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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 2003)
OCTOBER 15, 2003 Smoke Signals 3 Tribal Members Cash In Ori Recent Federal Refinance Program Refinance continued from front page soon after the groundwork on the development was finished. Tracy has been a Surveillance Technical Supervisor at Spirit Mountain Casino "since before day one," and Jerri also works for the casino. Both are very care ful about their real estate investments, and had been looking for an opportunity to refinance from about a year after they moved in. "We arrived in 1998," said Tracy, "and in 1999, inter est rates started to drop." Today, their house is fenced with a beautiful porch leading out into the yard and a pool out front in summer. Oh yeah, and little Sydney, 1, has since arrived on the scene. All this has been made possible by Section 184 of the Housing and Community Development of 1992 that guarantees home loans on Tribal property. Until February of this year, however, Tribal members had not been able to refinance their homes. Within days of a Smoke Signals article (2103 issue) detailing the problem, the federal pro gram opened the doors to this refinancing opportunity, and in no time, more than half of the homeowners in Grand Mead ows had taken advantage of the opportunity. The Howertons were among them. "Property information is something we watch very care fully," said Tracy. The family already owns a rental in Salem, and "we would like to have enough capital to buy another house," he said. The $130 a month that the Howertons save as a result of refinancing won't quite pay for another house, but "it affords us more things for the kids," said Howerton, "and (Jerri) doesn't have to work full time. It makes it that much easier for us to sustain our life-style." In all, 25 of 31 homeowners in Grand Meadows have refinanced. Not many of the remaining six needed to refinance, according to Valerie Harjo, a Tribal Housing Board member and previously an Indian housing specialist with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Harjo is now a loan officer with GMAC Mort gage. Either they had recently pur chased or had purchased their homes outright, she said. Savings came in a number of forms. Some saved more because they initially purchased their homes at a higher interest rate. Others cut their payment term from 30 years to fifteen years, and in ditional home may not be realized as a result, the problem points up potential issues for many homeowners on Tribal land. "Everybody wants to move up," said Howerton, and ultimately, he will be looking to the Tribal Coun cil for help if he ever decides to sell am mm those cases, payments were about the same with the new lower rates. To date, nobody has pulled money out of the value of the house with the refinance. "The program is a streamlined refi with no cash back and no credit qualifying," said Harjo. "The BIA (Bureau of In dian Affairs, which approves all loans for housing on Tribal prop erty) has indicated that any cash out will be looked at very closely." Issues for the near and long term his property and there is nobody of Grand Ronde or Indian ancestry interested in buying. "That's go ing to be the biggest issue in 10 years," he said. At the same time, said Harjo, the Tribal Housing Board has been hearing about other possibilities for the future from the national asso ciation. In the future, she said, "Lenders might not be the most ef fective way. Looking down the road, there may be some other av- W -rs J 8 ..i&..ulM...,...r..,.,.r ..,. . , '.p gfc ma New Savings Tribal Elder Bud White and his wife Anna, were among the first to refinance their home in Grand Meadows. Here, they sign the papers with Debbie Clark, Escrow Officer with Ticor Title Insurance of McMinnville. remain for homeowners in Grand Ronde. Back a few years, Tribal member and Grand Meadows ho meowner Perri McDaniel was one of the first to put her name on a list for 'stick-built' houses antici pated for a mixed-use development on the Tribes' Risseeuw property, a block north of Grand Meadows. Now, of course, the property is be ing considered for the Tribes' new pow-wow grounds. While McDaniel's hopes for a tra- enues that we may want to take." She suggested that "the Tribes can be like a broker between a Tribal member and lender." In addition, though no decisions have been finalized regarding a lo cal bank for Grand Ronde and the Tribe, it is possible that the branch could handle mortgages, said Harjo, who also cautioned, "There's a lot of expertise needed to do mortgages." Typical costs to refinance include a one percent fee to HUD, the fed eral housing authority which guar antees the loans, one percent to Wells Fargo, the lender, and a $220 fee to the escrow company. "My av erage loan amount is $70,000," said Harjo. "The average cost is $1,700." All fees can be included in the loan. Refi loans all close within 60 days, according to Harjo, and "normally can be done in 30-45 days, subject to market conditions." To successfully refinance a home, "it's very important to know what their goals are." Refinancing a 30 year loan, or to a 30-year loan, will bring payments down as low as they'll go, but homeowners will be making those payments for a long time. In addition, something not gen erally recognized, is that mortgage payments are weighted more to the interest side at the beginning of each mortgage and more toward the principal side at the end. By refi nancing, home owners effectively start the mortgage over and again see the interest part of their pay ments at the highest level and prin cipal at the lowest. By refinancing to a 15-year mort gage, the rate will be lower but monthly payments will be higher, though for a shorter period of time. Looking at the total amount a home owner pays over the life of the loan is generally a pretty shocking dose of reality. In terest for the life of a mort gage more than doubles the cost of a home. Factors like the market for reselling the homes, and the percent of your income that goes to housing costs (30 per cent is about right) should play an important part in the mortgage decision. But with those in mind, one might take a 30-year loan with lower monthly pay ments if selling the house is in the near to middle future, because the home's next buyer will pay off the bulk of the mortgage. For those who intend to stay in their houses, a 15-year mortgage, though a little harder to keep up with month to month, allows you to buy the house for substantially less money in the long run. With all that said, the Tribal Hous ing Authority retains the profession als in the field, and is a good place to ask for advice on buying or refi nancing homes on Tribal property. ! f r 1 b.M m Sports Willamina High School sports are as thrilling as ever this year, whether it's 11th grade halfback Bryan Fendall (left) as he outruns an Amity defender on Friday, September 26, or the high flying Senior Caitlin Zimbrick (right) as she prepares to spike the ball on a Friday, October 8 volleyball matchup with Gaston. to- 1 jLJ.L"--t 1 -iw-. ; . V"V - Z jS5 t"" 1 L s - c ..... , 4t .'.""'Win -I... ' 'T7irZ
