Jan
16
Video: The Subprime Meltdown of 2007
Filed Under mortgage | Leave a Comment
Reuters video on the Subprime meltdown via youtube:
Jan
7
Why don’t we save?
Filed Under personal finance | Leave a Comment
I caught the New Hampshire debate on Saturday night in between watching the Pittsburgh and Jacksonville game. (Note to the NFL, enough already with the Jeep Liberty commercial with the singing animals.) Where was I? Oh yeah, the debate. While watching the debate I heard the politicians speak about the American Dream becoming harder and harder. They said that health care costs are rising. They said that gas prices are out of control. They said that it’s harder to feed a family today than ever before.
Not once did any of them mention that saving money is no longer a priority in America especially at the government level.
Why don’t we save? Saving is simply a habit. Just like watching television, eating healthy and exercise. Most people just don’t think about saving. Today while checking out my rss feeder, I came across 7 ways to save :
- Look for discounted dinner entrees
- Don’t throw out the Valpak or Money Mailer they’re chock full of coupons for local restaurants. Skip the appetizers and the desserts while you’re at it skip the booze, the alcohol is always over priced and you shouldn’t drink and drive anyway.
- Return unopened, unused items
- Lowes and Home Depot don’t even require a receipt if you bought it in the last 90 days or something like that and they automatically credit your credit card.
- Look for extra grocery savings
- Cutting coupon sucks, ok it sucks big time, but if the coupon says $2 off 5 Lean Cuisine Panini sandwiches and you were planning on buying 5 Panini Sandwiches, go ahead and pick up a 6th, your wallet won’t know the difference.
- Check out materials from the library
- If you live in Denver, our library system has the most unreal DVD collection in the world. Sure you wait a few more weeks for new releases and the mailman doesn’t drop it off or picks it up at your house but it gets you out of your house and you might run into an old friend who looks really good in wingtips but really bad in birkenstocks.
- Bundle cable, phone and Internet services
- Get rid off cable and your phone altogether. Television is just more noise in an already noisy world. Sure you’ll miss watching Family Guy at 1 AM on Cartoon Network but you won’t miss spending $50 each month. To entertain yourself learn how to juggle or get DVD’s at the library. As for your telephone, it will only serve one purpose in 2008 - for politicians start calling you to ask for your support.
- Negotiate with monthly service providers
- Sure the cleaning people clean great the first time. Sure the landscapers mow your lawn great the first time. Wait till they “forget” to show up or when they’re on the 3rd go around, you’ll be less than thrilled with their service and you’ll end up doing it yourself.
- Stash money for easier savings next year
- Money will double in 7 years. I deposited $250 in a mutual fund in 2000 and it turned into $500 by 2007. The money even withstood the dot com and stock market drop off in the early 2000’s. I couldn’t buy a laptop for $250 in 2000 but I can definitely buy one for $500 today.
No more excuses.
Jan
2
Mad World
Filed Under business, economy, mortgage, real estate | Leave a Comment
2008 is predicted to be one of the worst years for the American Economy.
It’s also an election year and the year of the Summer Olympics.
Mad World indeed.
The good news: not all predictions (iMac) come to pass .
Dec
14
The world according to Google
Filed Under humor | Leave a Comment
Here’s what people truly care about according to Google:
- iphone
- webkinz
- tmz
- transformers
- youtube
- club penguin
- myspace
- heroes
- anna nicole smith
I’m shocked that “Charla or Mirna” didn’t make the list.
Nov
26
Social networking dominates Web 2.0 with sites such as MySpace, Youtube, Facebook. Web 2.0 real estate stalwarts include Zillow and Trulia and now comes Zolve:
Zolve is an online real estate referral network, a business exchange that connects real estate practitioners and service providers across the country and around the globe.
Zolve has a Colorado connection (Colorado Springs) with an interesting twist:
Iraq is known for many things, but being an incubator for a new high-tech, American-based real estate businesses is not one of them. But from 2006 to 2007, a Baghdad garage converted to U.S. military barracks was the launching pad for Zolve, a networking and referral website for real estate professionals that launched this October.
Read the full article: A site for real estate pros
Oct
29
Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender, plans to offer refinancing or modifications on $16 billion in loans whose interest rate is set to adjust by the end of 2008.
Rocky Mountain News: Countrywide to push refis, modified loans
New York Times: Countrywide to Help Restructure Loansm
Or are they simply trying to get more business?
Mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp., whose loan volume is down sharply in the wake of the housing downturn and the sub-prime meltdown, is aggressively trying to get its customers to refinance. Here are excerpts from two pitches the company sent recently to homeowners:
Exciting news — we are now offering a Special Online Rate Discount. . . . If you qualify, you could get up to $511,006 to pay off credit cards and other loans.
– Countrywide e-mail
No need to show bank statements or verify other assets . . . no paycheck stubs or proof of income required . . . no new appraisal needed (in most cases).
– Countrywide flier
Could be a combination of both. However, this uber annoying Countrywide commercial has been in HEAVY ROTATION:
Oct
4
Foreclosure begets REO
Filed Under foreclosure, real estate | 2 Comments
When I think of REO, I rarely think of properties, real estate, or banks. I usually think of the Holiday Inn commercial. You know the one where the guys hum “Take it on the Run” by REO Speedwagon:
REO stands for Real Estate Owned. People inside and outside of the real estate industry believe that foreclosure and an REO purchase are one and the same. They aren’t. A REO property is the direct result of a failed foreclosure sale.
To learn more about REO, visit the REO BLOG.
Aug
6
What happened to the mortgage industry?
Filed Under mortgage, rates | 2 Comments
I’ve never been a verbose writer. I took a high level Shakespeare class during my last semester in college and the professor wrote on my final paper - “You understand quickly, you write even quicker.” I asked him what his comments meant and he said, when you write, you get right to the point.
Here’s my view of what happened to the mortgage industry. (If you want a more verbose, simply google Mortgage Collapse.)
The subprime mortgage world has fallen flat on its face. Loaning money to people who have proven that they can’t pay back a credit card let alone a mortgage was bad business. These loans started off with a 2 year introductory rate and now we’re seeing those two years expiring and now we’re getting into the adjustment phase. The mortgage entities that bought these loans are filing bankruptcy en masse. As as a result, borrowers who need these loans can’t get them anymore. The effects of these loans are moving up the risk ladder with “ALT-A” companies (the risk level between PRIME and SUBPRIME) starting to close their doors as well. It’s a mess right now and it may take years for all this to get straightened out.
Here are two videos worth watching regarding the mortgage mess:
Jim Cramer (rather calm):
Jim Cramer (going ballistic):
Jul
23
Links: Moving up like George and Weezie!
Filed Under blog, denver, mortgage | Leave a Comment
Interesting links from the web:
The Denver Post has a great article, Sales surge for digs over $1M, on why the upper end homes are selling like hot cakes. Denver homes in the million dollar range are doing very well because move up buyers have done well with their investments in the stock market. Moving up like George and Weezie!
Speaking of luxury properties, I ran into my friend Dan at the Denver based real estate and mortgage blogger meet up last week. He now works for LuxuryProperty.com, a site that specializes in million dollar homes nationwide. Look for their launch very soon.
Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel discusses when prices rise, people remodel. Anyone who links to a Roxy Music clip is pure genius in my book!
Just like every kid, I grew up playing soccer. It’s the premier sport in the world. Somehow it just doesn’t have mass appeal in America. Consider that Denver just hosted the Major League Soccer all-star game, did anyone care?
Chinatown real estate is hot according to CBS. This begs the question where is Chinatown in Denver? My best guess is Alameda & Federal area with their wide array of Chinese restaurants.
Jun
14
Links: No Free Lunch
Filed Under mortgage | Leave a Comment
Here are some interesting stories around the internet:
- Kenneth Harney discusses Bank of America’s True No Fee Mortgage. Like Pavlov’s dog, everyone salivates when the words “No Fees” or “Free” are bandied about, especially when it comes to your mortgage however, you just need to remember that’s there’s NO FREE LUNCH.
- Real Estate Journal talks about “pimping your lawn mower“. In other words, trading in your push model for a John Deere Zero Turn Radius riding mower. Maybe in surburbia it’s a big deal but mowing your lawn sucks no matter what you use.
- Mark Cuban discusses his colonoscopy. I only find this link interesting because I have older friends who have experienced this ordeal and lived to tell about it in amusing fashion.
- The Transformers movie has an unbelievable trailer. My biggest question is: WHY DIDN’T THEY MAKE THIS MOVIE FRICKIN 20 YEARS AGO! (Yes, I collected transformers)