The three most important questions you will need answered before beginning the loan modification process with Bank of America: Investor Type; Foreclosure Status; making home affordable (HAMP) Participation. Where did the money come from? Many people believe that it’s Bank of America that put up all the money to buy their home, because they send their mortgage payment to Bank of America every month. This is not true in most cases. (especially if your loan was formerly with Countrywide) Most of the time BOA is only servicing the loan for another investor and the investor is almost always where the final decision on modification will come from.
One of the first questions you should ask is the investor type on your loan. Customer Service will be the best department to call for this answer. The answer you get will normally be Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, Core Account, or Private Investor. The options on your loan rest entirely on what programs this investor participates in and Bank of Americas job in the modification process is simply to carry out the investors orders and protect their interests at all times. In fact, they have a legal obligation to do so. If you know right off the bat who the investor is and what they participate in, it could save you countless hours of frustration trying to qualify for a plan that is not even eligible for your loan.
Although a Duplex can cost the same amount as a single family home, its major advantage is that a buyer can live in one of the units while renting out the second unit for rental income. This rental income can be used to offset the monthly expenses of the home thereby making home ownership significantly more making home affordable. In many cases, it is often easier to get a home loan to buy a duplex then it is to buy a single family home because banks count the potential rental income from the second unit as part of the borrower’s income during the loan qualification process.
In the case of my wife and I, the prospect of buying a home in our preferred area became a lot more realistic when we shifted our search away from single family homes in favor of duplexes. First and foremost, owning a duplex would make our monthly finances much more bearable. The rental income from a duplex would offset a large part of our monthly PITI and other housing expenses providing us with enough cash at the end of each month for putting into savings and other investments. Owning a duplex made sense as an investment. The rental income from a duplex would allow us to stay away from condominiums and buy a piece of land that would appreciate much more significantly. Owning a duplex would also reduce our cost of ownership. We realized that many of the single family homes in the area that we were interested in were too big for our immediate needs and would require a tremendous expense in monthly heating and cooling bills. By allowing us to rent out half of our property, a duplex would allow us to reduce the living space of our home and nearly halve our monthly utility bills.
At the same time contact a lawyer who represents people facing foreclosure. If you do not have the money to pay for the services of a lawyer, contact a local non-profit agency approved for housing counseling by the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). There is a list of these agencies on the HUD website. Ask them for an appointment with one of their housing counselors. Their services are paid by HUD and are free to you. Get the lawyer or the housing counselor to represent you with your mortgage company. They are skilled in what they do. They will be able to do a far better job getting assistance for you than you will be able to on your own. One major problem mortgage companies have had is that they have not staffed their loss mitigation departments adequately. People facing foreclosure who have applied for loan modifications to save their homes have complained about the problems they have had dealing with their mortgage companies. Many have become so frustrated that they have given up.
Learn more about Obama Mortgage Relief Plan Qualifications.
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