Home Mortgage Guide

Enablers of the Housing Bubble – … This is why I have always thought that the argument that “Fannie and Freddie did it” is a non-starter. Two reasons:  1.  Loans owned by Fannie and Freddie can be a problem for the government, but they are not a problem for the financial system-… 2.  Fannie, Freddie, and Ginnie were losing market share as the housing bubble grew–not gaining it. …
Read Rest of Government Enabled: Enablers, CFPA Exempt, GMAC, HAMP Challenges, Thanks Taxpayers

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Read Rest of Bits Bucket For October 31, 2009

Building a modular log home requires the same construction specifications as a traditional home. The benefits are that your home can be completed in days or weeks in comparison of waiting for months as is the case with other homes. They are an economical and sound choice for residential living.
In fact, many persons in America are turning to modular log homes as their home of choice. The number one reason is cost. It costs the manufacturer a lot less to build and the manufacturer in turn charges less to the homeowner. The manufacturer saves on materials as they are bought …
Read Rest of Prefab Home: Modular Log Home

Another great video:  Attack of the FHA loan files?

Most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. So by my calculations, that means that this Sunday here in the U.S. most of us “fall …
Read Rest of FHA Video; Loan Limit & Tax Credit Updates; USB, Flagstar, Freddie, GMAC News; Treasury Purchase Program Over

While the U.S. push for covered bonds as a funding source remains stalled (since 2007), Canada is moving ahead. The Royal Bank of Canada has just made history with its first issuance of covered bonds denominated in Canadian dollars (instead of euros) — and was greeted with such enthusiasm from investors that it decided to raise the amount by 50%. According to the rating agency DBRS, the cover pool consists of first-lien prime conventional residential mortgages. Read More>>

http://www.coveredbondinvestor.com/news/rbc-sells-five-year-covered-bonds-c750-million-issue

Read Rest of Mercy Jiménez Presents: Canadian Bank’s First Canadian-Dollar Covered Bonds Meet Strong Demand from Institutional Investors

To Our Clients, Colleagues and Friends,  

Some banks are doing just fine.  The $1.1 billion Bank of Marin ( Marin , California ) just repaid its TARP money, showed a nice third quarter profit, and raised its dividend.  It doesn’t get much better than this.  Not these days.

Don Brown of Secondary Interactive sent us a chart comparing Wells Fargo’s Assignment-of-Trade pricing versus Best Efforts pricing. The pick-up was as low as 19 bps in June and as high as 120 bps in April.  In early October …
Read Rest of The Garrett, Watts Report (October 29, 2009)

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “The Wichita area appears to be losing ground in the foreclosure epidemic. ‘For us, it’s directly tied to our employment situation,’ said Stan Longhofer, director of the Center for Real Estate at Wichita State University. ‘This is about the time when people who got layoff notices are starting to get hit with foreclosures.’”
“He said that the easy financing may not have led to a large housing bubble, but it did leave quite a few people with little equity when it comes time to try to sell the house. The homes …
Read Rest of Just Not Upside Up Enough

Renting out your home can be a tricky business. If you are unable to sell your house in this recession, then renting it is a good option. Also, if you are in need of money, and do not wish to sell your house, then renting is an alternative. While thinking of renting out your house, there are many issues that need to be considered.
There might be various apparent advantages of renting out your home. Most importantly, it shall give you a steady source of income, enabling you to meet the demands of your everyday our expenses, and taxes. You can …
Read Rest of Things To Consider Before Renting Your Home

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Read Rest of Bits Bucket For October 30, 2009

 
  
by  Fred Koons, Chairman. SkillBridge Consulting, LLC

Looking through our rear view mirror the current state of demise in Mortgage Banking appears well founded. Leading up to the recently experienced crash we were gluttons for stated income products, no down payments, negative amortization and plenty of pay options in a world where property values were guaranteed to appreciate. The carnage is widespread with none more evident than the near destruction of the Mortgage Broker Channel. Bob Dylan’s song The Times They Are A Changin’ written some 40 years ago aptly …
Read Rest of Community Banks Are The Future of Mortgage Banking – by Fred Koons