Florida Mortgage Report

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3

Stagflation: Is It Now Obvious to Everyone?
2008-04-18 00:24:00
Stagflation is something I have talked about many times.  In the past it had been warnings about its oncoming.  Lately I have talked about its arrival.  Now that we have seen plenty of data, can we all agree it is here already? It amazes me to see articles saying that inflation is retreating, even while oil, ...
More About: Obvious , Stagflation

Mortgage Transparency Kills Mortgage Service: Will the Mortgage Industry?s
2008-04-16 21:38:00
The latest move in our industry, fueled further by its recent implosion, is that of transparency in the mortgage transaction.  For starters, I am all for that, though you may not feel that way after reading this.  Why?  Because of what transparency encourages. To truly understand what I am getting to, let’s look at what ...
More About: Industry , Service , Mortgage , Transparency

Federal Reserve to Blame for Global Financial Meltdown?
2008-04-16 17:41:00
Ron Paul slammed the Federal Reserve , and rightfully so, a couple of days ago.  Here is an excerpt from Lanka Business Online… “Few Americans give much thought to the Federal Reserve System or monetary policy in general,” Ron Paul wrote in his column this week. “But even as they strive to earn a living, and hopefully save ...
More About: Financial , Global , Blame

Walkaways Waste Wachovia?
2008-04-15 15:11:00
Wachovia reported disappointing earnings today and highlighted that homeowners walking away from their mortgages, particularly in California, were at least part of the reason.  They are certainly the reason Wachovia is cutting dividends. Calculated Risk discussed the Wachovia conference call and the remarks made by Don Truslow, the Chief Risk Officer… Don Truslow, Wachovia Corporation - SEVP, Chief Risk Officer Ken, that’s exactly right. And Kevin, it’s just this pattern almost that somewhere — I don’t know where the tipping point is, but somewhere when a borrower crosses the 100% loan to value, somewhere north of that and they presumably run into some sort of cash flow bump, whether it’s reduced income or kind of normal things in life that have created past dues before, their propensity to just default and stop paying their mortgage rises dramatically and I mean really accelerates up and it’s almost regardless of how they scored, say,...
More About: Waste , Wachovia

Florida Mortgage Report Refocusing Content
2008-04-14 22:12:00
At times, I have broken away from strictly talking about mortgages, real estate and the economy.  Well, the Florida Mortgage Report is going back to its core, focusing on exactly those topics and adding more thoughts on mortgage planning as well. It doesn’t mean I won’t be blogging about other stuff, just not here.  I am also adding a personal finance blog, called Fiscal Discipline, which will get started later this month.  It will be brining personal finance and investing topics that go beyond mortgages and real estate, though they won’t be left out there either.  The goal there is to help people understand how money works, basic and advanced financial planning and overall helpful topics to assist American families gain their financial freedom.  Once Fiscal Discipline goes live, I will provide all of the details, so don’t forget to subscribe to the feed so you don’t miss its launch date. In the meantime, and I will be getting ...
More About: Content

Would You Like $7,000 in Tax Credits?
2008-04-12 20:45:00
How would you like to receive tax credits totaling $7,000?  Sounds good, doesn’t it?  Well, the Senate’s recent passing of a housing bill could do just that. These are tax credits folks, not tax deductions.  That means a dollar for dollar reduction in your tax bill, with the ability to carry over any amounts in excess ...
More About: Real Estate Investing , Credits

Foreign Investors: Florida Real Estate Has Plenty of Potential
2008-04-12 18:24:00
As I have mentioned several times before, foreigners looking to buy property in Florida are in a prime position to pick up that home, condo, even commercial property  for what is, in essence, pennies on the dollar.  The devaluation of the dollar, combined with price depreciation of properties in Florida, especially South Florida, leave plenty ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Foreign , Real

American Airlines: How Not to Run a Company
2008-04-11 00:35:00
With the economy struggling, basically in a recession, now is not the time to make major mistakes in your operations.  While American Airlines is not in real estate, there is plenty to learn from the current operational disaster. American has been forced to cancel over 2,500 flights this week, due to nothing short of mismanagement.  ...
More About: Company , American Airlines

Senate Passes Housing Bill 84-12: Real Estate Investors Get Tax Credits
2008-04-10 20:11:00
The Senate passed a package of tax breaks and funds for foreclosure counseling today, just one day after the White House took separate action to expand a federal program to allow more homeowners to refinance mortgages.  Even though the White House is not happy with the bill, it is not expected to be vetoed. The package ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Investing , Housing

Adjustable Rate Mortgages Back in Fashion?
2008-04-10 18:26:00
Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) have been seeing rates on the decline while fixed rates remain steady.  As I have mentioned before, many homeowners who are rushing to get their ARMs “fixed” are trying to heel an ARM which may not be broken. When trying to decide if your ARM is broken, look at what it will ...
More About: Fashion , Back

Do You Have a Deadbeat Landlord?
2008-04-09 01:15:00
All across South Florida, and in other parts of the nation, more and more renters are being evicted due to their landlord going into foreclosure.  Even though the renters are paying their rent on time every month, deadbeat landlords are not paying the mortgages on the property and pocketing the money as profit. Yes, Bobbie Dust ...

WaMu (Washington Mutual) Closes Door on Mortgage Brokers
2008-04-08 23:44:00
According to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg this afternoon, Wamu is making a lot of changes to deal with their ongoing struggle to survive.  With the infusion of $7B from an investment group led by private-equity firm TPG, along with closing 186 home loan centers and laying off 3,000, Washington Mutual has joined the ...
More About: Brokers , Mortgage , Mortgage Brokers , Door

The Most Important Button on Your Computer to Regain Sanity
2008-04-08 01:13:00
After returning from my vacation, from blogging, email and the Internet as well as business, I was overwhelmed to say the least.  Why?  Literally thousands of emails, feeds, etc. to sift through with more piling in each day. It has been a long time since I took a vacation from everything, and I mean blogging and ...
More About: Computer , Button

A Quick Update Why Posts Delayed
2008-04-04 18:54:00
As I mentioned earlier, I returned from vacation Monday, consequently was called to fly early morning and my Tuesday morning flight even made the Boston Herald (which I briefly posted a link to here). The down time during my last trip allowed me to get caught up on over 1,500 emails, not to mention the daily ...
More About: Update , Quick , Posts

I made the News - Not Very Noteworthy Though
2008-04-02 03:46:00
Just to let you know I , along with my fellow crewmembers made the news his morning, even though the overall incident was basically a “non-event”. As most of you know, I am a pilot for American Airlines, and that is where I made the news, just not directly.  Here is the link to the news report in Boston… http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional /general/view.bg?articleid=1084256 I am not sure how they got the picture, but I really don’t care as it was not as big an issue as the report states. I will say that the report is based on “third party” info, and is not entirely valid. If you want the real story, let me know. Anyhow, my crew and I made the news in Boston at least, and as I thought, I would provide a link to the report for fun.  It also goes without saying that I treat my clients similarly.
More About: News , The News , Made

Back From Vacation
2008-03-31 21:04:00
I made it back from my vacation and will get back to normal posting soon.  Please be patient as I get caught up and digest the happenings of the last week.  That’s right, I refused to connect to the Internet while I was gone and I was successful (withdrawal symptoms were painful). A lot of stuff ...
More About: Vacation , Back

Taking a Vacation
2008-03-23 15:54:00
Some of you already know, but I am off to take a much needed vacation this week, so posts will be very scarce if at (I am betting not at all).  My blogging addiction may get the best of me and you will see a post or two, but I will try to fight the ...
More About: Vacation , Taking

Central Banks Discussing Mass Purchases of Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS)
2008-03-22 16:24:00
As I mentioned earlier, the Fed has moved into a position of lender of first resort instead of last as it should be.  Now it appears that the Central Banks on either side of the Atlantic are looking into the feasibility of actually purchasing the mortgage backed securities. According to Reuters, the Bank of England (BoE) ...
More About: Mortgage , Securities , Mortgage Backed Securities

?My House. My Dream. It Was All an Illusion.?
2008-03-22 16:09:00
This is the title of a Washington Post article which everyone in the real estate industry should read.  Please read it and list all of the violations you think occurred, as there are plenty and I just find myself lost at where to begin.  It would also be a beneficial read to everyone else.  Feel ...
More About: House , Illusion , Dream

Bobbie Dust, Nevada Real Estate Agent, Makes Headlines for the Wrong Reason
2008-03-22 15:59:00
Bobbie Dust, a real estate agent out in Nevada , made it into the newspapers March 20, but for reasons Dust would surely like to have omitted.  Bobbie was the owner of a property being rented out that ended up being foreclosed upon and is now owned by the bank.  Bobbie, however, made the paper for ...
More About: Agent , Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Agent

Happy Easter!!
2008-03-22 14:02:00
The Bible says that on the third day he rose again, so here is a fitting song from Third Day… And since he rose again, this song from MercyMe is also fitting…
More About: Easter , Happy

The Fed is Now Lender of First Resort
2008-03-22 00:19:00
In normal times, the Federal Reserve is obligated to become the lender of last resort.  The Fed does so by supplying cash to banks requiring it to prevent a systemwide breakdown.  However, these are not normal times, are they? But for this crisis, the Fed has become the lender of first resort to a whole ...
More About: Resort

Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF) Details Revealed
2008-03-21 16:49:00
The Wall Street Journal Economics Blog revealed the details of the Fed’s new “intervention” program, the TSLF.  Please go over there for a more complete review, but here are some of the highlights: In its first auction, the New York Fed will lend Treasurys to the 20 dealer banks against all collateral it accepts in its ...
More About: Securities , Details , Lending , Term

Fannie and Freddie OK?ed to Become Insolvent?
2008-03-19 15:02:00
I must admit this doesn’t make a lot of sense in the general scheme of things, however, with the Fed ready to step in and bailout everyone who is failing, it makes sense. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are having their capital requirements loosened by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.  Excuse me, but isn’t ...
More About: Freddie Mac

Fed Cuts Rates: 75 Basis Points
2008-03-18 19:38:00
The Fed has once again dropped the Fed Funds Rate, this time by 75 basis points bringing it down to 2.25%, less than recent inflation rates even with a flat CPI report. I am glad to see they didn’t drop the full 1.00% the markets began to expect this morning, so maybe the Fed does have ...
More About: Points , Rates , Cuts

What if the Fed Cut Rates Less Than Expected?
2008-03-18 17:23:00
This is an interesting question.  Many feel that the Fed appeases the markets, sort of like being the market’s call girl.  After, most rate cuts, especially the emergency rate back in January, definitely was designed to appeal to the markets, or at least appeared that way. But, what has the Fed rate cuts done besides keeping the stock market happy?  Take a look at some of these stats since the Fed started its current rate cut run back on August 17, 2007: The Reuters/Jefferies-CRB Index was up nearly 35% from August 31, 2007 to February 29, 2008 (33.6%) The US Dollar Index has fallen about 13% The S&P 500 is down around 10% So, what has the Fed rate cuts accomplished? Well, they likely prevented the S&P 500 from being down even more than 10%, but its moves have killed the dollar and is fueling inflation.  Believe me when I say that traveling abroad is getting extremely expensive with the euro up against $1.60.  (Side note the euros in my wall...
More About: Rates

Scary News: Federal Bailout of Homeowners Gaining Momentum
2008-03-18 15:10:00
Why is this scary news?  It opens all sorts of moral dilemmas.  Not to mention that most times when the government employs moves like these, generally it does more harm than good, at least initially. With the fallout from the Bear Stearn’s bailout and the liquidity problems plaguing Lehman Brothers as well (many wondering if they are next), the government will not hold back from efforts to “save the day”. The consequences of rising U.S. subprime mortgage defaults rates and falling U.S. house prices, combined with mark-to-market accounting, has become so severe that the Federal Reserve has resorted to financial tools last used in the Great Depression to staunch the crisis of confidence in financial markets that has seen liquidity evaporate. (Source News max) With the Bernanke and buddies running out of ammunition, Congress is going to be the next entity to step in most likely.  But, more than likely, they will screw things up, doing more harm to the c...
More About: Scary , Gaining , Momentum , Homeowners

How Well is Bernanke Doing?
2008-03-18 14:49:00
With the Fed seemingly doing everything possible to manage the financial crisis, just how well are he and the “Fed Gang” doing?  After all, it seems that every move they make fails to make anything more than a dent in the problem. Well, I am happy to say that I read an article that actually showed confidence in what has been done.  Newsmax posted this article that the shows most feel Bernanke is up to the challenge.  A straw poll of Fed watchers suggested many think Bernanke is doing a good job cleaning up a mess years in the making, from the bursting of a housing bubble that took a half a decade to build to a related implosion in subprime mortgage lending. …The Fed, under Bernanke’s guidance, has pulled out the stops in the past couple weeks to push liquidity into shaky credit markets. It has also cut benchmark lending rates from 5.25 percent to 3.0 percent since mid-September, with another big rate cut on tap at a policy meeting on Tuesday....

Will the Fed Eventually Pay Banks and Brokers to Borrow Money?
2008-03-17 18:55:00
That question may become more of a reality than not, though it would spell the absolute uselessness of the dollar as any means of currency, even in the US.  The Fed has come to the rescue yet again, doing nothing short of bailing out companies that would otherwise be insolvent and face liquidation.  In other ...
More About: Money , Banks , Brokers , Borrow

Fed Continues to Shoot Liquidity Anyway it Can
2008-03-17 16:39:00
There were two new initiatives announced by the Fed yesterday along wit the approval of the Bear Stearn’s/JP Morgan Chase deal.  Here is what they said, in Fed speak: First, the Federal Reserve Board voted unanimously to authorize the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to create a lending facility to improve the ability of primary ...
More About: Shoot