mortgage

The online mortgage market is difficult. People like to have a real person to talk to - and throttle - when problems arise.

Having done several deals with online mortgage outfits, I find the level of service and delivery of promised terms to be spotty and inconsistent.

Quoted: Greenspan is either a completely incompetent central banker or a very despicable human being. He messed up everything ...

Good question - I hear it all the time.

I was in Iowa recently; houses are cheap (but I wouldn't want to move and live there!!). Took a look at some homes and was told by the agent that it's common in depressed markets in the midwest to have buyers make offers that are significantly below list price. Wow, what a different market!

Quoted: Question: My wife and I want to buy. Should we wait to see if prices fall, or take advantage of today's low mortgage rates? - Heath Hewett, Columbia, S.C.

A link to a link.

From Crimeth.Inc:

Our favorite radio show, This American Life, recently did a hour show examining the current mortgage crisis— the straw that broke the camel’s back and triggered a global financial crisis, the end of which is nowhere in sight. As the U.S. stumbles forward deeper and deeper into a recession, it would behoove those of us who don’t understand what has happened to take a minute to learn about the economic process—which was truly not a major aberration from business as usual—behind the credit collapse that has many economists warning of a new economic depression.

As usual, TAL makes the dry subject matter absolutely fascinating and entertaining, interviewing victims and perpetrators at every level of the travesty, and as they say:

We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.

Listen to the show here, for free, by clicking on the ‘Full Episode’ link. For those looking for more details, another radio favorite of ours, Fresh Air, has some more perspectives here, and here. And of course, Wikipedia comes through with 12,000 words on the subject.

Quoted: The Oregonian reported Friday morning that it obtained a copy of an internal JPMorgan Chase (“JPMC”) memo titled “Zippy Cheats & Tricks” that provides step-by-step instructions on how to enter false data into a loan approval system called ‘Zippy.’ (Hat tip to Calculated Risk.) In essence, an in-house guide to committing mortgage fraud. Here are pertinent excerpts of the Oregonian report:

An unintended consequence of foreclosures - the renters that occupy the investor's property. The states with the most foreclosures - Florida, California and Nevada - have a definite problem with this. Since many of those areas also have weak rental markets, renters shouldn't have too much difficulty finding comparable rental properties at comparable prices to move to.

When foreclosure of investment properties happen in stronger markets with fewer rentals, like the NW or NYC, renters would likely face higher rents and fewer choices when they're forced to move.

Quoted: In the growing foreclosure crisis, thousands of families who rent their homes face eviction when owners default on their mortgages.

A summary of what's happening with the Wall Street bailout, in plain, simple English.

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This chart illustrates the two refi cycles, the one that we're in right now, and the one that will start roughly 1 year from now.

The bottom line - we're only in the eye of the storm, we haven't passed it yet

Quoted: Loan reset threat looms till 2012