ruth asked:
I have 2 intrest only mortgage loans (ARM/HELOC) which will come to $2450 per month. I recently got devorced, and finding difficult to afford my mortgage payment, (no late payments yet)but I can afford a payment of $ 2000-2100 per month. I tried to refinance, but I need clossing cost of $12000, its impossible since all my savings are gone. . I really want to keep my house…what shall I do?.. Can my mortgage lender help me? or are there any other ways to get a lower payment?
Elizabeth
I have 2 intrest only mortgage loans (ARM/HELOC) which will come to $2450 per month. I recently got devorced, and finding difficult to afford my mortgage payment, (no late payments yet)but I can afford a payment of $ 2000-2100 per month. I tried to refinance, but I need clossing cost of $12000, its impossible since all my savings are gone. . I really want to keep my house…what shall I do?.. Can my mortgage lender help me? or are there any other ways to get a lower payment?
Elizabeth
George
Unfortunately, it sounds like you purchased a home that out of your price range. After being in the industry for 10+ years, it seems that families want a specific home no matter what. Most banks use the creative financing( interest only, pick a payment, adjustable rates ) to get the family into the home. In most cases, it is because they cannot afford a traditional fixed mortgage. You are in a very difficult situation, it may be possible to find a lender that will refinance your mortgage, however, the payment will most likely go up. The best option, although not what you want, would be to sell the home and purchase another home on a fixed mortage. A payment you can afford and guaranteed to not go up for the term of the loan.
Comment by tcfw2003 — August 31, 2010 @ 3:19 pm
Tim
I am sorry to break this to you Ruth but it appears to me that you have more house than you can afford.
If you cannot afford interest only paymets, the only way that you will be able to reduce your payment further is with a very expensive negativly amortizing adjustable rate loan.
As much as I hate to say this, you may have to sell your home and move to a less expensive home.
There are negatively amortizing loans that you could get, but they would just eat up all of your equity in your home and they would probably cause you to lose your home to foreclosure at some time in the future and you would lose everything.
It may be better for you to sell now rather than to lose your home to foreclosure later.
I know this is not the news that you wanted to hear, I am sorry.
Comment by Mike — September 2, 2010 @ 1:04 pm
Roy
tcfw, they said they got divorced, that means 2 incomes are now one. Preaching that they bought a house they could not afford is ridiculous. One does not plan divorce.
If you have any equity in your home and you have not missed payments and your credit is good, you can probably get refinanced up to 100%. You can also look into the FHA Secure program if you fit the criteria. Speak with a licensed, experienced broker and they can help you find the program that fits.
Comment by Gregorio — September 2, 2010 @ 1:42 pm
Jacob
DIVORCE (medical bills and losing a job are the other two) is one of the reasons for foreclosure. In any case you don’t have any equity in your home. Maybe selling might be the best option and need to sell short in this market. You might try to negotiate with your lender but they seem to be overwhelmed now-days. With on equity and cash I’m don’t believe any lender would be able to help.
Comment by jazz — September 4, 2010 @ 7:32 pm
Larry
Since you are already at interest only the only way to get a lower payment is a negative amortization loan. This means that you aren’t even paying the interest due on the loan and the extra interest eats away at your equity or adds to the balance on your mortgage, an extremely dangerous place to be.
Really, in general, the only ways to decrease a mortgage payment is to reduce the amount borrowed, reduce the interest rate paid or extend the term. You sound like you are about out of options, you can’t extend the term, you aren’t willing or able to get a new rate (refi) and you aren’t going to reduce the amount borrowed. Sounds like you are out of luck!
good luck!
ps – some of the other answers about selling the house and moving to something you can truly afford are probably spot on.
Comment by Rush is a band — September 5, 2010 @ 2:57 am