“Real Estate to Real Life” LIVE Talk Harps on Harp 3.0

“Real Estate to Real Life” LIVE Talk Harps on Harp 3.0

Sunday’s first LIVE talkshow aired 11/04/11, it featured Parvaneh Poirier, Senior Loan Consultant of Land Home Financial Services, located at 190 Hartz Ave, Danville. We were literally harping on the Harp 3.0 an acronym for the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), its benefits to upside down home owners, who qualifies and 3.0’s enhancement from HARP. Which originally was designed to help upside down homeowners with conforming loans limits, and how HARP 3.0 will help underwater homeowners in specifically dictated counties like Contra Costa with higher conforming loan limits.

This HARP program was enacted back in March of 2009, which the Obama administration developed HARP in response to the collapsing national housing market. Homeowners that had government-secured entities or (GSEs) loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who were making timely payments would potentially be able to refinance their mortgages with significant lower interest rates. The goal was to make the payments affordable with the ideal of keeping people in their homes, by restructuring their finance.

Since, its enactment the program was re-vamped on March 17, 2012 to HARP 2.0, and one of the changes of HARP 2.0 is that borrowers, regardless of how much their homes have depreciated, would be able to refinance when previously loan-to-value limits were set at 125%.

Currently, we have a third re-vamping, HARP 3.0, which increases the loan limits to meet the “high conforming” loan amounts in qualifying counties up to $625,500. Contra Costa is one those counties, and this differs significantly from the previous “conforming” loan limit of $417,000. According to www.SBwire.com,  Harp 3.0 is lined up to benefit 7 million additional borrowers in the country, homeowners who are eligible would be able to refinance their home even if they are underwater on their mortgages with a savings of almost $3,000 yearly on mortgage payments. But with a caveat that these programs aren’t easy due to rigorous, complex and time consuming process. They recommend going online to find agencies that will help but they will refer you to an expert who will then assist you to navigate through the HARP procedure with ease.

However, my show “Real Estate to Real Life” is to help provide ease to your search of an expert by bringing that person directly to you Parvaneh Poirier. She’s a senior lender with Land Home Financial Services in Danville, with 15 years’ experience and a Platinum Producer.

According to Ms. Poirier; if you’re NOT behind in your mortgage, and you were unable to obtain financing because you have 20% or less in equity in your home, this may be an option for you. However, some key factors are to first check your eligibility, find out who owns your loan, and when it closed for these mortgages must have a settlement date of 5/31/09.

Also, you can’t have been late on your mortgage payments for the last 12 months, and you can’t have listed your home in the last we months either. Again loan limits are dictated by county, and includes single family home properties 1-4 units of owner occupied, and the same 1-4 units for non-owner occupied, which includes condos and townhomes. If have a loan balance in Contra Costa county of $625,500 or less and you are having difficulty making your payments and/

Currently, HARP expires on December 31, 2013. Here are a couple of websites for to visit Freddi Mac at http://www.3.freddiemac.com/corporate and for Fannie Mae you may check www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup. However, to find about your loan directly and/or for more information contact Parvaneh Poirier of Land Home Financial Services, 190 Hartz Ave, Danville at 925-708-0039.

You may also go to www.MaryAnn.AM to get information on previous shows and contact information on my guests. Now don’t forget the show is LIVE talk and this Sunday morning at 9:00-10:00 AM on 11/11/11. Wall Street meets Main Street again with Hall of Fame Financial ADVISOR Richard S. Farkas, President, Strategic Global Investment Services. Questions toll free at 800-516-1220,

Mary Ann Cadorna “Real Estate to Real Life” AM 1220 and streaming LIVE online at http://www.KDOW.biz