This months hot real estate question:

Which homeowners will benefit from President Bush’s recent interest rate freeze for subprime loans? And who will be left out in the cold? It’s a question on the mind of both mortgage and real estate professionals alike.

Drumroll.

The winners, who may receive a five-year extension (and possibly even longer) on their low introductory mortgage rates, are those:

• Whose mortgage loans are truly subprime. Traditional ARM mortgagees apparently need not apply.
• With FICO scores at or somewhat below 660.
• Who originated their home loan between 2005 and this past July 30.
• Who are relatively current in their mortgage payments.
• Who cannot afford higher monthly payments.
• Who have less than 3 percent equity in their homes.
• Who actually live in the mortgaged property. Investors need not apply.
• Whose mortgage rates are due to reset in the next two years.
• Who call their loan servicers, and begin the application process. Dont expect them to call you.

The losers appear to be everyone else in San Diego, but most particularly those:

• Who are already facing foreclosure of their San Diego home.
• Who have already refinanced their homes.
• Who are more than than 60 days delinquent on more than one payment in the past year.
• Who have high FICO scores (above 660, it appears).
• Who have prime adjustable rate loans.
• Who can afford the mortgage rate reset.

Nationally, it appears that around 1.2 million borrowers may be considered for this introductory rate freeze. Some will be offered the opportunity to refinance, particularly if there is sufficient equity in the home to do so. It is widely expected that around 600,000 will actually qualify for the rate freeze.

How many homeowners will fall into this total is unknown; however, we are reaching out to our clients and readers and advising them to contact their lenders to see what options might be available. We will be following those results with great interest and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through the application process.

The post Mortgage Rate Freeze: Who Wins and Who Loses appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

Become a victim of identity theft, and you could be in for the nightmare of a lifetime.

We have known several identity theft victims. One family lost their home because of it–and another even fears for his safety. It is a vicious crime that can take years to  resolve and the damages can last far longer than that. And all too often, identity thieves are never caught or punished.

Almost 10 million Americans are victimized by identity theft each year, and it is one of the fastest growing financial crimes.

The best solution is prevention and freezing your credit may be one of the simplest steps you can take to help stop this crime. A security freeze will prevent thieves from obtaining credit in your name by locking, freezing and blocking access to your credit report and credit score.

The cost to do this is fairly minimal ($10 in California), and is a solution available to residents of:

Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

What happens if you want to obtain new credit? The consumer is given a PIN to grant access to the credit file. Again, a nominal fee may be charged to do so.

How does the credit freeze work? Simple. If a business or lender cannot obtain credit information, new credit will not be issued to the thief. Unfortunately, though, you will have to unfreeze your credit if applying for a new loan or mortgage.

For additional reading about this subject, click here.

The post Stop Identity Theft: Freeze Your Credit appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.