Derivatives…Derivatives? D-E-R-I-V-A-T-I-V-E-S! Most if not everyone who reads this article has heard the term derivatives at some point in time. And when they have, it’s likely been in the context of how these financial instruments that are not typically seen and not really understood by the masses are actually fiscal time bombs that, if ever detonated, could bring […]
A majority of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings! In the old days, and by that I mean pre-2008 financial crisis, many Americans counted the equity (difference between a property’s value and money owed on that property) in one or more pieces of real estate as the basis for their retirement planning. At the time this […]
Is a new lender’s title insurance policy for a mortgage refinance just a way for the industry to make more money? For some who are currently refinancing or who have refinanced a mortgage in the past, this is the exact question that many will ask! After all lender’s title insurance was purchased when they originally bought their property […]
With the implementation of the new mortgage disclosure requirements on the horizon, aka TRID, will the result be delayed residential real estate closings? On September 21st in an article titled ‘TRID And Residential Mortgages: How It Will Significantly Change The Loan Process!‘, the who, what where and how of the new mortgage disclosure requirements were […]
According to a study conducted by Card Hub, U.S. household debt in the form of credit cards has spiked higher in 2015! Is this spike in leverage a sign of consumer confidence with households taking on debt due to an optimistic vision of their personal financial fortunes going forward? Or is the 2015 2nd quarter credit card balance increase of […]
Will the Fed announce that it is raising rates a quarter point at the FOMC meeting that ends on September 17th, or will it stand pat? Inquiring minds want to know, particularly in some of the interest rate and economically sensitive sectors such as investments, banking, real estate and mortgages. But, as I conjectured in an […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is tweaking its single-family Neighborhood Watch System! In what appears to this untrained eye to be a move back towards some of the excesses that brought the financial crisis on in the first place, FHA is adjusting its Neighborhood Watch System in an attempt to spark more mortgage lending to borrowers with lower […]
Will the EU and the world dodge a financial bullet by kicking the can down the road for a 3rd time in Greece? An infusion of money by the EU into Greece that will be combined with promises of additional austerity measures, increased taxes and slashed pensions, may stave off the inevitable sovereign debt default and […]
New mortgage disclosure rules or TRID (TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures), scheduled to take effect on August 1, 2015, will now be implemented two months later on October 1st! The delay in the implementation of TRID, designed to replace Truth-in-Lending and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures, was mandated because the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) missed a filing […]
Today there is a real possibility that when the appraiser of a home comes back with a value, it may not match the expectations of the homeowner! This contrasts with the old days, or more precisely the go-go years pre-financial crisis, when appraisers, homeowners, homebuyers and mortgage companies seemingly worked in concert resulting in a homes value […]
