A few months ago, President Barack Obama announced a foreclosure prevention plan called Making Home Affordable. The plan included provisions for those who wanted to refinance, but couldn’t because of their loan to value ratio. Refinancing would be encouraged for those who had a loan to value ratio of between 80% and 105%. The idea was to help those whose home values have dropped in response to housing market troubles.

Unfortunately, the program has been seeing limited success. It relies on voluntary help from mortgage lenders, and it excludes those with even higher loan to value ratios. Yesterday Obama made a move to expand the Making Home Affordable program. Now, those with a loan to value ratio of up to 125% are eligible. There are also continuing incentives to encourage mortgage lenders to deal with homeowners.

As far as the housing market is concerned, this new move is unlikely to have a huge impact immediately. It probably won’t even arrest falling home values, or do much in terms of stabilizing the overall housing market. But it does have the potential to help prime borrowers who are looking to refinance to a lower rate. Mortgage interest rates are still relatively low, and refinancing could save folks who made good homebuying decisions a great deal of money.

It even benefits people like me. I bought my home two years ago with 5% down and a 30 year fixed rate. Obviously, I haven’t had time to make up a lot of ground in terms of home equity. My home has lost some value in the last two years, and I have a loan to value ratio of about 94%. (The new rules don’t change my eligibility.) We can easily afford our mortgage payment, but I wouldn’t mind if I got an interest rate that is 1 percentage point lower. Plus, there are places in town offering no-fee refinancing. We could refinance to a 15-year loan and only pay $200 more per month, saving us a great deal over the long haul.

Image source: woodleywonderworks via Flickr

The government aims to help those with a great deal of student loan debt. In addition to arranging plans with your lenders, or applying for forbearance, the government will begin — on July 1 — a new program that helps you refinance your student loans, depending on your income. It is called the Income Based Repayment Plan.

Who qualifies for the new student loan debt program?

Those with lower incomes qualify for this student loan debt program, which allows you to make payments that are around 10% of your monthly gross income. In order to qualify, you have to have student loan debt of at least 1.5 times your your gross income. (This means I don’t qualify.) The loans included in the plan can be undergrad or grad. Professional job training certifications are also included.Your Stafford, Grad PLUS or consolidation loan of these programs are eligible. A parent PLUS Loan is not eligible. You can include old loans in this program.

For those who are having a hard time finding a job, or for those with a lot of debt relative to their income, this might be an elegant solution, one that works better than forbearance or deferment. One of the bonuses is that if you go into public service, what is left after 10 years is forgiven. If you choose the Income Based Repayment Plan, and you still owe after 25 years, that remainder is forgiven as well.

Here is an example chart of what you might pay, depending on your income and the size of your family (source: studentaid.ed.gov):

Drawbacks to the Income Based Repayment Plan

As you might guess, there are some downsides to this plan. While it can make meeting your obligations a little bit easier, there is a price to pay — in the form of increased interest paid over the life of your student loan debt. With a reduced payment, you are spreading your obligation out over a longer period of time. This means that you will probably pay more interest over the long haul. Most student loans are repaid over a period of 10 years, so that means extending out 25 years could mean a great deal of difference, even if you get the remainder forgiven.

You should also realize that you will have to submit annual documentation. This means that you have to maintain a low income in order to renew at your low income payments. If you fail to provide documentation, your payments will return to a standard repayment amount. Most lenders will probably send you reminders about renewing your documentation.

For those having difficulties due to the economy, this might be just the thing. However, it is a good idea to pay more when you are able to. Extra payments toward the principal should begin as soon as you can manage. In the end, the student loan industry is making money off of you, and the interest is money you could be using for yourself.

What do you think of the Income Based Repayment Plan for student loan debt?

Even with optimistic prognostications for economic recovery pouring in (thanks largely to yesterday’s payrolls report), don’t expect credit to be much easier to come by. The credit market has been heavily damaged, and financial institutions are not likely to forget that fact anytime soon. Indeed, credit has been tightening, and it is not likely to loosen for quite some time.

For those looking for a 0% balance transfer credit card, the news is pretty bad. You are unlikely to find a good deal on a credit card, and the debt management methods that usually follow such a course are likely to become less effective. Indeed, the tightening of credit card availability is likely to be further exacerbated by the recently passed Credit CARD Act of 2009. While the intentions are good, and many of the reforms are sorely needed, credit card issuers are likely to begin tightening their requirements, raising their fees and slashing rewards programs.

Getting a loan with the tighter credit requirements

You will still be able to get a loan, even with the tighter credit requirements. However, you may have to work a little harder for it. Whether you are trying to buy a car or purchase a home, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Down payment: The bigger your down payment, the better your rates — and your chances of getting approved in the first place. The larger your down payment, the smaller the amount being financed. And that is in your favor.
• Higher credit score: The credit score you need just to get approved for a loan has gone up. It is more difficult to get a bad credit loan, especially for a house. If you want approval, you need to work to improve your credit score. A higher score will also mean a lower interest rate.
• Income documentation: While it may not be terribly necessary for an auto purchase right now, income documentation is being emphasized more for a home mortgage loan. If you want to buy a house, the days of using unverified income are over. (At least for now. There’s a good chance that in 15 years or so things will be good enough that this whole messy cycle will repeat itself.)

This means that you need to prepare better if you are planning to make a large purchase on credit. Do what you can to improve your credit score, and save up money for a down payment. Those who are prepared are likely to still find credit at good rates. But the unprepared will either be rejected outright or will have to pay a premium to get approval.

Sometimes we wonder whether our leaders are like the rest of us. In the case of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s attempts to sell his home, however, we can see evidence that there are some who are affected by the current housing market troubles — even in their lofty positions. After spending $1.601 million to buy a home in New York in 2004, the Geithners have been trying to sell. Originally put on the market for $1.635 million, the price has come down. CNN Money reports on Geithner’s real estate troubles:

It’s a familiar story as the housing crisis continues to unfold across the country. Indeed, after Geithner’s house sat unsold for nearly 3 months, the price dropped to $1.575 million. Still there were no takers, so Geithner listed it as a rental for $7,500 a month, and has since found a tenant.

But it’s unlikely that even such a steep rent will be enough to cover the mortgage, in addition to the $27,000 in annual property taxes.

Of course, many people facing a similar situation aren’t trying to sell million-dollar homes. And many of them lack a job that pays more than $190,000 a year. At any rate, it is somewhat comforting to know that some of our leaders really are running into some problems.

Going forward, it is important to recognize that a primary residence is rarely what one would call an investment, and that it is indeed possible for real estate to lose value.

image source: Wikimedia Commons

Not too long ago, I jumped on the P2P lending bandwagon, giving Lending Club a try. There are a number of P2P lending sites, allowing for variations that include microloans to the poverty-stricken and student loan P2P lending that focuses on helping students with college costs. And now, if Prosper has its way, it will be possible to for ordinary people to lend money to banks.

Of course, you sort of do that right now. When you put money into a CD or an interest bearing bank account, you are essentially lending the bank money. The bank pays you a yield (often small) for keeping the money there and lends the money to others at a much higher rate. With the new scheme introduced by Prosper, though, you could fund bank loans.

Here’s basically how the process would work:

1. The bank gives out a loan, as usual (the bank will have a limit of $25,000 for loans it wishes to list for funding).
2. After the bank has received three on-time payments, it can offer the loan for bid on Prosper.
3. Investors can partially fund the loan, as P2P lending generally works.

The idea is to provide a place where banks can sell their higher-quality loans. It is an interesting idea, providing a sort of secondary market for regular folks.

What do you think? Would you buy a loan from a bank?

image source: sxc.hu

Right now, there is a lot of talk about foreclosure. Naturally, it is best if you can avoid foreclosure to begin with. Talking to your mortgage lender when you think you are in trouble and working to avoid missed payments is the best way to proceed. But in some cases a foreclosure notice is served, and the process begins before you can really take the steps needed to prevent foreclosure.

It is possible to stop foreclosure once it starts, but it can be difficult. You will have time, however: In most states, the foreclosure process takes between 90 and 180 days, giving you some time to try and save your home before you are evicted. Check your state laws to see how long the foreclosure process lasts, and figure out a plan of action that might help you save your home. Remember: If you have to let something slide, it’s better to miss payments on unsecured debt rather than put your home at risk.

Option #1: Refinance the house

If you have 60% to 70% equity in your home, it is sometimes possible to refinance your home. Your mortgage, plus the missed payment amount, is paid to the bank by the refinancing institution. This requires specialty financing, and can be expensive in terms of fees in some cases. And it can be difficult in this climate to find someone willing to refinance your home.

Option #2: Pay the amount you are in arrears

Your next option is to make up all of your missed mortgage payments. This can be a daunting task. Many banks require an “all or nothing” payment to make up the entire amount you owe. Additionally, it can be even more difficult because you will have to make your current month’s mortgage payment on top of what you are behind with.

Option #3: Payment plan for the amount you owe

Another options is to negotiate a payment plan for the amount you owe. You can get a third-party to help you with this. If you can scrape together a partial payment for what you owe, you can — in some cases — arrange with your mortgage lender to set up a payment plan to cover the rest. This payment plan can be separate from your regular mortgage payment, or it can be added to your mortgage payment as part of a loan modification that extends the term length of your mortgage loan. Missing a payment under such a plan, however, can result in immediate resumption of the foreclosure process.

Option #4: Declare bankruptcy

Bankruptcy should always be the option of last resort. However, there are cases in which you can save your home by going through Chapter 13 bankruptcy — if you qualify, and if only in certain cases. Chapter 7 bankruptcy can delay a foreclosure, but you will still need to save up your money to save the house.

Look at your options and try to work with your mortgage lender and/or mortgage servicer in order to work out an agreement. Unfortunately, because loan modification or stopping foreclosure is voluntary on the part of the mortgage lender, you might not be able to do anything. But you can learn more about your options — and improve your chances of success — by visiting the HUD Web site and getting a list of approved foreclosure counselors in your state.

image source: respres via Flickr

One of the phrases that has been tossed around quite a bit recently is “quantitative easing“. This is a monetary policy course that attempts to increase liquidity in the market. The idea is to promote lending amongst banks by indirectly sending interest rates lower. With the Fed rate effectively at 0%, direct interest rate intervention is not practical. So the Federal Reserve has turned to quantitative easing, buying mortgage-backed securities and agency debt. And, yesterday, the Fed announced its plans to begin purchasing mortgage-backed securities.

If you have seven and a half minutes, this is a better description of quantitative easing than I could ever provide.

Mortgage rates drop

Yesterday’s announcement from the Federal Reserve has resulted in lower mortgage interest rates today. Because mortgage rates are long term debt, they are connected to long-term Treasury bonds, specifically the ten-year bonds. As Treasury yields change, so do mortgage rates. Right now, mortgage rates have dropped to historic lows.

As a result, if you have good credit and if you have a reasonable amount of equity in your home, now might be a good time to refinance. Indeed, you could save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your home mortgage loan if you refinance to these rates. Even 30-year fixed rates are below 5% right now. You can get even better rates with a 15-year fixed mortgage.

Last week I mentioned that I was trying out Lending Club. And, now that I’ve given it a spin, here is the rundown of what Lending Club is all about. Oh, and one of you lucky readers can have a free $100 in your Lending Club account. Here are the rules of this $100 giveaway from Lending Club:

1. Leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time this Friday, March 13, 2009. Make sure you have a valid email address, or I won’t be able to contact you — if you win.
2. Sign up for Lending Club. It’s free. But you need to have an account, so that if you are the winner, your $100 can be added to your account. I suppose you could leave a comment, and then sign up if you win If you never use the account, that’s fine. You do not actually have to go through the “funding” process in order to have an account when you initially sign up. If you are already a member of Lending Club, you can still win the $100.

One winner will be chosen at random from the comments on this post to win the $100 account credit at Lending Club.

What is lending club all about?

With the economy making it difficult to get approved for loans, many people are turning to P2P lending. Lending Club is one of many P2P sites (like Prosper or Green Note) that offer ordinary people the chance to lend money to their peers in small chunks. It is possible to get loans for credit card consolidation, business expansion, auto loans or money for a down payment on a home. I gave it a try when I was approached by a representative of Lending Club.

$50 was placed in my newly-opened Lending Club account for me to try it out. Turns out that I enjoyed it so much that I actually added my own $50 (via PayPal) to do a little more funding. Here’s how it works if you want to invest:

• You look through loans requested from borrowers.
• You choose to fund part of the loan by buying $25 notes.
• You receive a portion of the interest earned on the loan, plus repayment of the principal that you lent.

The nice thing about Lending Club is that you can browse available notes and limit who you lend to. If you are more risk averse, and don’t mind getting a lower return, you can restrict your search to those with only A or B rated credit. If you have a little more to risk, you can earn higher returns by funding someone with lower credit ratings. Of course, the lower the credit rating, the higher the risk of default — so you could lose your investment.

Lending Club includes payment history information, risk information, and allows you to pose questions to the borrower. This helps you make a more informed decisions about whom you lend to. All of this is done without divulging telling personal information about the borrower.

Overall, I found Lending Club fairly easy to use. The interface is straightforward, and you can decide how many notes you want to buy — as long as you have at least $25 in your account. I like that you can use PayPal to fund your account, and the ease (in theory — since I haven’t started receiving payments yet) with which you can withdraw money from your Lending Club account when you start receiving your portion of the payments on the loans. It is also possible to reinvest your earnings fairly easily.

Since I’m the cautious sort, I’ll give it some time before I add further funds. But if my current notes yield some returns, I’ll probably start devoting a portion of my monthly earnings to notes at Lending Club as part of a long-term savings plan.

Do any of you have experience with Lending Club or other P2P Lending? Remember to leave comments by this Friday night in order to be eligible for the $100 giveaway.

image credit: US government

I received this question via email, regarding the “30% rule” when making your mortgage or rent payment:

I know that you’re supposed to stay around 30% of your income for housing costs per month. Is that 30% of net or gross, and is that only for the housing, or do they recommend staying under 30% for housing and all utilities?

This is an interesting question without a straightforward answer. “They” say many things, but from what I can tell from talking with some other financial types and consulting my common sense, the basic rule is 30% of your pre-tax (or gross) earnings, and that doesn’t include utitilies.

That said, here is what I, personally, think:

Try to keep your housing payment to 28% of your net monthly income.

Many mortgage lenders, if you want the best mortgage interest rate, have what is known as the 28/36 qualifying ratio. This means that your mortgage payment should only be 28% of your monthly income and no more than 36% of your monthly income should go to total debt (mortgage + other obligations). I suspect that this is even more common in the current economic climate.

I think that you would be wise to keep your housing payment — mortgage or rent — to 28% of your net income, rather than relying on your pre-tax income. (Our mortgage payment is 25% of our net income.) It might get you qualified, but you want to be able to afford the home without being “house poor” . I would even go so far as to include PMI and property taxes in the category of “mortgage payment”. We’ve done this, and our total housing expenses (including utilities and maintenance) is less than 30% of our monthly income.

What do you think is a reasonable percentage of your monthly income to make for housing?

image source: sxc.hu

For the first time in years, we are getting a tax refund. A big part of the reason is the itemized deduction that comes from mortgage interest paid for an entire year. In light of this fact, it interested to me to learn that changes are on the way for mortgage interest tax deduction for those in the 33% and 35% tax brackets.

New mortgage interest tax deduction policy

As part of his efforts to cut the annual federal deficit in half by 2013, Barack Obama knows he needs to raise revenues. And one way to do this is to pay less in tax returns to some people. (Cooks and Liars doesn’t feel bad at all for those who will get a smaller return in this case.) One of the least painful ways to do this is an interesting proposal to reduce the mortgage interest rate deduction for the top tier by 20%.

The mortgage interest rate deduction is still there for those with larger incomes; it just isn’t as big. CNN Money points this out about what economic-types at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Tax Foundation have to say about the policy:

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a D.C. think tank, said he was impressed with this part of the budget plan.

“It’s a no-brainer for economists,” he said. “Why have taxpayers been [in effect] subsidizing home payments for the highest income people in the country?”

The overwhelming majority of low and middle income people take the standardized deduction when they file their taxes [and] they receive no benefit at all from the mortgage interest deduction, said Patrick Fleenor, chief economist for the Tax Foundation.

Even though I enjoyed my tax deduction for mortgage interest, I don’t think I’ll be upset if I get a diminishing amount. After all, if I make it to the 35% bracket, at which point I’d be making more than $357,700 a year, I think I’ll have enough money that 28 cents back (instead of the current 35 cents back) on my mortgage interest dollar is just fine.