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.
If the loan has already been placed into active foreclosure, its not the end of the world. In most cases you will not be able to make your regular payment to Bank of America once the loan enters into active foreclosure. The only two options at this point will be to either reach an agreement with BOA, or bring the loan all the way current out of your pocket. If you find yourself already in foreclosure you need to begin a loan modification review immediately to keep the past due balance from growing too high. The legal fees they tack on during active foreclosure can be extreme and the longer it goes the more you will be potentially adding into your loan when they modify it.
Within a few weeks of deciding to buy a duplex, my wife and I bought a gorgeous property in a beautiful neighborhood that we would have otherwise not been able to afford had we continued looking at single family homes. Even in the housing recession that we are facing in 2010, our duplex’s value has increased because of the increase in demand for rental units.
Learn more about Obama Mortgage Relief Plan Qualifications.
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