After the financial crisis that was in no small part brought on through mortgage products such as ‘liar loans*’, lending institutions have become much more conservative! Some of this conservatism was mandated through imposed federal government regulation such as Dodd-Frank while some was through the publics distaste for these types of loans. But lending institutions now […]
The links below are to articles at news sources that include traditional as well as new media covering issues ranging from China to real estate to a college education! In reality, however, in one way or another all of these issues are inextricably intertwined. Disappointing Earnings From A High-end Real Estate Focused Retailer! Is This Anecdotal Evidence Of […]
The desire to buy a home is all well and good but, unless it’s an all-cash transaction, financial decision-making is critically important! Post-financial crisis the underwriting methodology and criteria for residential mortgage loans swung in the exact opposite direction from where they had been in the go-go years of real estate. Before the financial crisis and in […]
Hmmmm…Where and when have I heard the phrase “Home ownership is an integral part of the American Dream?” before? Was it in statements concerning the Community Redevelopment Act (CRA)* and that period in American history leading up to the great financial crisis of 2008? A time in residential real estate when basically anyone with a pulse could be […]
Residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) stuffed with sub-prime “liar loans’ were at ground zero of the 2008 financial crisis and, guess what… They’re Ba-ack! Not stated loans per se but in a new program from Fannie Mae called HomeReady Mortgages, 97%-plus Loan-to-Value loans become possible ‘based not on the borrowers income (which is too low) but on “non-borrowers” […]
