Borrower's Outlook
LenderStreet's columnists (that's us over there) join forces with lenders in your area to keep tabs on the mortgage market. Together we offer timely insights toward a positive loan experience.
When it comes to housing and mortgages, logic has not been part of the equation for the last 20 or so years.
Why do we have so many homes that are underwater and so many foreclosures? Well, Americans wanted the biggest house they could afford (or thought they could afford); lenders were willing to give out loans like Happy Meal toys; and the combination has produced a system that needs to be fixed.
Apr
08
2011
The numbers are in ladies and gentlemen, and things aren’t too pretty for the housing market. After reading a brief AdAge stat card report on the latest census and how it affects marketers, it appears that the housing market collapse was well documented.
Check out what else the 2010 Census had to say about our current housing climate!
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So what does this mean for you, the borrower? If you are borrowing from a juggernaut organization like Freddie Mae or Fannie Mac, need not worry. Both Mae and Mac are only under a federal government guardianship of sorts and are still, “legally separate from the federal government.”
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Mar
15
2011
Imagine you’ve had your house up for sale for two years. You bought a new house before you could sell your old home and you’re paying two mortgages. Finally, two prospective buyers come along. One buyer, a first-time homebuyer is waiting for approval on a mortgage loan; the other is a cash buyer.
Which way are you going to go?
Feb
11
2011
The Obama administration released 31-page outline for the future of housing finance today, and while the future is still murky, what is clear is that the impact on the mortgage industry will be felt by homebuyers and lenders.
The administration has proposed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gradually disappear within the next 10 years at most, and Congress received three different options for how to achieve such an overhaul.
Read more about the proposed changes to housing finance
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Nov
09
2010
The New York Times had this story on Monday about low-income families moving into vacant homes, and their landlord, Mark Guerette, does not own the homes. Guerette found the homes and has moved families in based on an 1869 Florida statute that if you take over a property, maintain it and pay property taxes and utilities, it will be yours if the owner does not claim it within seven years. This process is called adverse possession.
Read more about adverse possession
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Nov
03
2010
Tuesday’s election could influence how quickly state attorneys general move on the foreclosure investigation and pushing for more loan modifications, as I blogged about yesterday.
Half of the attorney generals were not re-elected or did not run in Tuesday’s election. The 12-member executive committee that is leading the investigation had six of its members who were not re-elected, or did not run for re-election. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading the charge, was reelected, so the push for change will not go away.
Read what the election results mean for foreclosure probe
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Nov
03
2010
If someone falls, the humane reaction is to lend a hand and help him up. If a family cannot pay their mortgage, in a perfect world, the bank would work with the borrowers and help them figure out a mortgage they can pay.
That’s the theory behind loan modifications – lending a helping hand to the borrower. But instead, banks have lent one hand and then pushed down with the other. Loan modifications rarely work. Lenders lose documents and delay the process, or they modify the loan to terms that really are not much better than they were before.
Find out why a loan mod could become more realistic
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Oct
15
2010
The current foreclosure freeze that is sweeping the nation pretty much comes down to paperwork. Too much of it. Some of it lost. Some of it “misplaced.” And little of it reviewed.
The future fix, I believe, is to dumb it all down. Make it simple. Is all the paperwork really necessary? Is a lot of it there just to confuse people and get them to sign?
Read more about adopting an old-school approach to foreclosure
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The push for postponement of impending foreclosures across the country because of carelessness by banks is picking up steam.
President Barack Obama plans to pocket veto a bill that would have allowed notarizations of mortgages and financial documents from one state be recognized in other states.
Read what this means for current and future foreclosures
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Oct
05
2010
The New York Times ran a story on Thursday about foreclosure scrutiny increasing across the country because some lenders and lawyers tried to cut corners to speed the foreclosure process along.
Read what this means for existing foreclosures
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Sep
22
2010
The Wall Street Journal had a story this weekend on the risk of trusting a mortgage calculator to determine whether or not it’s time to refinance.
Many have tried to refinance in the last year because of such low interest rates, but sometimes refinancing too often can prove costly and homeowners need to carefully consider all of their options. Sometimes the best option is to do nothing.
Read more about mortgage calculators
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Sep
20
2010
We seem to be at the point in the housing bust where no one really knows what will happen. You have a lot of wacky ideas out there about what to do and a plethora of government programs that are meant to start a recovery or at least reduce the damage.
See what a Fannie Mae survey says about the future
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Sep
13
2010
The Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was meant to help homeowners who were trying to do the right thing.
Now many of those homeowners, who have loans with big banks (Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase) are at risk of losing their homes, which is the reason for several lawsuits against the banks, as USA Today chronicled in this story over the weekend.
Read what's happened to the HAMP participants
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Homeownership is unrealistic for many; the reason being most cannot afford the monthly mortgage payment. One of the reasons for the housing crisis was that unrealistic buyers were able to buy and bought houses outside of their means.
It’s become increasingly more difficult to secure a mortgage these days, and there seems to be a shift toward accepting renting instead of rushing into homeownership. However, homeownership still makes sense for a lot of people who can afford it and it’s a buyer’s market. Not only are home prices more affordable than during the housing boom, low interest rates have made owning a home more affordable.
Find out the most affordable places to live
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Sep
10
2010
There’s a lot of debate in government and in the blogosphere about what’s happened to the housing market since the homebuyer tax credit expired.
The carnage is clear in the numbers. Since the tax credit ended, home purchases have dropped significantly, despite a recent bump (see graph). As the New York Times reported last weekend in a story about what to do about the housing crisis, sales of new homes are lower than the worst point of the recession of the early 1980s, and mortgage rates at that time were double what they are now.
Read why the housing market has suffered since the tax credit ended
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Sep
07
2010
The Federal Housing Administration has set credit score limits for the first time for homebuyers, which will be effective Oct. 4.
In the past, the credit score requirements for any FHA-backed loans have been at the discretion of the lender. That will still be the case for the most part; however, the FHA has initiated some of its own limits.
Read more about the credit score changes
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Sep
02
2010
Tiger Woods is moving into a new Florida neighborhood (mailboxes beware) and has a new Manhattan apartment, two signs that he’s about to regain his form on the golf course.
According to TMZ, Woods took out a $54.5 million loan for his new Florida mansion that will be paid off by 2016. If only everyone could pay off a mortgage in six years… goodbye housing crisis.
Read how Tiger's real estate purchases could fix his game
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Sep
01
2010
Could the home buyer tax credit be returning?
That’s the hot topic right now in housing, as secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan wouldn’t squash the idea when he was asked about it Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Read about the impact on the housing market
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Aug
27
2010
The government is trying to protect consumers from bad loans, but needs to reevaluate its approach.
Read about how mortgage laws are hurting consumers
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Aug
16
2010
Fed Announces More Changes to Ensure Lender Honesty
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Unemployed and struggling to pay your mortgage? Help is on the way.
The Obama administration announced today that $3 billion will be added to funds to help unemployed homeowners in jeopardy of losing their homes to foreclosure.
Read the details of the two HUD programs
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Aug
10
2010
If you’re trying to refinance because of record low interest rates, but you can’t get qualified for some reason – it's become more difficult to qualify since the housing bust – but more government assistance could be on the way.
Read about the recent plans being proposed
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Fannie Mae launched a new website on Tuesday designed to help homeowners know their options to try to avoid foreclosure.
The site – KnowYourOptions.com – provides several options homeowners have to avoid foreclosure, with options that allow homeowners to stay in their home (refinance, repayment plan, forbearance, modification or deed-for-lease) or options that allow homeowners to get out before they are foreclosed (short sale or deed-in-lieu).
Read more about the Fannie Mae help site
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Jul
29
2010
The Obama administration is trying to pump some responsibility into the housing market. This includes tougher lending standards and reform for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Find out why this administration is making it more difficult to buy a house
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Jul
20
2010
Here’s an association you probably would not make: Pizza, pregnancy and… mortgages? Lenders are digging deeper to find out more about borrowers.
Find out what you need to know to ensure loan approval
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Jul
19
2010
It’s been four days since the Senate approved the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which will begin to go into effect on Wednesday when President Obama signs the bill. The reaction from the mortgage industry has been mostly against the bill, which was represented by my interview with Bill Kidwell on Friday.
Jul
13
2010
How would you feel if a friend owed you money and you knew he had the funds to pay you back, but he just decided it wasn’t in his best interest?
Lenders across the country are experiencing a similar predicament, as the strategic default has become a popular practice among the rich.
Jul
09
2010
Welcome to the LenderStreet blog, where we will provide information, analysis and advice for borrowers in a confusing housing market.
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