Fremont Real Estate Blog

Timing may not be the best for the economic recovery, and I'd prefer they cut from the military and administrative budget. From: Your Daily Dose from DSNews.com < http://dsnews.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=59816bad6939d5a7dd87e45a5&i d=fb01f8975e&e=ebe71b748c > Washington Weighs Trimming Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Members of the commission created by President Obama to shrink the federal deficit published a proposal this week that would significantly scale back the mortgage interest tax deduction. One recommendation would reduce the deduction amount by 20 percent. The second calls for the exclusion of second residences, home equity loans, and mortgages over $500,000. The proposal has drawn criticism from industry groups who say now is not the time to wrench incentives from a housing industry struggling to get back on its feet.

FHA Delinquencies Fall for Fifth Consecutive Month The strides made by the Federal Housing Administration in lowering delinquency numbers are turning into a long-distance marathon run. The federal mortgage insurer's delinquency rate dropped again in June, marking the fifth straight month of declines. According to FHA's latest operations report, as of June 30, 532,757 of the mortgages it guarantees had spent at least 90 days in a delinquent status, which equates to a seriously delinquent rate of 8.3 percent. That's down from 8.4 percent in May, and 9.4 percent during the first month of this year. -sunil SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Sunil Sethi / Broker, President, REALTOR, MBA / SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE 38750 Paseo Padre Pwky Suite B3 / Fremont, CA 94536 www.sunilsethi.com CA DRE#: 01173766

Can you believe this is even an option? If FHA is really allowing such a thing, it should be shut down and management should be prosecuted. ATTENTION REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS! We have niche programs that will help you close more transactions: 1 Day Out-of-Short Sale - FHA Financing - Standard FHA Financing with 3.5% Down Required. - No Reserves Required - No Minimum FICO (But must have been current on previous home loan) FHA Access - Only 1/2% Down Payment* - No Reserves Required - No Minimum FICO - California Only Conventional Financing with up to 10 properties - Second Home and Non-Owner Occupied Financing - Purchase 1 Unit = 75% LTV - Purchase 2 – 4 Units = 70% LTV FHA $100 Down - HUD REO Properties Only - No Minimum FICO - California Only FHA Good Neighbor Next Door - HUD REO Properties Only - For Selected Professionals (i.e. Police, Firefighters, Teachers, EMT's, etc) - No Minimum FICO - HUD Offers up to 50% discount off list price - $100 down and closing costs financed ...

Musical adaptation of two prominent economic theories. Keynes is theory is what President obama is applying to get us out of this recession, and Hayek is saying this will just lead to other problems down the road. Entertaining video.

Congress is working on a bill to eliminate HVCC, but Frank and Brian are right that enough it HVCC is eliminated something else will replace and it should. TBWS - Video Marketing and Mortgage News Designed for Mortgage and Real Estate Sales -sunil

I must have gotten 30 emails today about hurry and get your loan in before Dec 4 because Fannie Mae’s DU version 8.0 that release on Dec. 12 will allow a max DTI of 45%. Gee with Fannie, Freddie and FHA bleeding the way they are it’s about time they tightened those ridiculous standards. Why should they allow more than 45%, why would anyone want to spend more than 45% of their gross income on housing and other structured payments. -sunil SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE My Bio: http://sunilsethi.com/about_me.htm Personal: http://www.sunilsethi.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/fremontrealtor CA DRE#: 01173766

CAR just forwarded some more detail on Fannie Mae’s lease for deed program:   How to rent your home from Fannie Mae Fannie Mae last week announced a new Deed for Lease™ program.  The new program allows borrowers to voluntarily transfer their property back to the lender and then lease back the house at market rate.  The lease period is for up to 12 months, with month-to-month contract extensions after that period.  The program is designed for borrowers who do not qualify for or have not been able to obtain other loan-workout solutions, such as loan modifications.    To participate in the program, borrowers must live in the home as their primary residence and must be released from any subordinate liens on the property. Tenants of borrowers in this circumstance also may be eligible for leases under the program. Borrowers or tenants interested in a lease must be able to document that the new market rental rate is no more than 31 percent ...

Fannie Mae (which is owned by Uncle Sam), will be implementing a plan for homeowners who turnover their deed to be able to rent their place back. Prospective renters must show that they can afford to pay the new market rental rate and must be able to document that the rental payment is no more than 31 percent of their gross income. So I wonder who’s going to be their property manager? This could be an opportunity to grab some government pork. Read more here http://www.dsnews.com/articles/fannie-mae-becomes-landlord-with-new-deed-for-lease-program-2009-11-05 -sunil SMA REALTY Sunil Sethi / Broker, President, REALTOR, MBA, CPA / SMA Realty 38350 Fremont Blvd. #202 / Fremont, CA 94536 Office 510 793 8600 / Mobile 510 388 2436 My Bio: http://sunilsethi.com/about_me.htm Personal: http://www.sunilsethi.com My blog: http://fremontrealestate.blogspot.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/fremontrealtor CA DRE#: 01173766

Option ARMs reset 5 yrs after the originated. Most of them originated in 2004,2005,2006. If you know your loans, you’ll remember these were called option ARMs because the gave you the option to not pay principle. Most people who got these didn’t understand know what they were getting, and went negative amortization on them. Now as these reset, most borrowers are underwater and can’t afford the new fully amortized rate. Read more here http://www.dsnews.com/articles/california-ag-calls-on-lenders-to-outline-option-arm-modification-plans-2009-11-02 -sunil SMA REALTY Sunil Sethi / Broker, Preisent, REALTOR, MBA, CPA / SMA Realty 38350 Fremont Blvd. #202 / Fremont, CA 94536 Office 510 793 8600 / Mobile 510 388 2436 / Fax 510 431 9046 My Bio: http://sunilsethi.com/about_me.htm Personal: http://www.sunilsethi.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/fremontrealtor CA DRE#: 01173766

The word higher really means that the higher loan limits that Congress passed for 2009 will stay in effect for 2010. So the headline should have read, loan limits to remained unchanged for 2010 or Loan limits won’t decrease in 2010 even thought average selling price of homes has. Read more here http://www.dsnews.com/articles/congress-passes-higher-loan-limit-extension-for-federally-backed-mortgages-2009-10-30 -sunil SMA REALTY Sunil Sethi / Broker, Preisent, REALTOR, MBA, CPA / SMA Realty 38350 Fremont Blvd. #202 / Fremont, CA 94536 Office 510 793 8600 / Mobile 510 388 2436 / Fax 510 431 9046 My Bio: http://sunilsethi.com/about_me.htm Personal: http://www.sunilsethi.com My blog: http://fremontrealestate.blogspot.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/fremontrealtor CA DRE#: 01173766

This is good news for home buyers and owners who need to refinance. HVCC created a barrier between the loan officer and the appraiser, by required loan officers to have no contact with the appraiser (similar rules apply to the real estate agent and the appraiser). They accomplished this by requiring all appraisals to be ordered through an appraisal management company (AMC). The problems were the AMCs charged a higher fee than an independent appraiser and kept most of money it for itself, even thought it was simply an order taker. The appraisers were forced to work for often less than half what they made previously. Also often appraisers assigned to perform the work had no familiarity with the area resulting in appraisals low-ball appraisals. For example, using Union City comps to appraise a Fremont home. Another key benefit of removing HVCC will be the “check of value “ request. We’ll be able to once again, have a conversation with the appraiser to get their opinion of value prior to ...

My Wells Fargo rep just passed this to me. MBA Hails Extension of Loan Limits WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 29, 2009) - The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today applauded passage of legislation that will maintain the existing loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) through December 31, 2010. An extension of the current loan limits (which had been due to expire December 31, 2009) was included in the continuing resolution (H.R. 2996) that passed the House and Senate today. MBA's Chairman, Robert E. Story, Jr., issued the following statement. "Given the lack of a private secondary mortgage market, FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are pretty much the only game in town. Extending the current loan limits through 2010 will allow more loans to qualify for these important programs and will help keep mortgage credit more accessible and affordable for qualified borrowers. "As we try to maintain the momentum of the housing recovery, pro...

The title says it all. Share this story with all. http://www.dsnews.com/articles/california-loan-mod-agents-kidnapped-tortured-for-not-saving-home-2009-10-29 -sunil SMA REALTY Sunil Sethi / Broker, Preisent, REALTOR, MBA, CPA / SMA Realty 38350 Fremont Blvd. #202 / Fremont, CA 94536 Office 510 793 8600 / Mobile 510 388 2436 / Fax 510 431 9046 My Bio: http://sunilsethi.com/about_me.htm Personal: http://www.sunilsethi.com My blog: http://fremontrealestate.blogspot.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/fremontrealtor CA DRE#: 01173766

C.A.R. just gave us notification that next year’s loan limits will be announced shortly. Currently conforming loans are at $417,000 and Jumbo at $729,750. However Jumbo loans could drop to $625,500. If they did you could expect pricing pressure on homes preiced greater than $781,875 since buyer’s would need to put more cash down than 20% to meet the PMI exemption. -sunil SMA REALTY Sunil Sethi / Associate Broker, REALTOR, MBA, CPA / SMA Realty 38350 Fremont Blvd. #202 / Fremont, CA 94536 Office 510 793 8600 / Mobile 510 388 2436 / Fax 510 431 9046 My Bio: http://sunilsethi.com/about_me.htm Personal: http://www.sunilsethi.com My blog: http://fremontrealestate.blogspot.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/fremontrealtor CA DRE#: 01173766

A judge in New York wiped out the debt on a home because the lender failed to show ownership of the loan. This sort of action would wipe out the securitization market. Who’d want to buy an investment that could be wiped completely because of poor record keeping. -sunil SMA REALTY Sunil Sethi / Associate Broker, REALTOR, MBA, CPA / SMA Realty 38350 Fremont Blvd. #202 / Fremont, CA 94536 Office 510 793 8600 / Mobile 510 388 2436 / Fax 510 431 9046 Personal: http://www.sunilsethi.com blog: http://fremontrealestate.blogspot.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/fremontrealtor

CAR just passed an update to me stating that beginning Nov. 1 or Dec. 12, depending on the type of loan, Fannie Mae is tightening its lending standards to the 620 credit score benchmark—including loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Affairs. Borrowers with credit scores of less than 620 will find it very difficult to qualify for a mortgage. However, to qualify for the best rates, consumers generally need credit scores of 720 and must have verifiable, steady income. more info here -sunil SMA REALTY Sunil Sethi / Associate Broker, REALTOR, MBA, CPA / SMA Realty 38350 Fremont Blvd. #202 / Fremont, CA 94536 Office 510 793 8600 / Mobile 510 388 2436 / Fax 510 431 9046 Personal: http://www.sunilsethi.com

I was reading John Occhui's post The Next Wave of Bad Loans - Option Arms This is not new news; this is a rehash of what has been said about Option ARMS since the beginning. My tag line that I print on my business card and had on my website during the go-go years was, "Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Options ARMS." I once had a booth at the Fremont Art and Wine Festival, with a big poster with my tag-line, and all the mortgage brokers that passed by laughed because they understood what it meant, but they'd loved the money they were making off option ARMs. With the exception of the little old blind ladies, there is no sympathy here for borrowers, you were focused on your cash-out and paid no heed to the consequences. If you take a loan with a variable element, you have to be prepared to deal with the variable when it happens. At an open house last week, a mortgage broker came by all excited because he now was offering an FHA with only a 0.5% down payment. I asked him...

On July 30th the new Truth in lending rules come into play. What they serve to do is give the buyer/borrower more time to digest information before expenditures can be charged for appraisals or loans funded for closing. What the real impact to the borrower will be is that now it'll be harder to close a loan in 30 days. You'll be seeing it now takes 45 days to close a transaction. The key changes are: All loan disclosures must be produced within 3 business days of receiving the application back from the client All disclosures must be updated and sent to the client again within 7 days prior to the closing Saturdays now count as a business day. No fees may be paid until the Truth and Lending Disclosure is by the bank to the borrower (not the loan officer), which means no ordering the appraisal until 3 days after the client has receive the new TIL, The lender may only take a nominal credit report fee upfront. The truth-in- lending form must be updated every time the interest rate c...

Rates have jumped up .375% in the last 3 days. here's an explaination of why

A Little Good News for you Option ARM Borrowers If you know me, you'll remember the slogan I had on my business card from 2003-2007 - "Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Option Arms". I never originated an Option ARM loan, and talked many out them. Anyway, if you unfortunately did end up getting an Option Arm from Wachovia (a.k.a. World Savings and Golden West Savings), most likely your home is under water and your payment has gone up. If you are facing a genuine hardship, than unlike other lenders (like Washington Mutual, Countrywide,…) Wachovia options ARM borrowers will find an easier way out of their burdensome loan. Currently 20% of Wachovia loan portfolio is in some stage of default, so you’re not alone. I attended a Short Sale Seminar sponsored by Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corporation and presented by Wachovia Bank, yesterday. Wachovia has set up local group to help them expedite the approval process of completing a short sale. Based on the feedback I've gotten fr...