Jason & Ryan Nicewarner's Blog

What to do... What to do...

Jason & Ryan Nicewarner (Allied Home Mortgage) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 09:42:36 -0700

After 3 years in business it seems as if our business has slowed to almost a crawl. Last year was by far our best year in business but something has changed. With the new year, came new regulations. I have a customer who called me and said that his realtor had told him some things about us and urged him to go w/ another company. Not a big surprise. In an area that is "pro local bank", I dismissed it.

The next day I got another call from the same customer saying that his realtor had again told him things (untrue things) about our company and that he would be better off w/ another lender. By this time I have grown a little agitated.

This repeated itself 4 times!!!! The funny thing is that I have never worked w/ this realtor at all. Why would someone want to sabotage a lender they've never even worked with?

The thing that bothers me is that as a banker/broker, I am working in the same way as a realtor (commission-based). I don't get paid unless I close loans. Many local banks pay their loan officers a salary and commission. They don't close a loan so what! I HAVE to close loans.

I would love to get everyone's opinon as to what to do in this situation.

Interesting 2010 Facts that You May be Overlooking

Jason & Ryan Nicewarner (Allied Home Mortgage) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:10:52 -0800

Hello 2010!

Everyone is aware of the sweeping changes that came through the lending industry January 1^st. We wanted to make you all aware of some events that may carry an even greater impact on mortgages and home buyers than the changes effective the beginning of the year.

The Federal Reserve has been buying mortgage backed securities to the tune of $1.25 trillion since January 2009. The prices of mortgage backed securities are directly linked to the interest rates that banks and lenders can offer. The Federal Reserve bought the securities in hopes to drive down interest rates and promote the lending of money. The Fed has been successful with their plan. This is the reason why we have seen historically low interest rates of the past year and the reason why rates have not fluctuated greatly over the past year.

The Federal Reserve plans to stop purchasing mortgage backed securities effective March 31^st. The Fed has slowed its purchasing volume during the last quarter of 2009 and interest rates have reacted accordingly by increasing since the start of December. There is no guarantee that rates will reach the levels seen in May 2000 of over 8% but they will be more likely to rise above last years overall average of 6%. This does not take into account the fact that interest rates historically increase during the spring and summer months.

The above factors, coupled with the elimination of the tax credit at the end of April as well as potential FHA changes (increased down payment from 3.5% to 5%), could dramatically effect not only the cost of buying a home but the type of financing available to buyers. All of these changes are manageable; however, these events put a greater importance on trying to get buyers into homes now versus waiting until spring when the options from a lending standpoint may not be near as attractive.

AIG Bailout a Bad Thing?

Jason & Ryan Nicewarner (Allied Home Mortgage) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:06:38 -0700

Many people I've talked to and even in the media, there is a consensus that the Fed's bailout of insurance giant AIG was a bad thing. I realize that there are many companies still being burned by the subprime fallout. In my opinion, the Fed had to step in and help.

What many people don't understand that while they are helping AIG out by giving them billions of dollars, this is a loan and not a gift. The Fed is loan AIG this money at quite the interest rate. The Fed's return looks to be at an interest rate of 11.31%.

With over 74 million clients around the world, I think the Fed did what they had to do....to preserve the U.S. economy.