Home » November 30th, 2009
Entries posted on “November, 2009”
MELVILLE, NY – November 30, 2009 – Lend America today commented on The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) withdrawing its FHA-approval from Ideal Mortgage Bankers.
The Company’s Statement:
“The Company is surprised and disappointed by today’s action by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Mortgagee Review Board. The Company is currently reviewing all possible options and remedies in response to this action, and will respond shortly once a decision has been reached.”
November 30th, 2009 | Posted in Uncategorized | Read More »
I am going to keep this short and just rant a little bit about a situation I have encountered recently as a loan originator with the assumption that many of you have experienced this same thing
November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Blog,Uncategorized | Read More »
To blog or not to blog, that is my website?
What is a Blog
Many people may be familiar with a blog but for those who are not, I will explain what it is and why you need one. A mortgage Blog is a platform on the web that allows you to communicate daily to your audience. Blogs are short articles called posts, typically on average of 250 words.
The popularity of blogs has skyrocketed. Over 170,000 blogs are created daily compared to 60,000 in October 2006. That number is only expected to grow. The popularity of blogs has evolved from personal journal entry type entries to business blog marketing. Many companies such as Starbucks and Southwest Airlines have their own blog to connect with their audience.
A blog is a valuable channel to add to your current marketing. It is very easy to add your blog address to your email signature, website, flyers, business cards, brochures, direct mail and other marketing material. You have just created an additional way your prospects can learn about what you do and how much you know by adding it to everything that has your name on it.
November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »
Plan by Investing in Mortgages: Part II
This is the second in a six part series of articles on using your IRA to invest in non-traditional investments such as mortgages.
“Macroeconomics is what happens to everyone else’s IRA, Microeconomics is what is happening to mine.”
Not a classic academic definition on the order of John Locke, Adam Smith, and John Keynes, yet one that resonates in today’s uncertain economic times.
While most of us do not have a first hand perspective on the great depression, many of us recall the impact of gas shortages in the ‘70’s, 18 percent mortgages in the early ‘80s, the first gulf-war in the ‘90s and the economic and emotional damages that remain from the 2001 terrorist attacks. The current cauldron of tightened credit, newly restrictive bankruptcy laws, energy price hikes, and slipping European economies have undoubtedly exacerbated the economy.
November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »
Mapping Out the Next Real Estate Investment Cycle
Investors are cheering the tightening of credit spreads – a move that can bring real estate debt investment back in vogue.
–BY W. JOSEPH CATON
Since experiencing an unprecedented run up that began late summer of 2008, a critical measurement of stability in the credit markets has been showing signs of strength in recent weeks. Spreads, or the difference between how much payment lenders demand as interest above yields on benchmark instruments like LIBOR and U.S. treasury bonds, have been on a declining trend. Overall, declining spreads is good news for any credit and interest rate driven business such as real estate finance and the fixed-income portfolios they represent.
To begin with, real estate debt investment activity has typically mirrored what happens in the corporate finance arena, and generally lags such activity by anywhere from six to nine months. For instance, before any semblance of trouble reached the mortgage-backed securities and real estate lending sectors, some private equity firms first began to experience difficulty in raising funds for highly publicized leveraged buyouts. These deals dominated the news headlines and the pages of corporate finance trade journals during the capital markets liquidity peak.
November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »
The Case (once again) For Direct Mail
Searching for your next prospect in this market can be challenging. With so many Lead Providers popping up and offering everything from exclusive to semi-exclusive leads it’s difficult to figure out what’s really a good lead and what’s not. Are they originating the lead themselves or are they more of the same over-sold leads from aggregators? Perhaps you have gone through a few Lead Providers in your search for a quality lead (maybe even a dozen or more)? You are tired of competing with 27 other companies over the same prospect. Quantity is no longer a viable option, quality is more important than ever. You need a lead that zeros in on the exact prospect that will fit your program guidelines.
You can choose to take control of your marketing by creating your own Lead flow. If you’re thinking this is about search engine optimization or pay-per-click advertising for leads, think again. What’s old is new. Direct mail is once again helping companies locate their ideal prospects. Direct mail is not for the faint of heart, but done correctly and consistently, you can eliminate the middleman and take back control of your marketing.
November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »
Doubling Your REALTOR® Referrals In 90 Days
Did you notice how quickly the halfway point of the year arrived? What a roller coaster it has been. We have seen a more challenging, shrinking market for refinance originations, overall loan volume down, and the number of originators competing for that shrinking pie greatly reduced.
How are you doing so far? Are you on track with your production goals? How many sources of business do you have and what would happen to your income if one of those sources disappeared or suddenly under performed? By my observation and through non-scientific surveys of originators across the country, it appears that too many originators’ business is still weighted heavily on the refinance side of the scale. The old “live and die by the refi.”
November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »
OR: The Future of the Mortgage Broker.
By Martin Andelman
The holding of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers Western Conference, or NAMB West, seemed like the ideal time for me to consider the future of the mortgage broker, and more to the point, whether the mortgage broker has a future. I mean, let’s face facts… if the banks have any say in the matter, and they certainly have and likely will, then the mortgage broker is at best in trouble and at worst doomed.
So, being the self-proclaimed thought leading, out-of-the-box thinker that I am, I set out to do some out-of-the-box, thought leadership type thinking on the subject, and I think I’ve come up with something that hasn’t already been written about exhaustively in the press. If you’re a mortgage broker, it may or may not be right for you, but keep an open mind… the idea may grow on you.
House painting. It could just be the new career you’re looking for.
Look, who has more experience with homes than you do? Oh sure, there are real estate agents and appraisers, but for one thing, they never made any real money anyway, so to most of them the meltdown just means spending more time carpooling the kids, or picking up a teaching job. And besides, homes are still going to be bought and sold, so they’ll be okay. Those homes will of course be financed too, just not by you, so it’s you that has the real problem here.
November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »
Right now, as I type this, there are multiple blog/forum threads on multiple industry websites, discussing different theories on why, how and where wholesale lending is headed. This topic comes up every couple of months and is worth following. After sifting through much of the cliché doomsday and broker bashing rhetoric, I glean useful and insightful commentary, to say the least.
Will brokers be able to survive? Or are they going the way of the dinosaur?
Over the last two years, a huge contraction has hit the broker business. Some sources have total broker originations down below 20% of the overall market (from approximately 80%). There is and will be, without a doubt, a change in the way mortgage brokers conduct business. With many states opting to conform to the NMLS and new regulations such as the S.A.F.E. act, the landscape has and will be changed significantly.
November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »
“The reasons for FHA’s problems are very different from the ones experienced in the subprime sector where unsafe loan features and poor underwriting made investing in non-agency mortgages risky from the start.”
In January of this year, both Joe Murin and I were asked by HUD Secretary Donovan to remain as Ginnie Mae president and FHA Commissioner respectively to help the new Administration deal with the on-going housing crisis. We both were privileged to be asked and were honored to continue serving in the Obama Administration for several more months.
However, today, as a former government official, if I could leave you with one message it would be this:
There has never been a point in our nation’s history that better illustrates exactly why FHA and Ginnie Mae exist. During these uncertain economic times, their counter-cyclical role of ensuring adequate mortgage activity and liquidity has been necessary and vital.
November 25th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »
A lot of people don’t...
