In August 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would charge a .5% refinancing fee on mortgages over $125,000, or virtually every loan in Southern California. Ostensibly, this .5% fee was designed to offset the costs associated with the pandemic, which were estimated at $6B. In April 2021, the FHFA announced that they would waive the .5% refinancing fee on all loans with a balance of $300,000 or less.
After an outcry from the public at large, the FHFA claims that the success of these policies would allow them to remove the refinancing fees (known as the Adverse Market Refinance Fee”) earlier than expected. This, in turn, will allow would-be borrowers to capitalize on the decreasing mortgage rates, without incurring senseless expenses.
Ultimately, this is good news for the housing market as a whole. At the Chernov we understand that knowledge is power, and knowledge of how the FHFA’s policies impact the market is powerful knowledge indeed. At the Chernov Team we know that whoever comes to the table most prepared leaves with the most, and the Chernov Team always leaves the table with the most.