Maine Real Estate Info

On August 31, 2007, President Bush announced a new initiative called FHASecure, which will give the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) flexibility to help more families keep their homes in light of the decline of the subprime market and impending interest rate adjustments affecting numerous borrowers in both the subprime and Alt-A markets. The FHASecure program will help people who have not made all of their payments on time because of rising mortgage payments but who otherwise have good credit. NAR applauded President Bush’s statement of support for giving homeowners greater flexibility to refinance their loans through the FHA. At a white house conference call on the initiative, the administration specifically signaled out NAR for our timely support of the initiative. NAR has been advocating regulatory changes to the FHA program. On April 9, 2007, NAR sent a letter to Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, asking that FHA waive the requirement that a homeowner’s mortgage be current to refinance into an FHA loan product. NAR also supports legislation that would give FHA greater flexibility by increasing loan limits, eliminating the statutory 3 percent minimum cash down payment, allowing FHA flexibility to provide risk-based pricing, and revising the condominium program. Contact Jerry Nagy of the Regulatory and Industry Relations division with any questions. Jerry Nagy of the Regulatory and Industry Relations division with any questions. Read NAR’s press release supporting the announcement. Read President Bush’s remarks.

Banks Woo Borrowers Who Have Good Credit
Banks have plenty of money available for borrowers with great credit and a desire for a conventional fixed rate mortgage, says James Chessen, chief economist for the American Bankers Association.

To attract these customers, lenders are offering fee waivers, competitive interest rates, and a willingness to negotiate.

Banks like conventional borrowers because they tend to be the kind of customers that will take advantage of other products from the lender, including savings accounts, credit cards and checking accounts. “We find that someone who has a mortgage with us will have about five products in addition to the mortgage,” says Terry Francisco, a spokesman for Bank of America Corp.

To attract this kind of business, Bank of America is offering “No Fee Mortgage Plus,” saving consumers about $3,000 in closing costs, which the bank covers.

Deals like this one make it important for borrowers with good credit to shop around.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Julian Mincer (09/06/2007)

Former guv banks on wind
Angus King is entering the wind power business.Last month, Independence Wind LLC, a company the former Independent Maine governor created last winter with Rob Gardiner, who once headed Maine Public Broadcasting Corp., erected two test towers on Flathead Mountain and Record Hill in northern Oxford County, according to the Sun Journal in Lewiston. The towers will collect wind data for six months to test the feasibility of building a 25-tower wind farm on the location.

The wind farm is still in the concept phase, but is slated to cost between $60 million and $80 million and expected to generate enough electricity to power all the homes in Oxford County for a year, Gardiner told the paper.

Source: Mainebiz Daily