It is.

Your mortgage payment is made up of PITI – or Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance. When you refinance, you typically lower your Principal and Interest – but did you know that it is possible to lower your Taxes and Insurance without refinancing?

To lower your monthly mortgage payment without refinancing, first focus on your taxes. Many homes across the US have actually went down in value, so they should have lower tax assessments, right? Maybe. But if you haven’ t had your property taxes lowered recently and you think your property values have went down, be sure to contact your local county assessors office and find out how you can appeal your property tax bill. You might be surprised how easy it is.

Next up, it is time to get multiple homeowners insurance quotes from companies that you know and trust. You might be surprised at how different rates can be between companies. Also when speaking to the agent, ask them what kind of discounts they give you if you install one of the best home alarm systems that you can find and what other kinds of discounts are available.

By focusing on your Taxes and Insurance – it may be possible to save money on your monthly mortgage payment without refinancing.

One thing that many people are starting to do who have too much credit card debt is something called debt settlement, but when you do debt settlement, your credit score suffers – so that is not a solution to “fixing” your debt to income ratio when needed.

So unless you can actually pay down your monthly debt, the only other way that you can “fix” your debt to income ratio is to increase your income.

But do you want the really good news? When you participate in the FHA streamline program, your debt to income ratio doesn’t matter. The reason it doesn’t matter is because the FHA streamline mortgage program doesn’t require that you disclose your income — so it would be impossible to calculate a debt to income ratio.  There are very few refinance programs that don’t require a debt-to-income ratio (the VA Streamline refinance is another) so if you are lucky enough to be able to do a FHA streamline refinance because you have met the other criteria, don’t delay!

Guidelines can change at any time.

How many times can someone refinance their home with the FHA streamline refinance mortgage program?

Answer:

As many times as it makes sense.

Often, when interest rates trend downward, it can make sense for someone to refinance their mortgage multiple times within a relatively short period of time. For example if interest rates go from 8 percent to 5 percent over a 2 year period of time, it may make sense for someone to refinance their 8% mortgage to 7% and then 6% and then 5%. Of course, it might not make sense, but it might — and it all depends on the numbers.

This is why there is a test called the “net tangible benefit test” so that your loan officer can make sure that you are refinancing and that you can reasonably make sure that the benefits of refinancing outweigh the costs that are associated with refinancing.

The FHA streamline refinance program is no exception — as long as you pass the net tangible benefit test, you can participate in the FHA streamline refinance program as often as you it makes sense — even if you have participated in the FHA streamline refinance program recently.  If your case can pass the net tangible benefit test, then you have the green light for the FHA streamline refinance program… or at least as far as FHA is concerned you do.

Whether it makes sense to you is a different story though.

It is quite possible that it could not only be extended, but also expanded. There is at least one proposal making its way through the legislative process that would extend the 8000 tax credit to all home buyers (not just first time home buyers) and also make it $15,000 rather than $8000.

The piece of legislation is called the Home Ownership Moves The Economy ACT and is officially known as  HR 2801. Even though it hasn’t been passed and has a ways to go, anything can happen in the process.

“H.R. 2801 (111th Congress) 2009-2010 Home Ownership Moves the Economy (HOME) Act of 2009, is a bill sponsored by Howard Coble, a U.S. Representative from North Carolina’s 6th District. Representative Coble’s bill’s goal is to extend the tax credit into 2010 as well as allow all home buyers take advantage of the tax credit.”

The official summary of the bill that was introduced on 6/10/2009 states:

Home Ownership Moves the Economy (HOME) Act of 2009 – Amends the Internal Revenue Code to:
(1) extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit to all individuals who purchase a principal residence (currently, only first-time homebuyers as so defined);
(2) extend such credit and the waiver of recapture requirements for such credit through 2010; and
(3) repeal the limitation on such credit based on modified adjusted gross income.

Will the 8000 tax credit get extended? In Washington, anything could happen – and expect this to be a fight as the deadline for the 8000 tax credit gets closer.

What are the current FHA streamline mortgage rates and where is the best place to find them?

And lucky for everyone, one place has made it easy to find out what the current FHA streamline mortgage rates are: Zillow.com.

At Zillow.com, you can find the average that lenders are quoting people who want to participate in the FHA streamline mortgage program, that way you know that your particular quote might be higher or lower – but it should be close. And to make it even nicer, if you are having a hard time finding a loan officer who can help you with the FHA streamline mortgage refinance, you can easily find a great one on Zillow.com because they have it set up where you can let lenders “bid” on your loan. You might be surprised to see how many lenders you find just by filling out your information and letting them know that you are interested in the FHA streamline mortgage program and want to check out rates!

FHA Streamline Rules For Minimum Credit Scores

Officially, FHA does not have a minimum credit score requirement for the FHA streamline program. BUT — lenders have started requiring minimum credit scores, and every lender seems to have their own set of requirements. Some lenders require a 580 minimum. Some require a 620. Some require a 640. And whatever they required yesterday as far as minimum credit score goes, it could change tomorrow.

Yes, there are even lenders still out there who do not require a minimum credit score on FHA streamline refinances.

So if you are currently in an FHA loan that has an above-market (right now, anything over 6% would probably be considered “above market”) interest rate, you can save money by participating in the FHA streamline refinance program. The FHA streamline program was designed to be “streamlined” as far as documentation goes – so it is not like when you first qualified for a loan. There is no income, asset or employment information that you need to provide with the FHA streamline program.

So if you are worried about the minimum credit score requirements with the FHA streamline program, be sure to shop lenders – you might be surprised to learn that there are still lenders out there who do not require a minimum credit score.

And the answer is…

It depends.

It depends on the lender.

It is possible that a loan officer at Lender A will tell you that you can’t have any 30 day late payments on your mortgage in the last year.

It is also possible that another loan officer at Lender B will tell you that you can have only one 30 day late payment on your mortgage in the last year.

And it is even possible that yet another loan officer at Lender C will tell you that you can have up to two 30 day late payments on your mortgage in the last year.

If you have more than two 30 day late payments in the last year, I am not aware of a lender who will allow you to participate in the FHA Streamline refinance program – but that doesn’t mean it is possible.

Because after all — how many 30 day late payments that you can have with the FHA streamline refinance program is really up to the individual lender.

Isn’t it interesting to see how many different ways the words “good standing” can be inturpreted?

What this means to you if you are currently shopping for an FHA streamline refinance is that you need to ask the question “are you requiring a credit score for the FHA streamline program?” and expect many lenders to say “yes”.

But some will say “no” — or at least as of today they will.

But this could change… at any time… so if you are in the market for a FHA streamline loan or if you are wondering if you can take advantage of lower interest rates, be sure to act quickly and find a lender who is not requiring a credit score. True, it is harder than it used to be to find a lender who can do a FHA streamline with no minimum credit score, but it can still be done. Call to speak with an FHA streamline expert who knows if the FHA streamline is still possible to do without requiring a minimum credit score or if using a credit repair service may be your best option. Find an FHA expert at 888-448-2669.

VA Streamline Refinance Program (aka The VA IRRRL Program)

The VA Streamline Refinance is designed to help veterans secure the lowest fixed interest rate available and is also known as the VA Interest Rate Reduction Loan program (IRRRL). This loan option is a way for current VA homeowners to lower their interest rate with very little or no out-of-pocket costs. The VA IRRRL Streamline is supposed to be “fast and easy” with minimum documentation requirements, it can help veterans start saving money on their monthly mortgage immediately.

VA Streamline Program highlights include:

• No appraisal is required
• Will not need to provide bank statements, W2s, job verification or paycheck stubs
• You cannot receive any cash at closing
• It is possible to roll all closing costs and prepaid items into the loan amount – so no out-of-pocket costs
• You must be current on your existing VA mortgage and not have had more than one 30-day late mortgage payment within the last 12 months.
• Upon closing, it is possible to defer a monthly mortgage payment
• Within 30 days of closing, you will receive the money that was held in your old escrow account because a new escrow account will be set up with your new loan

VA Streamline Refinance Information from VA.gov

“Veterans are strongly urged to contact several lenders.  There may be big differences in the terms offered by the various lenders you contact.

Some lenders may contact you suggesting that they are the only lender with authority to make IRRRLs.  Remember – Any lender may make you an IRRRL.

Some lenders may say that VA requires certain closing costs to be charged and included in the loan.  Remember – The only cost required by VA is a funding fee of one-half of one percent of the loan amount which may be paid in cash or included in the loan.

The occupancy requirement for an IRRRL is different from other VA loans.  When you originally got your VA loan, you certified that you occupied or intended to occupy the home.  For an IRRRL you need only certify that you previously occupied it.”

If you are veteran, now is a great time to see if the VA Streamline program can help you lower your monthly payments.

No matter where you live, you can check out interest rates on a daily basis. Sometimes Arizona mortgage rates will be different than California mortgage rates – so be sure to check local mortgage rates, not national ones.

If 2 years ago, you got an FHA loan at 7% – that was probably a pretty good rate at the time. If then 12 months later, you participated in the FHA streamline mortgage program and got your rate down to 6%, that was also probably a pretty good rate at the time. Now that interest rates are hovering in the 5% range… it may well make quite a bit of sense to participate in the FHA streamline mortgage program again.

When trying to decide if it makes sense to participate in the FHA streamline mortgage program, make sure that you weigh out the benefits (how much money you will save each month) vs. the costs (how much it will cost you out of pocket and/or how much will be added to your loan) and if the benefits are more than the costs?

It makes the decision easy.