Mortgage Guide

Michael asked:

I bought a house with a friend of mine as co-borrower two years ago. I got married recently and want to take over the house and the mortgage. The house has two mortgages when it was purchased at 100% financing at that time. Rates are good. I called up the lending bank who holds both mortgages and they said I can assume the first mortgage but the second mortgage is not assumable. I have to refinance for the second mortgage.

Another option would be to refinance altogether and combine the two mortgages into one under my name. But since the house was purchased almost two years ago, there has not been that much equity so in order to refinance I have to put down a lot of money. The bank can only finance 95%LTV.

If I go with refinancing with the second mortgage, the bank will need 85%LTV maximum.

Not sure what to do. What do you think?
Thanks Christopher B.! But what is the Power of Attorney for?
The first mortgage is a 30 year fixed, with 6.5% interest. The second mortgage is a 30 year fixed with 7.9% interest.
My buddy got married too and intends to buy a house in a year or so. Hence the need to take him off the mortgage.

Question posted courtesy of: Patricia

gijaneridesagain asked:

My husband wants us to take out a one account mortgage. He reckons that you put your savings and income in there, your mortgage shrinks, say, to 3 years - then your house is completely paid off and you still have all your funds 100%intact. I have pointed out to him that this is to good to be true, and therefore probably isn’t. I have read through the info pack and there are a couple of contradications - the on-line calculator said we could shrink our mortgage to 3 years, and yet the info booklet says the one account mortgage term is for a minimum of 5 years, also, one paragraph says that you can withdraw your savings at any time, and then another paragraph says your savings / lumps sum payment have to remain in the account for the duration of the mortgage term…confused? we are - are then any financial gurus out there who can help to simplify things in a nutshell for us please?? - specifically the pros and cons of taking out such a mortgage and any pitfalls to watch out for.

Question posted courtesy of: Francisco

BMD asked:

I just read a few “answers” to someone’s post about ING Mortgage, and I am confused. ING Mortgage is telling me hand’s down that it is 695.00, plus odd days interest, and then the mortgage tax, and that is it. In their paperwork, they indicate “there will be some 3rd party fees” but when I ask them about it, they say “No, these are listed by law, but you (me the consumer) do not pay them, they do.” However a mortgage guy @ National City Mortgage told me to BEWARE…. he said that they can’t pay 3rd party fees themselves b/c it would be illegal. On different Yahoo answers, it supports what my National City Mortgage guy told me, but ING SWEARS that I will not have to. I would like to have it listed directly to me opinions from others on this site who either have applied for an ING mortgage, have one, or an expert.
Can someone post one answer just so I can get this off my “open” list. I have this listed twice accidentally. If you answer I’ll vote you “best response” but put something somewhat intelligent sounding.

Question posted courtesy of: Gina