http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com Helping American Homeowners Obtain Mortgage Relief Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:57:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Good news for anyone looking to buy or sell a home right now: The tax credit for purchasing homes has been extended. See excerpts from an AP story below and contact us in the sidebar if you would like to participate in this program: Buy a home before May ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/tax-credit-for-homebuyers-expanded-and-extended/ With the increased loan limits on FHA and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loans set to expire at the end of 2009, congress passed a resolution extending the loan limit increase for another year. The loan limit increase is seen as crucial to keep the economic recovery on track and to ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/congress-votes-to-extend-increased-loan-limits-on-fha-and-fanniefreddie-mortgages/ There was an interesting article over at Business Week recently speculating on how soon mortgage interest rates will go up. The short answer is this author thinks we might have relatively low rates through the winter. Here are some excerpts: When the economy—and the real estate market—tumbled in 2008, ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/rates-will-go-up-but-how-soon/ There have been several changes to the FHA rules lately. One of those changes will make it harder for consumers to purchase condos with an FHA loan. Here is an excerpt from a recent Bankrate.com/Detroit News article on this subject: The new rules were supposed to take effect Oct. ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/new-fha-rules-make-it-harder-to-buy-condos/ A recent article over at CNNmoney.com cited recently released data on the continuing drop of home prices in most markets in the US. If you are considering a refinance to a fixed rate or just a better rate now is the time to contact us in the sidebar to ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/home-prices-drop-another-11-and-are-predicted-to-fall-further-in-most-states/ We get this from a recent AP story on a joint press release from earlier today: The Obama administration is unveiling a new program to provide support to state and local housing agencies to provide help to thousands of home buyers and renters. The administration said the new program would help to ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/government-announces-new-housing-aid-via-local-agencies/ Legislation has been proposed in congress that among other things would increase the minimum down payment requirement for FHA-backed home purchase loans from 3.5% to 5%. The head of the FHA recently came out in opposition of this plan. Here are some bits from a WSJ blog on ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/fha-chief-against-5-downpayment-legislation/ The folks at the FHA insist the answer is no. The guy in the following interview over at Yahoo is skeptical of that claim. Whatever the case, the FHA is the best program around for folks with less than 700 credit scores or less than 20% equity in ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/is-fha-going-to-need-a-bailout/ There were some encouraging signals from the Fed recently. Here are some excerpt from a recent AP story on the subject: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sent a fresh signal Thursday that he's in no rush to reverse course and start boosting interest rates. The Fed's key bank lending rate is ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/fed-not-in-a-rush-to-raise-rates/ There has been a lot of news lately on the recent dip in mortgage interest rates. In many cases rates are as low as 5% and FHA streamline loans are currently coming in between 5% and 5.5%. There is no telling how long this dip in rates will ... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/government-financing-assistance/rates-dip-to-around-5/