Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Dr Christian Weller appeared on CNBC to discuss subprime mortgages and how consumers can protect themselves.
For more on subprime mortgages and foreclosure rates please see:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/03/foreclosures_numbers.html
What if 40 hours a week were enough?
www.AMERICANPROGRESS.org
Duration : 0:4:20
Homewise Solutions (www.homewisesolutions.com) helps potential home buyers to achieve their dream of homeownership through Rent to Own (Lease Purchase). Through our extensive training and education program we will prepare you for a mortgage while you are renting your new home.
Duration : 0:1:4
Homewise Solutions (www.homewisesolutions.com) helps potential home buyers to achieve their dream of homeownership through Rent to Own (Lease Purchase). Through our extensive training and education program we will prepare you for a mortgage while you are renting your new home.
Duration : 0:1:35
Austin, Texas Real Estate Agent Kenn Renner of BuyAustin.Com and Kenton Brown, Vice President of Sente Mortgage discuss the current mortgage climate of Austin, TX. Topics include buying vs. renting, opportunities for buyers, and federal tax assistance for first time home buyers.
For a transcript of this video, go to http://www.buyaustin.com/mortgage-update.asp
AUSTIN, TX, April 09, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ — On April 16 at 6:30 P.M., Austin’s #1 real estate seminar will be presented at the Austin Renaissance Hotel. National speaker and top Austin real estate broker, Kenn Renner (www.BuyAustin.com), and recognized mortgage expert, Kenton Brown, V.P. of Sente Mortgage, will team up to present an opportunity to learn insight and “uncommon” knowledge about today’s real estate market. They will disclose the “perfect opportunity storm” that has materialized due to the government’s efforts in rebuilding confidence in the real estate market. The THREE BIG factors that are historically unprecedented for homebuyers are as follows:
1. Government subsidized historically low interest rates;
2. Government cash incentives ($8,000 tax credit); and
3. A buyer’s market – the best opportunities in decades.
For over 15 years, Kenn Renner (www.BuyAustin.com) has presented home-buying and real estate investment seminars in Austin and around the nation. Kenn explains, “So many people from around the nation are again discovering Austin, Texas as ‘the place’ to be and to live. I remember moving here over fifteen years ago and how excited I was to have real opportunities in Austin–to build a business, raise a family, and enjoy the incredible lifestyle available to those living in Austin.” After being in the mortgage and real estate business for over a decade in Southern California and Anchorage, Alaska, Kenn moved to Austin from Southern California during the early 1990s. He recognized that the real estate profession did not focus on first-time homebuyers even though they were the largest segment of the market. So in 1994, he created the American Dream Seminar program ( www.AmericanDreamSeminars.com), which focused on first timers and investors. Kenn says, “I recognized the value of educating potential clients of the opportunities and the benefits of real estate ownership. And since I offered my seminars for free, their loyalty level went through the roof.” Since then, Kenn has personally assisted over 1,200 attendees through the process of home ownership. Unlike many of the real estate seminar “gurus” that have given the industry an unfavorable name–providing generic information and asking for huge up-front “coaching” fees–Kenn is directly involved in every transaction: “I never charge my buyers a dime. I get paid by the builder of the seller of the home–but my utmost responsibility with my buyer clients is to get them the best deal–period!”
To register online visit: www.BuyAustin.com or call/text 512-423-5626,
You will learn the following at Austin’s #1 Home-Buying Seminar:
- The 10 steps to home ownership
- Details on the $8,000 federal housing credit
- Move Assistance Programs (MAP’s)
- How to renegotiate leases and tell landlords goodbye
- The “truth” about mortgage financing
- What programs are available to buy homes
- Negotiating to get the best deal
There are no costs for the seminar–it is free!
Watch this video to get the details of what you will learn at the Austin 1st Time Homebuyer Seminar
Duration : 0:7:24
http://realestatemarketingthisweek.com/real-estate/congressman-barney-frank-is-calling-for-the-restructure-of-the-loan-servicing-business/ – Congressman Barney Frank is calling for the restructure of the loan servicing business –
Part 2 – Well, in the past we have talked a lot about loan modifications and since the first time we started talking about loan modifications the whole space has changed. Everything about loan modifications since our very first broadcast talking about it, we don’t talk about it every week, but we do talk about it allot. It has changed so much, when we started anybody who had a significant hardship, or financial hardship, or had one of these toxic mortgages, that had adjusted, would be able to qualify for a loan modification. These things have changed all of a sudden, and not all across the board. Brett you made a comment earlier that people are concerned that once these servicers do these modifications they could be subject to lawsuits right?
Yes, it is amazing how quickly things have changed over the course of the last couple of weeks, it seems this information, and this news is changing almost hour by hour, at this point one of the things that came out regarding this mortgage modification program is from Barney Frank, “Congress should act to restructure the servicing of home mortgages.” So the idea is that they are catching on to something that you and your team at velocity financial were ahead of the curve on in terms of loan modifications.
Knowing that those rules for a hardship and why you are entitled to one have definitely changed. Now it is more of a situation where in order to stop foreclosure, to stop the problems associated with this mass foreclosure market place, modifications are being talked about amongst the banks now. Barney Franks comments today, he stressed how these voluntary inducements to get these private entities to protect homeowners from the government has fallen short, and Hank Paulson has fallen short of putting their weight behind this concept.
Although I personally believe that is the next evolution of this. Loan Modifications are a critical step for people who are feeling this economic crisis, and for people who want to stay in a home, for people who need this type of assistance. The idea is you have a short window of opportunity here before something else significant changes where you may no longer be entitled to.
You heard Citigroup, you know this we talked about it, Citigroup came out and made the announcement that they were going to suspend their pursuit of foreclosures in certain areas of the country that have the highest unemployment rate, that was the caveat. We will see how big the scope of that gets, but the whole idea is for you as a mortgage owner, as a home owner with a mortgage, if you need to establish a modification to an existing loan, in order to have more favorable terms in interest, a more favorable monthly payment, a way to keep that home, you have to look at this option.
Yes, and I appreciate you saying that one of the things that Citigroup announced they were going to be doing was giving people teaser rates of 1%. Look anybody with a brain can realize that that is ludicrous. What got us into this situation in the first place was huge banks, just like that one, giving people toxic mortgages, with fake interest rates, and pick your own payment, do whatever the heck you want to. It is exactly what they are trying to do again.
Essentially what they are talking about is giving people a short window of a very low interest rate, but they are going to be back in the same situation in the future. That’s why the loan modifications that we do, that we hire on your behalf, the national network of attorney’s that we use. We go for the throat, we are not looking to get you a 1% interest rate for the next 12 months. We are looking to get you a lifelong, or for the term of the loan if possible, the very lowest interest rate available, and fix it or extend the term so you can actually sustain that payment well beyond the short term.
One thing I want to point out before we have to go to a break, if you know of anyone out there, that has a GMAC mortgage, whether it be a GMAC first mortgage or second mortgage, you have got to tune in to the second segment you are not going to believe this scam that’s out there, going against people with these loans… http://realestatemarketingthisweek.com
Duration : 0:5:49
Tax on 1099C, Cancellation of Debt Income; Short Sale, Loan Modification & Foreclosure. Exception; Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, Bankruptcy & Insolvency. Go To http://RealEstateMarketingThisWeek.com
Part 1 (Excerpt)
Expert tax advice from a CPA regarding a real estate related issues
Today’s show has a timely message. We have with us, an expert in the tax ramifications of the different types of mortgage situations that people find themselves in, we have brought in Mike Patenella, that I will introduce in just a moment, as well as Brett Fallon is back with us. Were going to be talking about the tax ramifications of short sales, foreclosures, and some of the different types of loan modifications.
Now if you listen to our show regularly, of course you know, we have been over the last several weeks, talking about loan modifications, but we have been getting hundreds of e-mails and calls requesting more information on the loan modifications. There are also some interesting questions that people ask about whats going to happen in regard to taxes. Thats the one thing that so many people are not talking about.
Well we need to talk about it. Its something that we need to bring to you that you can hear and thats what were going to focus the majority of today’s show on. Before I introduce Mike I need to introduce one of my very best friends and the best financial advisor I have ever known, Brett Fallon. Brett thanks for being on the show today.
Brett also has some information in regard to the markets and there is some really great, exciting stuff out there. But before I throw that back over to Brett, we have our expert guest today. He is a CPA and his name is Mike Patenella, thank you for being on the air with us today.
Mike is an expert in taxes, he is a CPA, he knows the ins and outs of all matters tax. His expertise in this particular area is widespread. Mike is an expert and will have specific answers to questions that we have put together. If you have had a foreclosure or youre facing foreclosure or if youre considering a short sale or bankruptcy, any number of things. Were going to touch on each just a little bit.
But we have a few numbers on our staff who are experts in loan modifications, we have put together a great video that helps explain the process, it’s about seven minutes long. And we will get that sent out to you in immediately.
Duration : 0:5:25
top auction tips on *how to buy at auction* and investment ROI. Return on investment.
John H Davies from Hedge Property Investment knows all there is to know about auctions but warns the audience in this clip When the hammer goes down….youve bought it!
http://hedge-propertyinvestment.com
http://hedge-propertyinvestment.com
If you are starting out on your property investment journey, or just want to get on the housing ladder, auctions can be a great place to pick up a bargain but you need to know what to look out for.
For example: Which are the best auctions, when is the best time to bid, who should you keep your eyes on and what do off the wall or its in the room mean?
In this video John shares some hot tips for buying at auction with a property investors group (Property Investors Network) and is on a mission to help as many people as possible take advantage of the current buying opportunities. If you know the sort of rent your auction will achieve you can calculate the maximum mortgage available by clicking:
http://hedge-propertyinvestment.com/lending-criteria.php
Equally, you can also calculate the rent required to cover a known mortgage amount.
http://hedge-propertyinvestment.com
http://hedge-propertyinvestment.com
How to buy at auction How to buy at auction
Hedge Property Investment are a well respected company based in Birmingham and helping private investors, fund managers, property agents, mortgage advisors and IFAs around the U.K.
Contact details:
0870 385 0512
admin@hedge-propertyinvestment.com
http://hedge-propertyinvestment.com
http://hedge-propertyinvestment.com
recorded and edited by Mike Crowe http://webmovies4you.com
Duration : 0:3:20
Amidst the Real Estate & Mortgage Meltdown; Foreclosure Fraud & Scams; Real Estates Future is Great. First Time Home Buyers, FHA Loans & Seller Paid Closing Costs. Go To http://RealEstateMarketingThisWeek.com
Part 4 (Excerpt)
Mortgage Backed Securities, Collateralized Debt Obligations and Tranches Oh My!
Now, I put the colorful title on How to Screw the Bank that Screwed You for no other reason than to get people to click on it to get the information, because frankly, a lot of people were given really bad loans, were given really bad advice, and sometimes you have to fight back.
Here is one of the things and again Ill try to make this as uncomplicated as possible. Let’s say you bought the house and you got the loan through a mortgage broker. Well that mortgage broker didnt really give you the loan. They bought that loan from a wholesaler of mortgages. That wholesaler of mortgages, in turn bought that loan from one of those big huge Wall Street banks, most of which are out of business right now.
Important thing to point out if I may, Velocity Financial is a mortgage broker, we do get our money from several wholesale banks, I just wanted to point that out because we’re glad were a broker.
Just to continue the analogy. So the broker buys it from a wholesaler, who buys it from the Wall Street bank, and like I said, most of them are out of business now. And what the Wall Street bank did with thousands of these loans worth billions of dollars, they put them all together into what is known as mortgage backed securities. That is the stuff you hear like Fannie Mae is selling and there is an interest rate put on them, and what happened to these mortgage backed securities is they in-turn were bought up by other Wall Street banks, combined with other mortgage backed securities and they were called collateralized debt obligations.
Well then these brainiacs on Wall Street decided to chop these collateralized debt obligations up into what is referred to as tranches. So let’s say you had your best quality AAA borrowers in the top tranch . And obviously your ZZZ borrowers were in the bottom tranch. Each one of them was given a specific interest rate, each one of them was rated by a bond rating firm, and each one of them was given insurance.
Well, what happens is as these got split up and sold over time the notes on the mortgages go with the debt itself. So CDO over in Bangladesh owns your mortgage now, but here is the problem, they dont have the paperwork.
So the reason I went through this whole story is in case your bank comes to you and says were going to foreclose what you want to do is go and get yourself an attorney and you want this attorney to go to this bank and say we want you to prove to us that you have standing, that they have the legal right to come after you and foreclose on you. And here is the thing, if they dont have the paperwork, if they dont have the note on the property, they cant prove that they have standing. So whether its the wholesaler, who is foreclosing on you, whether its the servicer, whoever it is, chances are very good that they dont have this note.
So again, he got a little complicated. You want to go to the website http://mortgageanswerman.com and there are several articles there, and a lovely little chart that I drew up, except that it will be much nicer than this piece of paper, and I will have all the information there. I had a friend just recently who was in foreclosure and she made the phone call, and she said, you cannot foreclose on me without the original note. Now eventually it got foreclosed on, but it delayed it several months until they were able to find that note. Chances are they may never be able to find that note.
And in many states, including Florida and Ohio they are very successful at using this tactic to stop or completely do-away-with the foreclosure sale. We dont necessarily want to encourage people to go down this path, right? Were looking for a stall essentially?
Well, hopefully no one will ever have to get to that point. But if you believe that your servicer, your mortgage company is not being nice to you. Especially if you call them up and want to do a loan modification, and they are dragging their feet, filing foreclosure and coming after you, you have to protect yourself. And this is one of the ways you can protect yourself by hiring an attorney and suing them for lack of standing
That is one of the things that I want to talk about that Velocity Financial is involved with a national network of attorneys who do this sort of work. Velocity Financial does not charge an upfront fee for these types of loan modifications, we do hire an attorney and they work with the national network of attorneys to work on your behalf. They do charge a retainer, of course, if they are going to fight for you they need to be paid, however, there are no upfront fees…
Duration : 0:6:36
Tax on 1099C, Cancellation of Debt Income; Short Sale, Loan Modification & Foreclosure. Exception; Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, Bankruptcy & Insolvency. Go To http://RealEstateMarketingThisWeek.com
Part 7 (Excerpt)
Beware of grandiose claims when dealing with a loan modification firm.
You know I am glad that were back, when we went to the break we were talking amongst ourselves about some of these concepts, I really want to bring this back down to the listeners. So they really understand what this means to them. You have three strategic partners, each of them experts in their field, sitting around these microphones in the studio talking about how these factors have an impact on the listening public, the people listening to this station right now.
Velocity Financial is an expert in all things mortgage related. It represents the largest asset many people have in terms of their home. What were talking about is, we know the economic pain that exists, you probably read that Arizona has the dubious distinction according to the Case-Schiller index of having the highest property value declines in the country. People are feeling some pressure here and for those people who want to consider what a loan modification might do for them, should call you and talk about what that represents.
Then from there, you can refer them to people like Mike Patenella to talk about the tax ramifications, Mike can speak to some of those items and I can talk about their overall financial planning. But to start with let’s talk about what the loan modification process really represents and who can benefit from.
We have talked about all the different things you can do with your home as a home owner, there is the loan modification and there’s several different types of loan modifications, there is the option of a short sale, which can have huge tax implications that people may not be aware of. There is the option of foreclosure, which is almost the last thing you want to do and there is also bankruptcy.
Loan modification is essentially for the person who is unable to make your payment, because there was a material change, and the change that I am talking about is your not making as much money. You may have lost your job. You have one of these mortgages that are toxic, where the interest rate has gone up significantly.
I would not buy the story from some guy with an ugly little yellow sign on the side of the road that says, hey I can help you and I have a 99% success rate with my loan modifications. That is essentially a guarantee and there is nobody in their right mind that would buy the guarantee. There are so many different types of mortgage servicers out there, literally thousands of mortgage companies out there and you cannot predict what any one of these mortgage companies is going to do.
Certainly not guarantee anyone any result. Were definitely going to try our best, thats why we use a national network of attorneys, 45 out of the 50 states have some kind of recourse involved with short sales and foreclosures, loan modifications. This is not something you can just figure out on your own and certainly dont buy into some story that there is somebody who can reduce your mortgage by 50%. Thats not going to happen, or that they have a 99% success rate, things are just not realistic.
You should know better and I know I am putting it bluntly, lets be honest. You should know better. It sounds too good to be true folks, it is. These no cost loans, these goofballs are selling on the radio, saying they don’t cost anything, let me say this, someones got to pay for it. Try walking to one of these big banks right now thats trying so hard right now to make up for some of their losses, so if anyone is offering you something that sounds too good to be true. It probably is, call an expert, call someone who knows what they’re doing, and our team has 16 years of loan modification experience. Our national network of attorneys are dedicated to getting loan modifications and work with almost every major lender, use a pro.
Now Mike, I wanted to throw it over to you to reiterate a few of these things to talk about the different options that people are looking at. The reality of it is that a loan modification, if it works is the absolute best.
That would appear to be the case. You dont want to file bankruptcy, which would be your last choice. Trying to say youre insolvent might be difficult when you factor in all of your assets, so the foreclosures and the short sales, I think those just destroy your credit. Am I right on that?
Duration : 0:6:21
First Time Home Buyers use FHA Mortgage and Seller Paid Closing Costs to Buy Real Estate Now. Best Market Conditions for Foreclosures and Short Sales in Decades. Go To http://RealEstateMarketingThisWeek.com
Part 8 (Excerpt)
30 year fixed FHA mortgage is the best financing available for first time home buyers today.
So now the only question that I would have, Michael is you only lowered the guys interest rate by 1/8th of a percent, weren’t there a whole lot of closing costs associated with that? Good question, in this particular case no. There were no closing costs.
Well then it definitely makes sense to lower your interest rate if it’s not going to cost you anything and you can lower your monthly payment by 100 bucks a month you would be crazy not to do it.
His breakeven was one day, in that particular case.
It goes back to this Velocity of Money concept. If you’re not sure if it makes sense or not, it’s kind of a no-brainer, give the team at velocity financial a call. You will do the analysis for them to determine if it makes sense or not based, on their unique circumstance, and from there youll advise them on the appropriate type of loan.
You know it’s funny that people over the years they get so hyper-focused on the interest rate of the loan. Interestingly enough I had a recent client whos focus was not on the interest rate, it was on the closing costs. The problem is there is a correlation between the cost of the money and rate, you have to pay it isn’t free for anyone. No cost loans are not really no cost, youre paying a higher rate to get it, so where does it make the most sense for you and your family, how long are you going to use this mortgage? There are so many factors, there’s an incredible amount of discovery that needs to be done.
If you walk into your local financial institution it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bank and you ask what is the rate today? It’s vanilla, it’s not 31 flavors, its vanilla, this is what we have. Well we have a couple of other options, but that’s not how it works at the bank.
One thing I wanted to point out Michael was it was back in 2003, we saw interest rates that were close to what they are now and a lot of people got into the same kind of loan that I got into at that, I got into a three year adjustable loan. And I’m really kicking myself because I wish I’d gotten into a 30 year fixed, and I would say with anyone, especially with as low as interest rates are, they definitely have to get into this market. jump in and get themselves into a 30 year fixed and just be happy with it forever.
That’s a really good point, and it’s safe. If you have a 3 year ARM or two year adjustable, or a 5 year adjustable and youre 1, 2, 3, 4 years into it, the 30 year is the safe way to go, more than likely the interest rate is going to be lower than what you have. In the case of the adjustable ARMs, adjustable-rate mortgages just dont make sense today. If you have a 30 year fixed, its the safe bet.
Dan if you and I are wrong and real estate values continue to tumble, you know what, you have a nice safe loan and you dont have to worry about it for a long time. On the other hand if you want to live there for 20 years, you dont have to mess with it. I think its the right thing to do for most people
Well I think that anyone who is out shopping for a home over this weekend, and what they’re looking for is to not only ask the seller to pay as much of the closing costs as possible but first to get pre-qualified by calling you at velocity financial. They want to make sure that they get themselves a 30 year fixed, FHA is probably the best product out there right now because its such a low down payment, and if youre a first time home buyer and youre in the $60,000 a year range, you can go out there and buy up to that $250,000 house and have a place for your family to be in after the first of the year, and never have to you live in an apartment and have Christmas in an apartment again, you can have Christmas in your own home next year.
Absolutely, that is a really, really good point. We dont want to forget about the $7500 tax credit that goes along with having a home, if you havent owned real estate in the last three years.
The other thing that I want to mention before the show gets wrapped up today, there is interest rate risk here just like there is in the bond market. Interest rate risk is you the buyer looking at what you can use to increase the velocity of money, increase the efficiency in your existing mortgage, or move to a new mortgage because money is cheaper today than it’s ever been…
Duration : 0:5:50