Last Obstacle cleared in Harp 2 Refinance

Wells Fargo was giving me one last fight on the insurance I had on my condo but now I finally have that resolved, I have met all of the underwriters conditions, and my file is now ready to be sent in for final approval on the Harp 2.0 Refinance.

Hopefully this gets back in time to close and fund by June 16th so I don't have to make an additional mortgage payment.

We are almost to the finish line.

Housing Fear "Quote of the Day"

"With the exception of Miami and Las Vegas, there are not enough condos to go around anymore because that's all anybody can afford now if they want to buy or even rent.

I guess all the landlords, specu-vestors, and foreign money bags will be buying the decent houses while the rest of us slave away at Target with 100k in student loans and dream of condo living by the airport."

My HARP 2.0 Appraisal is In...

My appraisal is in for my Harp 2.0 refinance and it came in at $60,000 dollars. This was much higher than I expected and I am thrilled because I am now under 125% LTV and am all set for final approval on my refinance.

Due to the good news my quoted mortgage rate is dropping from 3.875% to a new rate of 3.350%. This is over 15 years. And I am now in good financial position to have this condo paid off in the next 5 years.

Final outcome of the Harp 2.0 Program for me....

6.50% 30 year mortgage reduced to a 3.35% 15 year mortgage.

Of course, the loan is not closed yet so anything can happen. But hopefully this all goes through successfully.


My monthly payment will be roughly the same but I will now have this place paid off 10 years earlier then I thought (If no extra payments are made). And I get to refinance the house in my name only which is good from a pride standpoint.

I will keep the blog updated with further details as they occur.

2008 Prediction I made....Did it come true?

http://housingfear.blogspot.com/2008/04/its-all-about-price-per-square-foot.html

In this article written in 2008 I discussed how the price per square foot was over inflated in most area's of the country. I stated that 90-100 dollars was a good price per square foot for the average single family home and that prices would drop in the next 4 years to reflect that.

 2008 DATA REVISTED

Metro Areas: Most Expensive to Least Expensive (Price Per Square Foot)

Rank	Metro Area	PPSF	Year-Over-Year Price Change
1	San Jose, CA	$418.54	-8.8%
2	San Francisco, CA	$367.28	-13.3%
3	Los Angeles, CA	$325.42	-16.6%
4	New York, NY	$292.07	2.0%
5	San Diego, CA	$264.17	-21.2%
6	Washington D.C	$214.07	-8.7%
7	Seattle, WA	$210.20	-1.4%
8	Boston, MA	$207.39	-9.0%
9	Miami, FL	$176.02	-14.4%
10	Chicago, IL	$171.78	-3.2%
11	Sacramento, CA	$165.66	-27.8%
12	Philadelphia, PA	$148.05	-0.9%
13	Minneapolis, MN	$143.34	-7.2%
14	Las Vegas, NV	$136.61	-25.4%
15	Phoenix, AZ	$135.74	-14.6%
16	Denver, CO	$127.71	-9.1%
17	Tampa, FL	$117.08	-15.6%
18	Jacksonville, FL	$113.80	-3.9%
19	Milwaukee, WI	$105.80	-0.8%
20	St Louis, MO	$105.66	-3.0%
21	Charlotte, NC	$95.54	3.9%
22	Detroit, MI	$94.79	-13.2%
23	Columbus, OH	$91.63	-2.4%
24	Atlanta, GA	$91.41	-9.2%
25	Cleveland, OH	$84.91	-6.1%

I found some new data and was surprised to see what the current price per square foot is now in 2012.

 

As you can see, As I predicted most of the country with the exception of NYC and California has dropped below the 100 dollar per square foot threshold that I stated indicated where housing should be in terms of inflation. However, I feel that when you look at places like Ohio/Michigan for example you can see that some area's are selling for 60 dollars a square foot now which is far below where prices should be historically.

In most places the "housing crash" simply took house prices down to normal...Florida and Phoenix for example now have a healthy real estate market in terms of affordability and price per square foot just as I predicted would happen in 2008.

 The key though...Is that the industrial Midwest has crashed to 1980's level prices, and based on my analysis they are a screaming buy at these levels. Purchasing a house in Ohio or Michigan for 60 dollars a square foot almost guarantees you will make a 30 dollars per square foot profit when prices return back to the historical average adjusted for inflation (IE 1999 Prices). A 1000 sqft house in Michigan now lists for about 65000, In a normal market this house would sell for 90000. That is a 25000 dollar projected profit. And remember that this profit is not based on another housing bubble occurring (2005), it is simply based on the real estate market coming back from the grave and returning to (1999) prices.

Detroit house prices will return to the magical 90-100 dollars per sq foot price where they should be. And those who are in the financial position to buy a house now, at about 40% off their regular price, will be glad they did when this occurs.

THE HARP 2.0 SAGA CONTINUES..

I have received a "conditional" approval from the mortgage underwriter. I have the appraiser coming out here tomorrow to appraise my condo.

I swear to you that if this does not work out, and they somehow try to screw with me, I will never, ever, do any banking with Wells Fargo ever again for the rest of my years on this earth.

(And I will refinance my mortgage with another lender, no matter what the closing costs, just out of spite. They will not continue collecting 6.5% interest on me... This I promise.)

Countertops made out of Geodes and Semi-Precious Stones

contemporary bathroom countertops design by houston tile stone and countertop Habitat Stone

This will def. be the first order of business when I buy a real house/condo someday.