HARP Extended to 2017 as Bridge to New Refi Program

HARP Extended to 2017 as Bridge to New Refi Program

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is extending the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) until Sept. 30, 2017. The FHFA estimates that more than 300,000 home owners could still benefit by refinancing through HARP.

The Home Affordable Modification Program and HARP aim to help borrowers lower their monthly payments. The program was launched in 2009  and originally set to expire on Dec. 31, 2013, but the government continues to extend it.

FHFA says the reason it opted to extend it again was to smooth a transition into a new refinance product that will be offered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the end of 2017. That product will reportedly be aimed at borrowers with high loan-to-value ratios.

“The new refinance offering will provide much-needed liquidity for borrowers who are current on their mortgage but are unable to refinance through traditional programs based on their LTV ratio exceeds the [GSEs’] maximum limit,” according to a recent news release.

The FHFA says that with the new LTV streamlined refinance product eligible borrowers will not be subject to a minimum credit score, there will be no maximum debt-to-income ratio or maximum LTV, and an appraisal often won’t be required. Borrowers would also be able to use it more than once to refinance their mortgage. (View more of the eligibility requirements at FHFA.)

The new LTV refinance offering won’t be available to borrowers until October 2017, FHFA says.

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency and “HARP Extended into 2017; FHFA Plans New Refinance Program,” HousingWire (Aug. 25, 2016)

Things Pet Lovers Look for in a Home

Things Pet Lovers Look for in a Home

Sure, your clients may think a particular listing is perfect, but what does Fido think? It’s a question becoming more commonplace these days, as more Americans than ever are pet owners.

In fact, 79 million U.S households currently own a pet, and 83 percent of pet owners think of their pet as a member of their family. When this group of buyers starts a house hunt, it’s important to think about not just the needs of the clients, but of their pets as well.

“Many people who don’t have children view their pets as their children, and they consider their pets’ needs in the same way others would consider how the schools or playgrounds are in a particular neighborhood,” says Arlene Kagle, a psychologist in a recent interview in the New York Times. “These are people who have a great deal of empathy, so they worry about their pets as they would worry about another human being — though some have been known to carry it to extremes.”

The New York Times asked pet owners what features and amenities they look for when choosing a new place to rent or own. Here are some of their main concerns:

Location

• Whether your clients are in an urban walk able city like New York or in the suburbs, pet owners will want to be close to parks and have access to safe walking trails where their pets can exercise and run around.
• Living in a neighborhood with access to dog walkers and dog daycare options are also important considerations for dog owners, particularly those in urban areas.
• Some pets are overwhelmed by loud noises or other pets, so living in high-traffic areas or areas with pets in close proximity might not be the best fit. 
• Owners with talkative animals like birds will also have to consider location in their home search, especially if considering condo or apartment living.

Layout

• For owners with older pets in particular, a home’s layout is an important consideration. A home featuring a lot of stairs may not be the best situation for an elderly dog.
• On the other hand, a small home without an open floorplan may not be the best fit for a rambunctious puppy to run around.
• Dog owners will also want a home with easy access to the backyard.

Features

• Housing options with separate laundry rooms that include pet-washing stations are becoming more desirable. Many condos, for instance, now offer dog-walking services and pet grooming on-site.
• Pet owners are also likely to be attracted to listings that already have plenty of hard-surfaced flooring that makes cleaning up after pets easy.
• Your clients will also want to consider if a home has an area for a cat’s litter box and an area where pets can eat without getting in the way of family traffic patterns.

Source: “When the Dog Decides Where You Live,” The New York Times (Aug. 19, 2016)

Google Issues Warning to Sites With Pop Ups

Google Issues Warning to Sites With Pop Ups

If your site has a pop-up ad, you may want to change it soon. Google says it plans to punish sites that have pop-up ads on mobile by factoring it into their search algorithm. It also is going after interstitial, web pages displayed before or after an expected content page, which are often advertisements.

Google says it will start lowering the rank of sites “where content is not easily accessible.”

Google says such ads annoy users and so sites that use pop-ups and interstitial may start to come in lower in search results because of it.

That said, many factors go into Google’s search result rankings. Sites that continue to use such features won’t necessarily be bumped in the ranking, if it still contains the most relevant information. However, relevant sites that are about equal to the other site but doesn’t use pop-ups and interstitial may see a benefit in the rankings, The Verge reports.

Google wants to pressure sites to remove the pop-ups. Sites may gray out the content beneath to prevent users from reading a website for a few seconds or until users click on an X to dismiss the pop-up. Google also says it will count ads that may not be a pop-up but occupy most of the page after a site is loaded. Small banners across the top of screen or ads that occupy a “reasonable amount of screen space” will not be flagged by Google, according to The Verge’s report.

The changes are part of Google’s updates to its search algorithm. Last year, Google changed its search algorithm to give websites that are “mobile friendly” more of an edge. In 2014, sites with encryption also saw a boost in rank.

The latest change to its search algorithm targeting pop-ups will take effect Jan. 10, 2017.

Source: “Google Will Punish Sites That Use Annoying Pop-Up Ads,” The Verge (Aug. 23, 2016)

Redesign Slated for Loan Forms

Loan Forms

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced Wednesday a redesign for the standardized form borrowers use to apply for a loan, the first substantial revision in more than two decades. The changes to the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) include simplified terminology and new data fields capturing borrower information in an easier-to-read format, the GSEs said. The forms will have clearer instructions so that borrowers will need less help from lenders.

“The redesigned URLA is the result of extensive collaboration with industry stakeholders,” says Andrew Bon Salle, Fannie Mae’s executive vice president of single-family business. “We are proud to be a part of this effort that enables lenders to better serve their customers by providing ease and clarity to borrowers during the loan origination process.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have collaborated with lenders, technology solution providers, mortgage insurers, trade associations, and government agencies, among others, in creating the new forms. They also conducted consumer usability testing across the U.S. to gather feedback on the designs.

To allow ample time to adjust to the new forms, lenders won’t begin using them until Jan. 1, 2018, the GSEs said.

Source: Fannie Mae

Clients Expect Social Media Responses Within 1 Hour

Clients Expect Social Media Responses Within 1 Hour

If customers contact you via your social media channels, they expect to get a response immediately. In fact, 53 percent of customers who tweet a brand expect a response within an hour. If their tweet references a problem, 72 percent then say they expect a response within an hour, according to a study by Millward Brown Digital, a market research firm.

However, for most brands, the average response time on Twitter is at least more than four hours. Some companies fail to respond at all.

Customers who fail to get a prompt response get mad and say they feel ignored. As such, 60 percent say if it’s a problem they were communicating about in the first place that doesn’t get a quick response, they’ll share their displeasure.

“Before long, brands can have a PR disaster on their hands,” according to a Forbes.com article detailing the study. “Most brands have seen – or even experienced – the potential harm of being late on social media.” When that happens, what should you do to resolve negative comments on social media?

Source: “How Timely Social Media Can Keep Your Customers Happy,” Forbes.com (Aug. 22, 2016)

Buzzwords That Bump Up a Sales Price

Buzzwords That Bump Up a Sales Price

Certain words included on the MLS public remarks section about your listing can help bring about a higher sales price than ads that don’t have any comments, finds real estate data firm CoreLogic.

The firm analyzed the public comments on 81,025 MLS-listed property sales between January 2015 and January 2016 in Los Angeles County. Researchers then grouped the comments into three categories: location, condition, and design. They found that keywords related to great locations, such as “overlook,” “step” (as in, steps to the beach), “hill,” and “park” sell for a higher final price than those that do not list such positive location attributes.

The study also found that in describing property condition words like “finish” and “best” tended to net higher sales prices. Also, in describing design, researchers found the following buzzwords: “slide,” “central” (central AC), “dual” and “Spanish” (Spanish style) to result in higher sales prices.

In general, the researchers concluded: “properties in good locations, under good conditions, and with desirable designs are more attractive than properties without these attributes. These attributes are true measurements of the properties and, in many ways, contribute more to the prices than expected by the sellers/REALTORS®, if marketed appropriately.”

Source: “Good Words Don’t Cost Much, But Can Accomplish A Lot When Selling a Home,” CoreLogic Insights Blog (Aug. 18, 2016)