I just attended the SCV Realtor Town Hall Meeting titled "Mortgage Market Meltdown" presented by Wachovia at the Santa Clarita Chamber of Commerce today.
Laura Tombline Mortgage Banker Leader with Wachovia was on hand with a number of her local SCV Loan Representatives which serve our valley. Michael Loulias Vice President and Division loan Manager with Wachovia was the featured speaker for the day.
This meeting was well attended as you can see. Paul De La Cerda MBA and Director of the Small Business Development Center Network introduced himself prior to the meeting and shared a brief overview of his function and what he does for small businesses. For more information click here.
Wachovia's Michael Loulias began the meeting by asking the attendees to share with him some of the issues we are facing in today's market as real estate agents. As those attending shared these issues Michael wrote them down on a board for all to see and asked to elaborate on occasion or he would add a point or two relating to the issue. I am not going to cover all those listed as that would be a blog in itself but he touched upon many of the concerns we face today in our industry and how his company is positioned to fill in where other lenders can't or have abandoned all together.
Here are some of the points I took away from today's meeting
- Wachovia is a portfolio lender who keeps most of their loans. Why is this important? They make their own rules and are not at the mercy of the secondary market and investors.
- The pick a payment loans or "payment option loans" they offer are based on slow moving indexes which is derived by their own savings accounts rates. They are not on volatile indexes such as the libor which most option loans are tied to right now.
- The "recast" on their loans can take up to 10 years as opposed to the standard 5 years which most borrowers are faced with today.
- They have been offering "stated loans" for decades and continue to do so.
- They offer some loans which are not Fico driven.
- The Company is on solid ground and will continue to lend "business as usual"
Overall the meeting was packed with useful information and food for thought. Michael made everyone aware of the series of seminars Wachovia hosts free of charge to the real estate community and some even offer DRE credits. If you're a consumer or real estate professional I recommend attending these seminars. One of the classes they will be offering is one on credit restoration which is a huge benefit for getting people in a position to buy.
For the sake of disclosure I worked for "World Savings" which is now Wachovia a few years back. I was invited to attend just like everyone else.
All views, opinions, observations are strictly my own and do not reflect the views of Keller Williams VIP Properties.
Watch a brief virtual photo tour of todays event below
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