2007 Mortgage Year in Review
So many of us know that mortgages can be a dry and a boring subject for the most part. I will even admit this and I have been doing this for over 15 years. I sometimes thought I was one of the few that always had passion for what I did when it came to Mortgages. But after spending 15 months on Active Rain, it's been very pleasurable to talk to so many others that feel the same as I do. It's been refreshing.
2007 Overview : We have heard so many negative things in 2007 about the housing market, the mortgage meltdown, and business in general. Feedback? It's slow, bad, record foreclosures with many to come, property values dropping, and mortgage programs becoming hard to apply for or non-existent.
The media has been a big player in all of this negative news relating to real estate and to mortgages. Are there solutions? All I have seen recently is the government stepping in with new thoughts and programs for lenders to follow. But have you looked at these programs? Very strict guidelines, but with the hope to help the homeowner in trouble. So making it difficult to obtain one of these programs, what does that tell you. Sure, these programs will help a few, but not as many is it may sound or appear. Smoke and mirrors? Yes, this is my opinion since there is so much fear in the market and because we are going into an election year. This is just my opinion, but we need the market to correct itself. Will lower rates help todays market? In my opinion, no. Will it curb fears? Yes.
What problems do I see in yesterdays market and the market in the near future? Consumers that are sometimes too eager to buy their dream home and fail to set their focus on the actual mortgage payment. Loan officers that fail to give their client the mortgage payment, being that typical sales person, just telling them that they are qualified. Telling them what they want to hear and not what they should be told.
Let's talk about my other fear and a hidden problem that is not talked about amongst the media and the general public. In my opinion, we have been in a slight recession in the last 3 or so years. Spending in general seemed good at times because home values grew at such record amounts, that the average consumer was able to use their home as an ATM machine to either pull cash out of their house that was spent frivolously or to use that money to buy a bigger home. And with so many mortgage programs dangling teaser rates and loan officers not explaining the worse case scenarios, clients moved blindly through the dark in their spending habits.
On another note, what about all of these special deals to where you can get credit extended to you when buying a car, furniture, and tvs. All of these 'no interest for a year' or 'no payments for a year'. What will happen in a year to 18 months when a percentage of these consumers will decide not to pay for various reasons. Some of these same reasons that homeowners use when not making their mortgage payments. I think we have some serious issues now that will grow into more financial problems in the near future.
My market review for 2008 -- There have been some good predictions from Active Rain members and they can be found here : Looking for Nostradamus Me personally? I don't see the real estate market as a whole getting better until the end of 2008 and probably more so not until the middle of 2009. Some predict that interest rates will go lower. I think we will see this happen maybe twice this year, but it won't last more than a few weeks both times. For the most part, I see rates going back up slightly in the spring. Why? As I mentioned, lower rates won't be the solution. On top of that, rates just don't move lower in a bad economy. Besides, when stocks are good, rates usually move up.
I believe that we will see more foreclosures before things get better. But not all foreclosure are due to the subprime mess. I see 2008 as being a great time in buying a home. And best yet, I see many getting out of this business, both loan officers and realtors, that don't truly belong. Meaning, the true professional will do better in 2008 than in 2007, with persistence, creativity, and best of all, treating those the same way that you would want to be treated. This will result in good referrals and overall, better business.
The above referenced blogs highlighted in blue are from these authors. (in the order mentioned above) These blogs were to add to my intake with 2007 & 2008.
Jeff Belonger... Carolyne Mumford... Jeremy Redlinger ...Bryant Tutas ...ActiveRain Real Estate Network... Ken Cook... Rich Sweum ...Brian Brady
My business in 2007 was increased because of Active Rain. I took the time and effort to apply myself and used AR to my advantage. I haven't had the time to try out other real estate networking sites, but I do firmly believe that AR is one of the best. Not only do we have some great people behind the scenes, but many great members that have shared their professional and personal ideas with us. Those that have shared some of their professional beliefs, secrets, and not only have educated the consumer, but educated so many of us that has allowed us to grow our business. And I am very thankful for being given the privilege to be a part of this community. My prediction for AR membership by years end in 2008? 126,273 total members Lastly, you need to read these success stories in the group : Active Rain Block Party, to get a great idea what this site has done for so many, besides the friendships that have been made.
This is probably the toughest part of doing any type of summary of the best blogs written in regards to mortgages from 2007. But such is life. Who said life was easy.
I was asked to help with the "Year In Review" for mortgages by Jennifer Fivelsdal. This was a combined effort amongst a few of our other Active Rain Members, helping with so many other areas relating to real estate. Even though many of us were asked less than a week ago, I thought I would have plenty of time. Boy, was I wrong. Not only did I just complete the Mortgage PRO Week in Review a few days ago for last week, but I had some technical problems yesterday while trying to finalize this blog. Hence why it is finally being posted now. The result below, in picking what I think are the best blogs written about mortgages in 2007, are just based on my opinion. Besides, with over 1,000 of mortgage related blogs written in 2007, there is no way of picking the top blogs. If I had another week, I would be able to pick about another 30 or so. These blogs that I selected are in no order and I won't be giving a summary for each one. You can find out by reading them yourselves. Enjoy....
Okay, shoot me. We were asked to find 12 blogs and I mentioned 15. But if you noticed the theme of these blogs, they weren't based on actual mortgage programs. All of these blogs mentioned are on topics such as integrity, liability, accountability, honesty, and awareness. These are not only for the consumer, but for all realtors and loan officers.
And if you want to find more well-written blogs on mortgages, please don't hesitate to stop by these two groups.
Copyright © 2007 by Jeff Belonger
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Jeff,
Really nice post as usual!!! Thanks for the mention...here's hoping for a great year!!! Thanks, Fran