Archive for December, 2008

Current Jumbo Mortgage thoughts

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

Is there relief in sight for borrowers who want to refinance jumbo adjustable-rate mortgages but have been shut out of the market?

People got paranoid about adjustable-rate jumbo mortgages, or mortgages that exceed $417,000, about a year ago. So many people have them, and there were worries people wouldn’t be able to cover mortgage payments if they reset at higher rates. But now there has been a 180-degree turnaround. For example, the popular 5/1 jumbo adjustable-rate mortgage, which has an initial interest rate for five years and then resets annually, is averaging 6.60%. The traditional 30-year fixed is 7.49%. So even if you want to get out of a jumbo adjustable-rate mortgage and into a fixed-rate mortgage, now is not the best time to refinance. Ride it out, and you will probably save a few bucks if rates go lower.

Current Super Jumbo Mortgage Lending Environment

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

Super Jumbo Residential Loans are increasingly more difficult to find on Wholesale marketplace for Mortgage Brokers.

By now it would be virtually impossible for anyone to not have heard about the “Sub-prime Meltdown”, “Mortgage Crisis”, “Credit Crunch” or the “Liquidity Crunch”. The current situation has been well publicized, and we have all heard the stories of the individuals who have lost their homes, or are struggling to keep them. These are usually the unfortunate ones that had credit, income documentation, or down payment issues, and ended up in adjustable loans.

The part of the story we don’t hear about very often, is the effect it’s had on the more affluent homeowners. High Net Worth individuals are also finding themselves having trouble obtaining new loans, whether it’s to refinance out of an adjustable mortgage, or to purchase a home. When the rate adjusts on a multi-million dollar loan, monthly payments can increase thousands of dollars. With the slowdown of the residential market, a quick sale for a good price is usually not an option. Additionally, a good number of these borrowers are self employed entrepreneurs who, very likely, are seeing a decrease in their income due to the overall slowing of the economy.

Obviously, everyday people aren’t going to feel too sorry for the business owner stuck with a big adjustable loan on their mansion. Nevertheless, when they find themselves in a bind that their local bank is no longer willing to help them out with, they may turn to a Mortgage Broker. Long gone are the days of easy loans of this magnitude, especially in the Wholesale marketplace. Super Jumbo Mortgages were some of the first types of loans to have guidelines tightened, with many lenders cutting them out entirely. Placing these loans can be an extremely frustrating experience for the Broker since your dealing with solid client. Who might not get the mortgage they deserve because of the current lending environment.