While the FHA mortgage insurance increase has been delayed by a month (October 4th now), the reasons for it have become cloudy!

I couldn’t agree with Frank and Brian’s take on this more!!!

Click the link below to view.

When Are Realtors, Loan Officers and Appraisers Going to Get Help?

Thinking of buying a home?  Thinking of FHA financing?  Thinking of procrastinating a while longer?

The cost of mortgage insurance on FHA mortgage loans will be going up on all loans with FHA case numbers ordered on or after September 7, 2010!!  This could mean significant increases in your monthly cash flow for the SAME loan you’d take out today!!

Click on the link below for further details from Frank and Brian, the Think Big Work Small guys.

FHA Loan Costs Going Up!

This video, from our friends Frank and Brian at TBWS, is an eye opener! As the regulators continue to try to “fix” what they think is broken, does anyone find it as interesting as I do, that the large majority of legislation affects the mortgage broker negatively and affects the banker in virtually no way, what so ever?

TBWS Daily Thursday May 13, 2010

Oh… and the “Single Lady” segment is pretty funny!  Frank and Brian… you guys make pretty good “lounge lizards”

Computer viruses have become far more insidious in recent months! My family and I have been personally affected 3 times in the last 6 months! Many of these, while they are new, seem to be able to sneak by many anti-virus software mechanisms and appear to be specifically targeting the mortgage and real estate industries.

THREAT #1: This seems to be a particularly nasty one recently that has targeted participants in the mortgage and real estate industry. Beware ANY email that comes to you from “Postal Support”, “Postal Manager”, “UPS Support”, “UPS Manager” or anything similar. The subject line will be something along the lines of “UPS Delivery Problem NR 123456 (any number)”.

This virus is purported, once infected, to capture the names in your contact list and will then broadcast the same email to the members of that list, thus potentially infecting all of those individuals, if they attempt to open the attachment.

Another recognition factor in these viruses is that they all seem to have an attachment and that attachment is a “Zip file” (recognizable by what looks like a small file cabinet being held by a screw clamp… see left).

Threat #2:  Another suspect (which is the one that got me) targets those in the mortgage industry who might be job searching (that would be a sizable chunk of our collective industries over the last 3 years!). This one appears to come from an individual such as “Sean McDonald (any name, really)” and the subject line is “Arlington Heights (Your city) Job Message”. The email itself appears safe, but there are a number of links within the body of the message that will take you to a “Job Board” website. Two of the infections that occurred in my house are a direct result of visiting one of these sites through the email. The resulting infection will open multitudes of reoccurring “Anti-Virus” search/software requests that seem to multiply over time, freezing you out of using your computer!

Suffice to say… if you receive ANY email from even a marginally trusted source, do not open it… ESPECIALLY if it has an attachment… and ESPECIALLY if that attachment is a zip file!!!

Please feel free to contact me through the channel you read this in, if you’d like more information based on my personal experiences.

March 31, 2010 is the scheduled end to the Fed’s multi-trillion $$ purchase of Mortgage Backed Securities!!  While the exact impact is uncertain, most economists expect rates to increase, at least on a temporary basis.  There’s a nice explanation in the Think Big Work Small video below…

TBWS Daily Monday March 15, 2010

A valuable mortgage tool to help troubled homeowners has been extended!  See video below…

According to statistics from Fannie Mae, “more than 329,000 loans have been delivered to Fannie Mae through the Refi Plus flexibilities.  Of those loans, more than 100,000 were refinanced under the HARP with loan-to-value ratios between 80% and 125%!!

My question is:  How many of those loans had LTV’s between 100% and 125%?  They must have all been done by the existing servicer of the loan, since I have yet to find a lender who will go above 100% LTV on a loan coming in from another lender.

Regardless… this is welcome news to existing mortgage holders and mortgage originators!

View this video by clicking here and, from the perspective of the lender, what do you think is the most financially beneficial course of action… helping the homeowner out with a loan modification OR pushing them into a short sale???

The numbers proposed in this video are purported to be true!  If that is the case, we have yet another reason to be very angry with the government and the structure of their “bailout” plan!!

Thoughts?  Opinions?

Its when the people come to you for a mortgage and say, “I would like to do (insert home wish here). Can you help me?” That’s the puzzle that they need help figuring out, and I love that part of the game. What’s your spot? Click “play” below.

This news came across my desk yesterday evening (Jan. 14, 2010).  WE’RE HALF-WAY HOME, PEOPLE!!!

Read the article from Realty Times here:  HVCC Demise???

It’s not time to do the Happy Dance yet, but we can at least go out and shop for some shoes!

As we have explored in an earlier post, one of the basic rules of improving your credit score is to NOT close a credit card account when you pay it off.  This process applies to the “Credit Saturation” threshold that we’ve previously investigated.  This is a procedure that I try to impress upon all of the borrowers that refinance and use proceeds to pay off credit cards.

Well… the banks have caught on and are now beginning to see profits dwindle as consumers no longer want to be saddled with credit card balances, and have now compensated by creating new fees.

As unpleasant as opening the mail might be for some individuals, you must do so with a renewed awareness now.  Within those mailings, whether they be statements or addendums to your contract with the company, you must be vigilant of the following:

• Items you may have already seen…
  • Increased interest rates
  • Increased minimum payments
  • Increased fees for exceeding your limit
  • Increased penalty fees for late pays (be very careful in reading your contract… some companies can increase your rate if you make a payment late at ANOTHER company!!)
• NEW charges that you may be seeing soon…
  • Annual fees on cards that might have previously not had an annual fee
  • Inactivity fees on cards you hold, but don’t use
  • Processing fees (basically a junk fee disguised as a fee for sending out a paper statment)

To sum this all up… OPEN your mail… STUDY your statements for changes and anything out of the ordinary or different from what you signed up for… OPT OUT of any changes that are being proposed, if given the option (you may have to search for the ability to opt out)… CALL your provider and verbally negotiate out of the changes… if all else fails, go to one of the credit card resources such as www.lowcards.com to find a replacement card.

IMPORTANT:  If you are forced to replace a card that just will not give you what you want, DO NOT close the existing card prior to opening the new account!  This will almost certainly result in a credit score hit.  Additionally… DO NOT replace more than one card in a 60-90 day period of time.  Also, DO NOT do anything that will result in an additional inquiry to your credit… applying, en masse, to a number of credit card companies WILL result in inquiries!  Do your homework first and apply to one company at a time!

As always… please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or comments.