With Loan Volume Slowing, Rebates and Rate Discounts Are Used to Woo Customers
By RUTH SIMON November 1, 2006; Page D3
Get a mortgage from another lender and we will pay you $250. That is the latest marketing twist from Bank of America Corp. With competition for home loans increasing, the Charlotte, N.C., lender is encouraging its customers to apply for a mortgage with the bank and then shop around. If they decide to get their home loan elsewhere, Bank of America will write a $250 check to cover a portion of their closing costs.
The Bank of America offering is the latest sign … (1 comments)
residential lending: ownit mortgage is gone ~ who is next to come... dooms in the mortgage industry is coming!
- 12/06/06 05:38 PM
People doing business with Ownit Mortgage received this notice yesterday: "It is with deep regret that we inform you Ownit Mortgage Solutions will cease operations on December 6, 2006. For the past three years, we have pursued a mission to influence the mortgage industry toward increased affordability options for a changing market of home buyers. Change takes time, and we are saddened that the current unfavorable conditions of the mortgage industry did not afford us sufficient time to see our mission through." There are many rumors about what happened; most focus on Ownit being overwhelmed by repurchase requests.
People in … (6 comments)
residential lending: check this one out !
- 12/05/06 07:58 AM
Good morning! If you find a decent lending niche, and can fill it, that is regarded as a success. Have you ever wanted to loan money to a friend or family member, but wanted to maintain a formal lending relationship? Here ya go! http://www.circlelending.com/ I heard their ad on the radio last week, and thought that it was interesting.
Drop me a comment. … (0 comments)
residential lending: who is the largest loan servicer?
- 12/04/06 12:11 AM
How much is "a lot"? If one looks at Primary Dealers buying and selling US Treasury securities, the average daily total is roughly $500 billion per day. For mortgage-backed securities it amounts to roughly $250 billion per day that are being bought and sold. How much is outstanding? The amount of MBS's outstanding, by most estimates, totals about $5-6 trillion, slightly more than outstanding US public debt. Speaking of outstanding mortgage-backed securities, there are roughly $10.1 trillion of mortgages being serviced. Wells Fargo handles 13% ($1.3 trillion in principal) of those monthly payments, Countrywide has 12%, and after a sharp … (1 comments)
residential lending: wall street are they the smartest in the room ~
- 12/04/06 12:09 AM
Wall Street makes money from risk, so what better investment these days than the sub-prime-mortgage business? Morgan Stanley agreed to buy Saxon, Merrill Lynch bought National City Corp.'s First Franklin, and Bear Stearns is buying the mortgage unit of ECC Capital Corp. H&R Block Inc. disclosed it might sell Option One, which last year made about $40 billion in loans. Wall Street firms have built large businesses creating asset- backed securities, including bundles of sub-prime loans, which they sell to investors. Perhaps more important, asset-backed securities are a component in an even more profitable product from Wall Street: collateralized- debt obligations (derivative … (0 comments)
residential lending: ever bought an REO property
- 12/04/06 12:06 AM
Lenders refer to foreclosed homes as REO, short for "real-estate owned", and they try to sell REO homes as quickly as possible to minimize holding costs. In the first half of 2006, REO properties accounted for 3.1% of all U.S. home sales, up from 2.4% two years earlier. Are there bargains? Maybe: those homes sold at a median discount of 14% to their estimated value (estimated by a computer model) in the first half, compared with 12.5% two years before. The housing boom of recent years reduced foreclosure rates because most people who fell behind on their loans could refinance … (1 comments)
residential lending: foreclosure~ where is uncle sam.
- 11/25/06 10:31 PM
Foreclosure has been steadily going up, the economy is uncertain, with Bernanke still guessing what to do the with the short term rate. Who are we to blame for this biggest real estate appreciation of the history, closing with a bust! Is that the irrational exuberance of the peoplewho invested their money. Seeking financial boost for the nest egg. A lot of questions would be lingering within the coming months.Help would not really come from uncle bernanke, nor the government would take any steps to curb the number of foreclosures in the market. With the war still at peaks, and recession … (1 comments)
Banks Take a New TackOn Mortgage Lending;)
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