kirk williams: "Look at the mess you got us into now Stanley" HUD on HOLD? - 11/17/09 02:56 PM
Not surprising to me HUD is going to put a 120 day 'enforcement' delay for the new Good Faith Estimate and HUD-1 roll out scheduled for Jan. 01, 2010. What a mess. What a disaster. This photo depicts perfectly how our government (the big guy - Oliver Hardy) and HUD (the skinny -Stan Laurel) are managing this little thing we call a financial calamity. Recovery my (Fill in blank).
HUD always has a scandal each administration costing millions or billions (depending upon how many years you include). Inexplicably they eliminated the down payment assistance program thinking a down payment would solve this economic calamity. BIG thinking.
So … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: Petition Drive to stop the HVCC madness coming to a head - 11/16/09 02:32 PM
If you were one of the activists that mailed in the online petition supporting the elimination of HVCC the day in court is coming soon.
A group will be delivering the petitions to one of the enemies of the consumer and our industry - the attorney general of New York - Mr. Cuomo maybe as early as this week. His office has been contacted and we will see how they respond.
See previous blog about its history and BS that fly's around this issue.
You want government to do what? The failure of HVCC appraisal
It continues to baffle me … (1 comments)
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kirk williams: Fannie Mae is your new landlord? - 11/10/09 09:30 AM
Yes. Instead of doing the heavy lifting and figuring out how to work out loans for the folks still employed Fannie has decided to become a landlord. Instead of foreclosing they will lease to folks for one year then month to month there after.
How they set the rent or how things get fixed in a timely manner or even how they evict people are details nobody knows. It is safe to say knowing our government Fannie Mae does not know but sounds good doesn't it? Just like the other failed programs.
Unfortunately if you live in an area where home sales … (1 comments)
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kirk williams: TAX CREDIT EXTENDED! For NEW and REPEAT Homebuyers - 11/09/09 10:32 AM
I have just been resuscitated after the shock and awwweeee of the news I'm about to tell you. Our government.....the government....yes our government actually did something that will help stimulate the economy and keep this little thing we call a country breathing.
Not only did they extend the tax credit for new homebuyers ($8,000) it now offers a $6500 tax credit for repeat buyers or buyers moving up (how do you move up when prices are down?).
This tax credit will end in June 2010 and all contracts must be in writing by end of April. I wonder if the record number of foreclosures in a quarter in … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: What do Home Owner Insurance and CARFAX have in common? - 11/01/09 12:17 PM
History....
Anytime we turn in a claim to our insurance company pertaining to our home and damage that information is collected for all insurance companies to see. This information is stored in a 'repository'. Experian and Equifax are both repositories storing information about our credit.
If you are looking at a home to purchase you should call your insurance agent and have them pull up the property to see what kind of claim history it has before you call your home inspector. Armed with that information going into an inspection can help you make an informed decision on what is the … (2 comments)
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kirk williams: Two more home sales this weekend land on my desk - 11/01/09 11:42 AM
I am usually available to my clients (borrowers/Realtors) as they need me and on Saturdays it is not uncommon to get a phone call or two about qualification on a home a borrower may be interested in or a call from a Realtor to confirm the price range our mutual client can afford before the offer goes in.
This past Saturday I sat in my office looking at two new purchase contracts on my desk. The tax credit certainly is playing a role and my sources tell me it will be extended into 2010 up through June. Perhaps congress would just extend it … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: Oversight and enforcement of existing law should be the focus - 10/28/09 10:51 AM
Nutty professors at HUD, the spoon fed (by lobbyist) congress and its agencies run around making speeches, proclaiming villains, pointing fingers yet right under the noses of all these knuckleheads bad players continue to play bad.
Case in point is Lend America's Mike Ashley. Caught, arrested, fined, fired, rehired, fired, ordered to stay out of the business, restrictions ordered - See link for the full story:
http://www.housingwire.com/category/buzz-post/
The point is no regulation in the world will prevent stupid OR bad behavior unless of course there is oversight and enforcement. A drum I have been beating for the past 18 months and will continue … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: Request for Permanent Reversal of HVCC....now is your chance to act! - 10/26/09 10:36 AM
The HVCC appraisal regs that went into effect thanks to the Attorney General of NY Cuomo (probably will run for Gov of NY and certainly at some point will run for president...oh yea former HUD secretary under Clinton...Cuomo was a disaster there too)... His response to serious issues is from the same handbook used in Washington DC and to reverse this or right this wrong you can sign and forward this petition.
If you want to right the wrong this is your chance. If you as a consumer wish to be subjected to inaccurate appraisals that cost you money up front then don't participate. If you … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: Future trip on interest rates....want a peek? - 10/24/09 07:13 PM
Rates are good now for the short term and one way to shed some light where our interest rates will be in the future is to look into our past.
I have attached a link showing the history of long term rates going back to 1971. See below:
http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/pmms30.htm
In my old marketing stuff I found a chart reporting long term rates from 1799 up to 1992. (That's right I started in this business back in 1799) It revealed long term interest rates were at or below 8.5% - 95% of the time.
When you review the history of rates you … (2 comments)
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kirk williams: HR 3126 amendment MAY KILL HVCC? - 10/23/09 10:16 AM
HR 3126 deserves the support from the consumer, Realtor, obviously the lending industry, (the banks won't support it because it will save the consumer money and Banks lose revenue) and support is needed from all the other vendors supporting the real estate market place IF the amendment killing the HVCC (preventing originators from ordering their own appraisal) is included.
America write your representative and senator and refer to HR 3126....and demand this amendment is included. It has some distance to travel before it gets to a vote however we all need to contact our representatives and tell them to get this on … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: OOPS, HUD did it again.... - 10/22/09 12:06 PM
Stealing and changing the title a bit from the Britney Spears "hit" song whenever it came out was inspired by HUD's latest announcement that it is considering "Civil Money Penalties" against the FHA underwriter if HUD FEELS (I emphasize the word FEELS) the underwriter didn't underwrite the loan properly. HUH?
I wonder if Britney Spears is now in charge of HUD. Nope it is Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan the man on an island along with the rest of Washington DC. Does anybody really believe our government and its agencies know anything?
Timothy Geitner Treasury Secretary recently stated "regulatory overhaul without limiting consumer choice … (2 comments)
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kirk williams: VA Zero Down proves to be solid performer - - 10/20/09 11:42 AM
The VA (Veterans Administration) loan continues to quietly perform - zero down, seller paid closing costs, seller can pay revolving debt for buyer under certain circumstances and the default rate is only 4.69% confirming the myth the down payment is a crucial component for a loan to perform is FALSE!
The VA has always been a full document loan and not only looks at the veterans debt to income but also looks at residual income. In other words folks the focus here and with most loans that perform since the beginning of time is the ability to REPAY the loan not whether there is … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: You need to sell your home....Is a Short Sale the best option? - 10/17/09 04:09 PM
Unfortunately the short sale is more common place than it should be. I was researching some other topic and I came across this video by Annie Fitzsimmons posted on the "Washington Realtor" website and it is a three part series.
For the seller I recommend part one and for the potential buyer I recommend Part III in this three part series and recommend anyone to go through all of it to learn how the banking industry handles (or does not handle) this stuff and why it takes patience and perseverance for those participating in this exercise.
The link is below.
http://www.warealtor.org/short-sales/
The … (1 comments)
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kirk williams: Is the State of Washington part of a trend? - 10/17/09 03:16 PM
We have seen folks in my profession come and go due to market conditions and even though 99 banks have failed since Wall Street handed to us this financial calamity, it does not match the 500 or so banks that failed back in 1989 (Savings & Loan) however today the situation is worse now than it was then.
According to the State of Washington Department of Finance, the number of licensed loan originators in December of 2007 was at 13,722. December 2008 - 7,863 and 4,597 renewed for 2009 and I'm guessing the number of active licensed loan originators is lower … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: The American Public not so smart says HUD & Washington DC.... - 10/15/09 11:23 AM
Sixty million dollar Obama program says "we know best" and wants to review your loan docs....I KNOW how cool is that? (he says in a tone of resentment) They (the government) think they are better equipped to tell you how to manage your money!
Well bust my buttons - 24 national and regional organizations, 5 multi state organizations plus 463 state and local housing counseling agencies. Yippeee!!! (getting a little more smarmy) 4400 counselors will be available to add their opinion about your loan. I am in awe of my government - how do I put my pants on in the … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: OK, Health Care is on a path so what about the economy? - 10/14/09 10:36 AM
Historically it is the lobbyist that writes the bills and our representation puts a bow on it and calls it representing "their constituency". Whats transparent are the lobbyists stomping around trying to get 'their say' in writing to water what they can down be it Health Care, Wall Street regulation or what the next 'stimulus' package should look like...or what I like to call the "simulus" package" (simulates or poses as a solution the result being modest and very short term results and terrible waste of money).
Harold Meyerson writes a great piece today and I wish to point it out to all plus … (0 comments)
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kirk williams: In a credit score world is there a loan if you have no credit score? - 10/13/09 11:36 AM
The credit score system has not only cannibalized the lending world creating false barriers preventing the deserving applicant experiencing life on life terms from getting a decent interest rate it has now given cover to lenders to create more barriers for the non-score applicant.
Traditionally HUD (FHA loan) allowed us to construct non-traditional credit ratings from sources such as the cable company, insurance agents the list goes on. Traditionally we would take the non-traditional credit and submit the file for what we call a manual underwrite which simply means a real person underwrites the file performing traditional risk analysis underwriting to … (4 comments)
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kirk williams: Paulson was wrong says Paulson? - 11/12/08 11:35 AM
For those of us in the industry for over 20 years instinctively knew Paulson's "plan" was a sell job more than a solution. If you thought the government had a "plan" after collateralizing the taxpayer for 700 plus billion I'm sure after this press conference it is now clear they did not.
Mr. Paulson says the facts changed on the ground and the fact is they did not. The derivatives' were worthless then they are still worthless now and this is the big lie. Congress saw the politics of it and passed something for the sake of passing something for political … (1 comments)
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kirk williams: Credit surfing and balance transfers.....it can hurt you. - 01/29/08 08:49 PM
With all the temptations of lower credit card offers many people surf around and pay off and close their account for the better short-term rate. They closed an account with a longtime credit history in good standing and what happens..... The credit score goes down! DON'T DO THAT.
You eliminated a perfectly good credit history only to open a brand new one with no history. You have moved all your balances to the new credit card nearly "maxing it out". The FICO scoring system penalizes you if you carry a balance on your credit card that exceeds 30% of your approved limit. … (6 comments)
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