Why are there so many REOs out there? One of the big reasons is the lack of banks willing to loan for less than 20 percent down. What does that mean for a prospective buyer? Easy. Lower your expectations. According to Prashant Gopal at BusinessWeek: . . . in most parts of the country $500,000 has [...]
Filed under: Mortgage Mania, The Market | Tagged: 20 percent, BusinessWeek, down payment, economic stimulus, Gopal, loan, mortgage | 2 Comments »
If you read the recent numbers about the Bay Area, you would know that there is no shortage of foreclosures. County/Region 2007Q3 2008Q3 Yr/Yr% San Francisco 252 353 40.10% Alameda 2,126 3,482 63.80% Contra Costa 3,216 4,103 27.60% Santa Clara 1,655 2,814 70.00% San Mateo 581 797 37.20% Marin 172 258 50.00% Solano [...]
Filed under: Mortgage Mania, The Market | Tagged: bay area, dataquick, foreclosure, sales, San Francisco | Leave a Comment »
I can’t even look at any business publication without hearing about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their shares dropping like a stone. I don’t know how much interest this is to the average person, other than if those two programs go, it’s going to get a lot tougher to buy a house. Which is [...]
Filed under: Mortgage Mania, The Market | Tagged: fannie mae, freddie mac, GSE, loan, mortgage, shares | Leave a Comment »
I saw this story yesterday and it made me think back to the WaMu “financial planner” in May who told me I should invest in Fannie Mae bonds. Knowing the market as I do, I hedged and said I would talk to him later. Turns out I was right. While the stock declines of Fannie [...]
Filed under: Mortgage Mania, The Market | Tagged: bonds, economy, fannie mae, freddie mac, IndyMac, investors, mortgage | 1 Comment »
Last Wednesday I wrote this story about people using nonprofit buyer assistance, usually for the Federal Housing Administration’s 3 percent down payment rule. At least one person disliked the story, saying it was biased. Other commenters said, “Living paycheck to paycheck does not qualify you to own a home,” and “And the taxpayers are left holding [...]
Filed under: House Hunt, Mortgage Mania | Tagged: AmeriDream, Ann Ashburn, buyer assistance, down payment, first-time home buyer, mortgage | Leave a Comment »
Well, when a lender waives prepayment penalties on “pick-a-pay” option-ARM, things must be pretty bad. And it wants out of the whole neg-am loan business. And here’s the proof: Effectively immediately, Wachovia is waiving all prepayment fees associated with its Pick-A-Pay mortgage to allow customers complete flexibility in their home financing decisions. This includes all [...]
Filed under: Mortgage Mania, The Market | Tagged: loan, mortgage, neg-am, option-ARM, Wachovia | 2 Comments »
