There are 2 ways to drop your FHA mortgage insurance on your home:

1. Refinance to another mortgage without mortgage insurance
2. Automatic termination of mortgage insurance once you have at least 78% equity in the home

The surest way to get rid of your mortgage insurance is to refinance to another loan that does not have mortgage insurance. That may not be the most economical method (due to cost of restructure), but is the surest. Often borrowers have a Conventional loan that has monthly mortgage insurance can be eliminated if they refinance to an FHA loan for 15 years. (Mortgage insurance is not required for a15YR FHA mortgage)

The second way to drop mortgage insurance is by automatic termination of mortgage insurance. Once you have at least 78% equity in the home, lenders are required to cancel the mortgage insurance, per the Homeowner Protection Act of 1998. But how is this calculated?

For automatic termination of the mortgage insurance, the current amount owed is compared to the original value of the property, and when that ratio is 78% or less, the lender must remove mortgage insurance.

Unfortunately, this does not take into account any of the property’s appreciation throughout the years, and you may save more money by refinancing long before this threshold is reached.

If you have an FHA loan and the original term was more than 15 years, you must pay monthly mortgage insurance for at least 5 years before automatic termination will kick in.

(There is no borrower requested option to remove FHA mortgage insurance)

If you currently have an FHA loan and pay mortgage insurance, it would be wise to contact me and my team to see if you could save money by refinancing.

Loan Officer’s Assistant

Job Description

Characteristics:

• Self starter
• Punctual
• Positive and upbeat
• Present well both on the phone and in person
• Ambition – move up in job
• Organized
• Good at focusing on task until completed
• Adhere to order of operations (checklist)

5 Areas of Focus:

(Training will be provide)

1. Manage/update Cimmeron database
2. Fully own and facilitate the E Properties marketing platforms
3. Online lead generation and management facilitation
   1. Setting appointments
   2. Manage new leads
4. Gathering and facilitation of finances
   1. 36 hour turn time is the goal
5. Order Out Coordination

Overview of Schedule:

• Mon-Thursday 8-5 (32 hours a week)
• $10.00 an hour
• 90 day trial/review

If you have a USDA loan and want to protect your loan with a Commitment from USDA under the old insurance structure.   After 10/1/2011 the mortgage insurance requirements are going to be changing.

For loans under construction and in with application dates prior to 10/1/2011:

Send to USDA

1. Subject to completion appraisal
2. GUS findings
3. Flood Cert
4. USDA Disclosure form 1981

To obtain your commitment under the old MI structure which is a 3.5% GFee

After October 1^st USDA commitments will be issued with a 2% up front fee and .300 annual (but collected monthly) fee.  If you do not have a commitment by 10/1, your borrowers will be subject to the proposed MI change.

You can find this announcement on SharePoint – Secondary (link below)

http://lgsp/secondary/Lists/Secondary%20Announcements/DispForm.aspx?ID=4

Legacy ranks 11th in PSJ’s 50 Fastest Growing Companies

The Legacy Group was recently honored as one of the fastest growing companies in the region by the Puget Sound Business Journal. Home to some of the world’s most well-known brands, Seattle’s Eastside is a hotbed of business development and technological innovation.

Despite the tough economic climate for mortgage companies, Legacy’s unique lending platform and emphasis on client relationships boosted it to the 11th spot based on percentage revenue growth. To read more about the awards, visit the Seattle Business Journal’s Site.

I recently placed a few ads in the local military papers around Kitsap County launching my new image as the Puget Sound VA Expert.  I know that spending money on newspaper ads dose not seem ideal in today’s culture but I thought I would try it out. To my surprise it only took a couple hours before I received my first phone call from a man looking for advice on how to use his VA. 

Although we only talked on the phone a short while I felt honored that I was able to help give him guidance on his current situation as well as inform him on what was the best decision for him to make next in regards to homeownership.  As a disabled veteran myself I can’t even begin to describe to you how much pride I take in helping other military families.  I feel blessed to be in the situation I am at right now and looking forward to where my business will take me next starting with helping the people I feel called to.

With that being said if you know of any military personal and or families that could benefit from my services please feel free to give them my number.

360.698.6471

Shane McGraw, VA Loan Expert

US Air Force Veteran

Loan Officer Lic # MLO-90072

shanem@legacyg.com

The Legacy Group was recently rated second best company to work for in the latest edition of the Seattle Business Magazine for 2011.  You can read our section below or click the link to read the full article.  www.seattlebusinessmag.com/article/midsize-company-winners

Second Place: REASON TO CELEBRATE

Washington state’s mortgage industry has suffered of late, but The Legacy Group has bucked the trend. Legacy’s impressive bottom-line success is due to its talented staff—a staff that was attracted to CEO Scott Rerucha’s fun-loving, hardworking corporate culture. Sure, Legacy has impressive health benefits, vacation time and bonus incentives. But it’s the fun stuff that sets the company apart, such as the surprise Lake Washington yacht cruise after the holiday party at Lucky Strike Lanes, and the booming stereo and 3 Pigs Barbecue in the Bellevue headquarters after a profitable month-end push. —N.H.

To learn more about funding fees click the link below to read an article written by our Military and VA Home Loan Unit  published in the Kitsap Navy News…

http://kitsapnavynews.com/blog/dispelling-the-va-home-loan-funding-fee-commentary/633/

The Kitsap Navy News- a new publication specifically targeted to those who serve in the Navy, asked me to write a monthly column on different valuable  information their readers might appreciate.

Here is a link: Kitsap Navy News-

article about BAH

Meet Adam & Janna:They found a home that had been neglected for years and needed approximately $30,000 worth of work to make it livable.

Adam happened to be a general contractor and needed to find an affordable home for his big family.We had an appraisal done based on what the home would be worth after completion of the project, and the numbers looked great. Within 14 days of meeting Adam & Janna, we closed the loan on the purchase and begin dispersing money to them to fix the place up according to plan.

After 8 weeks of work, the home was completely remodeled. We refinanced the home into a permanent loan at a low interest rate. They got a great deal because they had so much equity in their home now; in fact they had 20%.The pictures say it all.

Here’s the before & after:

BEFORE -

AFTER -

If you are intrested or want to know more about loans please feel free to call me I’m here to help you.  360-698-6471

Shane McGraw

Lic# MLO-90072

Phone (360) 698-6471
Fax  (425) 283-1024

Email:  Shane.Mcgraw@legacyg.com

TO: All Fannie Mae Single-Family Sellers and Servicers

Confirmation of Conventional Loan Limits for 2011

The purpose of this Lender Letter is to publish Fannie Mae’s loan limits for 2011 for all conventional mortgage loans. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has issued the loan limits that will apply to conventional loans to be acquired by Fannie Mae in 2011. The first mortgage loan limits are defined in terms of general loan limits and high-cost area loan limits.

 First Mortgage Loan Limits The following chart contains the general loan limits for 2011, which remain unchanged from the 2010 general loan limits:

 The high-cost area loan limits for mortgage loans originated in 2011, pursuant to FHFA’s announcement, are as follows:               

1. For mortgage loans originated on or before September 30, 2011, loan limits remain unchanged from the 2010 high-cost area loan limits. The maximum limit is $729,750 for a 1-unit property in the continental United States, established under the recently-enacted Congressional continuing resolution (Public Law Number 111-242), and referred to by Fannie Mae as “temporary”.
2. For mortgage loans originated after September 30, 2011, revised limits will apply. The maximum limit is $625,500 for a 1-unit property in the continental United States, established under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, and referred to by Fannie Mae as “permanent.”

High-cost area loan limits are established for each county (or equivalent) and are published on eFannieMae.com and on FHFA’s Web site.

High-cost area loan limits are derived from median home prices estimated by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). FHA will permit a 30-day appeals period during which requests for individual area median home price increases will be evaluated. FHFA will issue a subsequent announcement if any individual high-cost area loan limit is increased as a result of the appeals process. Updates resulting from subsequent FHFA announcements will be posted on eFannieMae.com.

Lenders are responsible for ensuring that the original principal balance of each mortgage loan does not exceed the applicable maximum loan limit for the specific area in which the property is located. To assist lenders in determining the applicable limits, Fannie Mae posts reference material on eFannieMae.com, including the Loan Limit Geocoder™, which lenders can use to look up loan limits based on a specific address (or batch of addresses).

Any updated loan limits will be implemented in Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) Version 8.1 and DU Version 8.2 the weekend of December 11, 2010. Lenders must manually apply the 2010 loan limits to DU loan casefiles underwritten after the weekend of December 11, 2010 that will be acquired by Fannie Mae on or before December 31, 2010.

Second Mortgage Loan Limits

For second mortgage loans, the loan limit for 2011 is $208,500 (or $312,750 in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands). Furthermore, the sum of the original loan amounts of the first and second mortgage loans may not exceed the applicable loan limit for first mortgage loans based on the location and the number of units of the subject property. These loan limits apply whether or not Fannie Mae owns or has an interest in the first mortgage loan. As set forth in the Selling Guide, lenders must obtain approval from Fannie Mae to sell and service second mortgages.

Origination Date and Original Loan Amount

The general loan limits and the second mortgage loan limits apply to all conventional mortgage loans regardless of loan origination date. (The loan origination date is the date of the note). For high-cost areas, the “temporary” high-cost area loan limits for mortgage loans originated in 2011 apply to high-balance mortgage loans with a note date on or before September 30, 2011. The “permanent” high-cost area limits apply to high-balance mortgage loans with a note date after September 30, 2011. All of the loan limits apply to the original loan amount of the mortgage loan, not to its balance at the time of purchase by Fannie Mae.

Lenders are reminded of the following additional requirements:                   

A modified mortgage loan that had an original loan amount that exceeds the current loan limits is not eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae, even though the balance may have been paid down at the time of the modification to or below the current applicable loan limit.

High-balance mortgage loans are subject to unique eligibility and delivery requirements. Refer to the Selling Guide, Chapter B5-1, High-Balance Mortgage Loans.

Lenders who have questions about this Lender Letter should contact their Customer Account Team.

John S. Forlines

Vice President

Single-Family Chief Risk Officer