HARP 2.0 – Extending You A Lifeline
Have you heard of the Home Affordable Refinance Program? Otherwise known as HARP 2.0? Anyone reading this is probably scoffing, muttering to themselves, “Of course! Who hasn’t?” As silly as this question is and as prevalent as this new refinance program is, it was necessary to ask. The new or should we say, established HARP program has been around since March of 2012. So its had some time to gain real steam. And even if you have already had the “pleasure” going through the process of refinancing utilizing this program, you would know that it was anything but simple. Difficult in time. Not to get approved that is. When HARP 2.0 officially hit the market so to speak, the flood of loan volume for those who possessed loans that were backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac created such a bottleneck that instead of a refinance taking the traditional 45 days from start to finish, it was taking up to 120 days! That is just insane! Now that lenders have caught their proverbial breath, it is back to taking 45 days. And for us at Green House Mortgage it is most often taking less than that!
But what if you were to hear that of all the mass volume created from the introduction of the HARP 2.0 program, only 25% of those eligible have actually taken advantage of it? That wouldn’t really make sense would it? But it’s true. Only a small portion have actually taken part of the all time low rates of this day and age. The other 75% simply have not. So why is that? Is it because they do not qualify? No. Is it because they don’t know about it? No, not really. It’s highly unlikely anyway with today’s mass media coverage. It’s simply because most were so used to getting burned in the real estate and mortgage industries, that they were not very interested in something that sounded too good to be true and thought there might be a catch at the end.
But there really is no catch. For those of you who are eligible and have not yet taken full advantage of this program it allows some people up to $600 per month in savings depending on rate and current loan amounts. The beauty of this program is that it allows those who have made timely payment in the last 12 months on their current home, second home or investment but are underwater to refinance. Most often there are no appraisals required and it’s re-qualifying for a lower rate and better terms. Are we at Green House Mortgage the expert in HARP loans? This program is too new and will be gone sooner than later to claim that. So be suspicious of anyone that claims “expert” status. However, we have done A LOT of them and we know what we’re doing. Whether it’s a HARP loan, traditional refinance, reverse mortgage or a purchase, any mortgage should be part of your overall financial strategy. And we want to advise you and help you with the best mortgage information we can provide to you. Let us help you.
Green House Mortgage is a full service home loan origination entity in Tampa, FL and servicing the state throughout. If you have any questions or concerns with the article or simply need mortgage advice please call 813-732-3155 or email us at info@ghmortgage.com. We are dedicated to giving you the best mortgage consultation available. Green House Mortgage – It Pays to Go Green!
