Stephen C.'s Blog

Office Downsizing New Furniture for Sale 1500 sq ft HELP!!! Fort Myers, FL

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:48:47 -0500

In order to best serve our clients, and remain lean and mean we must adjust in this challenging market. As a cost cutting and efficiency measure we are strategically reducing our overhead.

We are down sizing our office!! We have 1500 sq feet of fully furnished space. We are looking for cash offers on the furniture to be picked up within 5 days.

1 executive office

2 sales offices

5 work station cubicle cluster

1 reception

1 conference room

Trust USA Mortgage Corp.

13100 Westlinks Terrace #11

Fort Myers, FL 33913

Steve 239-682-5434

Please call me to view. If you know any party interested please refer to me.

Thank you

Canadian Buyers?? Slow on Down!!

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:29:23 -0500

True to form, the powers that be continue to tighten lending parameters...even for our Canadian friends to the

north:(

In one month's time the generous offerings of one of our lenders have been slashed, cut and constrained to the

point that...well, they just try to take all of the fun out of this business!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canadian Foreign National Purchases of U.S. Properties

As of 8:am April 29, 2008

2^nd home purchases only

Cannot have a U.S. credit score

Stated Income Verify Assets Documentation

LTV's 50% to 60% maximum - determined by postal zip code

Must have U.S. bank account for monthly auto pay, not optional

LTV's can be increased by 5% for bi-weekly auto payments

Minimum loan amount $75k U.S.

All contiguous states except Maine, Vermont, W. Virginia, Montana & N. Dakota

Copy of current valid Passport

Check for application fee

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This particular program no longer allows purchases of investment properties, and at the substantially lower LTV's it certainly increases the cash due at closing.

Perhaps some time down the road, as the market normalizes, the parameters will loosen...

Please see previous blog "Canadian Buyers?? Come on Down!!" posted April 4, 2008

Free Mortgage Clinic!! Sat 11am - 3pm

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:00:07 -0500

FREE

MORTGAGE

CLINIC

Sat. 11am-3pm

Steve

239-682-5434

Greetings to all, I am starting this new group because I need leads!!! I want to engage in discussion on how to market, structure, focus, and administer a successful clinic that will inform potential borrowers.

Inviting other professionals such as Realtors, appraisers, title people, insurance agents, can be part of a helpful clinic. They offer expertise and invest their time, they recieve the opportunity to build their customer base.

The text at the top of this post is what I would like to place on signs and flyers as part of my marketing efforts.

Wobbly Wamu's Waltz from Wholesale Worries Wall Street

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:58:56 -0500

Once venerable mortgage giant Washington Mutual, whimpers away from wholesale lending...slashes own staff (ouch!!).

Yes, after almost one hundred and twenty years of providing mortgage and other financial products to a grateful public, the stalwart financial figure is showing its battle scars obtained over the last several years of money grabbing activities.

Thousands of employees have been let go. Mortgage brokers have had the spigot of funds run dry.

Wall Street has seen the market cap of this once mighty lender reduced to a quarter of its recent high levels.

The holocaust is not yet over, who is next on the chopping block?

Stephen C. Olczak

Trust USA Mortgage Corp.

Canadian Buyers?? Come on Down!!

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:39:02 -0500

Canadian Nationals looking to purchase property in Sunny Florida have financing waiting for them!! You can obtain 75% LTV purchase financing with little more than a:

PULSE

PASSPORT

PEN

Contact me directly and I will provide further details as part of a personal consultation that will address your financing wants and needs!

Take advantage of low prices due to an oversupply of housing inventory, and low interest rates.

This is the time!

UPDATE!! UPDATE!! please see new blog "Canadian Buyers?? Slow on Down!!"" posted April 29, 2008

Genesis...Please fill me in!! UPDATE UPDATE

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:02:22 -0600

Currently I am trying to close a purchase mortgage contingent on a grant from Genesis. I have never used Genesis to close a loan before, but would like to see this deal happen.

Has anyone in the AR universe had experiences with Genesis? good or bad?

I would appreciate any feedback!

Thank you, Steve Olczak

I have successfully closed my first purchase mortgage using The Genesis Program! It works! Genesis is a non profit organization that qualifies as a "charitable organization" able to provide gift funds to buyers of a primary residence.

The deal was 97% FHA + 6% seller contributions + 3% Genesis gift.

This can be a potent combination to aid in getting purchase transactions completed.

Bernanke Proposal Preceeds Pundulum Progression

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 14:22:47 -0600

Ben S. Bernanke and his Federal Reserve have proposed new mortgage lending guidelines.

What They Say

1. Lenders must verify income and assets

2. Prepayment penalty restrictions

3. Lenders must determine if borrowers can afford mortgage

4. Borrowers to be told how much broker is making

5. No more misleading advertising

What I Say

1. Most of the time the average run of the mill mortgagee should have their income and assets verified i.e. full documentation. Traditionally this has been the modus operandi. The advent of reduced documentation loans was meant for specific borrowers because full documentation did not make the most sense for them. That is still the case, and for that small segment of the market...it will not change.

2. Greedy lenders dangled deceptively attractive terms to the "huddled masses yearning to breed green". There were a few catches, one of them was punitive prepayment penalties. In some cases lenders would charge a 3% or higher penalty if borrowers prepaid balances or refinanced to a better loan. I believe a prepayment penalty should be only high enough to compensate the lender for origination costs if a borrower refinances out of the loan or substantially pays it down before a break even point has been reached. A prepayment penalty should not be a source of profits.

3. Refer to paragraph 1.

4. Currently, the application and closing documents do disclose some fee information. How far do we go with this one? Mortgage professionals should disclose fees in much the same way as real estate agents do.

5. This goes without saying. How though can one quantify hype, hyperbole & hubris?

Any time a sector is hurting, that sector must take a look inward and make corrections to police itself or the government will step in and do it for you!

Of course the end goal of Helicopter Ben is to get the market pendulum swinging back to a healthy and properly valued real estate market. For this we are all grateful.

Federal Funds Rate Down 1/2% to 4.25% Prime Down 1/2% to 7.75%

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:22:33 -0500

After seeing 160 lenders hobbled or gone since the end of 2006...let's take a brief look at the industry. Country Wide's stock price per share has dropped from a 52 week high of $45 per share to a low of $15 recently and has recovered to $19.

Lenders have taken many stated and low and no doc products off the table in the aftermath of the sub prime debacle.

Can you say full doc? Come on, you can do it!! Remember when a borrower had to actually qualify for a mortgage based on their ability to repay, and the ability to repay was based on an examination of their income and asset documentation, as well as an acceptable credit history and score, not to mention reasonable debt to income ratios and loan to value standards?

The economic environment has brought us back to basics...as any efficient market will do. Of course stated and low or no doc loans are still out there, but for the reasons they were originally developed. Self employed and or commissioned individuals actually are best served with some of these products.

Individuals who have demonstrated their ability to manage their finances as evidenced by high credit scores and numerous open and active trade lines are rightly entitled to reduced doc products. Folks just starting out in high paying careers and who are strapped with student loan debt deserve to be put into ARMs.

The list goes on...

It looks like the market is going through all the usual steps to normalize, albeit not without some serious pain and suffering...nobody said an efficient market was perfect.

The recent action by the powers that be to ease the crunch in the form of reduced rates in an important ingredient in the recovery process. If the recovery is not clearly begun, at least the pace of destruction has been diminished.

Good News! Countrywide / Bank of America vs. Montage of Morbid Mortgage Monikers

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:04:09 -0500

Troubled mega lender Countrywide Home Loans has received a vote of confidence Wednesday.

Bank of America has invested Two Billion Dollars in convertible preferred securities of Countrywide Financial.

This could help CW weather the storm currently raging in the mortgage industry.

This move coupled with the reduction in the discount rate has sent a reassuring ripple of relief into an otherwise

bleak Montage of Morbid Mortgage Monikers.

Poor Credit Score?, Bankruptcy?, Foreclosure? No Job? CALL ME!!!!! Not

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:40:19 -0500

About twelve months ago, a loan originator in my office was so excited about placing an ad in the regional news paper's classified section, she talked about it for days. How many times should I run the ad? How much of a discount will I get for multiple runs? It has been getting slow, so I am taking ACTION to get deals!

Well, when the ad was finally published I hurried over to her desk because she just had to show me the paper with her ad in it! How many tens of thousands of readers would see the ad? How many calls would she receive?...and how many deals?

The ad read something like this:

Looking for a mortgage? Bad credit? Bankruptcy? Foreclosure? Low credit score? No assets? No job? I will do my best to get you the financing you need! Call Eve @ 123-456-7890

Sure enough she received some calls, all the prospects had poor credit, weak job histories, and some were saddled with foreclosures and or bankruptcy. She could not finance a single prospect. She stopped the ad after the initial run.

We did not have any magic weapon against poor qualifications, other than the standard 65% hard money available to every other mortgage broker, and none of the inquiries could make use of that product.

While I admire her energy, and proactive mind set...one must not think that sheer will power, determination and the ability to write a check for an ad translates into a successful marketing effort.

I later suggested to her that the ad say:

800 Credit score? Excellent credit History? Solid employment record? Able to put 20% down? Make a good salary? Call me for the best rate in town and the fastest possible closing! Adam @ 123-456-7891

If we are to invest our time and money expecting to get a positive response that translates into closed deals and a paycheck, we must be realistic.

My ad suggestion was meant to be tongue and cheek...but I think if I ran such an ad my results would be better than her's!!

First Magnus has Stopped Funding Loans!...And sundry other market musings

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:27:45 -0500

Add another lender to the list suffering from this difficult real estate environment. Will this be the last lender to face difficulty? I think not.

Mortgage lenders package millions of dollars of loans and turn to the secondary market (the stock market) to securitize the assets (mortgage backed securities) and sell them on the open market.

The stock market has been experiencing turbulence recently. The stock market has to stabilize, and digest the changes being made to lending practices, before they will again embrace instruments based on anything less than A paper mortgages.

Our markets are efficient...sooner or later poor quality investments and the industries that create them will be made accountable. We are feeling the hurt from that right now!!

Three Headed Dog Stops Funding Loans!!!

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:58:24 -0500

Cerberus (named after the mythological three headed dog that guarded the gates to Hades) is a private equity firm that owns Aegis. Aegis Mortgage Corp. has suspended all loan originations Monday August 6, 2007.

National City Home Equity has also suspended approving loan and equity line applications due to market conditions.

Perhaps Cerberus is doing his job and preventing some from slipping into the depths of the abyss!

Survival of the Fittest.............Good Old Chuckie D.

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:43:34 -0500

Since the market slowdown began here in South West Florida toward the end of 2005, and likewise nationally, we have seen mortgage and real estate brokerages, appraisal and title companies:

close up shop, consolidate, move, lay off, go on firing sprees, go on hiring sprees, twist, turn, contort, speak positively, spread gloom and doom, pray, laugh, cry...

Have I missed any? The list goes on and on.

As the months and years tick by the truth remains the same...the weak players in any industry will fall by the wayside during extended periods of difficulty.

Professionals who have deeply rooted business relationships, are involved with the community, and who have somewhat of a client base are aware of the big picture and can weather the storm.

It is not that everyone who leaves is a wimp, or unaware of the cyclical nature of the biz, the reality is that we need a minimum level of income and or savings in order to chug along and keep our heads above water.

Some have or will leave only to return to a vocation they love when things get better.

This down turn is certainly not a minor one. It could be one or more years till things are healthy again.

Thank you Charles Darwin for helping us understand.

Winstar Mortgage Has Ceased Operating Independently !!!!!!!

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:42:15 -0500

Winstar Mortgage has ceased operations...apparently they have now combined with American Sterling. No buyer could be found to date, managers are trying to get a bank to take the reins on sales and associated Winstar groups. This is in an attempt to reduce the pain invariably present when companies are hit in such a manner.

Bear Stearns ADD THEM TO THE PILE...KAPUT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:07:45 -0500

Bear Stearns is the latest to be added to the ledger of the dearly troubled. I hate to be the bearer of all of this ...but we have to forge ahead Eyes Wide Open. ABC, Fieldstone and now Bear Stearns. Any guess on who is next? The days and weeks ahead may be very interesting.

Fieldstone Mortgage Company has CLOSED ITS DOORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:05:59 -0500

Fieldstone Mortgage Company has closed its doors at the end of the day Tuesday July 31 2007. Will they reopen any time soon? After ABC ceased funding only days earlier and Countrywide announcing bad news, yet another casualty in this the second round of lender fallout. The end of year 2006 was awash in red ink and closures, recently we are hearing this "dead cat bounce" secondary echo of carnage. How many more will fall? Are we skittering along at the bottom of this market...or is the worst yet to be seen?

ABC American Broker's Conduit Has Filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy!!!!!!!

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:22:15 -0500

ABC American Broker's Conduit, part of American Home Loans has ceased funding!!!!!!!!!!!!

Indymac is looking to possibly purchase ABC and could resume funding if a deal is made

This lender was an excellent source for the five year hybrid option arm that was a more conservative version of

the volatile MTA option arms that are obsolete at this time, as well as the usual products at competitive rates

This is one of our favorite lenders...see update below.

Advertising Media... Calling All Mortgage Brokers!!

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 15:58:47 -0500

Many Realtors can advertise listings along with their broker's, perhaps taking part of a larger advertising campaign and sharing the expense rather than paying for ads as an individual. This may be slightly less common for mortgage brokers and loan officers. What advertising has worked the best for you?

Phone book Local papers Regional papers (The News Press) Place mats at resturaunts

The side of a bus Billboards Door hangers Post cards/direct mailing Back of Publix receipts

PMI vs. LPMI

Stephen C. Olczak (Trust USA Mortgage Corp) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:26:12 -0500

So far I have determined that LPMI is the better bet for borrowers. This conclusion is based on several conditions: The loan is a negative am loan, interest only, will not be in place long enough for principal payments to reduce the principal to 78% LTV, or in an economic environment of declining property values.

What do you think?