Green Real Estate Appraiser

A Hidden Morgage Fee is Set to Rise

Posted on March 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

INSIDE the interest rate quoted on your home mortgage lies a small hidden fee that has been charged by government-sponsored entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for more than three decades. It’s an add-on rate known as the guarantee fee.

An increase in the fee has been mandated by Congress to occur this spring, and other increases are likely later this year and next. When they happen, interest rates on single-family mortgages resold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are likely to inch up as well.

“It’s going to be silently passed through” by lenders when it does increase, said Richard W. Grohmann, a real estate lawyer in Paramus, N.J.

The G-fee — as it is known — does not show up in borrowers’ mortgage documents or good-faith estimates, and it is little known outside the industry.

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Solar Panel Lease – Read About One Company’s Program for Homeowners

Posted on March 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

San Diego-based OneRoof Energy is making a bid for a piece of the booming market for rooftop-solar leases on homes.

Backed by $50 million in recent financing, the solar startup is approaching homeowners as they build or replace a roof, offering thin solar panels that double as roofing tiles — an aesthetic that blends in with nonsolar houses.

By forging a partnership with an established roofing company, OneRoof intends to compete for market share with pioneers like SolarCity and SunRun that lease photovoltaic systems back to the customer or sell rooftop-generated power under a purchase agreement.

So-called “third-party” solar companies, which own thousands upon thousands of rooftop arrays, are thriving based on a curious anomaly of government incentives for rooftop solar.

Corporations are much better positioned than most individuals to collect and repackage government incentives, including federal investment tax credits and deductions for accelerated depreciation.

“It has been structured through the tax code that it’s more efficient for a third party to monetize those tax credits than a homeowner,” explained David Field, CEO of OneRoof.

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Beware of Snags in Federal Refinance Program

Posted on March 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

The most ambitious federal mortgage program to date aimed at millions of underwater homeowners is poised to take off in the coming two weeks, yet some key issues could hinder borrowers’ participation. One of them involves something most owners know nothing about: Who was your mortgage insurer on your underwater loan?

Though it was announced by the Obama administration late last year, the so-called HARP 2.0 — the second version of the Home Affordable Refinance Program — will only hit full stride around the middle of this month, when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finish tweaking their automated underwriting systems to accept applications, and lenders and mortgage insurance companies start handling large volumes of requests.

The revisions are crucial for owners who have outstanding mortgage balances in excess of 125 percent of the current resale values of their homes. Under the second version of HARP, there is no upper limit on permissible loan-to-value ratios (LTVs). You can owe twice or even three times the value of your home and still qualify for a refinancing at today’s low interest rates. The earlier version imposed a limit of 125 percent, which cut out millions of the hardest-hit victims of the real estate bust.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

A Hidden Morgage Fee is Set to Rise

Solar Panel Lease – Read About One Company’s Program for Homeowners

Beware of Snags in Federal Refinance Program

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