Theme: A thought on how to fix the Housing Landslide
August 20, 2009Article submitted by: 911 Foreclosure - Loan Modification Advice
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Politicians and the media fail to see the true cause of the foreclosure crisis. The cause of the great real estate depression (my term) is simply due to the extreme reversal that mortgage lending underwriting standards have gone through.
The explosion of the housing market was fueled by easy money. Lenders were swimming in funds from insurance companies to Wall Street. These funds were available to anyone who asked; especially unqualified mortgage seekers. 100% financing? Not a problem, how about we cover your costs aswell? Can’t verify income, don’t worry we’ll just take your word for it. Fico score below 600? That’s ok, we KNOW your property will come back and you’ll be able to make the payments. O and if you can’t afford that, don’t worry we’ll let you pay less then interest.
Are you freaking Kidding me! I’m afraid I wish I was. This was the state of the market from 2007 – 2008. I should know, lender visited my site daily at Mortgage123.com asking if we would extend these lines of credit. And we did… Everyone did.
On the other hand, in a quick reversal: today’s housing epidemic was caused by the banks going to the extreme in the other direction. Today, you can’t even get financing on a mortgage unless you have perfect credit, sufficient and verifiable income and ascertained assets. Effectively, lenders have basically cut off half of the mortgage market!
Real estate harbors its own economy, just like anything else. So if you deduct half of the potential buyers from the equation, its only common sense that the prices will fall. It really is a simple equation: If you are in the process of selling your home, consider your current buyer options. Forget about those with a credit score below 620, and the self employed. Usually they cannot provide the income requirements to qualify for refinancing in the current market. So buyers then only have FHA, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as lender options. The problem with this is that these 3 lenders have similar underwriting requirements; so if you can’t qualify from them? That’s right, we’re sorry, but no loan for you. Well there still is Private Sector lending… but really, where does that take us?
But just wait. It gets worse. What about all those foreclosed properties that have been taken back by their lenders? These properties are being grossly mismanaged. Many of them don’t have for-sale signs. Very few of them are being maintained. Most potential home buyers have no desire to even look at these properties – they don’t want to rehab properties. And even investors that can afford the 20% – 25% down payments that are required today cannot get traditional financing because of the condition of these properties. So they sit on the market. And eventually, the banks lower their prices further depressing the value of surrounding properties.
And if that wasn’t enough, these homes don’t qualify for assistance from the FHA financing commission. In the current marketplace, the FHA’s requirements to obtain financing are more lenient than it has ever been. But the FHA does have fairly strict guidelines for property standards based on lender owned homes. With all the free money handed up by Dear Mr. Obama, we need regulations put in place to get the foreclosed properties in order! Instead of the strict guidelines put in place by creditors, these homes need to be handled with care and attention. Being in the industry since the early 80’s, I’ve never seen the market this strict.
So what option do we have? Well reach out to the representatives, email your congressman, petition to your senator and get your voice out there. We need to force Washington to do something to fix the regulations barring lenders from making the necessary modifications to fix the housing market. We need to put policies in place to force the creditors to do the right thing for the housing market.
As much as I rant about the current status of the housing market, not many people are going to take a stance on their own accord. So I have decided to start a revolution and make headway with a proposal to Washington. If you agree with our cause and message, join us at www.millionhomeownermarch.com I’ll be touching base with you soon.