Misc.
August 8, 2011
Close deals faster with Radian’s new One Underwrite
If a loan has been accepted by Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter or Freddie Mac’s Loan Prospector and satisfies five simple overlays, it’s automatically eligible for Radian MI.
| B of A Looking at Yet More GSE Buyback Claims By Paul Muolo Although Bank of America entered into a $2.8 billion buyback settlement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac late last year, it is looking at additional repurchase claims regarding the two GSEs, according to a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
| Will Congress Extend Higher Conforming Loan Limit? By Kevin Wack A bipartisan group of lawmakers, aided by banking and housing groups, are beginning a strong lobbying push to forestall a scheduled drop in the maximum sizes of mortgages backed by the government-sponsored enterprises. Realty Giant Urges White House Summit on Housing The chief executive of a major real estate brokerage firm is urging President Obama to hold a White House summit to gather recommendations and ideas on how to stimulate the housing market. Appraisal Vendor CEO Resigns, Some Appraisers Waiting to be Paid The founder and part owner of appraisal management vendor AppraiserLoft resigned as CEO this week, saying he wants to pursue new business ventures in mobile technology application development.
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Featured Story
Two Minnesota Women Plead Guilty in Fraud Scheme
By Evan Nemeroff
Two women recently pleaded guilty in Federal Court in the District of Minnesota to their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded lenders approximately $4.2 million.
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No Water Cooler Chat Increases LO Production Gain focus, greater commissions working from home. PMBS is placing 150 LOs currently producing 3+ loans/mo nationally with various banks. Learn More |
| Ask “What if” for Better Results in All Areas of Sales, and Life By Art Sobczak Over the past 28 years, in delivering over 1200 training sessions and workshops, I have fielded lots of questions. Many of the same ones about parts of the sales call, some good, others not so much. But some of the toughest ones I ever received were from my kids years ago when they were younger. |
| What We’re Hearing: Goldman’s ‘Love/Hate’ Relationship with Subprime By Paul Muolo If you, for a minute, believe that Goldman Sachs isn’t dumping Litton Loan Servicing overboard because of the taint of subprime, then I have some Enron bonds I’d like to sell you. As reported by National Mortgage News 10 days ago Ocwen is eyeing Litton, as are two other investors. |
| Former FHLB President Blames Regulatory ‘Overreaction’ for Slowdown By Brian Collins One chief reason mortgage application volume is slowing and home prices have yet to recover is regulatory “overreaction” in the wake of the housing bust, according to former Federal Home Loan Bank president Alex Pollock. |
| CoreLogic Offers a Glimmer of Good News on Housing By Brian Collins Home prices rose slightly in April for the first time since the federal home buyer tax credit expired last summer, according to the CoreLogic house price index, which includes distressed sales. |
Rate Drops for Seventh Week to Another Low for Year
By Bonnie Sinnock
The average 30-year mortgage rate’s seventh consecutive decline during the week ending June 2 brought it to new lows not seen in Freddie Mac’s survey since the week ending Dec. 2.
Featured Story
Ocwen Looking for High-Touch Acquisitions
By Paul Muolo
Ocwen Financial is one of at least three investors recently invited in by Goldman Sachs to make a final round of bids on Litton Loan Servicing, the Wall Street firm’s specialty servicing division, according to investment bankers and others close to the situation.
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Overcome Recent Market Changes and Achieve More with Radian MI The FHA’s April 18th pricing increase makes conventional financing with Radian the best option for qualifying low-downpayment borrowers and increasing volume. Drive volume by lowering monthly payments by 15% over the FHA, plus increase purchasing power by 18%. Learn more today. |
| Mortgage Sector Continues to Suffer Job Losses, Brokers Hurt the Most By Brian Collins Mortgage companies cut 5,300 full-time employees from their payrolls in April, marking the fourth consecutive month in which industry employment fell, according to government figures released Friday morning. |
| MBA Calls on FHA to Accept E-Signatures By Austin Kilgore The Mortgage Bankers Association has stepped up its advocacy of electronic signatures, sending an open letter to the acting commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration requesting the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s home finance unit begin accepting e-signatures on all loan documents. |
| First American Gains On Fidelity By Brad Finkelstein The market share gap between Fidelity National Financial and First American continues to shrink, even as both companies are losing business to smaller national and regional competitors, according to first quarter data compiled by the American Land Title Association. |
Amherst Worries, and Weighs in on Risk Retention
By Brian Collins
Relaxing regulatory parameters for “qualified residential mortgages” could significantly increase the percentage of loans that are exempt from risk retention, according to a new comment letter from Amherst Securities Group.
Category : Misc.
Featured Story
What We’re Hearing: A Gorilla Called Wells Fargo
By Paul Muolo
THIS JUST IN: Back in the day Angelo Mozilo once dreamed of Countrywide Home Loans having a 25% origination market share. We all know what happened to that dream (and Countrywide). As I recall, Mozilo once thought that such a goal might be achievable, but it would probably require Countrywide combining forces with a megabank such as Wells Fargo.
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Overcome Recent Market Changes and Achieve More with Radian MI The FHA’s April 18th pricing increase makes conventional financing with Radian the best option for qualifying low-downpayment borrowers and increasing volume. Drive volume by lowering monthly payments by 15% over the FHA, plus increase purchasing power by 18%. Learn more today. |
| Three Decades of Valuation Help Firms Move Forward By Bonnie Sinnock Having recently completed his third decade at the helm of a company that he says was one of the first movers in the outsourcing of real estate valuation services, PCV Murcor Real Estate Services president/CEO Keith Murray describes himself as a man who finds himself again—as he was at the outset of his career—with the right expertise at the right time. |
| Vendors Bundle Outsourcing, Tech for Mortgage Industry By Austin Kilgore Large originators and servicers have long relied on the efficiencies and cost savings of outsourcing for a long time, some going as far as building their own offshore facilities, known as “captives” among business process outsourcers. |
| Back in the Saddle By Austin Kilgore Private-label cowboys have returned to the mortgage secondary, with new technology to rope in prime investments. |
| Credit Risk Data Drilling Power Yet to Be Explored By Amilda Dymi Borrower risk evaluation findings from untraditional data drilling and analytics sometimes surprise those who initiated the search indicating the existing data is a “gold mine” yet to be explored. That recognition is fueling a new trend among mortgage data providers. |
Where’s MacGyver When You Need Him?
By Matt Merlone
While not a huge fan of reality television, I recently paused to see some knucklehead being dropped from a helicopter into the jungle with just the clothes on his back and a few basic skills. His situation reminded me of the current state of the mortgage industry.
Category : Misc.
By: Andy Asbury
Every condo owner makes a monthly payment to a condo homeowners association. The amount of the payment varies widely, depending on your building and the amenities it provides. It may even depend on the makeup of the association itself. The following is a primer on some of the main elements of condo homeowner associations.
Board of directors
Depending on the size of the condo building in which you live, every resident may have a seat on the board. Usually, though, there are too many people for that, so residents take a vote and elect board members – not wholly unlike a political election. Boards usually meet once a month, or, in some cases, once a quarter, and discuss and make decisions on issues pertinent to the building. They set the fees you’ll pay, decide what they’ll cover, and create association bylaws by which all residents must abide. Don’t agree with something the board does? Attend meetings or run for a seat to make sure your voice is heard.
Monthly fees
The check you write to your association every month is used in a variety of ways. It covers exterior and some interior maintenance – cutting the grass, removing the snow and keeping the hallways clean, for instance – and for amenities ranging from pools to fitness rooms. Most association fees also cover sewer, trash and water. The association also will carry insurance for the exterior of the unit, and some parts of the interior. Part of your monthly association fee also should be placed into a reserve account to pay for unexpected or large, non-recurring expenses.
Regulations
Associations are responsible for coming up with regulations by which all building residents must abide. The regulations cover things ranging from how large pets can be to actions that will be taken against those condo owners delinquent on their association payments. Associations also have the power to levy fines or other penalties against tenants who don’t abide by the regulations.
It’s important to keep in mind that the rules and regulations that associations make vary depending on the association. While some can be a little lax in the rules they make – or on the enforcement of them – some associations work hard to ensure all rules are followed to the letter. It’s your responsibility to be comfortable with the association before you move in. If you break a rule or find something that’s not to your liking, simply saying “I didn’t know” probably won’t get you very far. Please don’t take this to mean that condo associations are in any way bad. Indeed, the opposite is true and the majority of condo owners never have a problem with their association.
Author Resource:-> Andy Asbury, founder of www.MinnesotaLoftsandCondos.com helps buyers sort through all of the Minneapolis condos for sale and make sense of the ever changing Minneapolis condo market.
Article From Real Estate Pro Articles
