sad, but true.. Harry doesn't appear to have a clue

The changes in the mortgage industry have been coming at a break neck pace. Unfortunately, some of the people that vote on the bills don't appear to have time to pay attention. When my friend Gary Miljour wrote to our Congressman Harry Mitchell asking about Down Payment Assistance loans, such as "Ameridream," did he really say;
"Unfortunately, some companies that provide down payment assistance were helping lenders to make predatory loans in the height of the housing boom. The down payment assistance provided by some organizations allowed sub-prime lenders to persuade home buyers to assume more debt than they could otherwise afford. As a result, both the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued rules to prevent this kind of coercion." (emphasis mine)

I found this language on the Ameridream web site. "Those programs, operated by charitable organizations in accordance with current law and HUD guidelines, have helped more than one million FHA qualified, low and moderate income families and individuals buy their own homes since 2000." The emphasis on "HUD guidelines" and "FHA qualified" is mine.
Who exactly runs HUD? Who determines FHA guidelines? Are these considered sub prime lenders? hhmmm.

click here to read Gary's post and all of the comments..

A Referral Based Business

I am very fortunate to have built a business in real estate that is focused on the trust of past clients and on personal relationships. In this challenging market, I believe it will be the agents that didn't recently jump in for a "fast buck" that will come out on top. Not only do I enjoy keeping in contact with past clients, I also enjoy keeping in contact with top-notch agents and lenders from all over the country. These relationships help me to keep up on trends, industry news and ways to constantly improve my business. I recently attended 2 real estate conferences in San Francisco and was blown away at the quality of people I met. The main focus of the groups I attended was how to better serve our clients through social media, blogging and networking. The picture below is of one of the gifts that some of us received from REBarCamp. BarCamp is kind of a "un-conference" where we all got together, chose topics to discuss and then broke in to discussion groups. This was a good way to connect with some great minds in the business. These "blogger trading cards" were given to some of us as gifts which we were able to share with each other. I have now been able to add to my list of highly qualified agents to refer business to all over the country. As many of you know, I am able to help you with your real estate needs anywhere you go by helping to find a qualified agent who is willing to look out for your best interest. (sound familiar?) So, if you are moving locally or across the country, "Just Call Nick!" and I'll be glad to help.

The people in the photo are listed as follows...

Nick Bastian, Dustin Luther, Joseph Ferrara, Jeff Turner, Todd Carpenter, Derek Overbey, Rick & Ines Garcia, David Blockhus, Grant Freer, Andy Kaufman, Daniel Rothamel, Mark Eckenrode, Diane Cohn, Marc Grossman, Jay Thompson, Gia Freer, Rudy Bachraty, Jon Minnihan, Eric Bryant, Brad Inman, Mike Mueller, Heather Elias, Pam Buda, Kelley Koehler, Michael Price, Jason Berman, Robin Fenchel, Ginger Wilcox, Kris Berg, Nicole Nicolay, Reggie Nicolay, Jeff Corbett, Linda Davis, Brian Block

Free Diamondbacks vs. Cubs tickets!

Our friends at Wilde Wealth Management have invited Lori and I to see the Diamondbacks play the Cub's on Wednesday, July 23rd. Unfortunately, I can not attend the game but Trevor was gracious enough to ask if I have a "favorite client" that might like to use the tickets. Since I have hundreds of "favorites," I decided to contact "club" members to see who would like the tickets. I have sent an email to most of you so, here's the deal. Leave a comment on the blog if you can go. I will draw from the list and notify the winner on Monday! Any questions? "Just Call Nick!"


* update.. I have had several people email this am, not familiar with blogs and comments. Sorry! :-) Just click on the little comment button right under these lines. (directly below here) This will take you to a screen where you can type a comment followed by a word verification box (to eliminate spammers) and then a box that will ask who you are. If you don't use Google or "G-Mail" you can just use the box that says "name/url." - it is very easy. Thanks!

Some new "Buy and Bail" info

I have talked to many people recently about one area of major concern in the lending industry. The term is "Buy and Bail" and it can have an effect on all of us. On Wednesday of last week, I received an email from a friend at Wells Fargo that talked about some of the coming changes dealing with people that want to buy another home while keeping their current home. The problem, in case you are not aware, is where people that purchased a home at the top of the market and are now "upside down," go out and buy another home, at a lower price and then "give the keys" back to the lender for the original home, allowing it to be foreclosed instead of the owner fulfilling their obligation.
Part of the new guidelines are as follows.

The new Fannie Mae BUY & BAIL policy states that a buyer planning to retain and rent out their current residence must: 1) prove 30% equity in the property, 2) provide a copy of the new lease agreement, and 3) provide a copy of the renter's security account. If these criteria are not met, rental income may not be used to qualify and a reserve requirement is also added. Buyers who plan on keeping their current residence as a second home must qualify on both payments and show 6 months reserves for both house payments.

If this is "clear as mud" to you, please feel free to "Just Call Nick" for a better explanation. As always, I will be happy to discuss current market conditions and some of the "hot buttons" in the industry right now.