The numbers that we hear scare us. The market is down 16%, home sales are down 20%, home values are down 25%, bankruptcies have exceeded records. Yet Americans have been here and we will overcome.

Some of you are old enough to remember the S & L crisis. A lot of banks went under. The other day they claimed that 190 banks are on the watch list. In the 1990's they had over 1900 banks on the watch list.

We need to keep our shoulders and chins up. We will be fine. This too shall pass.

Christopher J. Onwuasoanya

I started work at Merrill Lynch on Monday and I must confess it has been a wonderful experience. After flying on a wing and a lot of prayer for the last 6 years, it was nice to be in a structured environment. What I welcome most is the opportunity to use my brains again.

I have done more studying since Monday that I have done in the last 6 years. It is nice once again to put my talents to use again. I will continue to update you as to my progress on my way to get my Series 7.

Have a great evening.

Christopher

I was having a conversation with a friend this morning and he was pretty peeved at the Fed for bailing out Bear Stearns. He felt that we should not be bailing out a company that profited from greed and poor judgement.

He then proceeded to tell me decisions that Bernanke had made that he did not like and he started using words like M1 and M3. Folks I have not been to school in a long time and when he mentioned M1 the first thing that came to my mind was a British motor way and M3 was a car. Did not even consider money or money supply in the equation.

So my question to all of you is this.

Have we been so far out of school that we no don't remember some of the basic things that we were taught?

Are some these things relevant in day to day life?

Christopher Onwuasoanya

Hello Friends,

I took some time off from active rain. During my self imposed sabathical  I had emails frompeople who were upset about my post on the brook haven clinic. I was called a racist, a nazi and basically blamed for all that they were upset about.

It was tough having people who knew nothing about you make such comments. But I guess if I am going to make comments about sensitive subjects I should expect people to react.

My son got accepted into Rutgers (his safety school) and we are waiting for the schools he would like to go to. The day after he found out about Rutgers he got his drivers license. Exciting times at the Onwuasoanya house hold. A college bound driver. Who says that these are not exciting times?

Thanks for reading and I will keep you posted about the major changes coming my way.

Christopher J. Onwuasoanya 

As many of you know there is legislation that is being debated that will have a very adverse impact on our lives. The net effect will be to get rid of the mortgage broker and drive all the business to the banks.

Please vote and let your legislator know how you feel about this bill.

I want to clarify something though. Thee bill is not being voted on by the full House of Representatives, but is being debated and voted on by the House Financial Services Committee. Given how influential the Committee is, it is very likely that a decision will be made by the committee and forwarded to the House for a vote in the future. It is important that we make our voices heard IMMEDIATELY.

Please follow the below instructions and ACT NOW! 

  Go to:   http://capwiz.com/namb/dbq/officials/   ·       Enter your zip code and click "go" at the end of that section ·  

Select your UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE Congressperson (NOT your state State Congressional Representative...in the left column where the President of the US is listed) ·       Click the Congress Person's email address (sometimes email is expressed as "Contact by Web form" on the screen that comes up. (The email address is normally found just to the right of the Congressperson's photograph.) ·       Make sure the first radio button is selected ("HR 3915 the ‘Mortgage Reform and Anti Predatory Lending Act of 2007'") and click "Next Step" at the bottom of the page (The message is already composed)

Christopher Onwuasoanya

Countrywide to modify up to $16 billion of mortgages

By Jonathan Stempel 59 minutes ago

Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N), the largest U.S. mortgage lender, on Tuesday offered to refinance or modify up to $16 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages through the end of 2008 to help about 82,000 borrowers who face higher payments stay in their homes.

Countrywide plans to offer new mortgages to 52,000 subprime borrowers with $10 billion of home loans. It also plans to modify $4 billion of loans for 20,000 prime and subprime borrowers who cannot refinance, and $2.2 billion of mortgages for 10,000 subprime borrowers who are already delinquent.

"It sounds positive," said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a San Francisco group that has fought against unfair lending practices.

"Our frustration is that many financial institutions are saying the right things, but we're not seeing the results on the ground. Eighty-two thousand customers is a small number compared with the hundreds of thousands industrywide who face foreclosure."

Rates on 2 million mortgages will rise by the end of 2008, and one-fourth of the affected homes may face foreclosure, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates. Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called the nation's housing crisis "the most significant current risk" to the economy.

Calabasas, California-based Countrywide did not immediately return requests for further comment.

It said it has this year helped 31,000 subprime borrowers with adjustable-rate loans refinance into more than $5 billion of prime, fixed-rate loans. Subprime mortgages go to people with weaker credit.

"Unprecedented times call for unprecedented remedies," Chief Operating Officer David Sambol said in a statement. "We are determined to assist borrowers who have the willingness and wherewithal to remain in their homes, but need a little help."

SMALLER, SAFER LOANS

Like many rivals, Countrywide has faced criticism that it fed the housing slump by putting Americans into mortgages they could not refinance. It made $468.2 billion of mortgage loans in 2006, including $40.6 billion of "nonprime" mortgages.

Investors have also criticized Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo for selling well over $100 million of Countrywide stock as the housing boom was cresting.

The housing slump has hurt Countrywide, which this summer struggled to raise cash and set plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs as lending slowed. Analysts on average expect it on Friday to post a third-quarter loss that may exceed $770 million.

Countrywide is now emphasizing smaller, higher-quality loans. It stopped making most subprime mortgages, and adjustable-rate loan funding slid 76 percent in September. Overall mortgage volume that month fell 44 percent.

Congress is considering legislation to require lenders to put borrowers in affordable loans, rather than loans that are more profitable, and to let homeowners sue Wall Street banks that securitize loans that should never have been made.

Countrywide services $1.46 trillion of mortgages. It said that as of June 30, payments were at least 30 days late on one in five nonprime loans it serviced.

(Additional reporting by Ankur Relia in Bangalore)

I got an email from my representative today saying sorry I would no longer be handling your loans. MortgageIT laid me and 85% of the work force off. So call to check the status of your loan files.

I was of the belief that the worse was over.

I feel bad for the young lady she has a young child she is raising as a single mother.

I have finally accumulated 20,000 points on active rain. In the short time I have been on active rain I have had one featured post and countless post that barely warranted yawns. 

I came to a point that i started to ask myself the value of being on AR. I had come to ask if I was in for the points alone. At that juncture accumulating  points mattered to me more than the value I got from AR. I saw the people ahead of me as people I should knock off in my quest to move up and score points. I had become a hit man.

I decided to take a break and evaluate the benefits I got from AR and I made some behavior changes. I don't post daily, I don't visit as frequently and I read the blogs, more for the value that they provide as opposed to the points I could score from commenting on them.

I am wiser now, calmer and really beginning to enjoy AR for what it truly is.

I have picked up a few tips that I have applied to my business and I have been able to share things that been of value to some of you. I will continue to visit and periodically post, but my days of being on AR to accumulate points are behind me.

A great amount of gratitude goes to all who post and the same goes to those that read. If no one reads then people will no longer post.

Thanks for the value that I have been able to get from being a member.

Christopher J. Onwuasoanya

www.bestnjloans.com 

This week Foxtons laid off 350 of it 380 employees. The company's claim to fame was a 2% flat commission. They eventually charged more but at that point they did not stand apart from every one else.

A lot of people are of the belief that cheaper is better, but they don't realize that cheaper does not translate to value. When Toyota sold the first Lexus LS 400 at $29,000.00 a lot of people scoffed at the idea of a $29,000.00 Toyota. The support that Toyota threw behind the vehicle was unprecedented. Free pick up, loaner vehicles, free tank of gas and a car wash. With all that thrown in $29,000 for a luxury Toyota looked liked a bargain.

Lexus offered a lower price and an industry first customer experience. YHD / Foxtons offered a lower price but did not offer anything that made the lower price a value.

Netbank was taken over by the FDIC. They also offered mortgages and banking online by promising lower cost. They also believed that offering more on deposits or lower costs for a mortgage was all that it took to capture a customer. Like Foxtons they have realized that it is not about lower price.

In your business, do you believe that offering a lower price is all that it takes to capture your customers? Do you know how much you spend to get your client? How much are you spending to keep them?

Are you following the Lexus example. They went from 0 to being the top selling luxury brand in the US. Or are you following the Foxtons model?

Christopher J. Onwuasoanya

www.bestnjloans.com