Federally Approved Angels and Their HARPs

[cloudscudding]

When I followed up on the whole HARP refinance program for homeowners who owed slightly more on their house than it was worth but want to take advantage of the current low rates and maybe lower their monthly payment some, I found out that we're also eligible for the HAMP program, the one for homeowners who have some financial hardship and have more

Comments

[fayde]

If I remember correctly, you can always go back into ProStaff and retest to up your scores. So don't sweat it too much.

[cloudscudding]

Yeah, but I'm lazy. Do once, be done!

[cloudscudding]

I'm not fond of it either. Want to know my secret? I don't actually ever schedule time to do such things, or they'd never get done. Instead, I keep a list of the urgent to-dos, and then I roll the dice to see what I do each day. 1 = clean for 1/2 hr. 2 & 3 = write for an hour. 4 = 1/2 hr on the to-do list. Eventually, things get done.

[cloudscudding]

And because it's only a half-hour, it doesn't seem so intimidating.

[marydell]

We just got a HARP refinance even though we're not underwater (barely) and not in the hardship category--apparently if your mortgage is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac that can be sufficient for the government to want to help you get a new one.

We were in the middle of trying to refinance the traditional way--which would require us to have the home assessed and prove we weren't underwater--when the bank called and said "you can do this HARP thing" so we didn't have to get the assessment.

We just did this earlier in the week so it remains to be seen if it really doesn't do horrible things to our credit rating and really does reduce our payments a bit. I hate this stuff, it's so scary!

[seabream]

Re: Roomba

Is the motor still working but power not being transferred to the brushes? I can't remember which specific model you've got, but according to ifixit.com, there are still parts available even for the 4100. If it's a matter of a bearing assembly, gear, or a drive band having worn out, it might be a relatively simple cheap-ish repair. I don't know whether there are small appliance repair places around your area, but if it's a 50 cent part, it could be worth a look. The battery is certainly replaceable for less than the cost of a new Roomba.

On the pro side of the pro/con balance, certain family health things are improving and I may have some spare cash and time I can start using elsewhere, perhaps some of it in your direction.

[cloudscudding]

It's not the battery--it does seem to be a matter of power not being transferred to the brushes. The gear assembly all seems fine--more than that is beyond my expertise. Small appliance repair is a good thought, perhaps I shall poke around and see if I can find such a thing.

And I'm glad to hear you're doing better!