Humpty Dumpty Sat on a WALL STREET! - 03/25/09 11:46 PM
And he could crack a few mortgage rates!We all know what happens next: as the market rallies, safe money tends to leave the bonds stable as traders and investors leap onto the wild horse for the ride up. You can hear them yelling giddy-up around the world. You see, market traders have come to consider the market a quick in and quicker out place to do business. They don't call them 'day traders' for nothing. Buy your Citibank at 6, sell at 6.5 and dump before nightfall. Get back in the next morning at 5.75 and do it again. A few do fall off that … (1 comments)

All the Kings Horses and All the Kings RATES? - 03/25/09 07:45 PM
Which way will rates go in 2009? Given a pervasive uncertainty means nobody is buying much of anything and home values keep plunging--how do we stop this merry-go-down? For starters, the Fed, the Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission and all the Kings Horses being trotted out to bolster confidence and not a moment too soon!
Low Now: OK, rates look great right now. Can they go lower? Unlikely. The jury is out on how long it will take to come up with a viable, actionable recovery plan and how long that plan will take to start working. Meanwhile, help for overextended borrowers who have Fannie … (8 comments)

NON Toxic Assets: Step Right Up, Get'em While They're HOT! - 03/21/09 08:48 PM
NEWSFLASH: Not ALL Mortgage Backed Securities Are Bad!National Public Radio Podcast from the Planet Money Team 03/20/09: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.htmlaction=1&t=1&islist=false&id=102154567&m=102154705The analysis is laid out on the actual payback of Mortgage Backed Securities over time vs. the value today (i.e., if you sold your holdings). If you sold them today, sure you'd get back 50 cents on the dollar of your investment. You see, the world has gotten the view lately that risk is bad. Lots of folks are buying these things and would continue to buy them today. According to Planet Money: because they are handled by the big money managers who consider … (2 comments)

Can This LOAN can be SAVED? - 03/17/09 01:09 AM
Sadly, most of us know someone who is in a stressed mortgage situation! The sheer numbers of files landing on bank negotiator's tables is astounding. Here's an update.
NEWS: Making Home Affordable Released March 4, 2009  
FIRST:To qualify for the Obama Plan, Making Home Affordable, first, find out if Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae holds your loan: Call your lender or loan servicer (number on your mortgage statement) and ask them if ...or contact Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae directly
1-800-FREDDIE (8am to 8pm EST) 1-800-7FANNIE (8am to 8pm EST)
NEXT: Qualifying for "Making Home Affordable":  If you have a Fannie or Freddie loan and wish to investigate … (4 comments)

MYTHS Busted on Active Rain! - 03/12/09 11:37 PM
You know one of the most powerful aspects of Active Rain is how elegantly this medium brings together so many different perspectives from all walks and levels of our industry. From newbies to old hands who both have much to share about our business and business in general!
MYTH-OLOGY: On a recent post of mine, a commenter quoted an inaccurate fact that was slanted with opinion, based on that fact. While I was blissfully working with clients that day, the commenter was corrected and later graciously retracted and edited their comment. When I returned to my post later, I was discovered what had transpired from another member who communicated this to me. Cool! Folks here are … (14 comments)

YES WE CAN turn this market around! - 03/11/09 11:43 PM
If the leaking of CEO memos and overheard Starbucks conversations are now constituting grounds for 'market confidence' heaven help us! Wall Street followers are awash with disbelief about the sudden convenient rallies. The surge in Financials on Tuesday was inexplicable. Oddly, Bonds have been moving sideways and later today we got mortgage rate improvements suggesting something is afoot among insiders. Now I understand that insider trading is illegal. But is Big Bank manipulation of our money supply similarly illegal? The powerful influencers in our market are trying to figure out who is in charge and where the money is. Our confidence and our fear move our market … (4 comments)

Humdinger Full Moon Market ALERT: March 10th! - 03/07/09 11:08 PM
OK, I'll admit it: I've been watching the behavior of myself and others around full moons all my life. I'm pretty sure I was born on a full moon. I am convinced that people go a little lunatic around those times. The week or so leading up to the full moon feels literally like a rising tide of emotion...people get a bit jumpy, things seem more dramatic. I drink more coffee, sleep less, talk faster. I've even been known to go shopping at midnight on a full moon.
Am I imagining this? Well the moon is a pretty big thing in comparison to our … (7 comments)

Buddy, can you spare a RATE? - 03/07/09 10:20 PM
WOW...were locking between 4.75% - 5.0% this week for our best 80% LTV, 30 year fixed terms for perfect and I mean perfect applicants. So many caveats exist on your final loan offer that it is literally impossible to quote a 'rate' until we have reviewed your equity position, the kind of property you are financing, your credit, liabilities and income. Still --every person who calls or stops me on the street asks: "What is today's rate?" and "Will they go lower?" 
If only it were that simple. Watching rates has become like watching a volleyball match or the stock market for that matter. If you are the gambling … (0 comments)

Is It True Loan Officers HAVE MORE FUN? - 03/05/09 05:31 AM
Here's a sad expose about a Loan Officer recently convicted for mortgage fraud in Seattle. The only problem is that this article, while well illustrated on the front page of the Seattle Times, is that it leaves some doubt as to just who this crook represented (besides himself). He is apparently not blonde. We can assume seven years in the slammer will be no fun whatsoever.
Re: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008793819_webbrooks27m.html   
The article about Chris Brooks, a former loan officer at America Mortgage of Bellevue, paints the suggestion that he was working as mortgage broker. What really bugs me is their use of the term … (22 comments)