I hope he blames his brother a little since he was Governor here and then he is gone to leave all the mess to Charlie Christ. Florida is probably one of the top in foreclosure rates. He should immediately lower taxes and change the rates on mortgages and should immediately give some relief. I'll bet it will just be another political speech with no outcome.

Missy, it will be interesting to hear what President Bush has to say on this issue which has been very important for so many of us this year.  Luckily in the Washington D.C. area, although foreclosures are definitely rising, D.C., Maryland and Virginia have some of the lowest foreclosure rates in the country.

On another note, despite what your political views may be, I have had the privilege of being in the same room and hearing President Bush speak twice.  Once was at the Mid-Year Realtors Convention in D.C. a couple of years ago, and the second time I went to the Inauguration and one of the Inaugural Balls.

Missy:

It looks like FHA will be the new subprime.

Thanks for the alert. I'll try and tune it in.

.

President Bush isn't leaving office with much of a positive legacy but with this huge issue facing homeowners across the country he has a chance to make a difference in not only human lives but with the economy in general.

Michiganders are hurting, were hurting before the foreclosure crisis in our state and deserve as much help to turn around this proud state as we can get.

Thanks for the heads up Missy.  I'll be tuning in also.

Thanks for posting about this, Missy.

Although I'm in Ontario Can,  this is relevant here as well since our markets are so closely tied. I also feel very badly over all of the people who are losing their homes and all of my AR colleagues who are being affected by all of this.

Politics is not my milieu either...however, it's part of life and has great impact on the lives of each person. 

Jo 

Missy what will be interesting is how to save the people that bought with option ARM products and can not afford a standard amortization loan.

There is an election in 2008 - look for some relief......it is historically true

I hope I can get this one while on the highway. Today we're headed out for a weekend vacation. I suppose I can at least catch the sound bites on the evening news.

Thanks for the heads up Missy. I will try and catch it at 11.

It is rather surprising to see a conservative Republican president now embracing a program that the Republican Party has always criticized.  FHA was created in 1934 during the Roosevelt administration as part of his "New Deal" and it has been attacked by the GOP for decades, along with the Federal Minimum Wage and Social Security.

Thanks, Missy. I saw this on MSN when I logged in this morning. But I'll try to listen in this morning as well!

Neal, he still has to work with Congress to get this approved. My understanding is that it will save people from losing their homes. How can that turn political ? Well, see what he says and what the democratic response will be. I know Florida is hurting from taxes, but that is a state issue and he can not overturn your state taxes. Where is the Florida Association of Realtors, aren't they lobbying for this ?

Eric,  Politicans make strange bed fellows. I don't know the history but let's hope it brings relief to some homeowners across the nation.

Everyone else thanks for the comment. Maybe we can start a thread after the speech to see our interpretation of it ?

Hey Missy!  I hope you don't mind the link but I just read this article President Bush Pushes to Relax FHA Guidelines to Help Subprime Borrowers!! It's regarding the same information you just shared and commending President Bush for his attempt. 

THANK YOU for achknowledging that he's attempting to help us out of a messy economy.  It's been 7 long years and WHO KNOWS what would've happened without such a strong man in office.  He's only as good as Congress will allow him to be...let us commend him for his efforts! 

Susie, of course I don't mind. Anyone else that has heard a story can post here too. As I said I just happened to get a sound bite this morning, then when I went down to check email there was the Reuters Story.

Anyone else have a link, feel free to share here with all of us.

I can't watch the man.  I love the man but I can't listen to him.  I always have to scream "Geez.  Don't say that." or "Why didn't you tell the public about . . . .?"

President Bush has had the absolute worst public relations staff of any president I have ever known and I've been a political animal since . . . . . .

George W. Bush is the most pathetically inarticulate public figure in the history of the country. 

I'll listen to the talking heads following.  I'll watch on FoxNews so I can get the real story and not on CNN where the headline will probably be "President Bush refused to help American homeowners that his policies put in foreclosure and announces Billions in breaks for big business lenders". 

Oh well. 

One thing for sure, the folks with trouble meeting ARM adjustments today will have to let their credit go to ruin before they'll qualify for any help.  The proposed plan will only offer help to folks 3 months behind in their credit.  Folks who sold assets, got part time jobs, put Mom to work, sold the second car, etc. to make their mortgage payments will get not help.  They made their payments.  They are the ones who could also benefit by by a refinance window from the governement. 

Doesn't matter, the Congress will not help American home owners who help themselves.  They will give tax money to those who made bad decisions.  I can understand that and they can get help too.  But, what about the families really struggling who have made their payments.  They will have to let their credit go to ruin, might as well take a vacation, buy a new car and get three months behind and then go to the governement. 

I'll watch it on Fox too Lenn, why don't you tell us how you REALLY feel? LOL

Missy,

Some of your comments match what I have seen or think......thank you for the heads up, I'll try to catch the speech.  Will you give us an update in case we miss it?

Missy,

Thanks for the heads up, I will make it a point to watch. :)

Kathy, I'm sure people smarter with me will analyze this to death, but I will throw my 2 cents in.

Missy, thanks for posting about this.  I will watch it on Fox News also but don't normally turn on the television in the daytime so had you not posted I would not have know. THANKS!!

This may well bring relief to many, but at what cost?  This has the smell of another social program to bail people out who made bad decisions.  Adjustable rate mortgages can be a great tool to help increase certain buyer's buying power but now those that couldn't plan financially are being bailed out again by those who can.  

I wrote about my frustration :

http://councilofnicea.blogspot.com/2007/08/busting-predatory-lending-myth.html

Missy - Thanks for the notice! I am sick of the politicians blaming one another and people who bought these loans crying, they didn't know. I am all for helping people get out of a bad situation, but not a bail out. Lower taxes, adjust the interest rate, do away with deficiency judgements; there are alternatives. Let's see what they come up with..............

thanks for the heads up.  We here in the NW haven't seen it as bad as other parts of the US.  We are lucky for that, but there are still some people that are finding it harder to get approved.

Thanks Missy, I just hope it is a worth watching. Who am I kidding it's Bush!!! LOL

This is the best recap I have read all day. It is on Inman News. The National Association of Realtors also issued a statement included in his statement.

Missy, Whatever he tried to say, but probably didn't say right right had a good affect on the market today. We didn't see it as our heads are buried in following up on our comment trail for the week. We've got a few escrows closing too that are getting in the way of our blogwork;-)

Also want to thank you for taking your time to comment on the crest folly we recently did. It was much appreciated.

And also appreciate this comment trail. From your lead, we thought it was going to be far more political than it is. Oh darn. 

Missy,

I was glad to hear resistance to bailing out the lenders who chose to make risky loans.  I fear that the knee-jerk reaction to this mess will leave a lot of people who would have qualified for a loan unable to get one or paying rates that are too high.  Hopefully folks will learn that 100% financing with no money down is not usually a good idea!   

I'm with Lenn - I can't watch the man (it makes me extremely nervous and uncomfortable to hear him speak) - and helping the ones that help themselves should also be a priority.  It's pure crazyness.  I'm off to see the news.

Hey Missy,  I missed this post earlier...sounds like the conference was interesting.  :) 

I missed the actual news conference, but I have read a transcript and it sounds like the President and the government are working in the right direction.  Much of what he suggested is passing the baton to congress...so there is still a time lapse to getting things done - but at least we are moving int he right direction.

Now Have a Blessed Day,

John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR
Mission Grove Realty

To be honest, I am in no way of a fan of Bush.  But today he did a great thing.  Just commenting on the issue will bring confidence back.

 Some things to look for:

FHA will go to 99% LTV with no down payment assistance.

FHA will make it MUCH easier for the broker to get licensed.

All Fannie and Freddie programs will require some sort of down payment.

100% mortgages will no longer exist.

Hard money will be the new subprime because most of them will go 100% with a seller hold second (not FHA like every says).  Also, I have not seen a single guideline change to hard money.

The bottom line is if you don't know true FHA guidelines (manual UW) and Hard Money inside and out, you won't survive. 

http://www.virtualloanpro.com/

Missy - I hope some real action is done to make a difference in the "subprime" effect that's looming.

I'm always nervous when the government tries to help out.  The motive is right, but the solution sometimes is worse than the cure.  Let's hope for the best!

And Lenn...that's hilarious.  My brother-in-law has a Bush doll that has two buttons...one for inspirational stuff he's said and the other one for his crazy speech errors.  My favorite one is "The question we have to ask ourselves is, is our chirldren learning?"

Yesterday's proposal looks like a band-aid solution to a problem that started in the 1980's.  The Eighties were an era of deregulation.  The White House and Congress were in a hurry to do away with all sorts of nasty government regulations in the banking industry, credit card industry and yes, even the mortgage industry.  Remember the motto of the 80's?  Let the good times roll!

The problem began when lenders, investors and speculators took the ball and ran with it.  Greed played a part, of course, and predatory lending is an offshoot of that.  We used to have Usury Laws in this country, but they were watered-down or abolished altogether in the rush to de-regulate.  As a result, credit card companies started putting the squeeze on unsuspecting consumers with ridiculously high rates and hidden charges.  The same thing happened with "junk fees" in mortgages until the government cracked down. 

So the pendulum swings from one extreme to another.  The voting public has an appallingly short memory.

Talk is cheap  - and Mr Bush hasn't exactly been successful at much as of late.  I do too get nervous when the Government tries to help 

"Hello Ma'am - We are with the Government; We are here to help"  -eek!

While I am not convinced that it is the governments job to bail out people who can't read the fine print; I agree that many folks are in real trouble.

I just hope the government DOES step in and stop these aggressive lenders.

Missy -

Thanks for the post, so many times we get wrapped up in other things so it's to get these type of posts that gives us all the heads-up, we're staying optimistic about the end-results!

Hi Missy, I missed the speech, but did get bits of the recap later on.  Sounds like it will be of assistance to a very small percentage of people.  But hopefully the perception that the White House and the Federal Reserve are focusing on this will bring about focused attention to creating viable solution.

Missy...

Well. It looks like some people are not too thrilled with Bush.

Hey. Maybe instead of making an arse out of himself he will just stand their and say "No Comment" for an hour or so :)

TLW...ROAR!

I missed it Missy, going to try to get the context of what what was said.  Let's hope Mr. Bush steps up, I'll leave out my own 'political or personal views' on this administration personally.  I want to see their reaction.

Missy..... I was so busy last week that I didn't know any of this. While reading some posts here on AR, it appears to be the FHA secure loan that will come out. The only problem that I have with so many writing about this loan is that from my understanding, it's not official as of yet.  I think congress still needs to approve this. 

On another note, someone mentioned that FHA will be the new subprime. Yea, only if some lenders abuse the FHA loan and try to make a lot of money on it... people keep failing to realize that FHA has been around since 1934... it's not new. Just too many loan officers and lenders that took the east road prior to the subprime meltdown. Sad... but it's a fact.

Overall, time will tell....  thanks for the post.

TLW, LMAO

Jason, if you take Inman News that was the best thing I read and clearer.

Jeff, I know but many lenders just quit doing them. When our clients would go to a lender they took their advice and put them in other programs. I'm sure this will help alot of people, even if they don't like Bush.

Some of the programs will be in effect as early as tomorrow morning and some will go before Congress. Now that will  be sweet. :)

I had to come back to see what I said :)

Yeah. Okay. That was funny :)

TLW...ROAR!

Missy- I agree with Lenn that the government just helps people who are too lazy to work, do not accept responsibility for their own actions and blame others for their circumstances. It is a sad day when the norm is an entitlement mentality, irresponsibility and gimme gimme. The hard working people do not get a break. They care about their responsibilities and get rewarded with higher taxes and more Big Brother controls. 

You know me, you get the real me when I post, talk and comment. I do not care about being politically correct and I have integrity and values. Bush has done the best he can with the idiotic congress and senate he has to work with. People who care more about spending tons of our tax dollars doing ongoing investigations over and over again just to get their agenda and they do not care at who's expense. As you can tell I am not fan of government, especially the waste! 

FHA loans will not help us here much in this part of Florida as our homes exceed the FHA limit. Katerina 

MIssy,

I heard that, but I do not know exactly if this will work or not, hopefully it will make things better, :P

Ray Saenz

Michigan is hurting and I don't hold my breath for help from Bush.  Sorry but its true.  Reading the info herein is helpful though.  Thanks for your topic. 

Missy, I'd have to say, You Rock.