Dec
6
These rates are freezing
Filed Under economy, mortgage, rates | 2 Comments
Five-Year Mortgage Rate Freeze Looms
Wednesday December 5, 8:42 pm ET
By Martin Crutsinger and Alan Zibel, Associated Press Writers
Bush Mortgage Plan Will Freeze Certain Subprime Interest Rates for 5 Years WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration has hammered out an agreement to freeze interest rates for certain subprime mortgages for five years to combat a soaring tide of foreclosures, congressional aides said Wednesday.
The aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details have not yet been released, said the five-year moratorium represented a compromise between desires by banking regulators for a longer time frame of up to seven years and mortgage industry arguments that the freeze should last only one or two years.
Another person familiar with the matter said the rate-freeze plan would apply to borrowers with loans made at the start of 2005 through July 30 of this year with rates that are scheduled to rise between Jan. 1, 2008, and July 31, 2010.
The administration said President Bush will speak on the agreement at the White House on Thursday and the Treasury Department announced that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson would hold a joint news conference Thursday afternoon with mortgage industry officials.
Treasury also announced there would be a technical briefing to explain more of the proposal’s details.
Paulson, who has been leading the effort to craft a plan, said on Monday that the program would only be available for owner-occupied homes — to ensure the break is not given to real estate speculators.
The plan emerged from talks between Paulson and other banking regulators and banks, mortgage investors and consumer groups trying to address an avalanche of foreclosures feared as an estimated 2 million subprime mortgages reset from lower introductory rates to higher rates.
In many cases, the higher rates will boost monthly payments by as much as 30 percent, making it very difficult for many people to keep current with their loans.
The plan is aimed at homeowners who are making payments on time at lower introductory mortgage rates but cannot afford a higher adjusted rate.
Through October, there were about 1.8 million foreclosure filings nationwide, compared with about 1.3 million in all of 2006, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. With home loan defaults still rising, the trend is expected to worsen next year.
The plan represents an about-face for Paulson, who until recently had insisted the mortgage crisis could be handled on a case-by-case basis. However, he and other administration officials became convinced the tide of foreclosures threatened by the mortgage resets represented such a severe threat that a more sweeping approach was needed. They opted for a proposal that was along the lines of a plan put forward in October by Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Paulson and other federal regulators began holding talks with some of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders, mortgage service companies, investors who hold mortgage-backed securities and nonprofit groups that provide counseling for at-risk homeowners.
Under the typical subprime loan — those offered to borrowers with spotty credit histories — the rates for the first two years were at levels around 7 percent to 8 percent. But after two years, those rates were scheduled to reset to levels around 9 percent to 11 percent.
For a typical $1,200 monthly mortgage payment, the reset could add another $350 to the monthly payment, greatly raising the risks of loan defaults by homeowners struggling with the current payment.
The wave of mortgage foreclosures threatened to make the most severe slump in housing even worse by dumping more foreclosed properties onto an already glutted market, further depressing home prices and shaking consumer confidence.
The deepening housing slump has already roiled financial markets, starting in August, as investors grew increasingly concerned about billions of dollars of losses being suffered by banks, hedge funds and other investors.
The administration plan is designed to deal with the crisis by letting subprime borrowers who are living in their homes and are current on their payments to avoid a costly reset for five years. The hope is that by that time the housing downturn will have stabilized, clearing out the glut of unsold homes and halting the steep slide in prices that is hitting many parts of the country.
With sales and prices once again rising, the expectation is that homeowners will be able to renegotiate their current adjustable rate mortgages into a more affordable fixed-rate plan.
The housing crisis has become an issue in the presidential race with Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards putting forward their own proposals this week that would go further than the administration.
Clinton said her own proposal that would impose a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and freeze the rates for five years or until they had been converted to fixed-rate loans was a better approach that would help more people.
“Although the administration is finally giving the foreclosure crisis the attention it deserves, it seems that President Bush is going to give struggling homeowners far less than they need,” she said in a statement.
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com, called the administration plan a good first step, but said the government eventually will have to go further given the problem’s size and the threat to the economy.
“This is the most serious housing downturn we have seen in the post World War II period,” Zandi said. “It is a threat to the broader economy. The risks of a recession are very high.”
Associated Press reporters Deb Reichmann and Nedra Pickler contributed to this report.
Sep
17
It’s not Easy Being a Borrower
Filed Under rocky mountain news | Leave a Comment
Last December I had a subprime loan not go through underwriting with an approval. It was awkward for me since I pride myself on being thorough. The start reality is that it was the start of the meltdown of subprime mortgage companies.
The Denver Post explores this issue in depth:
Gone are the days of easy loans. Foreclosures and a subprime loan-market meltdown have left buyers scrambling to ante up.
The article is full of stories from buyers, sellers, investors, et.al. who have been impacted by the credit crunch.
Read the full article: BUYERS: Lenders tighten loan standards
The article is fairly accurate
Sep
7
To merge or not to merge
Filed Under credit, mortgage, personal finance | 1 Comment
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 PressMilwaukee - 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.
Aug
28
Ben Stein’s take on the Market
Filed Under mortgage, rates, real estate | 1 Comment
I usually rely on Andy Rooney Ben Stein to make sense of whatever ails America. His self-effacing wit tends to overshadow his knowledge. He’s like the “very rich and very eccentric” grandfather we wished we had, the one who was wise beyond his years who spoke from the heart. My maternal grandfather fit this profile except there a distinct language barrier as he spoke Tagalog and I didn’t.
Earlier this month Ben Stein wrote a piece called How Speculators Exploit Market Fears. It discusses what hedge fund managers do to create action in the stock market. Rather than take snippets from the article, here’s the full article:
Here’s a fact: The speculators and hedge fund managers who run today’s stock market need market volatility in order to make money.
They can’t make enough money if the market stays flat or moves only a bit, so they like extreme and unexpected price movements. They especially like sudden, surprise movements down, when they can make money off stocks they borrow and sell — or, as they say, “sell short.”
Money Lust Satisfied
That’s what’s been happening the past couple of weeks. But it’s not interesting to say that the speculators are whipping the market around to satisfy their money lust. So the speculators themselves make up reasons for why the market is fluctuating, flog those reasons to the media, and then profit if some other speculators believe the jive reasons and jump in the way the manipulators want them to.
Supposedly, the market is “correcting” because of worries about the housing slowdown, and also because of fears that the debt markets that support mergers and acquisitions is drying up.
These are interesting theories, and people who don’t know a lot about the stock market or the economy might find them beguiling. What follows are a few truths that show how shallow these “reasons” for the stock market moves are.
Housing a Theory
Yes, the housing market has slowed from a spectacular bubble level to a simply pretty good level. Housing sales and starts are now about what they were in 2002, and no one thought we were in a housing depression then.
In any event, housing is only about 5 percent of the economy. If it falls by 15 percent, that would represent a fall-off of about .75 percent. That’s not trivial, but it’s also not the stuff of which recessions are made.
The fact is that there is no recession. The economy is suffering from a labor shortage, not a surplus of unemployment. The Fed is worried about excess demand, not slack demand.
Corporate profits set new records every day. Whatever’s happening in residential sales and building is simply not slowing down the economy. Why should a Boeing or a Merck or a Pfizer have any reaction to housing at all? Because the speculators sell everything they can when nervousness sets in — and for no other reason.
A Minor Major Mess
Subprime is a mess. But it’s a small mess. Subprime mortgages account for roughly 20 percent of mortgages even in the most heavily exposed states. About 20 percent of them are delinquent in some way. That’s 4 percent of mortgages.
Of these, maybe half, or 2 percent, will go into foreclosure. There will be roughly 50 percent recovery on sale of these. This is a loss of 1 percent in the mortgage market — a sum the lenders have already made many times over because of the hefty fees on those deals. In the context of the size of the U.S. financial sector, it’s nothing.
And why should a crisis in subprime drive down stocks in Mexico and Thailand? Again, because the speculators seek to create panic to make money by selling short, and they sell short everything.
There’s simply no connection between subprime and developed or developing nations’ stocks. This by itself shows the thin context of the selling wave late last month.
Money’s Still Cheap
What about the supposed drying up of loans for mergers and acquisitions by private equity firms? Well, here’s a good, simple test of just how valid that explanation is for stock market moves: The majority of private equity takeovers are financed with junk debt.
If there really were a major shortage of funds for these deals, the interest rate on the junk would skyrocket. Instead, while the rate has risen by about 150 basis points in the past month, the spread between junk and investment grade is now about 290 basis points, according to leading junk analyst Martin Fridson.
This is a lot lower than the year-end average of the spread from 2002 to 2006, and far below the almost 800 basis point spread during a true interest-rate crunch like the one after the tech meltdown in 2000-2002.
So that’s phony, too. Interest rates have risen, but not anything like what they’ve done in real crises. And besides, the Dow fell by about 550 points the week before last, yet not one of the Dow stocks is involved as either acquiror or acquiree in a private equity deal.
In short, money is no longer virtually free the way it was for private equity deals in the past year. But it’s not expensive by historical standards, either.
Spreading the Fear
In other words, it’s all the speculators trying to panic us so their sell programs will make money. And they’ll make money as long as they can spread their panic. When they can’t do that any longer, they’ll work the long side — and make up reasons for that, too.
In the meantime, the economy is strong. Profits are great, and interest rates are low and will stay that way. Don’t sell. With all the shrieking about the market, it only fell to what it was about five weeks ago — and we didn’t think we were poor then.
So let the speculators shout “fire.” As of right now, they’re not blowing anything but smoke.
Two quick points:
131+ mortgage companies have shut down. If you’re a consumer chances are you’ve never heard of these companies. If you’re in the mortgage business, you’ve probably heard of a fraction (i’d say 25%) of these companies. For the most part, those that bet on high risk loans (subprime, alt-a, non-owners, etc.) lost. The ones that bet on low risk loans (conforming) are still open for business.
However, one quick look at Google Trends and you’ll notice that countrywide, mortgage, credit, or liquidity don’t show up as “hot searches” in Google.
Sometimes you need Ben Stein to make sense of a nonsensical world.
Jun
6
The Mortgage Professor
Filed Under mortgage | 2 Comments
As a former professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, Jack Guttentag is well known as “the Mortgage Professor“. He’s also the driving forced behind Upfront Mortgage Brokers or lenders that disclose their fees. Today, he’s a syndicated columnist.
Currently he’s running a series on the subprime crisis:
Subprime Crisis, Part I: The Causes of Default
Subprime Crisis, Part II: The Lender Role
Subprime Crisis, Part III: State of the Market
Today he posted his fourth segment:
Subprime Crisis, Part IV: What Should the Government Do?
Rather than summarize these articles, I just wanted to post the links to these articles for people to discover. For the most part these articles aren’t lengthy diatribes. Enjoy!
Mar
19
On Sunday mornings I usually enjoy a cup of coffee, read the paper, eat a pastry (usually a blueberry or lemon poppy seed muffin) and watch Sunday Morning on CBS. As a news program, they always seem to have interesting stories. This past weekend they had a commentary on the subprime meltdown by Ben Stein:
The U.S. mortgage market is immensely large, spectacularly large. Total foreclosures are a large amount in dollar terms, but a tiny amount in percentage terms. Foreclosures are now about 1 percent of loans. The lenders will sell the houses and recover at least fifty per cent of the value. That means the total loss may be about ½ of one percent of the mortgages made and probably less, and a lot of it is insured. This is an absolutely trivial number in the context of a $14 trillion economy with net wealth in the realm of $60 trillion.
This whole subprime mortgage mess is just an excuse for the gunslingers and river boat gamblers on Wall Street to use their tricks to move markets and make money. The economy is still very strong. The most cagey players on Wall Street like Goldman Sachs are now trying to buy — not sell — as much distressed merchandise in the mortgage area as they can. This is a good clue about where the smart money is going.
As long as people want to buy homes, real estate will always be in demand even the foreclosed homes and eventually mortgage companies will find a way to recapture the subprime market.
Atlanta Foreclosure Homes - ForeclosureConnections.com
Mar
13
Going full tilt!
Filed Under mortgage | Leave a Comment
I like to play poker. I almost never play with real money because I play less aggressive when I’m playing with my own dough. When I play for free, I’m more inclined to take more risks. If I go “full tilt” and lose it doesn’t cost me a dime.
Full tilt: full force, all out.
The subprime mortgage world went full tilt the last couple of years by lending to borrowers who have shown that they can’t pay their phone bill, let alone a mortgage. At the time it looked like a solid play and they became the darlings on Wall Street. Now the subprime lending world is going full tilt in the opposite direction. The risks these borrowers posed were greater than anyone could’ve possibly imagined. With loan defaults en masse, these lenders are going bust!
The problem with going full tilt is that being aggressive just can’t be sustained for long periods of time. It’s true in poker and in lending.
Feb
21
Yesterday, ZERO DOWN LENDERS FOLDING was emblazoned on the front page of the Denver Post.
The article discusses in detail how subprime lenders are going out of business. The model suprime lenders use is usually the same across the board. Typically they offer 2 or 3 year adjustable rate mortgages. Once the borrower has a two year history of paying a mortgage they usually refinance to another loan. Hence the term band aid loans or band aid lenders. These lenders are going broke and now it’s front page news.
About two dozen of the largest subprime mortgage lenders across the country - some with offices and customers in Denver - have gone under or stopped making loans since December….
Subprime lenders are typically viewed as lending options to poor credit borrowers as well as borrowers with collections, bankruptcy, or foreclosures. However, they cater to more than that:
- If a borrower has great credit but no assets, they may be a subprime borrower.
- If a borrower has poor credit and a multitude of assets, they may be a subprime borrower.
- If a borrower is buying their first home but doesn’t have the income necessary to qualify for a FHA loan, they may be a subprime borrower.
- If a borrower has more than one late payment on a mortgage, they may be a subprime borrower.
- If a borrower is buying a home and renting a room to a friend, they may be a subprime borrower.
- If a borrower… well you get the point. The scenarios are endless.
Jan
4
Subprime Meltdown
Filed Under foreclosure, mortgage | Leave a Comment
Most consumers really don’t know much about the mortgage world. I know I didn’t before I got into the mortgage world. The extent of my knowledge was applying for a loan, getting hosed (e.g. fleeced) on fees at closing and then having to pay a mortgage payment every month. What I didn’t know was that my mortgage was never truly held by the company that I made payments to, they simply serviced my loan. Mortgages are packaged as mortgage backed securities and sold on the secondary market i.e. Wall Street.
Subprime mortgages or loans with less strict underwriting standards have followed the same process of selling their loans on the secondary market but with dismal results. Due to the multitude of delinquent payments and ultimate foreclosure on subprime loans, these loans are being rejected by Wall Street en masse. Several subprime lenders have already shut the doors: Mortgage Lenders Network, Ownit Mortgage, Sebring Capital with many more on the horizon. In other words, we’re headed for a sub prime meltdown of epic proportions.
What does this all mean for the consumer?
- Borrowers with questionable credit will find it harder to qualify for a mortgage.
- The number of borrowers looking to buy homes will probably be reduced substantially.
- If borrowers who have questionable credit can’t refinance, they may be facing foreclosure.
- People who can’t buy will continue to rent so rents may increase.
- Hard money lending will become the only option for many. Learn how to swim with sharks.
- Look for credit counseling/improvement to be heavily marketed. Desperate borrowers beware.
Jan
1
Zero down home loan
Filed Under mortgage | Leave a Comment
Editors Note: Due to the mortgage and credit crunchy, zero down home loans are no longer available. If you’re in need Denver Home Mortgage, we can discuss your mortgage situation.]
Zero down mortgage financing is available to many people. It is very possible for a large number of consumers to qualify for a home purchase without putting any money down. This has become a very competitive market for lenders competing for this business and the number of homeowners who obtain loans with no money down is growing each year.
It is important to realize that while it may be the only way a borrower can purchase a home, a zero down mortgage does carry a higher interest rate. Ultimately the borrower’s goal should be to refinance when there is enough equity to achieve an 80% Loan to Value (LTV).
One option for high credit score borrowers who have minimal disposable cash is to use a 103% loan. This loan allows you to borrow up to 3% in addition to the purchase price to help with closing costs. Ask your preferred mortgage professional if you qualify for a 103 LTV program.
Some conforming zero down programs do require you to contribute at least $500 to the purchase. Your earnest money counts as money towards purchase. You may also be required to pay your hazard insurance out of closing so that will be another out of pocket cost. Ask your mortgage broker for details on the programs they offer.
The most common way mortgage brokers structure “Zero Down” financing is to break the loan amount into a first and a second mortgage, with the first mortgage consisting of 80% of the loan amount needed and the second mortgage being 20%.
Zero down mortgages are a great tool to use, even if you have saved up for a down payment. By choosing the zero down mortgage, your down payment money can now be used for closing costs associated with the loan, moving expenses, new furniture, or any other expenses that you may have when you move into your new home.
If you cannot afford a down payment for your home, there are many down payment assistance programs and grants that may be able to help you purchase your new home. Often these programs are limited to first time home buyers or those with low income. However, there are often no limitations. Call me at and I may be able to find a program that will work for you.
Obtaining a true zero down mortgage is when you will not have to come to closing with any funds of your own. In order to achieve this you will need to either have a no closing cost mortgage which can get expensive, or you can have the sellers pay closing costs. Traditional conforming lenders will generally let the sellers pay up to 3% of your closing costs, while most Alt A and subprime lenders will allow up to 6% in closing costs paid by the seller.
Often times zero down payment programs are available to first time homebuyers. If you need a stated income program you may be able to obtain a stated zero down program with an Alt A or subprime lender.
In 2005, 43% of first time home buyers used zero down programs. You may qualify for one of these programs. Call me now!