ADUs are one of the few bright spots for the state’s housing market at a time of rising construction costs, high interest rates, and continued local resistance to greater housing density. These unassuming units, often basement apartments, backyard cottages, and converted garages, are far more affordable to build than other housing options and have become a politically palatable infill alternative to apartment complexes.

With median construction costs of about $150,000 in California, ADUs cost less than a third of traditional, federally subsidized affordable housing. As a result, the median ADU in the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast is affordable (costs less than 30% of income) for a low income family, 31% of ADUs in Los Angeles County are affordable, and large numbers of ADUs are affordable in other regions, as well.

Over the past eight years, ADU construction has skyrocketed. California went from about 1,000 ADU permits in 2016 to 5,000 in 2017 to 25,000 in 2022.

This boom did not come easily. Many local governments have resisted ADUs, fearing they would overcrowd single-family neighborhoods. While some of these concerns are legitimate, the state’s housing crisis has persuaded state lawmakers that cities must allow more housing construction, even in built-out areas — and ADUs are one way to achieve that.

California lawmakers have worked for decades to limit local governments’ authority to block construction of these units. The effort began in 1982 when the legislature prohibited cities from categorically barring ADUs. Local governments responded by placing what a report from the Furman Center at New York University called “cumbersome and unpredictable discretionary  review requirements on applications for ADUs.”

Local resistance prompted the state in 2002 to mandate ministerial (rather than discretionary) local approval of ADU permits. Yet ADU production remained low.

Reforms in 2016 finally made inroads. That year, the legislature adopted two bills, AB 2299 and SB 1069. These required cities to allow ADUs on single-family lots. They also prohibited them from requiring design features such as direct pathways to the street and setbacks for garages converted into ADUs. These laws also eliminated parking requirements for ADUs near transit stops and for ADUs attached to existing houses; prohibited cities from requiring new water, sewer or utility connections for ADUs, or from charging utility fees for ADUs; and required ministerial permitting of ADUs to occur within 120 days.

More state laws followed, as legislators and advocates identified and removed other barriers to ADU construction.

Suddenly, ADU production surged across the state. According to the California Department of  Housing and Community Development, ADUs will meet 3% of the state’s housing needs for the period from 2021-2028.

Yet this growth has been uneven. In a recent study, the Rose Institute of State and Local Government analyzed differences in ADU production in Long Beach, San Diego, Anaheim, Pomona, Ontario, and Corona in light of the state’s assessment of these cities’ housing needs. In  Long Beach, the state’s per capita ADU leader, these units have met 5% of housing needs. By  contrast, ADUs make up only 2.6% in Anaheim. Within the Inland Empire, only 1% of housing needs are met in Ontario, 1.1% in Corona, and 2.2% in Pomona.

The report found that variations in ADU production can result from several factors, including the local housing market. For example, Ontario, like other cities in the Inland Empire, is still developing outward into greenfield sites, potentially reducing the demand for ADUs due to the availability of new single-family homes.

Familiarity with ADUs also matters. Planners in Long Beach, a leading producer of ADUs, describe these units as part of the fabric of their city, and say the knowledge they have gained processing ADU applications helps them approve permits faster than in some other cities. By contrast, other cities have less experience with this form of housing.

Local policies can affect ADU production, as well. Although the state has limited local control over ADUs, standards can still vary on several important dimensions. This is where local governments can most make a difference.

To help meet housing production goals, cities should assess where their regulations may be holding back ADU production and consider loosening standards in those areas. In particular, local lawmakers should look closely at three factors: parking requirements, structural setback requirements, and fees.

Parking requirements can add significant costs to new development, making them infeasible for homeowners without access to large capital flows. Structural setbacks can make larger ADUs geometrically infeasible, limiting the variety of options available to would-be buyers and renters. Finally, fees place high up-front costs on ADU developers, who often are individual homeowners,  further dissuading them from realizing their property’s potential.

Giving homeowners a little more wiggle room in how they build their ADUs could make the difference between catching up to statewide ADU production levels and missing out on a powerful tool to meet housing needs.

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ALEJANDRO LAZO | Contributor

Angela Morrow was only eight months into a new career as a flight attendant when she was laid off from her job due to the COVID-19 pandemic, putting her at risk of losing her three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in San Bernardino County.

Morrow, 63, said she was able to save her home in Bloomington through the $1 billion California Mortgage Relief Program, which enabled her to pay off more than $54,000 worth of mortgage debt — relief that lowered her monthly payments for the long-term.

“Receiving that grant has been a monumental blessing for me,” Morrow said. “It created a solid foundation for my kids, and their future, after I’m gone.”

Today, state officials will announce they are expanding who is eligible for the program, including some who took second mortgages.

With $300 million already given out to 10,000 homeowners, as much as $700 million worth of aid remains available for borrowers who qualify for the program, which was created in December 2021 using federal dollars from the American Rescue Act.

The expansion comes as state officials say the pandemic era housing market — characterized by an uncertain economy, high home prices and now higher mortgage interest rates — could still imperil homeownership in the Golden State, particularly for lower- and middle- income families.

Fewer than 56% of Californians live in homes they or their families own, the second lowest rate of any state and just slightly higher than New York.

“People shouldn’t be penalized, and lose something that they’ve worked so hard to obtain, and lose that opportunity for generational wealth, due to circumstances outside of their control,” said Rebecca Franklin, president of the California Housing Finance Agency’s Homeowner Relief Corp., which is administering the mortgage relief program. “That’s what this program is about: To catch people up, to erase that long-term financial impact that the pandemic maybe had on them.”

California foreclosures remain at one of their lowest rates over the last two decades, with only 0.12% of homes in foreclosure as of last November, the most recent monthly data available, according to housing data firm CoreLogic. That compares to a high of 3.21% of homes in November 2010, during the last housing bust. Nevertheless, California families did face financial hardship during the pandemic, the CoreLogic data shows, with 3.72% of all homes in serious delinquency in August 2022, a recent high.

The difference in the pandemic economic downturn, state officials and experts said, is that mortgage companies and banks were willing to work with borrowers to defer payments and create additional home loans. High home prices can also help prevent foreclosure as homeowners can often sell their properties. But with high rents, selling is often not a good option for families, said Lisa Sitkin, a senior staff attorney with the National Housing Law Project, a nonprofit that advocates for tenants and low-income households.

Under the expansion of California’s mortgage relief program being unveiled today at a Sacramento nonprofit:

• Eligible homeowners who have already used the program and are in need of additional assistance can reapply, for as much as $80,000 in total grants.

• Homeowners can use the program to pay off second home loans, or loan deferrals, that they negotiated in the midst of the pandemic.

• The program will also be available to homeowners who have properties of up to four units, as long as those small landlords live on those properties.

• While the program was previously only available for people who had missed at least two mortgage payments and at least one property tax payment before last summer, it will now be available to those homeowners until March 1.

The program includes income and wealth restrictions. People can only receive assistance if their combined household income is not more than 150% of their region’s median income. Households that have cash or other assets worth $20,000 more than the total funds they are requesting are disqualified. (For more information, there’s a help page.)

The relief program is administered nationally by the U.S. Treasury Department, which relies heavily on individual states to distribute the money. As far as California’s track record getting its funds to borrowers, the state has been “nimble,” and “responsive,” said Sitkin, of the National Housing Law Project, which is monitoring all of the states’ programs.

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J.R. Heimbigner | Contributed

Are you struggling with the high cost of housing in California? Know you’re not alone. Here’s some good news. Did you know that stimulus money is still available to homeowners and renters in California? In addition, there are also some new government programs that will help you cover the cost of rent or your mortgage.

“We have to use every tool in our toolbox to tackle the housing affordability crisis head-on.” – Governor Gavin Newsom

Programs Available to Renters in California

First, let’s see what money is available for renters. As a resident of Texas, you actually have several things you can do if you would like some money for your rent. For example, you can go to this webpage for the Los Angeles Housing Department. Once there, you can use this tool to find out more information about what is available in California. You’ll also be able to learn more about the application process.

Programs to Help California Homeowners

What are your options if you actually own your home? The key is to know where you stand right now. Well, if you know that your situation is short-term and temporary, you can visit this webpage right here. If you know that your situation is more long-term, you can go here. If you’re not sure, you can always visit the Homeowner Assistance Fund page right here.

California also recently established two initiatives to assist those who want to become homeowners, one of which allows first-time homebuyers to borrow a down payment at 0% interest.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development is committed to preserving and expanding safe, affordable housing so that more Californians can call it home. The Forgivable Equity Builder Loan program, according to the California Housing Finance Agency, will assist purchasers with a loan of up to 10% of the purchase price.

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The pandemic’s economic and public health impacts put millions of homeowners at risk of losing their homes. For this reason, President Biden’s American Rescue Plan established   HAF to provide close to $10 billion in financial support to help families weather these challenges and remain in their homes.

We are strongly urging all servicers of federally backed mortgages to pause foreclosure proceedings when they are notified by a HAF program administrator of a pending HAF application to avoid unnecessary harm to vulnerable homeowners. Pausing any pending proceedings is a vital step towards keeping families in their homes as they receive assistance through the HAF program and is consistent with Congress’s intent in putting in place the HAF program to protect vulnerable homeowners.

During any such pause we encourage homeowners and servicers to continue working together on loss mitigation options to ensure vulnerable homeowners eligible for assistance are able to choose the best path to staying in their homes and fully utilize available resources. We also strongly encourage servicers to offer these loss mitigation options to borrowers who are struggling to make their mortgage payments including those who are eligible for HAF funding.

Treasury urges HAF program administrators to take steps to ensure their programs expedite handling of applications from homeowners with pending foreclosure proceedings, including determining the homeowner’s eligibility for HAF and in all communications with the servicer regarding the homeowner’s application. Treasury also encourages HAF programs to develop expedited procedures for handling homeowners with immediate threats to housing stability and to support homeowners who may benefit from the agencies’ loss mitigation options. This support can include providing homeowners with access to housing counseling agencies approved by HUD or a Tribal government as well as legal services. Additionally, Treasury has encouraged collaboration between HAF programs and its servicers to develop infrastructure to support timely and accurate communication about programs and between servicers.  

In addition to urging servicers to make HAF funding available to homeowners, our departments have taken a number of actions to ensure homeowners have the support needed to recover as seen in the resources listed below. We will continue to explore updates to our loss mitigation home retention options for servicers to utilize as part of an administration-wide approach to help families who are behind on housing payments due to the economic impacts of the pandemic.

Resources:

HUD, VA and USDA have published updates to their HAF Frequently Asked Questions for FHA-insured mortgages and VA and USDA home loans to include guidance that servicers should pause foreclosure actions while HAF applications are pending. The HAF FAQs, are available at these links: FHA (search term “HAF”), VA and USDA.

The Biden-Harris administration has adopted numerous measures across agencies to ensure   homeowners have the support needed to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: White House Fact Sheet: Biden Administration Announces Additional Actions to Prevent Foreclosures.

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency issued a blog post that includes expectations of servicers and resources for homeowners:  Using the Homeowner Assistance Fund Program to Help Borrowers Prevent Foreclosure.

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Winterizing your home can save you money on energy bills and can help mitigate some of the wear and tear winter weather brings.

OUTSIDE

Prepare the outside of your home by cleaning out the gutters. Move the downspouts so that they point away from your home’s foundation. These actions make sure that water from melting snow and ice or excess winter rains drains away from your home and doesn’t damage the roof or the foundation.

You should also look at your trees and shrubs and cut away tree branches that hang over your house. Snow and ice buildup can cause them to snap and fall on your home.

This is also the time of year to store your outdoor furniture for the winter and, before the first cold day, put a fresh coat of sealant on any decks. Disconnect garden hoses and sprinklers and store them away from the winter.

WINDOWS AND DOORS

Check for drafts around your windows and doors and make sure the weatherstripping is secure. Self-sticking weatherstripping can help keep your house cozy during winter’s chill. You should also check any caulking and make repairs to broken or loose panes.

You may need to set up draft guards on exterior doors.

PREPARE YOUR PLUMBING

Check your water lines, especially those that are exposed to wintry temperatures. Wrap any exposed lines in insulation and heat tape that’s plugged in and working. Close any crawl space vents that allow air to circulate to protect pipes from freezing temperatures. When the temperatures drop below freezing, leave your faucets trickling indoors and open under-sink

cabinets to let the warm house air circulate around the pipes.

CATCH UP ON YOUR CLIMATE CONTROL

Before the cooler temperatures arrive, have your home’s heating checked by a professional. Let them make any adjustments and do any preventative maintenance so that you stay warm and cozy all winter. If you have a fireplace, make sure your chimney is in working order and that your fireplace is cleaned and ready to go for the cozy season.

While you’re at it, consider setting up a programmable thermostat that reduces the heat when you’re gone and warms it up when you get back. These things can save you big on your energy bill. The professional can install it while they’re there to check the furnace. Switch the direction on your ceiling fans to counter-clockwise to redirect warm air down instead of circulating cool air throughout the room.

Greenshootmedia | Contributed

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Assembly Bills 9 and 10 could now eliminate single-family neighborhoods. Gov. Newsom just signed the bills. This will allow a single-family home to be replaced by up to four units.

Also, Proposition 19 took away our childrens’ inheritance of our properties. They will now have to live in the inherited property or pay the market value tax. Our freedom of choice is slowly being taken away from us. I cannot understand why people are allowing this and not protesting.

Frances Carrigan,

Coronado

—-

Editor,

When I purchased my home I entered into a covenant with the city of Encinitas. My neighborhood, consisting of single-family homes on 5,000 to 10,000 square foot lots, was to remain single family homes as outlined by the city general plan and zoning.

Via such a covenant I could rest assured that going forward my neighborhood would remain the same. Now, politicians 500 miles away in Sacramento have told me that my covenant with the city is null and void.

Passage of Senate Bill 9 allows my neighbor to build as many as four homes on a single 5,000 square foot lot.

Despite flex alerts, long-term drought, and a failing infrastructure (e.g. traffic) we are being told that neighborhoods can quadruple in size. The UT editorial board admits that “these bold measures may disrupt and possible diminish quality of life” but then states it stands behind SB 9. When does the craziness end?

William Welch,

Encinitas

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“Housing is a human right. And while we have a long way to go to make available and affordable housing a reliable reality in California, we do have some important protections for those who have been impacted by the financial repercussions of COVID-19,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Know your rights, and take advantage of the resources that California has made available for you.”

Tenants’ Rights

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the State of California has in place its own tenant protections through a law called the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act. The protections provided under the Act are in addition to protections that have been provided by other federal, state, and local landlord-tenant laws, including the partial eviction moratorium that was issued on August 3, 2021 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act applies to all California residential tenants and to mobile home residents. Under this law:

• If you cannot pay rent that was due between March 1, 2020, and August 31, 2020, your landlord will never be able to evict you for that unpaid rent if you submit this declaration to your landlord within 15 days of receiving a “pay or quit” notice from your landlord (not including weekends or court holidays). Your landlord must give you this declaration form when giving you the “pay or quit” notice.

• If you cannot pay rent that was due between September 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, your landlord will never be able to evict you for that unpaid rent if you submit this declaration to your landlord within 15 days of receiving a “pay or quit” notice from your landlord (not including weekends or court holidays) and you pay at least 25% of your September 2020 to September 2021 rent by September 30, 2021. Your landlord must give you this declaration form when giving you the “pay or quit” notice. You must submit another declaration every time you receive a “pay or quit” notice.

• If your household income is at least $100,000 and is 130% of your county’s median household income, you may have to provide documentation of your COVID-19 related hardship.

• You still owe your landlord all unpaid rent, and your landlord can take you to small claims court to force you to pay that rent starting on October 1, 2021.

• Your landlord may still be able to evict you for reasons other than not paying rent.

These protections do not apply to rent due October 1, 2021, or later. However, between October 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, your landlord can only evict you for back rent you owe because of COVID-19 if your landlord (1) certifies that they have applied for government assistance to cover the back rent you owe, and (2) waits at least 20 days after either submitting their rental assistance application or serving a three-day notice to quit.

It is important to know that these new protections only stop certain evictions; they do not forgive any rent. That means tenants still owe all unpaid rent and should continue paying their rent if they can afford to do so. Try to keep any documentation of layoffs, reduced work hours, or reduced income due to COVID-19 that stopped you from paying all or part of your rent.

However, you may apply for free financial assistance to help pay your rent and utilities through the California COVID-19 Rent Relief program. This program helps income-eligible households pay for both past due and upcoming rent and utilities. For more information and to apply for help, please visit Housing Is Key.

You should seek legal advice to help you assert your rights as a tenant. To find a legal aid office near where you live, please visit https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/Need-Legal-Help/Free-Legal-Help

Homeowners’ Rights

California’s Homeowner Bill of Rights provides protections to homeowners facing foreclosure and tenants in foreclosed homes, and puts certain responsibilities on mortgage servicers. Key provisions include:

• Notification of Foreclosure-Prevention Options: Your mortgage servicer must try to contact you at least 30 days before starting the foreclosure process to discuss your financial situation and explore your options to avoid foreclosure. Within five days of recording a notice of default, your servicer must generally give you information about options to avoid foreclosure that may be available.

• Acknowledgment of Application: If you apply for a loan modification, your servicer must notify you within five business days of any missing information, other errors, and deadlines for completing your application.

• Guaranteed Single Point of Contact: If you ask for a loan modification, your servicer must assign you a specific person or team who can walk you through application requirements and deadlines, knows the facts and status of your application, including missing documents needed to complete your application, and can get you a decision on your application.

• Restrictions on Dual Tracking: Your servicer must generally pause the foreclosure process while it is making a decision on your completed loan-modification application and until after it gives you time to appeal a denial. It also cannot foreclose on you while you are complying with the terms of an approved loan modification, forbearance, repayment plan, or other foreclosure-prevention option.

• Tenant Rights: Purchasers of foreclosed homes must give tenants at least 90 days before starting eviction proceedings. If the tenant has a fixed-term lease that was entered into before the foreclosure sale, the new owner must honor the lease unless certain exceptions apply.

For more information about the Homeowner Bill of Rights, please visit https://oag.ca.gov/hbor.

If you are having trouble making mortgage payments, contact your servicer to ask for help. You can submit a loss mitigation application to your servicer to see if you are eligible for any alternatives to foreclosure. Once you submit an application, your servicer will tell you if it needs additional information or documents to make that application “complete.” Your servicer may offer you streamlined options based on an evaluation of an incomplete loss mitigation application. For more information about the foreclosure process, scams to watch out for, and resources that may help you, see Loan Modification Fraud and Foreclosure Rescue Scams (https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/loan-modification).

If you are having trouble making payments because of COVID-19, ask your mortgage servicer for help. Homeowners with a federally backed mortgage have certain protections:

• Foreclosures for federally backed mortgages were suspended through July 31, 2021. For single-family homes with mortgages backed by the FHA, evictions are suspended through September 30, 2021.

• Homeowners with federally backed mortgages can get a forbearance. Forbearance plans allow you to temporarily lower or postpone your monthly mortgage payment for a certain period of time, but you must make up those payments later. To learn more, see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s What Is Forbearance web page. To get a forbearance, you must contact your servicer to ask for it.

– For single-family homes with mortgages backed by the FHA, VA, or USDA, the deadline for asking for a forbearance is September 30, 2021. You can get a 6-month forbearance and can ask for a further extension. If you were in forbearance as of June 30, 2020, you can extend your forbearance period by 12 months (total forbearance of 18 months). If you got a forbearance after June 30, 2020, you can extend your forbearance period by 6 months (total forbearance of 12 months).

– For single-family homes with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, no deadline for asking for a forbearance has been announced. You can get a 6-month forbearance and can ask for a further extension. If you were in forbearance as of February 28, 2021, you can extend your forbearance period by 12 months (total forbearance of 18 months).

To find out if your loan is federally backed or which agency backs it, contact your servicer or see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Relief You May Qualify For web page*.

Even if you do not have a federally backed mortgage, many financial institutions have agreed to provide forbearances or other relief to homeowners impacted by COVID-19. Contact your servicer to discuss your options. Before agreeing to a forbearance or other option, make sure you understand the terms of any forbearance plan or other options offered. Under some forbearance plans, you must resume your regular monthly payments and immediately pay back the postponed payments unless you qualify for a different option. You may have different repayment options, including making up the payments at the end of your loan term. Make sure you know what the repayment terms are and what options you will have if you are still struggling to make payments after the forbearance period. Also check to see if your servicer will waive any late fees or penalties and refrain from negative credit reporting.

If you became more than 120 days behind on your mortgage on or after March 1, 2020, your servicer can start the foreclosure process before January 1, 2022, if any of the following conditions apply:

• The servicer evaluated your loss mitigation application (if you submitted a complete application);

• The property is abandoned; or

• The servicer has not received any communications from you for at least 90 days before it starts the foreclosure process, even though it tried to contact you and send you written notice.

These conditions do not apply if your servicer starts the foreclosure process on or after January 1, 2022. They also do not apply if you were more than 120 days behind on your mortgage before March 1, 2020.

—

* https://www.consumerfinance.gov/coronavirus/mortgage-and-housing-assistance/help-for-homeowners/find-your-servicer/

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The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell by 0.05% this past week, according to Freddie Mac.

Recently, mortgage and refinance rates haven’t made any big moves. “Rates are going to stay more or less fairly close to where they are…through the summer,” predicts Dick Lepre, senior loan advisor at RPM Mortgage. In the coming weeks and months, you should still be able to take advantage of the current mortgage interest rates. But over the course of the year, some experts expect rates to rise in 2021. “The upside risk to rates is, in my opinion, much higher, then the [possibility] of them dropping lower,” says Rich Swerbinksy, president and COO at Mortgage Collaborative.

Even though it’s impossible to time the market to get the absolute best rate from day to day or week to week, locking in your interest rate sooner rather than later is likely to be the right move.

With rates where they are, the savings available to homeowners looking to refinance could be significant. The average mortgage balance is roughly $208,000. If today’s rates are 1% less than what you’re paying, that would save you $116 a month and you’d save more than $41,000 in overall interest on a 30-year loan.

But the decision to purchase a home or refinance your mortgage shouldn’t hinge only on what rate you qualify for. Here’s what to consider before applying for a mortgage.

What to Consider When Shopping for the Best Mortgage Rate

When shopping for a home loan you should compare mortgage rates. But the best mortgage lender for you may not be the one offering the lowest rate.

The closing costs you pay to get your mortgage, like origination fees or discount points, can add up. These charges vary from one loan to the next, so two loans with the same interest rate can have closing costs that vary by thousands of dollars. If you’re refinancing to save money, paying more upfront means it will take you longer to breakeven. An extra $3,600 in fees would extend your breakeven point by two years if you were saving $150 a month.

Refinancing can also make sense, even if your goal isn’t to just reduce your interest rate. “A greater percentage of the people who are doing a refinance … they’re refinancing and taking cash out to do home improvements,” Lepre says. “I think I’ve got five refis that are rate locked, every one of them is a cash-out for home improvement.” With home prices skyrocketing and rates still low, tapping into your home’s equity with a cash-out refinance can be an affordable way to get a home renovation loan for a remodeling project.

So look at your overall financial situation when deciding if refinancing is right for you. You may be able to save by consolidating other high-interest debt, or increase your home’s value with a few needed upgrades.

Jason Stauffer | Contributed

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For homeowners who have built up equity, you might have considered tapping that equity to renovate your space in order to match your current needs, or pay down other debts that you’re facing. But taking on more debt or adding another payment to your monthly bills might not be the best solution for your situation.

If this speaks to you, another option to consider is co-investing. With a co-investment, a homeowner can receive a lump sum of cash in exchange for a share in their home’s change in value over time. This offers homeowners an alternative to traditional equity-tapping options that can mean taking on more debt, interest or monthly payments.

For example, a home equity loan can come with added fees, and the homeowner must pay back the original sum plus interest. With a co-investment, there are no monthly payments, no interest and no added debt.

Unison, a San Francisco-based real estate company, is a leader in this growing field. Unison offers homeowners a cash payment of up to 17.5 percent of their home’s current market value. Then, when the homeowner sells the house or 30 years pass, the owner pays Unison an amount equal to the initial co-investment, plus (or minus) a percentage of the home’s change in value.

Homeowners can use the cash for anything, but Unison recommends something of long-term value: with homeowners’ changing needs due to the pandemic, some options might be paying for kids’ college tuition or medical expenses, or a home renovation such as a home office, gym, or accessory dwelling unit for any new (or returning) household members. Further, for any remodeling work that improves the home’s value, with a co-investment, the homeowner gets to keep the gains as well as the equity built from prompt mortgage payments.

For those interested in a co-investment, Unison looks for partners who are generally good homeowners: They keep the home as their primary residence; stay current on payments for mortgages, property tax, and homeowners’ insurance; keep the home well-maintained to retain and increase value; and keep Unison informed of issues, such as remodeling plans, emergencies or plans to sell the home.

To find out how Unison can help you get the most out of homeownership, visit unison.com.

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“While today’s low mortgage rates have fueled a refinance boom, it’s been driven mainly by higher-income borrowers. With millions of borrowers eligible to refinance, lower- and middle-income borrowers who could stand to benefit the most from refinancing might be leaving money on the table,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

To determine whether refinancing makes financial sense for you, it’s essential to first understand the basics. Here’s what to know about the refinancing process:

• Understanding refinancing: When refinancing your mortgage, you are essentially applying for a new mortgage with the goal of securing a loan with better terms than your current one. Primarily, people refinance their mortgages for three reasons: to lower their interest rate, to switch from one product to another (i.e. switch from an adjustable-rate mortgage to a fixed-rate mortgage) or switch to a loan with a shorter term.

• Determining refinancing costs: While refinancing can save you money, it isn’t free. Just as there are closing costs and associated fees with your current mortgage, there are related costs to refinance your loan. To get a sense of what refinancing could cost you, use Freddie Mac’s refinance calculator, which is available at calculators.freddiemac.com.

• Knowing your options: The refinancing option that is best for you will depend on your financial situation and goals. The most common option is to refinance the remaining unpaid balance on your mortgage. Through refinancing, you can improve your financial position by shortening your term or locking in a lower interest rate. Your lender will be able to discuss refinancing options with you and help determine the best solution for your situation.

• Closing your loan: Closing on your new loan is the final step in the refinancing process, a procedure that is almost identical to when you initially closed on your current mortgage. During closing, it’s important that you take your time to read all documents carefully and ask clarifying questions. Once all of the closing documents are signed, you will have a new loan.

For more information on refinancing, visit myhome.freddiemac.com.

Remember, even with today’s mortgage rates near historic lows, it’s important to carefully evaluate your situation and your home goals with a housing counselor or lender.

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