Homeowners search for solutions after write-down program is scrapped.

The U.S. government wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to write down mortgages to help troubled borrowers and spur the housing market to recovery. It is estimated that one in five homeowners owe more on their mortgage loan than their house is worth, but the specific program to write down mortgages would have targeted no more than 248,000 borrowers. The debate continues, but the decision not to write down mortgages has now been made and the choices have narrowed for borrowers in this situation.

There are a lot of homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments because they have suffered a drop in income. Likewise, many homeowners continue to pay on home loans even as they've seen their equity plummet. For some people, paying on an underwater mortgage may be so unappealing that they might eventually choose to walk away. But the decision to walk away from your mortgage can ruin your credit and leave you with a sizable tax bill if you don't act before the end of 2012. You might want to explore the options at the very least.

A mortgage calculator can help you weigh the options.

If you're unwilling to walk away from your home and have some home equity and decent credit, a refinance could still be a choice. To get an idea of what type of deal you might qualify for, use a refinance calculator to run the numbers. Depending on your situation, refinancing could lower your payments enough to improve your cash flow.

Using an amortization calculator will give you a breakdown of the principal and interest payments for a refinanced loan. That will show the true cost of a mortgage loan over the entire term. Do as much research as necessary to find the right type of help if you are struggling to make mortgage payments.

A variety of mortgage calculators are available to help compare loans, to determine the affordability of getting a particular loan and to examine other information related to mortgage loans. It is also important to talk with your current mortgage lender or loan servicer to get information about options that may be available to you to make paying a mortgage less stressful.

This entry was posted on August 20, 2012 01:16 and is filed under Mortgage Refinance . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response.