in your home, you will be required to get one loan and pay the PMI. Second trusts are no longer available in almost any situation. In fact, it’s rare to find a bank willing to lend more than 90% of the current market value of the home, which becomes an issue if your home has depreciated in value. So if you have two trusts it may not be as lucrative for you to refinance as you think, even with lower rates. Similarly, if the home has depreciated at all then you may run into issues as well because your LTV has changed and you will have to pony up some big cash to make up the difference in your “underwater” home.

Even if your property hasn’t depreciated at all, but the bank’s new policy could very well be to lend no more than 90%, then you still can only borrow $400K * 90% = $360K, leaving you to still come up with $20K (= $380 you owe less the $360 the new bank is willing to lend) PLUS closing costs.

Finally, even if the property hasn’t depreciated, and even if the bank is still willing to lend you 95% of the value—in this example the entire $380K you owe—then your payment still may not be as low as you expect because now you’re required to have a single loan at 95% LTV which requires PMI (rather than your current two trusts at 80% + 15%).

Closing costs can generally be rolled into the loan amount if you have enough equity to meet the LTV requirements. But unfortunately a lot of people will have to come up with significant cash if they want to refinance. But if your property has held it’s value, and/or you have sizable equity in it, then it’s almost definitely worth it to re-fi. So the bottom line is that there are a lot of variables to determine whether or not it’s worth it to refinance. It’s best to talk to a lender to figure out your specific situation. Contact me if you want my recommendations on lenders I would (and do) personally use.

Closing costs, by the way, vary by lender and by settlement company, just like with a purchase. When a lender gives you a good faith estimate, you should focus first on the 800 section “Lender Fees” to see what they’re charging you, and compare that across lenders to find the best deal. Those fees are always negotiable. But banks need to make money too, so don’t expect them to charge nothing. Also look at the settlement company fees in the 1100 section, also somewhat negotiable. You do NOT need to use the settlement company the bank recommends. Contact me if you want a recommendation on who I personally would use.

Paying Points: Whether or not to pay points to get a lower rate is a judgment call, and depends on how long you’re going to stay in the property. A point equals 1% of the loan amount. So you might get a quote for 5.125% (no points) and 4.875% (1 point). If you have a $380K loan then that means you pay $3800 at closing to get the 4.875%. So you just calculate the savings in payment, divided by the $3800, and that gives you the number of months you need to keep that loan in order to make it worthwhile to pay the point.

So as you can see there are a LOT of variables in the decision of whether or not to refinance, so the best advice I can give is to (1) have a realistic idea of what your home is worth and (2) talk to a lender. Even if you start down the re-fi road and one of these scenarios ends up being bad news for you, the worst case is that your out the $400ish for the appraisal and you keep your current loan.

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