Jay Sondhi

How to refinance your property with little or no equity
April 25, 2011 · · 1 Comment

I’ve recently taken an application for a veteran who will be refinancing their two purchase loans from a couple years back.  She will be saving about $700 per month with her new 30 year fixed rate of 4.75%.  It reminded me that there are still a lot of folks out there who may not have taken advantage of the low rates available because they thought there was not enough equity in their property to refinance.  Without getting into too much detail, I thought I would share three great options to consider if this is the case for you:
Freddie/Fannie option
If Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae own your mortgage, it may be possible to refinance your current loan even if it’s underwater.  Have you checked to see if your loan is Freddie/Fannie?  Here are the links. 

Click here to see if Fannie Mae owns your mortgage
Click here to see if Freddie Mac owns your mortgage

FHA
FHA will insure mortgages up to 97.75% of the home value.  The maximum loan amount is $729,750 here in San Francisco County.  This loan limit is slated to be decreased at the end of 2011.

VA
If you or your spouse is a veteran, you can borrow up to 100% of your home value.  This is a great option for veterans because mortgage insurance is not required for VA loans.  The current VA loan limit for San Franciso and San Mateo County is $1,000,000.

Jay Sondhi
http://www.jaysondhi.com/ 

Lee Ginsburg

Is This New Stimulus Package Going To Help The Bay Area???
August 4, 2008 · · Comment here

YES! YES! YES!  It may not be as immediate as we would like but it will.  The two major provisions that I see as beneficial to specifically the Bay Area Are:

The increase in the conforming loan limit to $625,500 permanently and the ability of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to borrow if necessary from the U.S. Treasury.

The increase in conforming loan limits has no immediate effect since the emergency stimulus package temporarily increased the limit to $729,750.  That terminates Dec. 31 of this year so the new permanent increase is a major long term bonus.  Bay Area Realtors Read more