My Mind on Mortgages

On February 8th I provided an industry update to a group of real estate professionals.  The subject of the presentation was focused on providing realtors with the essential information they should be aware of when working with buyers and sellers who are using mortgage financing.  Here are the slides for your learning pleasure:

Launch your own [...]

Mortgage Industry bellwether Fannie Mae announced this morning that it has successfully implemented the latest version of it’s automated underwriting engine known as “Desktop Underwriter”.  Fannie Mae is the largest purchaser and “securitizer” of mortgages in the United States.  The new guidelines featured in this version of the software will make it more difficult for [...]

The expiration of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit is only 52 days from today.  For those who qualify for the $8,000 credit they must close on their transaction no later than November 30th.  And although there has been much speculation about an extension of the credit; to date nothing has been passed by Congress and [...]

There is no question that the popular first-time homebuyer credit has had a positive impact on the housing market.  Currently my team is working on 11 purchase transactions and 7 of them are first-time homebuyers.  How many of these people would not be buying if it weren’t for the $8,000 incentive?
Data out this morning from [...]

Depending on the estimate FHA loans currently make up anywhere from 25-35% of total mortgage originations.  Recent experience has led me to realize that although most real estate professionals know what their doing there are many who need a little coaching on the main dislcosure; the FHA Amendatory Clause/ Real Estate Certification (Click here to [...]

Beginning July 30, 2009 all mortgage applications must comply with the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act (MDIA) which was passed into law as a part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
The objective of MDIA is to protect consumers & improve the consistency of the Truth-in-Lending disclosures (TIL) that applicants get from lenders at [...]

For professionals in the housing industry (mortgage, appraisal, & real estate) the new appraisal rules known as the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) is a hot topic these days.  These rules which became effective May 1st were designed to improve the accuracy and integrity of appraisals.  However, as many professionals is the housing industry [...]

While reading the Copenhagen Post on Monday morning I came across this article which explains how Danish real estate agents are changing their pricing models to reflect the current state of the market.
Like the US housing market Denmark has also entered a period of slower sales.  As a result, some real estate professionals are abandoning [...]

I am providing a presentation to a group of real estate professionals about upcoming changes to RESPA rules.  Here are the presentation slides.

HUD made a huge announcement today regarding new RESPA rules surrounding the Good Faith Estimate and HUD-1 final settlement statement.  I am amazed that this rule has not gotten more attention in the real estate community.
I blogged about these proposed changes back on November 2nd and pointed out the pro’s and con’s of the changes.  [...]