Last Updated on Feb 28, 2020 by James W
People have been wondering, which will improve first: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Tampa’s housing market. The process of pursuing a mortgage is fairly stressful, so just imagine trying to get approved in one of the areas that was hit the hardest by the real estate housing crash. Due to the bubble bursting, several lenders in the Tampa housing market grew defiantly stubborn in offering mortgages.
However, Tampa mortgages through Foundation offers a different ending to the book of mortgage denial. By turning to a group staffed by fully licensed and veteran expert brokers who can overcome the obstacles that intimidate others, you are in the best position possible to obtain a mortgage even in an area as turbulent as Tampa. This article will offer a basic introduction in examining the real estate lightening that struck Tampa’s housing market, and the HARP 2.0 loan as a potential remedy.
The bolt that struck Tampa
First let’s get a general understanding as to how this all happened. By the end of 2011, single-family homes in Tampa fell by a dramatic 19 percent. Tampa’s market going into 2012 depended largely on the foreclosure market being able to pull itself from the quicksand and work its way through the legal system after delays flared from allegations of improper documentation. Tampa has been slowly recovering, but the speed has been at a snail’s pace. In an article published by The Tampa Bay Times, the author conveys a challenging road ahead.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg area sits awkwardly in the middle at number 29 in a survey of 51 major markets appearing in the 2013 Emerging Trends in Real Estate. According to the article, the Tampa market is one where real estate investors and lenders will proceed with caution. Safe but extremely low interest rates will drive away yield-hungry investors away from plain-vanilla financial instruments, the article continues, and this “rollercoaster ride of a stock market??? will push those same investors towards real estate markets that are climbing out from recent bottoms. As the winds of Tampa’s real estate market look rough and thunder is churning, having a veteran mortgage broker in your corner will help calm the elements, and help you ease into your mortgage qualification.
HARP 2.0
HARP 2.0 (the Home Affordable Refinance Program) offers some promising ways for homeowners to refinance or get a first-time mortgage. When HARP 1.0 was launched it was expected to play a key role in helping Florida housing markets recover. However, it only helped one million of the four million people it had originally hoped to assist. Government officials went back to the drawing board, and released HARP 2.0, which has been met with much success.
There are a few challenges to overcome in order to qualify for this program, but your experienced broker can help you. For starters, like most things in life that involve finances, you need a good credit score—one with a minimum of 620 in order to qualify for the HARP 2.0 loan. If you fall a little short here, don’t panic, your broker can help set you on the path to repairing your credit in a tailored manner to qualify you for the loan you seek. But take warning; if you were one of the million people in the country to get a loan through HARP 1.0, you are automatically disqualified. Also, your mortgage payments should never exceed 28 percent of your gross monthly income. This is just an industry standard.
Hunt down a broker
This article only scratched the surface of the challenges facing those who are seeking a mortgage in Tampa. As you can see, there will be some challenges, and your best plan of action should involve conducting some online research, and contacting an experienced Tampa mortgage broker who can help guide you through the process.
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