Yeah, we've all heard the old joke. The worst sentence you can hear is "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."

But the Obama administration's recently released program aimed at helping homeowners may actually do just that. The program, called "Making Home Affordable" was announced early in March.

Beginning on April 6th, loan giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will begin accepting refinances for borrowers who owe up to 105% of the value of their homes.

WOW!

Here is the best news about this. In the true spirit of free enterprise, these new loans are available from any company that can originate conventional mortgages. That's right, if you can't stand the folks currently servicing your loan, you can go somewhere else. Consumer choice is a wonderful thing.

There are going to be hundreds of thousands of homeowners who will be helped by this. Let's use an example.

You bought a home in 2006 for $350,000. Being a solid and stable person, you put 20% down. That way, you avoided having to pay a mortgage insurance premium or adding a 2nd mortgage. But you home is one of many that has seen it's value drop the past two years. You're out of luck right? Now you're looking at adding a mortgage insurance premium of as much as $200 per month to any new loan because your loan now makes up more than 80% of your homes value.

Well, now clients like the one in our example above are in luck. You can refinance that loan, with no requirement for mortgage insurance. So if you are in that position, you should be calling your favorite loan guy to start the process. If your current rate is higher than 5.75%, you can generate HUNDREDS of dollars of savings, right now with rates in the 4.5 to 4.75% range.