AHA! A MUST READ ON BAILOUT; ALSO HECM LIMIT TO STAY AT $417,000; MAKE SURE YOUR LENDER IF FHA APPROVED!

NEW FHA/HECM REVERSE MORTGAGE LIMIT.

Through a source that was helping negotiate the changes in the recent FHA Modernization Bill I have learned that there will NOT be any change from the newly established $417,000 nationwide lending cap on the Reverse Mortgage.

Some people had hopes that by the first of the year, the committee would have worked out a formula for loans up to $625,500 in high-cost area. THIS IS DEAD AT THIS POINT. IF THERE IS A CHANGE I'LL POST IT. But for now, we should be thankful for the increase to $417,000 which will allow thousand and thousands of people getting Reverse Mortgages to have enough to retire currently obtained, high interest rate/payment loans.

FHA and committee are still working on the Reverse Mortgage Purchase program.

Gloria



THE BAILOUT NOTES:

Notes: Although the House was the one that voted down the bailout Bill, perhaps they just wanted to let the Senate be the House that would add the "Pork". (There is a adage I learned in graduate school that the "House gives, and the Senate takes away", but it seems opposite this time.) And, brother, did the Senate add Pork --enough to satisfy them and House Representatives. Can you read anything below that has to do with the Wall Street Bailout?

This isn't a political site...and yet....I'm changing more than I thought; but I can't see myself voting for any incumbents in the upcoming elections. Not-a-one, at any level. I think we need a real House Cleaning!

Gloria


What started as a three-page “blank check” request for $700 billion to buy “toxic” assets on Wall Street, has now passed the Senate as a 451-page pork-laden piece of detritus.

by: Ian Mathias. 5 Minute Forecast, of Agora Financial, 10-2-2008

Ian sifted through the table of contents for tax exemptions and picked out a few of his favorites:

Sec. 101: Extension of alternative minimum tax relief for nonrefundable personal credits.
Sec. 102: Extension of increased alternative minimum tax exemption amount.
Sec. 201: Deduction for state and local sales taxes.
Sec. 202: Deduction of qualified tuition and related expenses.
Sec. 203: Deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers.
Sec. 204: Additional standard deduction for real property taxes for nonitemizers.
Sec. 205: Tax-free distributions from individual retirement plans for charitable purposes.
Sec. 304: Extension of look-thru rule for related controlled foreign corporations.
Sec. 305: Extension of 15-year straight-line cost recovery for qualified leasehold improvements and qualified restaurant improvements; 15-year straight-line cost recovery for certain improvements to retail space.
Sec. 307: Basis adjustment to stock of S corporations making charitable contributions of property.
Sec. 308: Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Sec. 309: Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.Sec. 310: Extension of mine rescue team training credit.
Sec. 311: Extension of election to expense advanced mine safety equipment.
Sec. 312: Deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico.
Sec. 314: Indian employment credit.
Sec. 315: Accelerated depreciation for business property on Indian reservations.
Sec. 316: Railroad track maintenance.
Sec. 317: Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility.Sec. 318: Expensing of environmental remediation costs.
Sec. 319: Extension of work opportunity tax credit for Hurricane Katrina employees.
Sec. 320: Extension of increased rehabilitation credit for structures in the Gulf Opportunity Zone.
Sec. 321: Enhanced deduction for qualified computer contributions.
Sec. 322: Tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 323: Enhanced charitable deductions for contributions of food inventory.
Sec. 324: Extension of enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of book inventory.
Sec. 325: Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds.
Sec. 401: Permanent authority for undercover operations [as related to tax provisions].
Sec. 402: Permanent authority for disclosure of information relating to terrorist activities [as related to tax provisions].
Sec. 501: $8,500 income threshold used to calculate refundable portion of child tax credit.Sec. 502: Provisions related to film and television productions.
Sec. 503: Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.
Sec. 504: Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation.
Sec. 505: Certain farming business machinery and equipment treated as five-year property.
Sec. 506: Modification of penalty on understatement of taxpayer’s liability by tax return preparer.
Sec. 601: Secure rural schools and community self-determination program.
Sec. 602: Transfer to abandoned mine reclamation fund.
Sec. 702: Temporary tax relief for areas damaged by 2008 Midwestern severe storms, tornados and flooding.
Sec. 704: Temporary tax-exempt bond financing and low-income housing tax relief for areas.
Sec. 709: Waiver of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements following federally declared disasters.
Sec. 710: Special depreciation allowance for qualified disaster property.
Sec. 711: Increased expensing for qualified disaster assistance property.

Seriously, did they think no one was going to read this thing?

“Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands”?

“Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility”? “Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds”?

It’s one thing to drown a piece of legislation with pork.

But the urgency laid on thick by the administration and Sen. Gregg over the last two days all but guaranteed even armchair economists like yours truly would be reading this thing line by line.

C’mon, fellas.
Couldn’t you be a little more discreet? Guess you just couldn’t help yourselves.

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MAKE SURE YOUR REVERSE MORTGAGE LENDER IS A DIRECT FHA APPROVED LENDER.


It’s OK to interview your mortgage company and make sure they are properly licensed an approved to originate FHA loans.


PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT WARNING:

As FHA becomes a bigger and bigger player in the finance market, mortgage brokers who are not approved start getting creative at how they can close FHA loans even though they are not approved. BE SURE that whoever is doing the mortgage REALLY IS FHA approved! Here’s 2 reasons why this is important:

1. Some brokers will have their “spouse” be an “employee” of an FHA approved lender so they can put the loan through them. I recently worked as a buyers agent on one of these and our closing was delayed by about 2 weeks because nobody knew what was going on and the processor was out of another state and it was a REAL mess, AND, the buyer got a really high interest rate because so many people had their fingers in the pie.

2. There are some companies now that have found a loophole in the FHA rules and they CAN help a client get an FHA loan and get paid for it, but they cannot get paid to originate the loan, they can only get paid as a “consultant” AND they can only get paid out of the borrowers own funds, up to 2%, so this means there will be an EXTRA 2% FEE that your buyer will have to pay, above and beyond the normal fees and closing costs.

3. You CANNOT originate FHA loans if you are a Realtor, insurance agent, or title agent. If your company is letting you do both, be careful!

From: Andy Tolbert: Invest In Yourself. 10-3-2008