The biggest changes we could see occur will include extension of dates, no income requirements, and higher LTV ratios. The eligibility date could be extended up to May 10, 2010.  This date was chosen, as it seems many home purchases made after this date were made with a mortgage rate below 5%. There will no longer be verification requirements for things such as employment and income (state income loans could make a come back). The loan-to-value or LTV will be switched from 125%, up to 140% for most investors.

Perhaps the biggest change that could draw it several homeowners is the adjustment made to the appraisal costs. Included in the proposal is a change that all borrowers who would require a manual appraisal should have the fee waved. This means that, if you’re someone who lives within a neighborhood that has been struggling with home sales recently. Then your appraisal would be completely waved.  This will save you time in refinancing and will help keep money in your pocket.  Of course, everybody loves free things, so this would be a huge benefit if HARP 3.0 becomes a reality.

All of this is a great attempt to quickly transform and turn around the housing market as soon as possible. This is definitely a step in the right direction to help out those remaining homeowners that are still struggling with their current mortgage payments and find themselves in “underwater” situations.

We here at Riverbank Finance are doing our best to eliminate the worries in the minds of countless homeowners here in Michigan by helping them with refinancing to these historically low rates.  We have partnered with several investors that participate in the HARP loans to offer the lowest rates and fees available.  Even if you have been turned down by other banks for the a HARP refinance, give us a call as we have great programs to transfer mortgage insurance, unlimited LTV loans, and we can even help if you have a second mortgage.

If you would like to see what a few of our previous clients had to say about us, be sure to check out our reviews on Google. Feel free to contact one of our licensed loan officers today at 1-800-555-2098 or complete the form below to see if you are eligible for a HARP refinance.

Request information for HARP 3.0

There are some great locations to place vacation homes. One of which would be in the vast wilderness. Countless miles of available land can be found in the dead center of Michigan and we can’t forget to mention the openness of the state’s Upper Peninsula as well.

If I had to choose any location to place a vacation home within the state though, I would easily choose along the lakeshore of Lake Michigan. Up and down the entire lakeshore you can find miles upon miles of beautiful beaches, amazing sand dunes like the Sleeping Bear Dunes, awesome cities like Grand Haven and Pentwater and if you’re talking about the lakeshore you have to account for all the festivities that take place. Most of the major events can be found in Grand Haven such as Gus Macker Weekend, the Coastguard Festival and above all, the Fourth of July where a mass-array of Fireworks can be seen filling the night sky from the mile long pier.

The opportunity to own a great vacation home and buy it at a great place is beginning to fade. As experts begin to suggest that the housing market will start rebounding at the end of this year, home prices will begin rising. Especially homes that are located near the lakeshore. Take advantage of today’s great home and land prices by talking with one of our licensed loan officers. All you need to do is call 1-800-555-2098 or fill out the form below.

Looking for your own vacation spot?

Financial analytics company, Fiserv, recently released their findings on the housing market and the direction it’s headed.  They found that homes will gain an average of 4% value each year, for the next coming five years. Meaning your home is expected to rise a total of 20% in value over five years. Some great news for homeowners as many people have been shied away from selling their homes all because of the low values of today’s market.

Find how much your home is worth by using our valuation tool Michigan Home Value Estimator.

Further numbers showed that the short-term forecast doesn’t look amazing as home values for 2012 are expected to drop 0.8% from where they were last year. This means we have not yet reached rock bottom home prices just yet. Once we get closer to 2013 however, we should start to see the trend of lower home values finally reverse.

This does come across as a double-edged sword though. As home values begin to rise and sellers begin to feel more comfortable in putting their homes on the market, more buyers will begin to become discouraged by the rising prices. It’s quite obvious that the housing market will remain a buyer’s market for a couple years yet to come.

So to those of you looking to purchase a home before prices rise, now may be your last chance!  With the combination of historically low mortgage rates and rock bottom home values, now it the most affordable time to buy a home in Michigan. To get pre-approved to start shopping for a home contact Riverbank Finance before you the lowest home affordability in history. You can call a licensed loan officer at 1-800-555-2098 or complete the form below.

Buy a Michigan Home before Prices Rise

Refinancing your mortgage to a reduced term will save you thousands of dollars in interest not only due to a lower interest rate, but also because you will be through with your payments much faster. It is the goal of most homeowner to be debt free and pay off their mortgage. Reducing your term on a refinance can be a key step in your plan.

Benefits of a 15 year HARP loan

There are several benefits to refinancing to a 15 year mortgage through the HARP program. As previously discussed, if your reduce your loan term you will save several years of interest. Secondly, the shorter the term, the lower the interest rates will be. Lenders have less risk as you agressively pay down your principal balance which allows them to offer more attractive financing rates. Lastly, with a shorter term, you will build equity quickly. Should you sell your home after a few years you will have more money in your pocket as compared with a 30 year loan term.

HARP 2.0 now allows for mortgage lenders to transfer your mortgage insurance to a new loan at a lower rate. If you did not put down a 20% downpayment when you purchased your home then chances are you have PMI. Unfortunately you cannot get rid of PMI through the HARP program however you can still take advantage of lower rates without having that 20% equity.

Many of our clients also have 2nd mortgages which may be preventing them from refinancing their 1st mortgage to lower rates. With new HARP guidelines, we are able to subordinate your 2nd mortgages and complete the refinance. On a 30 year mortgage there is no combined loan to value (CLTV) however on a 15 year loan HARP guidelines limit the combination of your 2 mortgages to 105% of your home’s value.

If you think you may benefit from a 15 year HARP refinance and would like to get more information complete the form below or call a loan officer today at 1-800-555-2098. We will be glad to give you a free 15 year loan quote.
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When the huge settlement between some of the nation’s largest banks was announced, people expected to receive major savings on their mortgages.  Now that is still the case, but the number of people receiving relief is far less than previously thought.  The settlement will allow for roughly one million homeowners to have their principals slashed by upwards of $100,000.

What exactly happened to other massive amount of people that were expecting relief though?  Why are they no longer being recognized?  The answer has been angering countless people.  It’s because the banks that issued the borrower’s mortgage(s) simply did not hold their mortgage.  In other words, several banks have been selling mortgages to both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without the knowledge of the homeowners.  How many of the loans were sold-off though?  Well that number is far higher than anyone would have imagined.  The housing boom that occurred at the turn of the millennium until 2007 saw 20% of the loans go into the bank’s own portfolios.  The other 80%, well you can find those loans in the possession of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other random investors.

So what happens now?  Bluntly put, the majority of borrowers lucked out.  There doesn’t seem to be any indication(s) that details of the settlement will be adjusted in anyway to accommodate everyone being left out.  It’s not all crappy news though, at least for those of you with Michigan property because even though you may have struck out in this bank settlement.  You wont strike out with Riverbank Finance as our specialty is saving you a pretty penny by refinancing your mortgage.  Give us a call at 1-800-555-2098 to get the ball rolling!

Interested in a mortgage refinance program like HARP?

2012

Sure homeowners are being hit hard and unfortunately there is no quick fix to instantaneously raise your home’s value.  On the flip side though, homebuyers are in the driving seat when it comes to today’s housing market.  With values at a ten-year low, even the thought of buying a home should prompt people to purchase a home but that is just not the case.

The issue is that people see the housing market as one giant risk.  Everyday we hear and see signs in regards to the millions of homes that are “underwater.”  The other issue is that foreclosures are on the rise and nothing could scare a homeowner than the risk of losing their beloved home.

Refinancing an underwater home in Michigan

We’re at a strange point right now as things look great in certain sectors while others look quite gloom.  People seem to be hesitant to purchase homes but yet many builders are gearing up to begin new construction projects.  Real estate professor Ken H. Johnson from Florida International University believes the market will improve thanks to the improving economy but it will definitely take time.

With home values looking as if they’re going to linger at their current values for some time yet.  Why not take advantage of the market whether you’re a homeowner or if you’re looking to buy?  Thanks to the incredibly low mortgage rates, we can help you Michigan homeowners out there by refinancing into today’s extremely low rates.  For those of you looking to buy property within Michigan, we can also help you by locking in pretty little loan with a bow on top.  Either way, give one of our loan officers a call if you have a Michigan property: 800-555-2098.

Can you refinance your underwater loan?

Foreclosures

Initially there were those that viewed this major settlement as a good thing but it seems as time progresses, more and more homeowners are beginning to oppose this deal.  The major debate is that the banks are discussing a finalized way that they will ALL abide by when foreclosing on a home.  It is expected that the new foreclosure process they introduce will be much faster than any current process in pace allowing banks to steam roll through properties faster than ever before.

There are many homeowners out there who have been battling banks over the foreclosure of their homes for months and even years but with a new process, foreclosure is inevitable within the near future.  Now it’s not all-dark and gloomy news for homeowners that face potential foreclosure.  As there are several mortgage refinance programs out there that allow you to take advantage of today’s low mortgage rates.  All you need to do is take the fist step to improving your situation.  If you’re a Michigan homeowner looking to save a pretty penny by refinancing your mortgage, then call Riverbank Finance at 1-800-555-2098.

Refinancing questions?

One example of expanding farm values are two major sales that took place in Iowa.  At first, there was a record breaking deal that brought the seller $16,000 per acre.  Shortly after that deal was finalized, a sale of $20,000 per acre was made, two astonishing amounts that haven’t previously been matched.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported an overall increase of 25% in farmland value for states located within the local region.  The states surveyed involve Illinois (+23%), Indiana (+29%), Iowa (+31%), Michigan (+16%), and Wisconsin (+17%).  These are the highest increases in farmland value since the late 1970’s.  Other states seem to be experiencing staggering numbers as well.  The University of Nebraska reported that over the past five years, values have risen 83 percent.

Multiple factors account for rising farmland value such as high commodity prices, population increases, increased farm income and even low interest rates.  One downside that seems to be coming along with these prices is that people looking to begin their own farm are facing higher prices than ever before.  Causing some banks to shy away from backing new farmers.  That’s where Riverbank Finance comes in for the rescue!  At least for Michigan farmers that is.  We can help you out with Michigan Farm Loans.  All you need to do is take the fist step by calling a certified loan-officer at 1-800-555-2098.

Want to expand or begin a farm?

After simply searching Grand Rapids and being provided with the “heat map” we were able to see the areas that are currently selling at higher values.  As well, you can see which areas are currently suffering when it comes to sales.

Strangely enough, the results came back showing that higher end real estate is selling at roughly the same rate the sellers are asking.  Selling prices have been matching the asking prices in Heartside-Downtown, Heritage Hill, Michigan Oaks and Ridgemoor.  All of which house some pretty nice real estate.

Now the other cool aspect to Trulia’s maps is that you can even look up real estate listings currently on the market in any given neighborhood.  This allows for both buyers and sellers to research information to determine what circumstances will give you the most “bang for your buck” in the housing market.

If you would like some help or more information about Trulia or setting up a mortgage if you’re a local buyer then give our certified loan-officers a call at 1-800-555-2098.

Need a mortgage for your new home?

There are actual realtors out there who have completely renovated old missile silos from the cold war and transformed them into livable quarters for multiple families.  Others have capitalized by offering the full-scale construction of you own private bunker, which on average, people are spending a total of $130,000 for.

Some of these bunkers have been stripped down to the bare-bone essentials needed to survive.  While there are others out there that are actually more elaborate than most homes in America.  One man, Larry Hall, is a lead developer of “survival condos” which cost millions of dollars.  One of these condos is being built within an old Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (IBM) silo in north-central Kansas.  Each condo found in this silo is fairly elaborate living quarters, which can be purchased for either $1 million for a 900 square-foot space. Or you can buy an entire floor of the silo at $2 million, which gives you over 1,800 square-feet.

Those price tags do include EVERYTHING you could imagine though.  The surrounding area of the silo is equipped with military-grade security details while the silo itself comes with an abundance of food, its own aqua-system and even its own energy source.  Amazingly there are those people out there who seem to be fairly interested in this type of property even at a million-dollar price tag.

Could you justify spending that much for a luxury condo located underground?  Or would you rather buy some open land build your own bunker?  If you’re one of the people who call themselves “doomsday preppers” and would like to establish your own bunker on some vacant land located anywhere in Michigan then give our certified loan-officers a call at 1-800-555-2098.

Looking for vacant land for your own bunker?