What is the HARP Program

Home Affordable Refinance Program
When you have little equity in your home, or owe as much or more on your mortgage than your home is worth, it can be difficult to find a lender willing to help you refinance.
But for borrowers who have remained current on their mortgages, and have loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, there is hope. It’s called HARP.

Introduced in March 2009, HARP enables borrowers with little or no equity to refinance into more affordable mortgages without new or additional mortgage insurance. HARP targets borrowers with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios equal to or greater than 80 percent and who have limited delinquencies over the 12 months prior to refinancing.

Significant changes have been made to HARP since the program was first introduced. For example, in 2011 the LTV ceiling was removed, property appraisal requirements were waived in certain circumstances, certain risk fees for borrowers selecting shorter amortization terms were eliminated, and certain representations and warranties were waived.

In 2013, the eligibility date was changed from the date the loan was acquired by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to the date on the note, increasing the pool of eligible borrowers.
Through HARP, you can get a lower interest rate (which means less out-of-pocket costs each month), get a shorter loan term, or change from an adjustable to a fixed-rate mortgage. There’s no minimum credit score needed, either. And now that HARP guidelines are simpler, even people who were formerly turned down may now be eligible for HARP refinancing.

It's hard to believe that many homeowners don't know the Home Affordable Refinance Program® (HARP) actually exists, millions of Americans could reduce their monthly payments by as much as $3,500 a year. This program isn't talked about often.

The reality is most people think the savings are too good to be true. Even worse, some think the program is only for homeowners with bad credit or foreclosures. This couldn't be farther from the truth. HARP was made for the average American and good credit helps you qualify for even better rates!

HARP

FHFA Home Affordable Refinance Program site -- helping homeowners who've seen drop in home values refinance with better mortgage terms.

The government is making a final push and urging homeowners to take advantage of HARP before the program ends. If lowering your payments and shaving years off your mortgage would help you, it's vital that you take action now.

HARP: 'Not A Scam' Homeowners may be getting a big pay day.

Don't be surprised that you may even take some cash out of your home to help you with bills, renovations, your child's education, a vacation, or to start saving for retirement.
HARP may be your best route to a better mortgage.
Frequently Asked Questions

The Home Affordable Refinance Program ends December 31, 2018

New Power; reshaping politics, business, and life—

The key to understanding the 21st century: New Power

The rules have changed, make sense of the world around you.
The world seems chaotic. Polls failed to predict that Trump would win.
Airbnb is worth more than Hilton. #MeToo is taking down powerful, previously untouchable heads of industry. But when you step back from the chaos, you can notice there’s an underlying force at work: “new power.”

By understanding new power you can reshape the world around you.
The future is a battle for mobilization. Those who flourish will be those best able to channel participatory energy — for the good, the bad, and the trivial. And this battle will have big implications for people, organizations, and for the world at large.

Understand and navigating the 21st century
Two visionary thinkers reveal the unexpected ways power is changing— and how new power is reshaping politics, business, and life.

New Power shines fresh light on the cultural phenomena of our day,
from #BlackLivesMatter to the Ice Bucket Challenge to Airbnb, uncovering the new power forces that made them huge. Drawing on examples from business, activism and pop culture, Heimans and Timms explain how to build new power and channel it successfully. They also explore the dark side of these forces: the way ISIS has co-opted new power to monstrous ends, and the rise of the alt-right’s “intensity machine.”

What new power looks like,
Jeremy Heimans shares the ideas behind New Power and their role in our shifting world:
HBR: Understanding "New Power"
Some foundational research and thinking behind New Power gets shared with the Harvard Business Review. New Power informative, to inspire all those wanting to make change... and achieve a goal against all odds. Your new roadmap to building movements, spreading ideas, growing organizations, and leading differently.

New Power

The indispensable guide to navigating the 21st century

How will you use #newpower in your life? Tell the world.

Citation Article: Can Social Media Be Saved?
By Kevin Roose via THE SHIFT/NYT

The Evolution of Automated Safety Technologies:

                         What does this mean for you as a driver?

                                           Is there anything unusual about this car?

General Motors is getting ready to ditch the driver for good—at least in its newest R&D vehicles. In 2019, Cruise—the self-driving startup acquired a couple of years ago by GM—wants to begin testing the fourth generation of its autonomous vehicle, the Cruise AV.
(This is a modified Chevrolet Bolt EV, no relation to the Chevrolet Cruze.)

The company has filed a safety petition with the US Department of Transportation requesting permission to deploy the fourth-generation Cruise AV, which will be completely driverless, without any steering wheel, pedals, or other form of manual controls.
— Read Full Article by Jonathan M. Gitlin /  Ars Technica

The Evolution of AST:
A number of today’s new motor vehicles have technology that helps drivers avoid drifting into adjacent lanes or making unsafe lane changes, or that warns drivers of other vehicles behind them when they are backing up, or that brakes automatically if a vehicle ahead of them stops or slows suddenly, among other things.
These and other safety technologies use a combination of hardware (sensors, cameras, and radar) and software to help vehicles identify certain safety risks so they can warn the driver to act to avoid a crash.

The continuing evolution of automotive technology aims to deliver even greater safety benefits and – one day – deliver Automated Driving Systems (ADS) that can handle the whole task of driving when we don’t want to or can’t do it ourselves.

Overview of AVS

Automated Vehicles for Safety

The continuing evolution of automotive technology aims to deliver even greater safety benefits and Automated Driving Systems (ADS) that-one day-can handle the whole task of driving when we don't want to or can't do it ourselves. Fully automated cars and trucks that drive us, instead of us driving them, will become a reality.

AVs full societal benefits are difficult to project, the transformative potential of automated vehicles and their driver assistance features can also be understood by reviewing U.S. demographics and the communities these technologies could help to support.

For example, automated vehicles may also provide new mobility options to millions more Americans. Today there are 49 million Americans over age 65 and 53 million people have some form of disability.

In many places across the country employment or independent living rests on the ability to drive. Automated vehicles could extend that kind of freedom to millions more.
One study suggests that automated vehicles could create new employment opportunities for approximately 2 million people with disabilities. A necessary conversation to continue; the benefits of this transformative technology.
The future is closer than you think.

Update: SAN FRANCISCO — A woman in Tempe, Ariz., died after being hit by a self-driving car operated by Uber, in what appears to be the first known death of a pedestrian struck by an autonomous vehicle on public roads. Report via NYT

Life-Enhancing Opportunities―

More than Living. It's time to Thrive!

'On a mission to end the stress and burnout epidemic;
by offering companies and individuals sustainable, science-based solutions to enhance well-being, performance, and purpose, and create a healthier relationship with technology. Recent science has shown that the pervasive belief that burnout is the price we must pay for success is a delusion.

We know, instead, that when we prioritize our well-being,
our decision-making, creativity, and productivity improve dramatically.
Thrive Global is committed to accelerating the culture shift that allows people to reclaim their lives and move from merely surviving to thriving.'― Thrive Global

Thrive Global

Thrive Global is a behavior change media and technology company offering science-based solutions to lower stress, and enhance well-being and performance.

Core Components
Corporate: Thrive’s corporate program brings the latest strategies and tools around health and well-being to organizations, inspiring and accelerating a thriving corporate culture.

Media: Thrive’s media platform serves as the global hub for the conversation about well-being and performance, with an emphasis on action and featuring original, expert, and community content.

Digital Products: Thrive Global’s suite of science-based digital products for companies and consumers help individuals improve well-being and performance, achieve sustainable behavior change and build a healthier relationship with technology.

The combination of corporate, media and digital products differentiates Thrive Global by reaching people at work, at home, and through the technology they use. Each core component reinforces the others, yielding a multi-pronged approach ending our stress and burnout epidemic.


" Whatever your entry point is, take it. Come for the performance-enhancing benefits, stay for life-enhancing opportunities. "― ARIANNA HUFFINGTON

      “ People look for retreats for themselves, in the country, by the coast, or in the hills . . . There is nowhere that a person can find a more peaceful and trouble-free retreat than in his own mind. . . . So constantly give yourself this retreat, and renew yourself. ”
 — Marcus Aurelius

Thrive Podcasts
Thrive Global Podcast, in partnership with iHeartMedia, is a bi-weekly series featuring Arianna in conversation with notable leaders, celebrities, athletes, academics, scientists and more about how they thrive. Listen to be inspired, informed and recharged.

The Future of AI Surveillance Cams: They won’t just watch you —

They’ll understand, too.
Until the past few years, just about all cameras — whether smartphones or point-and-shoots or CCTV surveillance — were like eyes disconnected from any intelligence. They captured anything you put in front of them, but they didn’t understand a whit about what they were seeing. Even basic facts about the world eluded them. But all that is changing.

Attribution: TheVerge

There’s a new generation of cameras that understand what they see.
They’re eyes connected to brains, machines that no longer just see what you put in front of them, but can act on it — creating intriguing and sometimes eerie possibilities. At first, these cameras will promise to let us take better pictures, to capture moments that might not have been possible with every dumb camera that came before. The case with CLIPS; it uses 'machine learning' to automatically take snapshots of people, pets and other things it finds interesting. It doesn’t take long to imagine the useful and very creepy possibilities of cameras that can decipher the world. Digital cameras brought about a revolution in photography, but until now, it was only a revolution of scale.
State of the Art Technology: Full Article by Farhad Manjoo/NYT

The Magic of AI. At Your Service
Lighthouse uses its exclusive AI Service, making it so much more than the best home security camera.

Building the Future: In time, some fundamental technologies — like artificial intelligence, computer vision, deep learning and natural language processing, will have even more of a huge impact on Society.

Blog Home

In episode 5, we take a look at how Lighthouse stacks up against one of the leading, traditional home security cameras to answer the question: why 3D sensors?

A better way to stay in the know – because life is more than just a stream of motion alerts.

When The Verge asked IC Realtime about problems of how AI surveillance could be abused, they gave an answer that’s common in the tech industry: these technologies are value neutral, and it’s only how they’re implemented and by whom that makes them either good or bad. “With any new technology there’s a danger it could fall into the wrong hands,” says Sailor. “That’s true of any technology … and I think the pros in this aspect greatly outweigh the cons.”

AI surveillance system built by Chinese firm SenseTime.

Image: SenseTime / YouTube

 Tech Talk
 Artificial intelligence surveillance goes into supercharge mode. Constant surveillance/social surveillance has become the norm. Embrace #FRT, get used to it: Alexa is at your door.

Retirees should always take advantage of this question:

“Do you offer a senior discount?”

There are many special discounts that are available to seniors.
Retirees are offered discounts at most retailers, restaurants, parks, on public transport and at hotels. But you won’t get these discounts unless YOU ASK for them.
Simply ask the question, “Do you offer a senior discount?” and see how much you can save.
You’ll be able to save money every time you find yourself reaching for your wallet or purse.

Here is a list of 19 discounts seniors get only if they know to ask about them in 2018.
Not only can you read about them here, you can click the links provided if you want to take advantage of these special discounts. Article by Life'd:

19 Discounts Seniors Didn't Know They Could Get

There are many special discounts that are available to seniors. Retirees are offered discounts at most retailers, restaurants, parks, on public transport and at hotels. But you won't get these discounts unless YOU ASK for them. Simply ask the question, "Do you offer a senior discount?" and see how much you can save.

Life'd primary mission is to make life easier by publishing actionable articles that are written in a relatable, digestible tone. A focus on providing readers with tips, tricks, secrets, and advice on a wide range of relevant topics that appeal to a broad audience. But most importantly, Life'd do so in a fun way that makes achieving goals less intimidating.
Life’d promises to deliver, and in a big way.

Positive Affirmations 2018

Every Thought You Think Creates Your Future;
What you Think about Yourself becomes the Truth.

If you believe the phrase you are what you think, then life truly stems from your thoughts. But we cannot rely purely on thoughts; we must translate thoughts into words and eventually into actions in order to manifest our intentions. 

This means we have to be very careful with our words, choosing to speak only those which work towards our benefit and cultivate our highest good. Affirmations help purify our thoughts and restructure the dynamic of our brains so that we truly begin to think nothing is impossible. The word affirmation comes from the Latin affirmare, originally meaning “to make steady, strengthen.”

Affirmations do indeed strengthen us by helping us believe in the potential of an action we desire to manifest. When we verbally affirm our dreams and ambitions, we are instantly empowered with a deep sense of reassurance that our wishful words will become reality.

 The art of the spoken word is critical in crafting your future.
So speak away; relinquish your fears and purge your anger, predict your own future and live up to your potential with the affirmations that will change your life:

35 Affirmations That Will Change Your Life

If you believe the phrase you are what you think, then life truly stems from your thoughts. But we cannot rely purely on thoughts; we must translate thoughts into words and eventually into actions in order to manifest our intentions.

 
 Read Full Article By Dr. Carmen Harra:
'You can utilize any of these affirmations alone or create your own unique combination based on your personal wishes and needs. What is most important is to establish a profound communication with the universe — so say it with conviction, say it in your own unique voice, and make it happen in the real world.'

Dr. Carmen Harra is a best-selling author, clinical psychologist, and relationship expert. Her newest book, The Karma Queens’ Guide to Relationships, is available everywhere books are sold. You can Follow Dr. Carmen Harra on Twitter: @DrCarmenHarra

Get the new year started in a positive way: 101 Inspirational Quotes
“With a new year, we are presented with an opportunity to make a success plan which will help us achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. A new year gives us a chance to renew our commitment to our business and to working hard at being our best selves. One of the ways I start out each day is with positive affirmations, but I also look for a quote from others that can help me start my day in the right way and the right frame of mind. These are some of my favorites that will help you get the year started in a positive way.” ―Rhett Power

Make 2018 your year
If you want some help in making it a better year, Rhett Power's latest book can help.
The Entrepreneur's Book of Actions: Essential Daily Exercises and Habits for Becoming Wealthier, Smarter, and More Successful, a 53-week reader that helps entrepreneurs to take action daily to break old habits, think in new ways and can help transform yourself and business. 'Real change happens through action': @rhettpower.


"The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny." - Albert Ellis