I've been checking with my bank, HSBC, on when they will offer the new levels for conforming loans. I get stonewalled, with little to no answer. They keep saying check back, so I guess I call every week or two. They also said expect the rates to rocket when it is released and another whopper, that it might require a point on the new loan.

I sold a condo and bought my home last summer right around the same time, so I traded up and got lucky in the timing. I did very well on the condo and bought a house because I've a 2 year old son and we wanted more space and a nice neighborhood for him to grow up in. The house is certainly alot more expensive than what we had before and I'm not worried that we may have overpaid (by today's standards), especially since we did well on the condo. I'm sure the value of the house has dropped a bit (we live in Madison, NJ, so it's holding fairly well as it's still pretty close to NYC), but we are going to live in this house for the next 30 years or the rest of our lives, so I'm overall not concerned with the value of the property right now (and we love it).

Still, we got a Jumbo, and it would be great to get the conforming rate as we did what most first time home buyers are told to do, to buy just slightly outside our comfort level as we'll grow into the home and not want to go bigger in 5 years (as we actually did with the condo). We can handle it, but with the rising prices of just about everything of late, the lower rate would be a major help.

SO....can anyone help with any suggestions or advice on what the deal is? Why aren't the banks opening this up and what's with the point applied? It doesn't make sense to me, that if we got a standard loan that we'd get that penalty. Are ANY banks offering this yet? I understand that the new limits are for a limited time and I'd really like to not miss the boat with either it expiring, or for rates to zoom up where it doesn't make sense (my Jumbo is actually not bad at all, it's 6.25, but 5.75 or thereabouts is quite a bit more attractive).

Thanks!

I would try an FHA loan. First check the loan limits in your area. And yes you can refinance a conventional loan to a FHA loan. So that also answers the most common question for FHA... Is it only for first time homebuyers only? No it isnt... https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm

In regards to the new "conforming jumbos" some banks are doing them but not too many brick and mortar banks. Mostly wholesale. Plus there are more restrictions.

Regards to the point. Well the LO has to make money somewhere from the front charging a point or a rebate charging you a higher interest rate and being compensated for that. I hope this helps. I would hook up with a local mortgage broker if you have questions. I can do loan in NJ but its always good to Network with your local brokers to exchange referrals. Hope this helped...