Kelly L. Zitlow

On December 23, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011.  As a result and among its provisions, the $33 billion package is funded by a 10 year increase in Guarantee Fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge mortgage lenders.

What does this mean and who does it impact?

When it comes down to it, conventional mortgage interest rates and/or the cost associated with a specific interest rates will increase. This will impact all Arizona home buyers directly!

When will this start to impact our Arizona home buyers?

Now ~ The law is effective with mortgages delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on and after April 1^st, therefore lenders started implementation of this surcharge over the last few weeks to ensure they are abiding by the law.

While the impact to interest rates has been gradual it is important to understand this government surcharge is now in play!

HARP 2.0 update for Arizona ~

As a reminder HARP 2.0 is the conventional mortgage refinance program that allows underwater home owners to refinance without having to have an appraisal.  While the program took effect December 1^st 2011 many mortgage lenders are waiting on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to update their automated underwriting engines before offering the program. We understand Fannie and Freddie will have their systems ready to process this program mid March 2012. That said some of the large banks have already rolled the program out to their existing mortgage clients. If the client meets the criteria, click here to read the complete details, I suggest they contact their existing Arizona mortgage lender to see if they are offering the HARP 2.0 refinance. If so, I encourage people to get their applications started as the big banks are going to be inundated with this program!!! Many Arizona mortgage lenders, such as Cherry Creek Mortgage, will wait until Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's systems have been updated to proceed with this program.

Don't hesitate to call or email me with any questions.

2012 is off to a great start! Enjoy another beautiful AZ "winter" weekendJ

~ Kelly

Quote of the Week:  A vision is a clearly-articulated, results-oriented picture of a future you intend to create.  It is a dream with direction. ~ Jess Stoner Zemel