Look Out For Those Mortgage Arrangement Fees

Since the planetary recognition crunch swept across the United Kingdom last twelvemonth the cost of adoption have rocketed in all countries of the fiscal sector, particularly mortgages. We have got seen the involvement rates on mortgage rocket, and this is despite three recent alkali charge per unit cuts from the Depository Financial Institution of England between December 2007 and April 2008. However, whilst the alkali charge per unit have got got got been cut loaners have continued to tramp up mortgage related costs, which intends that many borrowers have not benefited from the alkali charge per unit cuts.

One of the major costs associated with mortgages is the agreement fee that is charged, and over recent calendar months loaners have hiked up these agreement fees, which in some lawsuits are double the amount that they were last year. Since last summertime some mortgage agreement fees have got gone up by around 96%, and all of this adds to the fiscal load faced by borrowers at an already financially disruptive time.

Whilst mortgage agreement fees can now be costly, borrowers are urged to retrieve that they make change from one supplier to another, and therefore it can really pay to compare different fees in order to happen the best deal. However, it is also of import to look at other facets of the mortgage, such as as the charge per unit of involvement charged and the refund time periods offered.

However, one major downside of these agreement fees is that many people cannot afford to pay them upfront, and this agency that they often have got to add them to the mortgage loan. The borrower will then be charged involvement on the agreement fee, and for those that be given to remortgage on a regular basis, and therefore have got to maintain adding the agreement fees to their mortgage, the involvement complaints can be phenomenal.

One industry functionary said: 'This is a existent catch-22 for consumers who are struggling to happen the finances to pay mortgage set-up costs. By allowing consumers to add fees onto the mortgage, it could be argued that suppliers are doing them a good turn. This is particularly true for first clip purchasers where it could intend the difference between getting on the place ladder or not.'

She also said: 'However, adding fees to a mortgage intends that you will be spreading the amount over many old age and paying involvement for the pleasance of doing so - this is an extremely expensive option and should always be seen as a last resort. If you can in any manner pull off to pay the fee upfront this volition always be your best option. Otherwise purchasers should do certain that they do regular overpayments to minimise the impact of high involvement costs - as they could stop up doubling the original cost of an agreement fee.'

Lehman, Accredited, HSBC Shut Offices; Crisis Spreads (Update3)

The rise cost of recognition took its toll on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Accredited Home Lenders Retention Co. and HSBC Holdings Plc as the subprime mortgage radioactive dust spreadings through the economy.

Lehman, the greatest investment banker of U.S. chemical bonds backed by mortgages, became the first house on Wall Street to close its subprime-lending unit and said 1,200 employees will lose their jobs. Accredited, reeling from its canceled purchase by Lone Star Funds this month, stopped making place loans. London-based HSBC, Europe's biggest depository financial institution by marketplace value, closed a U.S. mortgage business office after failing to finance new loans.

Mortgage loaners today announced programs to open fire 3,700 people as the slack that began in subprime mortgage chemical bonds attains beyond mortgages to companies seeking money in the corporate debt markets. The deficit of recognition prompted the Federal Soldier Modesty last hebdomad to cut the price reduction charge per unit that it bear downs Banks to lend. The Federal may cut its nightlong charge per unit to carry loaners to widen more than credit, said Toilet Lonski, main economic expert at Moody's Investors Service.

``The subprime state of affairs goes on to deteriorate and the likeliness of a Federal Soldier Modesty charge per unit cut is increasing,'' said Lonski, who is based in New York. The Federal may necessitate to cut ``in the event that the fiscal marketplaces stay dysfunctional.''

H&R Block Inc. said today that its Block Financial unit of measurement drew down on depository financial institution lines and two European mortgage-securities funds had their recognition evaluations slashed to debris from AAA by Standard & Poor's because debt marketplace disturbance curbed entree to short-term financing.

Applications Decline

Home loan applications drop 5.5 percentage last week, the greatest diminution in almost three months, according to information from the Mortgage Bankers Association today. The association's index of applications to purchase a place or refinance debt retreated to 641.1, from 678.7 the former week. Subprime loans are made to people with mediocre or limited credit.

The tone of voice in the mortgage marketplace is ``exceptionally cautious,'' Lonski said. ``You're looking at what will be in all likeliness the worst lawsuit of place terms deflation since the 1930s.''

Subprime loaner Delta Financial Corp. today said it will fold business offices in Florida, Lone-Star State and California, cutting its work force by 20 percent, or 300 jobs. Quality Home Loans filed for bankruptcy, the 15th loaner since December to seek protection. More than 90 have got halted trading operations or sought a buyer.

No Bottom

``I don't believe we are going to see the underside for at least another six months,'' said Prince Edward Resendez, the former Head Executive Military Officer of Resmae Mortgage Corp. Resendez sold Resmae to Bastion Investing Group in March at a bankruptcy auction. ``The loaners that are struggling out there are not going to survive. As soon as their liquidness runs out they are going to travel under as well.''

Accredited said in a statement today it will close more than than one-half of its mortgage trading operations and fire about 1,600 people.

Accredited shares drop 45 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $6.10 in composite trading on the New House Of York Stock Exchange. They have got fallen 78 percentage this year. H&R Block shares drop 35 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $19.44. The stock have tumbled 16 percentage in 2007.

Lehman, based in New York, will close its BNC Mortgage LLC unit of measurement and cut about 4.2 percentage of its work force of more than than 28,000. The shutting will cut down its net income by $52 million, Lehman said in a statement. Lehman shares, down 25 percentage this year, rose $1, or 1.7 percent, to $58.54.

HSBC bes after to fold its Carmel, Indiana, business office by the end of the 2nd one-fourth of adjacent year, eliminating 600 jobs, spokesman Michael Lee Trevino said. HSBC's commissariat for bad loans climbed 63 percentage to almost $6.4 billion in the first one-half of 2007, HBSC said in July.

H&R Block Draws

Sunflower State City, Missouri-based H&R Block said Block Financial drew down $200 million on Aug. Sixteen and then repaid that loan when it borrowed $850 million four years later.

``The recognition marketplaces have got go increasingly constrained and unstable,'' H&R Block Head Financial Military Officer William Trubeck said in a statement. ``We have got got decided to replace this more than stable beginning of finances to back up our short-term needs.''

More than 20 companies have been close out of the marketplace for asset-backed commercial paper, or short-term debt maturing in 270 years or less, as investors balked at purchasing mortgage-backed debt. HBOS Plc, the U.K.'s biggest mortgage lender, will refund about $35 billion of commercial paper from its Grampian Support LLC unit.

London-based Solent Capital Partners LLP's $4.5 billion Mainsail two Ltd. monetary fund and Geneva-based Avendis Group's $5 billion Golden Key Ltd. unit of measurement were forced to sell assets after they couldn't happen purchasers for their short-term debt, causing ``an eroding of capital,'' S&P said.

Golden Key's commercial paper evaluation was cut to B, one measure below investing grade, from the peak degree of A-1+. Ratings on parts of Mainsail two drop by 16 stairway to CCC+ from the peak grade, and its commercial paper evaluation dropped three stairway to A- 3, the last short-term investment class ranking.

To reach the newsmen on this story: Caroline Salas in New House Of York at
; Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware, at .

Mortgage woes lead to more foreclosures

By Pam Dawkins
staff WRITER

Connecticut's foreclosure filings declined between June and July, but the figure is still up for the twelvemonth so far and is approximately 100 percentage higher than the July 2006 filings.

Nationally, the figure of foreclosure filings last calendar month jumped 93 percentage from July 2006 and rose 9 percentage from June, the up-to-the-minute mark householders are having problem devising payments and determination purchasers during the national lodging downturn.

There were 179,599 foreclosure filings nationally reported during July, up from 92,845 during the same time period a twelvemonth ago, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said Tuesday. There were 164,644 foreclosure filings reported in June.

According to RealtyTrac, there were 2,118 foreclosure filings in Nutmeg State in July, down from 2,386 in June but more than than dual the 1,038 in July 2006. In July 2005, there were 563 foreclosure filings.

In July 2007, New Haven County had the peak figure of filings, at 706, followed by Capital Of Nutmeg State County at 450 and Fairfield County at 403.

While New Haven County edged up between June and July, Fairfield and Capital Of Connecticut counties reported fewer foreclosures.

"It's calm up on a year-over-year basis," said RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist of Connecticut's foreclosure rate.

Harbor Mortgage Hosts Telephone Seminar for Seniors May 24 - Reverse Mortgages Made Understandable

Published on: May 8th, 2007 12:01am by:

() | |

Braintree, MA (OPENPRESS) May 8, 2007 -- Senior homeowners and their families are invited to stay at home, pick up the phone, and dial in to hear a free Educational Telephone Seminar on Reverse Mortgages and Retirement Planning on Thursday May 24 from 11 AM to 12 Noon.

Moderated by Greg Porell, the Editor of the South Shore Senior News and the Neponset Valley Senior News, this telephone seminar will provide objective information about the unique government backed programs that allow seniors (age 62+) to access the equity in their homes. Now seniors and their families can learn about an important financial option without leaving their home, just by listening.

Listen and Learn
Businesses have used telephone seminars for years. IT’S SIMPLE! Participants don’t need to say a word; they just dial in to a specially designated 800 number from the comfort and privacy of their home or office on May 24 at 11 AM and hear:
• How to access the equity in their home.
• Implications for retirement planning.
• Answers to THEIR questions (submit with RSVP).

Seminar speakers will include: Attorney Francis X. Small, Elder Law Attorney, Heaney & Small, LLP, Milford, MA; and George Downey, founder of Harbor Mortgage Solutions, Braintree, MA and former Chairman of the Massachusetts Mortgage Association.

Advance reservations are required. Call 1-800-597-5133 to RSVP and find out how to dial into this informative seminar on May 24th.

Those who dial in to the Reverse Mortgage seminar will learn how a reverse mortgage can help homeowners over the age of 62 cash in on the investment they made in their home without having to sell, move, or take out a home equity loan. Reverse mortgages can help provide a steady source of tax-free income enabling seniors to have the extra cash needed to pay off their bills and stay in their own home.

A recent study conducted by the National Council on Aging found that impaired, older Americans are struggling to live at home at a time when they own more than $2 trillion in untapped housing wealth. Senior homeowners throughout Massachusetts are struggling to make ends meet, yet most are unsure of how to proceed to unlock the equity in their homes.

A reverse mortgage, essentially the opposite of a traditional or “forward” mortgage, can enable seniors to tap into accumulated equity without having to face ongoing payments. Unlike traditional mortgages where borrowers make monthly payments, in a reverse mortgage the cash flow is reversed, and the lender makes payments to the borrower, enabling borrowers to use the tax free cash they receive in any way that they wish.

There are no minimum income, asset, or credit qualifications to meet and no effect on Social Security or Medicare benefits. The property must be the primary residence of the borrower and properly insured and maintained, with real estate taxes kept current. As long as the borrower continues to live in the property the loan can never be called.

Unlike a traditional mortgage where the balance starts high and the borrower’s monthly payments systematically reduce the loan balance, the balance of a reverse mortgage loan starts low and continues to increase as more cash is drawn and the deferred interest charges are added to the balance. Repayment is required if the home is sold, or when the last borrower permanently leaves the property, or passes away. At that time, the heirs can sell, or refinance, the property to pay off the loan.

Once the province of a few small banks and private lenders, the great majority of reverse mortgages today are provided through government-sponsored programs, namely the HUD/FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) and the Fannie Mae Home Keeper (HK) programs.

Telephone Seminar Sponsor - Harbor Mortgage Solutions
The Senior Homeowner Division of Harbor Mortgage Solutions is dedicated to providing customized service, obtaining the best possible solution for each individual client every time.

An equal opportunity lender licensed in Massachusetts (license #MC0041) and Rhode Island (license #20041821LB), Harbor Mortgage Solutions is a member of the Massachusetts Mortgage Association, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, and the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, strictly subscribing to their rigid code of ethics. Harbor Mortgage Solutions is also an Educational Subscriber of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

For additional information on services offered by Harbor Mortgage Solutions please call 781-843-5553 or 800-599-8700, or visit www.HarborMortgage.com.

###Professional Free Press Release News Wire

Text ads are a very cost effective way to direct people to your site. Simply register, click on My profile, Text Ads, enter Text and make payment.

Mortgage Refinancing - No Closing Cost - Is it For Real?

You're bombarded with the ads for mortgage companies almost 24 hours a day it seems. "Mortgage Refinancing – No Closing Cost" Some mortgage companies claim they can get you a great mortgage with no closing cost. Others trumpet how they can get you the best rate and fee structure. Still others claim they can get you both the best rate and fee structure and no closing cost. What gives? Is it really possible to get a great rate on your mortgage refinancing effort and pay no closing cost?

First of all, there are a couple of things you need to watch out for. One line the mortgage companies love to use is "No out of pocket cost" Think about that for just a second. That's not the same as no closing cost, is it? In many cases, "No out of pocket cost" means they simply roll the closing costs into your loan, there by increasing your loan balance from the word "Go". Such a mortgage deal usually isn't a very good one. You'll just end up paying not only the closing costs, but the interest on them for 30 years too.

What the heck are closing costs, and why are they part of the mortgage transaction in the first place? You'll find the closing costs can be under one of four general classifications; government fees (taxes, deed recording, etc.), lender fees (points, loan origination, documents, setting up escrow, underwriting), third party fees (title search and insurance, home inspection, appraisal, etc.), escrow and interest (advance payments for PMI, real estate taxes, interest and insurance).

The lender has little control over third party and government fees, however they have supreme control over their own fees. Do they need to charge you an origination fee, points or doc fees? That depends upon how badly they want your business, and how much they're making on the back end of the deal. In most cases they'll sell your loan to another lender on the secondary market. This is known as "selling the paper". They make thousands of dollars when they do this transaction. The more interest they charge you up front, the more they make when they sell your loan to another lender.

If the mortgage company really is offering to pay all the closing costs, check the interest rate you're being offered. Is it competitive? In many cases they claim to be letting you avoid paying the closing costs because they're making plenty of money. At least they're truthful. They are making plenty of money. That's because in the vast majority of cases where the mortgage company offers to pick up the closing cost tab for you, they're kicking up the interest rate a quarter or half a point. In the long run, you'll typically end up backwards on such a deal.

Take a look at this example: You're getting a $250,000 mortgage. Closing costs typically run about 4% of your loan, so figure about $10,000. The key to avoiding excessive fees and other closing costs is to ensure you compare the lender's good faith estimate they provided when approving your mortgage. If you've done so, you'll usually be around the 4% figure. If you're getting a 6% mortgage, you'll pay $289,595 in interest over the term of the mortgage. If the mortgage company changes the interest rate to 6.25%, it may not seem like much, but you'll now pay $304,145. Is it worth saving $10,000 now to pay $15,145 extra in interest over 30 years? It may be depending upon your financial situation.

If your mortgage company rolls the $10,000 into the loan balance, you'll pay $301,179, or almost an extra $12,000 on a 6% mortgage. If they both up the interest rate and roll in the closing costs, look out! You'll end up paying $316,311 in interest over the life of the loan, or almost $27,000 more over the life of your mortgage. What can you do with $27,000? It's up to you. Only you can make the decision which mortgage company to use. The fact is most of them have access to basically the same mortgage products. What, and how, they charge you for them is up to you. Choose your mortgage and mortgage company carefully.