“He offered to get a loan to cover for the value of
the house and to get a second loan which it will include all my debts through a
company that it is willing to invest. He said I will need to establish a
corporation so I will need to pay him $5,000 so he could register the business,
then he will look for a company that is willing to invest in a small business.
At the same time, he said that he will create a savings fund and once I get to
a minimum of $24,000, he will tell us how to invest that money so I can start
working towards my retirement. It all sounded good, but in reality I’m
not sure what to believe.” How many loan agents get an e-mail like this
from their client about a competitor? Scary.
Or what about this, from an agent who has a client that
bought a house in July 2007, using an 80/20, who got this letter from the owner
of the 1st: “We are pleased to offer you an opportunity to pay off the
balance of your loan through refinance or sale the property for less than you
currently owe. As you know, Wilshire Credit Corporation is currently servicing
your loan; it is not the owner of your loan. Steel Mountain
Capital LLC, the owner of your loan, has contracted us and advised that it
would be willing to accept a Short Refinance or Short Sale to settle your
outstanding debt. Steel
Mountain is willing to
settle your outstanding debt for $400,000 in certified funds as full and final
satisfaction of your loan if this amount is received by Wilshire by March 20th.
Your current unpaid principal balance (which does not include interest and fees
owed) is $450,000, so this reduced amount saves you at least $50,000. If the
payment is made by the requested date, Wilshire will release the mortgage lien
and cancel the note.”
Locks are certainly slowing everywhere: the MBAA
Mortgage Applications index fell 19.2% last week, as refinances dropped 30.4%.
Lenders wishing to sell their mortgages to the nation's two largest
sources of home finance would have to make sure that they did not rely on
in-house appraisers and did not own an appraisal firm itself, according to an
outline of the plan drafted by Fannie Mae and which has been obtained by
Reuters.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/02/26/ny_attorney_general_near_fannie_freddie_deal/
NAMB learned that HUD plans to publish the new FHA loan limits
during the first week of March, and that they will publish
separate lists for the FHA program and the GSEs. Additionally, HUD will be
recalculating the median home prices which are used to calculate the loan
limits. The new loan limits will be based on 125% of the median home price
in counties across the country, and will be capped at $729,750. The floor
for FHA loans will be raised from $201,060 to $271,050, and originators can
begin processing applications now for any loan that was assigned an FHA case
number after February 13th (the date the bill was enacted). http://www.namb.org/namb/GA_Home.asp?SnID=888593238
Some very good news: the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight,
OFHEO, said it was ending a cap on mortgage purchases that it imposed in 2004
as a reaction to accounting irregularities at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The
two companies operate under a government guarantee, buying up, repackaging and
re-selling mortgages in order to stimulate lending activity. Politicians have
complained since the start of the credit crisis that the caps were constraining
the two companies just when they were most needed. OFHEO said it would also
gradually reduce the amount of capital the two companies are required to set
aside to cover their loans.
Do Fed chairmen always say, “"the FOMC...will act
in a timely manner as needed to support growth and to provide adequate
insurance against downside risks."? When wouldn’t this be the case?
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled the U.S. central bank is prepared to
lower interest rates again even amid signs of accelerating inflation. Bernanke's
remarks may reinforce investors' expectations that the central bank will lower
interest rates further to help a faltering economy. Durable Goods fell
5.3%, New Home Sales fell last month to the lowest level since 1995 in spite of
price declines. The odds favor another 50 basis point cut in overnight rates at
the March 18th FOMC meeting.
What is the market up to today? GDP came out –
unrevised at +.6% for the 4th quarter. That, and the Jobless Claims
number (Initial claims jumped by 19,000, to 373,000 from an upward-revised
354,000 reported last week), has sent the yield on the 10-yr down to the low
3.70’s again, and mortgage prices are better by .375-.750, depending on
the coupon. Today is Round 2 for Bernanke as he testifies before the Senate on
the last day of his semi-annual policy presentation to Congress, and we also
have Freddie Mac’s fourth quarter results today
Did you hear the one about the young man who was asleep on
Monday morning and his mother came in and woke him? "Son you need to
get up and go to school". He responded "Mom all the kids hate
me, the teachers don't like me and I am not going to school." The Mom
said, "Son you must, you are the principal and they are counting on
you!"
Rob
