Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for August, 2007

Bush To Reveal Plan To Relieve The Mortgage Market

With over 100 mortgage lenders out of business, and hedge funds, pension funds and many investors expected to lose more than $100 billion, Washington has finally decided to step in and help bail out the economy. President Bush, in his first response to the sub-prime crisis, is expected to reveal his plan today to help […]

From the Editor: Seeking Contributors

I’m seeking additional contributors to the Mortgage Mentor, particularly those with intimate knowledge of the mortgage, real estate or lending industries. The vision is to have some nice synergy between contributors in order to provide readers with a ‘behind-the-scenes’ peek at the industry. What’s the incentive? Bloggers receive exposure for their own services through a […]

Economists Predict Median Home Price Drop

For the first time ever, forecasters are predicting that the median price of homes in the US will drop. This will be the first time since federal housing agencies began keeping statistics in 1950. This phenomenon has been seen in California and the Northeast, but is the first time this has been foreseen in cities […]

Asian Markets Troubled By Sub-Prime Fiasco

Asia’s three central banks are showing signs of trouble from the sub-prime debacle here in the US. Shares in Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings (DBSM.SI), (author’s note: no quote available) state-controlled Bank of China (3988.HK) and its Hong Kong subsidiary, BOC Hong Kong (2388.HK), all took a beating after they revealed a combined exposure to the […]

Protect Your Earnest Money with a Mortgage Contingency

My colleague, Morgan Brown wrote a great post on how to keep your loan from disappearing. The follow up to his great advice is to also ensure you have a mortgage contingency in your real estate purchase contract just in case your loan actually does disappear and you find yourself without financing. While real estate […]

Keep your home loan from disappearing in to thin air

Over the past week and a half I have personally seen more than a dozen home loans vanish in to thin air.  Changes to underwriting guidelines, increases in interest rates, and the caving of lender after lender have left numerous loans high and dry like little orphan Annie.  Unfortunately in this story a Daddy Warbucks […]

Market Indicators Foretold Credit Woes

James Melcher, founder of Balestra Capital, is a man to watch. Over a year ago, he saw the market as dangerous, and worried about the trade and budget deficits, the housing boom, and high credit card debt. With $100 million in assets at his hedge fund, Balestra Capital, he was in a position to do […]

The Trouble With The Market Today

Because it is my job to report the news on the blog, I have spent the day culling the resources I have to find something a bit positive to put in place today. It has been interesting sorting through all the mess that the sub-prime lenders have gotten the market into, and a real revelation […]

Housing Building Permits Plunge

With all the fuss in the market about credit and sub-prime loans, the fallout is trickling down to other levels of the market. Builders are becoming a bit cautious about new construction. The rate of building permits issued dropped last month to their lowest points in more than a decade. The housing market was already […]

If you have a loan with Countrywide…

With all of the news coverage surrounding the uncertainty of Countrywide Home Loans’ future I have received a lot of panicked calls from home owners worried about their loans with the gigantic mortgage lender.  Many homeowners are asking if their loan can be called due, and who to make their mortgage payment to in case […]