Obama Mortgage Calculator: Do You Qualify for Mortgage Modification?
In the past few weeks, President Barack Obama has announced a couple of efforts to help prevent foreclosure. One is is a mortgage modification plan designed to help people refinance their homes in order to avoid foreclosure. The idea is for them to get some loan modification or a refinance before they slip into delinquency. Now, you can go to MainStreet.com and see a mortgage modification plan calculator that can help you figure out whether or not you are likely to qualify for help under this plan.
Of course, the calculator is not the be all and end all. Online financial calculators should be considered with a grain of salt. But it can give you a fairly good idea. You can also talk to your mortgage lender about modification, and your options.
Foreclosure prevention plan
I don’t qualify for this mortgage modification plan. However, the president unveiled a different foreclosure prevention plan before this mortgage modification plan was suggested. I have a much better chance of qualifying for this other plan, which includes incentives for helping people refinance who have less than 20% equity in their homes. Since my home is relatively new — and housing values have fallen — I fall in this category.
To receive this refinancing help, you have to have good credit and be in good standing with your mortgage payments. You also have to have your mortgage serviced by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. In any case, this is a plan that many people who made responsible decisions about home mortgages might be able to take advantage of.
Even if you don’t qualify for special programs, now could be a good time refinance. Mortgage interest rates are near historic lows, so it could mean big savings over the life of your loan. You can talk to your mortgage lender about refinancing under federal programs — or even through more traditional channels. But you’ll never know if you don’t ask.
March 27th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
[…] Originally posted from Obama Mortgage Calculator: Do You Qualify for Mortgage Modification? […]