CUMEX Mortgage Service Centers Debuts `Home Possible Mortgages'

LEXINGTON, Mass. - The Credit Union Mortgage Exchange Service Center, a division of Chittenden Corp. which has been serving the home financing needs of credit union members for over 20 years, recently announced a new product it says makes it possible for more members to purchase a home. The company's new Home Possible Mortgage targets the group of potential homebuyers whose income is between 80-100% of the media for their geographical area. The basic Home Possible Mortgage is available either as a 100% loan-to-value mortgage that borrowers can use for single-family home purchases and no cash-out refinancing, or as a 97% LTV mortgage for one-to-four unit properties. Both versions allow borrowers to put down as little as $500 from their personal funds toward the down payment and closing costs for a one-unit property. Two-unit properties require borrowers to put in 3% of the property's value; and three- to four-unit properties and manufactured home require a 5% borrower contribution. Home Possible is available as 15-, 20-, and 30-year fixed rate mortgages, or as 7/1 or 10/1 ARMs for one-unit properties. The same is true for CUMEX's Home Possible Neighborhood Solution Mortgage that allows for even higher debt-to-income ratios than a typical high LTV mortgage, as well as a 3-year subsidy buy-down that reduces the initial interest rate as much as 1.5 percentage points in the first year and 0.5 percentage points per year for the next two years.