quote:

Originally posted by Zombie0729 i'm in mortgages and a rule we always live by is 'as long as something is happening we're ok' whether it's drasticly bad or good, as long as its not stagnant there's business to be made. i've done over 8 purchases just in the last 2 mos, 4 short sales and 1 foreclosure, there are some very good deals out there right now.

Any of those with 100% financing? But then again, 1 month ago, a few creative loans still existed. A lot has happened since then. Of course these are always a good deal, for mortgage companies, bankers, and Realtors®. Okay, maybe not so good for bankers who's left holding the dirty bag and selling at a loss. I'm just not sure if it's a good time for the buyers though. I have the feeling that some of these will go back as short sales / foreclosures. At least that means something is happening.

My friend told me last night he got laid-off, he was a programmer for a 60+ mortgage company in Irvine. It's now about 1/3 the size compared to when he first started 2-3 years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by ninetyninej http://drhousingbubble.blogspot.com...ion-letter.html

I visit that site quite often. I also like these.

http://bubbletracking.blogspot.com/
http://www.socalbubble.com/
http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/

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nice. thanks for the websites. We'll see how far the rally goes now that the fed has widened the discount window. I don't reallyu understand how that all works though, anyone here care to explain?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-...=la-home-center

Bill Ashmore drove his Porsche Cayenne to Countrywide's Laguna Niguel office and waited half an hour to cash out $500,000, which he then wired to an account at Bank of America.

"It's because of the fear of the bankruptcy," said Ashmore, president of Irvine's Impac Mortgage Holdings, which escaped bankruptcy itself recently by shutting down virtually all its lending and laying off hundreds of employees.

"It's got my wife totally freaked out," he said. "I just don't want to deal with it. I don't care about losing 90 days' interest, I don't care if it's FDIC-insured -- I just want it out."

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sicking!

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"the night moves me" NIGHTMOVES.ME nightlife+lifestyle photography

quote:

Originally posted by naeblis nice. thanks for the websites. We'll see how far the rally goes now that the fed has widened the discount window. I don't reallyu understand how that all works though, anyone here care to explain?

Fed Discount Window

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The U.S. Federal Reserve Friday it cut by a half point the primary discount rate, which governs direct loans from the Fed to banks. The primary discount rate provides a borrowing safety valve for qualifying institutional borrowers. The primary rate is now 5.75 percent, one-half a percentage point above the target for the federal funds rate, which is the Fed's benchmark short-term interest rate and its main tool to influence the economy. The discount window was restructured in early 2003 to lift discount rates above the federal funds rate, which governs overnight loans between banks, and improve its operation as a policy tool and backup source of funds for banks. The boards of directors of the 12 regional Fed banks can request changes in the discount rate, which then need to be approved by the Fed's board. The action taken on Friday came at the request of the boards of the New York Federal Reserve and the San Francisco Fed banks, and was approved unanimously. In addition to the primary discount rate, the Fed also lends directly under two other discount window programs: secondary credit and seasonal credit. Each is offered at a different rate, with primary credit usually extended only for very short periods of time and to borrowers in sound financial health. Financial institutions that don't qualify for primary credit can request access to secondary credit to meet short-term liquidity needs, or to tackle serious financial problems. The third category is seasonal credit, which is aimed at relatively small institutions experiencing seasonal swings in borrowing needs, like banks in farm communities. In restructuring the discount window program in 2003, Fed officials hoped to break down the reluctance of institutions to borrow from the central bank, and believed the primary credit rate could provide a cap for the fed funds rate in times of financial market stress.

So if the banks can borrow more from the feds, they can lend out more to the businesses and consumers. Bring on the credit! Oh look, the DOW ended above 13000!

Check out Mish's analysis on this:

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/

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Awesome! Thanks GT for the explanation! =)

i would start to worry about recession when the dow drops lower than 12800 technically.

fudamentally, we cant expect the damn thing to go up and up without any corrections or so. mortgages that i've seen and heard of in couple of years are insane, we knew something like this was coming. the thing looks like an accounting book of enron.

Six homes on my block have been foreclosed on. They have all been up for sale for almost seven months and not one has sold. From what I have seen and heard from the neighbors is that no more than three families have looked at any of the homes. We bought our home back in 1999 for a smokin' good deal and during the housing boom the value of all the homes on my block tripled.

If Countrywide goes under I will probably end up living on an empty street.

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SERVARE VITAS

How did a strawberry picker earning $15,000 a year qualify for a loan of $720,000?

One of those stories that explain part of this mess. At least someone got their paycheck!

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quote:

Originally posted by djGT How did a strawberry picker earning $15,000 a year qualify for a loan of $720,000? One of those stories that explain part of this mess. At least someone got their paycheck!

Ahhh the infamous New Century fraud loans -- American greed at its best

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so a poll was taken to figure out how people were able to afford their subprime mortgages.



More news on Countrywide, keep in mind that most of their business was in the prime / alt-a loans.

source

quote:

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender, has begun laying off staff as part of its effort to ride out the credit crunch that has rocked the home loan industry, according to a report published Monday. Countrywide is the largest mortgage lender by volume, accounting for more than 13 percent of the loan servicing market as of June 30, according to the mortgage industry publication Inside Mortgage Finance.

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