Mortgage article from the Rocky Mountain News:

A record number of homeowners got an unpleasant notice in their mailboxes this spring that their mortgages were being foreclosed.

Read the full story: Thousands to face foreclosure notices

In case you missed me, my site was down for almost 12 hours. I’ve been getting A LOT of spam comments and to curb the comments I’ve been testing different wordpress plugins. Unfortunately, some plugins aren’t tested thoroughly. My apache server went bonkers (is that a technical term) around noon and after a couple of calls to my hosting company (bluehost) the problem was fixed.

The feeds should be resolved soon.

Thanks for your patience and thanks for visiting!

Mortgage article from the Rocky Mountain News:

Jeff Selby is fortunate that he locked in the biggest private real estate loan in Denver’s history in December.

Read the full story: Financial market woes knock real estate deals

Mortgage article from the Rocky Mountain News:

Most apartment markets in Colorado appear to be healthy, with vacancy rates falling and rents rising, officials say.

Read the full story: Rents rising in Colo.

Mortgage article from the Denver Post:

When Denver real estate attorney Ronald Thompson contacts the Colorado attorney general’s office about mortgage fraud or real estate scams, he knows his chances of getting help are slim to none.

Read the full article: Mortgage mayhem too fast for law.

Mortgage article from the Denver Post:

In what will be her final forecast as a regional economist with U.S. Bank, Tucker Hart Adams stuck by the prediction she made a year ago — a recession would most likely start in late 2007 or early 2008.

Read the full article: Forecast: Colo. economy will slow next year

When I discuss retirement with mortgage clients the discussions either go like this….

“well social security won’t be there for me and I’m still recovering from the dot com bust and my financial planner is a complete moron and at the rate I’m saving, I’ll never retire”

or like this…

“I plan on retiring at 55-60 depending on what happens with my investments and my home’s value”

Your home’s equity is a solid foundation for retirement according to an article entitled Retiring on Your Home’s Equity

A recent study commissioned by Oakland, Calif.-based Bell Investment Advisors, found that seven out of 10 60-year-olds consider their home part of their retirement plan. Of that group, almost one in five — 24% to be exact — said their home’s equity represents half or more of their total savings.

Also included are the sources where current retirees will be drawing their retirement:

Wealth holdings of a typical household prior to retirement*:

Social security: 42%
Primary house: 21% of total wealth
Defined benefit plan: 16%
Defined-contribution plan: 8%
Financial assets: 7%
Business assets: 2%
Other nonfinancial assets: 4%

* Households headed by individuals aged 55-64. Source: Survey of Consumer Finances 2004.

More importantly, the article continues to discuss two ways to tap your equity when you retire including downsizing into a smaller home and keeping the profits and a reverse mortgage where you get a mortgage that pays you.

This article brings to light the importance of mortgage planning as a key component in your wealth management. Your home is your security blanket since it can be the largest asset in your estate. Your mortgage allows you to manage this asset. Obviously I just scratched the surface of mortgage planning but if you need more information, contact me.

PRIVATE MORTGAGE INSURANCE: If your down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price of the home, mortgage lenders require that you take out Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). This insurance protects the lender in the event you default on your mortgage. PMI has fallen out of favor in recent years due to the 80/10/10 (80% first mortgage, 10% second mortgage, 10% down payment), 80/15/5 (80% first mortgage, 15% second mortgage, 5% down payment), and 80/20 (80% first mortgage, 20% second mortgage, 0% down payment).

On the heels of the mortgage credit crisis comes word that the two bigger players in the mortgage industry may merge. However, after further deliberation, they decided against a merger.

MGIC drops bid for rival Radian
The mortgage insurers agree to end the deal and focus on how to survive in the industry.
By Emily Fredrix The Associated Press

Milwaukee – Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. abandoned its $5 billion bid to buy rival Radian Group Inc. on Wednesday, saying it was in each other’s best interest to concentrate on surviving in the faltering mortgage industry.

Radian had vowed to see the deal through when MGIC announced in August it wanted to back out. But chief executive S.A. Ibrahim said Wednesday that Radian didn’t want to fight and instead needed to weather what he called “an industrywide scramble to survive.”

Investors seemed hopeful for both companies after news of the agreement.

Though Radian’s shares tumbled as much as 9 percent after the market opened Wednesday, they closed up 16 cents at $18.27. MGIC shares fell 29 cents to end at $30.05.

MGIC, based in Milwaukee, had agreed in February to pay about $5 billion in stock for Radian, valuing its shares at $60.78. Shares of MGIC closed the day the deal was announced at $70.09.

As problems mounted in the mortgage market, both companies saw their shares tumble and the deal’s value sink.

MGIC said it did not believe it had to complete its purchase of Philadelphia-based Radian because their joint interest in subprime-mortgage investor C-Bass LLC could be worthless.

The decision to end the deal was mutual, both companies said.

Neither party paid the other to get out of the agreement, according to a news release. The original agreement said there would be no breakup fee if a decision was mutual.

Both companies’ shareholders had already approved the deal, which MGIC had said would close in early October.

But woes felt throughout the mortgage industry made the deal difficult to finish, said Michael Zimmerman, MGIC’s vice president of investor relations.

While this is akin to splitting up, it remains to be seen what this means to the borrower. There aren’t too many PMI companies left and when the two biggest PMI companies are more concerned about surviving, especially when in 2007 PMI is tax deductible, this can’t be a good sign.