Just wanted to post this...

[JaxChris]

http://www.motifake.com/demotivational-poster/0903/its-all-george-w-bushs-fault-political-demotivational-poster-1236189432.jpg

Ahem... and yet people don't believe me when I keep point out that it was Clinton's (and the liberals) policy changes that led to this shitstorm?

Best part is that this article came from the NYT which is a seriously crybaby-liberal paper and they were even smart enough to know that it would bring about the S&L crisis all over again.

[Cris]

If I could read that I may comment.

[anthony20031]

yup it wasn all started during the Clinton regime. They had also felt that there were not a lot of minorites that owned homes so they tried to help allow them pruchase homes as well. Problem is these loans were not very friendly and the mortgage people only cared about making their commission and did not really represent their client. They bought homes that were way out of their budget and to be able to afford it they only paid interest. Well eventually your gonna need to pay more than interest or the interest rate is gonna reset especially in a bad economy and suddenly they have to pay 2,3,4 times what they were paying before and they just were not making enough to be able to pay the mortgage. I have always found that you should be paying only about 25-35% of your salary on the cost of your place...you have no idea how many people I know that are or were paying like 50% if not much more of their salary on their home

[Cris]

I don't feel bad for people that lost the housing gamble. If you are dumb enough to buy a home you couldn't afford in the first place its your fault. Don't look to me for sympathy.

[anthony20031]

Neither do I but what pisses me off is that those are the people that have basically screwed those that purchased houses responsible. They are now paying the price as they see their home prices plummet. Another thing that pisses me off is the flipping of houses. Now I don't have a serious problem with the idea of it but the amount of money they mark up the cover ups they do. I mean you see them on TV and they put say $1,000 dollars in putting fake wood floors in say the kitchen and then turn around and say it increased the sale value of the home an extra $10,000 to $15,000. It's absurd. I actually saw a show I think was based in Texas with this family that starts with an M I believe. This guy buys a dump for like $50k and then finds out that the whole base of the house is rotting out and it actually rotted out the floor to the bathroom. He just throws some new flooring down and sells the house for around $100k and doesn't even fix a house that was unsafe and doesn't even tell the future owners. Just takes his money and runs. Some people are just pathetic and sad...another reason not to have faith in humanity

[Cris]

Never have faith in anyone. Again these people took the loans out on there own decision. What they are seeing now will also bounce back. Buying a house is supposed to be a long commitment, hence 30 year mortgage. You bought high live with it.

[Radnee11X]

This is why I decided to go Army before going LE, so that when I get out all my loans are paid off and not have to worry about being in debt for the next 10 years. It sucks that this happened to this people but hey they know the consequences before they made the investment.

[JaxChris]

What pissed me off most on the downslope was all those same idiots trying to play the victim and acting like they had no part in them getting the house. Fuck them.

If you don't understand how a mortgage works and what will happen to the payment down the road then go LEARN something for once. All of these ghetto-fabulous buyers were listening to these "loan officers" (pronounced: glorified car salesmen) on how they could lie on their applications and the buyers knew they were committing forgery when they signed these documents.

Having worked as a manager at one of these correspondent lenders (before I became an appraiser) back during the hayday, I know all the tricks that went down. These buyers claim they were defrauded yet 80% of the referral business that came into the office was friends of clients that knowingly got a loan they shouldn't have. People that should have never had an apartment, let alone a house, were getting a loan and then telling their other deadbeat friends that their loan officer was some wizard that could always "make it happen".

For a long time I was responsible for overseeing 30 loan officers. All I ever saw was the final loan documents. My corporate office designed things so that the office manager wouldn't see all the dirty shit the loan officers were doing to close the deal - which they learned from corporate trainers that never associated with the management. It was structured for deniability. The loan officers were definitely crooked and any honest Joe that came in looking to do the job was usually let go during training by corporate under right-to-work.

I admit I knew some of what was going on but didn't know all the tricks until things dried up. Being that I knew things weren't always on the up and up, I'm as guilty as anyone else. When rates finally hit rock bottom, and people couldn't keep coming in for new lower refinances, it got ugly. The loan officers got sloppy trying to make any lead they got into a loan. One day I found out that one of the loan officers had been forging buyer signatures on altered documents for themselves and other people in the office. So I called up corporate and told them I was firing these people and why. They told me "they are bringing in the money, which gets them paid you paid and us paid, what's the problem?". At the end of the call they told me I couldn't fire them and I gave my notice.

A couple days later I was on the phone with one of our appraisal shops we used and they offered me a spot because of my reasons for leaving. At the end of that call I hung up and called corporate again and quit immediately.

After that I spent the next few years appraising homes and anytime a homeowner asked me a question about their mortgage or how an appraisal is built I gave them a straight and honest answer. And I wouldn't sugarcoat it. I warned every person of the pitfalls they could land themselves in and taught them how to protect themselves and even how to better negotiate with loan officers - because loan officers always went for the deal that got them the biggest commission and not what got the buyer/homeowner the best deal.

I even taught a couple people that were close to the edge how to shop a loan themselves and only pay 250$ instead of 3-6% of the loan value in fees. In 2003-2004 the average fee we collected on a loan was 18,000$. This was an effect of throwing numerous points on the backside of each loan, which raised the interest the buyer would end up paying, and combined with the skyrocketing inflation of home prices.

So all I could do as an appraiser was be brutally honest with people. After being on the mortgage side of things I hated myself and informed naive people of what was/would happen(ing). Sometimes I'd end up getting an angry phone call from a loan officer after their customer got educated but it didn't bother me - appraisers are neutral 3rd parties, and I wouldn't be some bitch to a mortgage shop again. Appraisers are licensed to know the laws, inform all parties of pertinent information regarding their transactions, and make sure that the work they provide is legitimate and can hold up to scrutiny.

I was much happier with my life as an appraiser.

[anthony20031]

well with that said Jax you know of any good mortgage places. Looking to buy at the end of the year

[Satan_3pc]

This thread is way over my head!

Either that or the post are just to long and I just woke up :p

[JaxChris]

well with that said Jax you know of any good mortgage places. Looking to buy at the end of the year

Do you qualify as a first time home buyer? Credit score below or above 650? Belong to a regular bank or a credit union? Looking to buy in November or December?

[anthony20031]

belong to bank of america and etrade...buy in either in november or december...plan on starting to look around august or september and bad credit score on the rise very rapidly

[anthony20031]

oh and yes 1st time home buyer

[JaxChris]

Try to buy (that means close on the house) by Dec 1st. There is an extra $8k refundable on your 2009 taxes if you do.

Check your local BoA branch and see if they participate in the Florida First program. They can get you a guaranteed 6.5% fixed rate and down payment assistance. Your score won't prevent you from qualifying as long as you can pass a "full doc" (aka show proof of income and ability to afford the house - not like those "stated" programs where you just write down some number and they just believe you make that much) and you haven't had any new negative items on your credit in the past 12 months.

They used to offer a 3% cash-option assistance where they would give you 3% of the loan value as a grant (free money) to help with down payment closing cost. I think now they only offer the upto 10% or $10,000 (whichever is lower) as a non-ammortarization (no monthly payment/no interest) second mortgage on the home that you only have to pay off if you refinance the house or sell it within the first 5 or 10 years.

You can combine this benefit with the 6.5% fixed rate mortgage.

Also while you're at BoA, if they are affiliated with the program, ask them in which local publication they post their foreclosure sales. Usually the county and large banks post their announcements of sale in the same newspaper/magazine. Or find out if they place all their foreclosures with a local realtor first. Uses that info to find a good deal on a foreclosed or tax-liened property for a low price.

There is nothing wrong with finding a foreclosed house that covers your needs at 50-70% of market value. Another reason these are great deals is because after 6-months on your special loan you can request removal of PMI (Private Mortage Insurance) because your LTV (Loan-To-Value) ratio will be less than 80%. Eliminating PMI will save you between 100-200$ per month from your mortgage payment.

Any questions yet?

[anthony20031]

Not all that much. The $8k tax I already new and is a big reason for why I am deciding to buy this year rather than wait til next year.

I had already spoken to one mortgage broker but didn't feel all that comfortable as they seem to want to tack on a lot of points. I am also somewhat familiar with the 3% cash option although I was also instructed that in a round a bout why I can get the seller to basically pay the 3% down or whatever is required.

I don't know still doing some research. I'm hoping that by the time I purchase the home that I will be above that 650 mark. Really got screwed on a medical bill that I am arguing over with insurance that they have refused to pay for like 2 years now, plus an old phone bill that I had issues with. Was Verizon and they kept screwing up billing so I said I was leaving and the lady said they would take off the $650 that was a billing mistake and I paid the rest and closed the account. Well when checking the credit apparently they never took off that $650 and now sitting in freakin collections.

[JaxChris]

Ok, well anyone that is telling you information in a round-about way should be avoided.

If you want to, you could join a work-from-home lender like American Family Mortgage. They are one of the companies that let their employees have a deal done for themselves for only 250$ instead of 3%. Then all you pay is 600$ for title/closing work & 300$ for appraisal. If you find the house yourself without a realtor then you don't pay that 3-5%. In the end you'll spend about 1200$ instead of 12000$ for the "privilege" of buying a house. Sadly that is how a homebuyer is viewed and treated by realtor's and mortgage brokers/loan officers.

[anthony20031]

yh all that money u have to spend just to well spend more money

[Cris]

Good reading. I am calling you when I plan to look.