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Great Article on HVCC Appraisal Code

This is a great article that breaks down the HVCC Appraisal Code from a regular consumer’s standpoint and how the code even came about.  This article is written by Martin Andelman and appeared in July’s “The Niche Report.”  If you understand the article and support what is being said, please click the petition at the end and sign!

Credit Rating Agencies in the Hot Seat

Tuesday Scoop!

First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Ends in November!

Tuesday Scoop

TARP Idea Might Actually Be Paying Off

A client of mine sent me this article that I found to be interesting.  Everyone was very hesitant about the TARP program but I guess Mr. Paulson and Mr. Bernake had a good idea possibly?  Of course we don’t really know until we are a few years out of this!  

Enjoy this from the NY Times!  Happy Monday!

Wells Fargo in Hot Water Again…

This week’s ‘Tuesday Scoop’

Joe’s Last Tuesday

Please check out the latest ‘Tuesday Scoop’

Appraisal Code Under Fire by the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is finally shedding a little light on this new appraisal code and what a nightmare it is not only for the appraisers but also for the consumer.  Andrew Cuomo was the one to start this code and get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to adopt it.  He claimed it would protect the consumer from mortgage brokers and appraisers working together to inflate values.  This code does not protect the consumer and is actually costing them more money.

We are currently working with a borrower who applied for a conventional loan with one of the big banks out there who denied the loan.  The borrower had to pay $450.00 for that appraisal and we got lucky enough to have that appraisal transferred to us.  I happen to know the local appraiser who did the appraisal and it was very good.  We submitted their loan to a lender who didn’t like it and cut the value based on an automated valuation model that doesn’t count for differences between each of the sold properties.  We had to submit the loan to another lender and our borrower had to pay for another appraisal, $450 again, because this lender will not accept transferred appraisals.  We are at a point that this lender accepts the value but now the mortgage insurance company is having a hard time accepting the value.  (The seller of the property to our buyers bought the house on the court house steps when it was a foreclosure, did some repairs, and is now selling it for market value.  This is considered a flip transaction that banks do not like.)  If the mortgage insurance company won’t accept the value, we are left to now get an FHA loan.  We couldn’t do this previously because FHA won’t allow borrowers to enter contract with a seller who has owned a property for less than 90 days.  This would mean our borrower now has to pay for another appraisal and could be out over $1000 just for appraisals!  This is not protecting the consumer.

This article brings up the other big issue that we have appraisers appraising properties in markets that they are not familiar with.  This is causing value issues and delaying transactions and costs the consumer again because when we lock their loan, we have to close within a certain time period.  If we don’t, the borrower could be facing costs to extend the lock or forced to taking a higher interest rate. 

This code is really not protecting the consumer at all and I wonder how long it is going to take for the government and Fannie and Freddie to see this!  Please sign the Home Valuation Code of Conduct Petition to get this over turned and really protect the consumer and our home values!!!

Economic Roller Coaster…

News keeps coming out that will send the stock market soaring one day and then send it in to a tail spin the next!  Remember that interest rates move opposite of what the stock market is doing since rates are tied to the bond market.  So, if the stock market is going up, investors are pulling money out of the bond market and putting it into stocks.  This causes interest rates to go up.  The opposite happens when rates are getting better. 

Economists say that they believe the recession will be considered over this month or next when they look back on the data.  But for now, we have a month of reports that are good and then a month that are bad.  June and July reports were pretty good but now we are seeing August reports not so hot.  I have posted the daily market commentary that we put out and is powered by Think Big Work Small.  The reports are keeping rates low for now but they are inevitably going to go up.  Now is probably the best time to purchase or move on that refinance you have been pondering because rates are just not going to get much lower! 

Daily Edition – Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

At 8:00 this morning prior to the 8:30 economic data, the 10 yr note -6/32 at 3.50% +3 BP, mortgage prices -5/32 frm yesterday’s close; the DJIA +54. At 9:00 the DJIA index +28, off its best level; the 10 yr note -4/32 and mortgages traded -4/32.

 

July PPI, expected -0.2% and +0.1% on the core, came at -0.9% overall and -0.1% for the core rate. Yr/yr PPI -6.8%. Although PPI was weaker than expected, inflation isn’t a front burner these days so it isn’t the rocker it normally can be.

 

July housing starts were expected to be up 3.5%, the were down 1.0%; however June starts were originally reported up 3.6% but were revised today to +6.5%. The June revision took most of the sting from the weaker July starts. Total starts were 581K with single family starts up 490K. July building permits, expected to be up 1.4% were down 1.8%; the slower permits does suggest the housing markets are still not able to sustain month over month increases. The initial reaction to the 8:30 reports helped the bond and mortgage markets somewhat but didn’t take much away from the better trading in stock index futures.

Helpful Resources 4 Investors

Here is a website from Tamera Aragon that lists quite a few helpful resources and sites for investors.  Just passing along the information in case anyone finds it helpful since it is tough times for investor financing! 

Helpful Websites for Real Estate Investors