Hooooo Eeeeeeee! If I sound all charged up, it is because I am. I just got the new Rates for the week from Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA), and the 30 Year Fixed Rate has dropped to 5.25% until next Thursday. That is right, it isn’t a typo, it dropped to 5.25%, and it is a 30 Year Fixed Loan. CHFA, is the premier mortgage loan in Connecticut for first time homebuyers. It is only available to buyers who have not owned a home in
the last three years (with a couple of exceptions). It is FHA Insured and only requires a 3% Downpayment. However, CHFA lets the borrower keep $5,000 of their own money before they make them apply their own funds toward the Downpayment and Closing Costs. If the borrower does not have the necessary funds to make the 3% Downpayment and Closing Costs, CHFA lets them borrower those funds at the same Rate as the first loan, 5.25%. As I already stated it is an FHA Insured Loan, so the FHA Insurance Rate is almost half of what a PMI Rate would be for a 3% Downpayment Loan.
For me this is GREAT news, because the largest percentage of my business comes from first time homebuyers. I have several qualified first time homebuyers that have just been waiting to see what happens, this drop in the CHFA Rate should motivate them to do something right now. This is good for me, it is good for the local Realtors, and most importantly it is good for first time homebuyers.
I am sure that this is not going to show up in the News today, because it is good news not bad. This has me pumped, and my message to the Chicken Little’s out there is that the Shy is not falling, the Interest Rates are!! So for me it is buckle your seat belts, and hang on to your seats, because it is full speed ahead. Don’t get caught off guard like the little doggie in the picture, it is time to spread the good news. Gee that almost sounds like Sunday, can I hear an Amen!
Now this is great news for Connecticut, but I am sure that other States have similar programs, and I would be interested in finding out about them. I come across people all the time that are moving out of state, and I would love to be able to tell them about programs that might be available in your state. So hopefully some of you will take the time to share that with me.
OK, get comfortable, hang on to the doggie, and LET’S GO SELL SOME HOUSES, AND WRITE SOME LOANS!! ARE YOU WITH ME BROTHERS AND SISTERS???
McCue Mortgage is a Connecticut based Mortgage Co., that specializes in first time homebuyers. However, we are equipped to service all homebuyer with many loan programs.
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I just attended CalHFA training today and it is a similar program but offers 100% financing. Here's the trick there:
Max purchase price of $650,000, max income limit of $65,000, max dti of 45. Income limits loan mount to about $350,000. The median priced home in SD county is $545,000.
I don't do FHA, so I cannot offer info for Florida regarding a possible program here. I can tell you one reason I don't do them is that they typically have restrictions that most people will exceed down here, at least in South Florida.
Besides, 80-90% of my business is helping people refinance their loans because they didn't seek professional guidance when they first bought their home or during their last refinance.
If you or someone you know wants proper mortgage planning on their property in Florida, have them contact me or send them to my website at www.solidrockmortgage.com. I prefer to get them in the right program from the start.
CHFA is a great program. Glad to hear the rate is dropping!
"The Lovely Wife Here"...
...On board and doing so with an AMEN. I am buckled, I am ready and I agree it will not be on the news...Can't have that...Good news has no entertainment value. LOL. Just so you know I am going to borrow that doggie picture. Let me know if that is okay by you. TLW...ROAR!
We all need some good news!!
We continue to hear some good news about rates - they are the lowest in 40 years, I believe, and have declined for the last 7 months. Will that last? Who knows. And you might have heard that NAR is starting a ad campaign to encourage buyers to buy now (rates, inventory, etc). We'll see...
California has some good FTHB programs, too, George. And to your point, Brian, while the median home price is in the mid $500s in San Diego County (and much higher is some communities), there are a good number of 1 and 2-bedroom condos (AND some detached homes), over 250 actually, that are $375K or under (Oceanside, San Marcos and Carlsbad, for example). That's good news for those wanting to get into the market, even if they can't get a 4 BR 2/5 BA 2-story home.
Im with ya my Connecticut brotha!! Sell some houses and write some loans - thats what Im talking about! Love your enthusiasm! 5.25!! Great stuff!
Thank you for the update !!
Brian, ours is a little more realistic and workable than your program. The negative about ours is that the loan limits work off of the selling price and not the loan amount. The loan limit in the County that I live in is $301,000, and the income limit is $87,100 for a two person household and $93,150 for a three or more person household. If the borrower does not have to borrow the downpayment or closing costs the DTI is 41/50. If they do have to borrow the downpayment or closing costs is 35/43 and they have to take a class on purchasing a home. More paper work than with a conventional mortgage, but if you know what is needed it isn't bad. It takes us one more day to do them than it takes us for a conventional mortgage and that is because it has to go to CHFA for the final approval.
Brain, thank you for filling me in on the California program, my wife is from the Bay Area, and we still have a lot of friends in CA.
Robert, good advice I will hang on the that website.
Linda, yes it is a great program. You probably still remember the days when they had limited money and people use to line up outside a Lenders door to try to be one of the lucky ones to get it.
TLW, I knew I would get an Amen from you. Yes the doggie is yours to use as you like, just don't let him chase Bryant....LOL
Netta, good news is always great.
Jeff D., yes the coventianal rate has also been going down here, but only over the last three months. About three months ago it had gotten as high as 7% with no points, today my rate was 6.25% with now points. So in a short time we have seen .75% drop, which is great. So over here All the fixed rates have been coming down, but oddly enough the variable rates have not moved much.
Angela, I almost missed you, how could I have almost missed the lovely Angela. I am glad to have you on board, let’s keep each other going!!
Carl, my Connecticut brother, this is a great program for those first time homebuyer, if you need any help just yell.
Lauren, you’re welcome.
Jeff B, as always I welcome your responses and always enjoy reading them even when I don't agree with you.
First, the title is true, and applies to several programs and not just this local program. As I stated in one of my response above, our 30 year conventional rate is down .75% over the last three months and continues to drop.
second, the rates might not be the lowest right now than they have ever been, but this time period that we have been in for the last four or so years is historically the lowest that rates have ever been, and we are still in it, and that is the way I took Jeff D's comment.
I would be glad to give you all the details that you would like on this program in an e-mail, but I hit on the highlights of the program between what I wrote in the blog and in my response to Brian.
There is a recapture tax, BUT in order for it to kick in you have to sell the house in the first 9 years, make a capital gain, and be earning over the CHFA Income Limit at the time you sell. ALL three of these conditions have to exist in order for the recapture tax to kick in. Also the income limit for the recapture tax is much higher that the income limit to qualify for the loan and it goes up every year.
Also I did not limit the blog to a region because I did not write it as regional news. I wanted to share with other states what we have and in turn I was hoping that others would share with me similar programs that are available in there state.
Now come on Brother Jeff, you know you want to get excited and write some loans with me. Let me hear an Amen out of you.
lets do this george!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is the type of energy I needed to read at the end of the afternoon on a Friday!!!
I am with you Eddy.
Sean, we need to be energized for the weekend, thanks for the encouragement.
The continuing challenge is to make sure first time buyers hear about CHFA. I am always amazed that people end up with 7.5 % 100% loans when they would have qualified for the 5.25% rate. We as the lenders need to keep spreading the word on the benefits of CHFA.
I do my best to get the word out, but Lenders that can't do CHFA, and Realtors that still remember the old days sometimes try to scare them off with the FHA Appraisal or the re-capture tax. It is to bad that they don't get their facts straight, and as a result sometimes end up costing a first time homebuyer a lot of money.
By the way Linda wants to get together with the two of us for lunch, and exchange stories.