If you’re planning to buy a condo or refinancing your condo you might sense the mortgage credit and mortgage refinancing squeeze.

Due to the results of the huge investors like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac including the new stiffer restrictions by mortgage insurers for condos, being able to refinance your condos mortgage seems to be tougher than one might have thought.

Starting May 1st one of the biggest private mortgage insurers will not cover refinancing condos or new buyers of condos in countless ZIP code areas around the country that have seen a “decline” in mortgage credit and market conditions.

Even if the market was at its healthiest a condo buyer will need to put a minimum of 10 percent down payment. Mortgage insurers would also reject and condo applications if more than 30 percent of the owners of the condo are investors.

Those condo buyers that have a 20 percent down payment would not feel the affects of the mortgage insurers cutbacks. Mortgage insures will continue to refinance mortgages and continue to take applications for condo buyers that have at lest 10 percent.

Huge mortgage refinancing lenders have issued new guidelines that make it tougher for mortgage refinancing lenders to make loans available to buy condos or refinance mortgages.

To insure these guidelines for condo buying or refinancing are followed loan officers now need to take into account the number of condo owners are late on fees, their legal information, the amount of commercial space available and percentage of investors that are owners of condos.

Smaller lenders find these new guidelines for condo buying and mortgage refinancing unfair. The complain that smaller insures due not have the man power to carry the extra work to help mortgage refinancing and condo buying.

Loan officers are required before approving applications for mortgage refinancing or condo buyers to confirm that minimum 10 percent of the condos budget is available for “capital expenditures and deferred maintenance.” Some lenders feel that many loan officers would not approve applications for mortgage refinancing or condo buyers if they see that less than 10 percent of the “budget” is available in non physical items even if it includes insurance.

The bigger mortgage lenders say that although mortgage refinancing and condo buying applications are going to be more difficult because of all the extra paper work including the extra man power needed is going to be difficult it is necessary because of the decline in condo and homes around the country.

President of Family Choice Mortgage Corp a Connecticut based business has said that in these difficult times in the economy potential condo buyers and people who would like to have their mortgage refinanced many will hear that they can not be accepted as qualified buyers until all of the paper work is submitted and qualifies. Some condo buyers and people that want to have their mortgage refinanced even with good credit and equity may find the process difficult.

Some private mortgage lenders are now refusing to approve condo units in the same condo project after a certain percent to help restrict their exposure to any losses.

President Of Equitable Mortgage Corp., Bruce Calabrese has said that even he would have trouble refinancing his mortgages on his two condos even though he is in the business.

-M Petrone

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