By KIMBERLEY HAAS The executive director of Community Home Lenders Association is working to educate policymakers in Washington, D.C., while articulating the perspective of members in a growing portion of the market: Independent Mortgage Bankers. Scott Olson has over 20 years of experience on Capitol Hill. For 15 years, he served on the House Financial Services Committee, according to his biography. On Thursday, Olson told The Mortgage Note they focus on articulating the perspective of IMBs, which don’t have a huge loan volume. “But collectively, we are pretty mighty because there’s a lot of us,” Olson said. Olson said banks can shift gears to make money on different types of loans as they look to make the most profit out…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Race car driver Tyler Reddick will debut the new Guaranteed Rate No. 8 Chevrolet at the first-ever Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum this Sunday. Reddick said Sunday’s event is an exhibition race, so points do not matter and all the drivers will be going all-out to try and win. “It’s going to be a wild race for drivers and fans alike, so I couldn’t think of a better place to officially debut Guaranteed Rate’s amazing new look,” Reddick said in an article for Guaranteed Rate. Guaranteed Rate Vice President of Marketing and Sports Partnerships Steve McNelley says they are thrilled about the partnership. The company specializes in mortgage lending and digital financial services. “Our focus on…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Low-income and minority buyers will continue to be crowded out of the housing market in 2022, according to the director of research at the AEI Housing Center. The American Enterprise Institute is located in Washington, D.C., and during a webinar on Monday, Director of Research Tobias Peter said entry-level homebuyers are being replaced by borrowers with higher incomes in many markets. “When we tally up the entry-level share of all home sales, we’re finding that the entry-level, as of December of 2021, accounted for 52.7%, which is, of course, much down from before the pandemic. In December of 2019, it was at 59.9%, and when we started tracking this back in 2012, it was at 71%,” Peter…
Interest rates are always an issue when purchasing a home. This year, they may be an even bigger issue. “Mortgage brokers are telling buyers that rates are rising, and if they are planning on buying, they need to be doing it as soon as possible before rates go up,” says Linda McCoy, board president of National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB). If you finance the purchase of a property, as opposed to paying for all of it with cash, a mortgage interest rate is what it costs you per month to finance your home/property. “Your interest rate is effectively the lender’s compensation for letting you use its money to purchase your property,” says Aly J. Yale in an article for…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS People who were victimized by what investigators have called the biggest Ponzi scheme in New Hampshire history can apply for compensation. In a news release, officials from the state’s Department of Justice announced that victims of Financial Resources Mortgage, Inc., and CL&M, Inc., can start filing applications to seek compensation from the FRM Victims’ Contribution Recovery Fund. People can submit an application either by printing, filling out, and mailing the paper version or by completing and sending the electronic version. The application deadline is May 18. After Financial Resources Mortgage collapsed in 2009, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Scott Farah of Meredith, NH, and Donald Dodge of Belmont, NH, claiming they operated a fraudulent Ponzi…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS The typical American spends between five and six hours a day on their mobile phone so mortgage companies are developing new technologies to help them meet customers where they are. Brett Bivenour, Chief Technology Officer at Nationwide Mortgage Bankers in Melville, New York, explained during an interview with The Mortgage Note last week that for too long, the process seemed arduous for the average person. Even prior to the pandemic, consumer expectations about what they could do online had shifted because of what was happening outside his industry, he said. “As more and more aspects of people’s everyday lives were happening online, that certainly influenced their expectations of what it looks like to get a mortgage in…
By TYRONE TOWNSEND The average person is feeling the effects of inflation along with rising interest rates and some experts say that can be traced back to investors on Wall Street. Freddie Mac reported on Thursday that mortgage rates continue to rise, up to an average of 3.56% from 3.45%. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.56%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year average was 2.77%, according to Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Anthony Green is a Richmond Hill, Georgia, resident and Army veteran who says he refinanced at a good time. He purchased his home in 2004 at the price of $204,000 at a 6.25% interest rate with a monthly payment of $1,650. “Five years later, I refinanced,…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS As pet owners think about what their next move will be if they have to sell their homes due to the economic backlash of the pandemic, some organizations are advocating for increasing options for renters with dogs and cats. According to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a survey of 5,020 people shows that during March of 2020 and May of 2021 a total of 19% of respondents said they had acquired a dog or cat during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s works out to an approximated 23 million American households who adopted a pet during those 14 months. When the pet owners were asked what their top concerns were as COVID restrictions lift,…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS A report released this month suggests that despite rising home prices it is more affordable to own a median-priced house than to rent a three-bedroom property in a majority of the United States. ATTOM’s 2022 Rental Affordability Report used fair-market rent data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and sales deed data in 1,154 counties to find that home ownership will be more affordable in a majority of the country again in 2022. Todd Teta, Chief Product Officer at ATTOM, said home ownership still remains the more affordable option for average workers because it takes up a smaller portion of their pay when the math is…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS The house made famous by the 1984 horror movie ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ has sold in Los Angeles after being on the market for less than three months. In the supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven, the house was depicted as being in Springwood, Ohio, but the actual street address is 1428 North Genesee Avenue in LA. The photo above is published on seeing-stars.com. Originally put on the market for $3.25 million on October 20, there was a pending sale at that price on November 23. According to Zillow.com, the house was listed for sale again on December 9 at $2.999 million. A pending sale was reported on December 21 and the house…
