Low Mortgage Rates Not Helping Consumers
January 4, 2009 · Print This Article
Mortgage rates are as low as they have been in decades, and yet consumers are still having trouble getting new mortgages and being able to refinance existing mortgages. The really frustrating part of this for consumers is that the rates are low thanks to billions of their tax dollars being injected into the financial system by the U.S. government.
The very same banks that just a year and half ago were giving even unqualified borrowers approvals for mortgages are now making it difficult for people who have excellent credit to refinance. Consumers are feeling locked out of a market they bailed out.
The tight credit markets are hurting everyone. The inability to borrow money is slowing down the rate of economic recovery. In addition, people are unable to access the appealing lower interest rates and must continue to make payments at the higher rates. Every dollar unnecessarily spent on a higher mortgage payment is a dollar that could not be saved or put into the economy. The refinancing of a mortgage can also help consumers avoid foreclosure.
The Obama administration is trying to put pressure on the lending institutions to force them to increase the pace of loan modifications. In fact the government would like the banks to loosen up all credit markets. The President has not hesitated to blame the recession on greedy bankers that sold complex financial products for big profits without regard for risk. The President himself is going to meet with the CEOs of some of the country’s largest institutions including Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
The current mortgage rates are at 4.8 percent but that doesn’t do consumers much good if the banks will not process loans. The banks are refusing to refinance some properties because of the falling property values leaving little or no equity. So the market is in the unusual position where the government has forced interest rates down through government subsidies, yet consumers have been unable to benefit.
Rubbing salt in the wound is the fact that these low mortgage rates will probably not be around much longer as the recovery begins to accelerate. The government program that drove the home interest rates down will expire in March and will almost certainly not be renewed. In fact the mortgage rates could rise to 6 percent this spring.
It is interesting to note that banks are now being asked to raise cash reserves by the government. In order to do so they have to lower the number of loans made in general. That fact coupled with the need to tighten loan qualification requirements has made it difficult for banks to lend. Even loan modifications backed by the U.S. Treasury have progressed at a snail’s pace. Lenders are denying loans for all kinds of reasons including lack of equity. Yet for many consumers the lack of equity is due mostly to the collapse of housing values.
Unfortunately it has come to the point where many consumers will have no choice but to let their houses go into foreclosure. Their last hope is the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) which was intended to provide refinancing for millions of Americans. To date only about 117,000 mortgages have been refinanced under this program.
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2008 years due to the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis triggered by the global economic recession, towing
I Agree!!!! Stay put! Thanks Marcy!
I really suggest looking around at different careers websites, such as monster.com, in addition to checking out our careers page (I’m an employee of Quicken Loans).
Don’t worry about your lack of experience. At many mortgage companies, including Quicken Loans, no lending experience is not a problem.
In addition to on-going training, all new mortgage bankers attend five weeks of industry-leading training. We’ve been hiring 200+ new mortgage bankers a month for the past few months and we consider candidates with various work backgrounds and experiences.
I’ve included a link to our mortgage banker careers page that has more information, but if you have any questions feel free to contact me through my profile.
One thing, we only hire for employment in Detroit, Cleveland, and Scottdale, Arizona.
Good luck!
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/103507/Thirty-Five-Minutes-to-Riches
Above article provides some basic information on raising your credit score.
Personal financial advice is hard because it has to be tailor made for you. To make it simple, do the following:
1. Build an emergency fund worth 3-9 months of your monthly income (based on age, income, etc).
2. Contribute to a 401(k), IRA or some sort of retirement vehicle on a regular basis (10% or more of income is a general rule of thumb if you start prior to your mid 30s).
3. Reduce expenses that are not "needs" if you have a hard time doing steps 1 and 2 (Ex. I have a $3.49 coffee everyday at work in the morning and a $1.07 iced tea each afternoon. If I stopped those expenses I could save nearly $5 each working day which would be ~100 dollars in a month).
If you are saving money regularly, feel free to spend some. For instance I use ~60% of my monthly post tax income and save the other 40%. When I am banking 40% each month I can afford to spend money on the "wants".
spore should have this kind of event
: 3 tips for refinancing mortgage | Mortgage refinance loan
u r still crazy when you say open minded ppl vote republican, look at the young educated voters. They typically vote liberal because they choose a candidate based on what he says and does, not what his party stands for. The rednecks and hillbillies, elderly, military familes and christian fundamentalists vote republican because they refuse to consider any new beliefs that conflict with what their daddy and mommy voted. They wall off the portion of their brain that accepts common sense.
MUAH!!! MSG me on MSN. ID is in my profile. K
I agree with Michael. I've used Quicken for years, and currently have it installed on a system running 64-bit Vista Ultimate with no problems.
Have a broker help you out with an FHA program!
http://www.mortgagefishing.com/quote.php?sourceid=default
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COMPROMISE! WOOHOO – super jumbo loan mortgage
Refinancing an existing car loan is an easy process. A new lender pays off your old car loan, and the title is then transferred to that new lender. Your monthly payments are then made to your new lender.
People refinance to get a better interest rate, which means over the full time of the loan, you'll end up not having to pay as much. Your monthly payments will be less, or the number of payments you have to make will be less, or both.
But here's another idea – if you find that your car payments are really hurting your finances, consider just selling your car, paying off the loan, and then buying a cheaper used car with or without a loan. Yeah, you won't have a flashy set of wheels anymore, but you'll have a lot more money in your pocket.
It was not under-regulated. Read this article: “The Meaning of Competition in the Credit Default Swap Market”.
i love it thanks
What does a blogger’s spouse do while the blogger is out of town? Hang out with other bloggers and their spouses, of course! While Chris Guillebeau was off playing with the tigers in Thailand, his wife Jolie spent some time with Kris and me. Last Friday morning, we picked peaches (and then Kris and Jolie canned them). In the evening, the three of us had dinner with Erica (from erica.biz) and her husband Richard. As you might expect, the conversation had a tendency to stray toward personal finance. Because I’d just published my article about life in the third stage of personal finance, we talked a bit about that. Third stage frugality “How does frugality work when you have more money?” Richard asked. I was confused. “What do you mean?” I said. “Well, when your income increases, how do you stay frugal when your expenses go up? How does frugality scale?” “Ah,” I said. “Well, frugality works pretty much the [...]
NPR: Is the sequel to the subprime mortgage crisis a subprime education crisis?
Need a good 30-year fixed Mortgage? Conforming, Jumbo or Super Jumbo? Call me now!, Merced,
Suze is a financial expert for the paranoid schizo’s out there. Murphy Law makes it difficult to save like she wants people to save. Also those with children cannot afford to save. I’m old school. Limit your debt by avoiding borrowing when you don’t need to. Remember Bernie Madoff, Where are the billions.
US mortgage rates decline to lowest on record-Freddie
very helpful video. I learned a lot from this. You should pass this segment to people who want to understand the housing market.
Get QuickBooks. You can organize your personal finances but it's only on your computer.
I agree that it is not wise to maintain all your personal finances on one website.
http://urlfreeze.com/1/PayRaise/
Board to save at least $225k by refinancing 2005 bond
If really depends on how quickly you get the loan officer the required documention and how quickly the underwriter approves you or disapproves you. Another issue may be which bank the loan officer uses. With every bank changing guidelines on a daily basis your loan may have to be shopped depending on your credit, income, etc.But if you qualify it should not take longer than 2 maybe 3 weeks at most.
This site offers many different kinds of mortgages – residential and commercial — for good credit and bad credit.
Personal finance books recommend budgeting as the first step to financial freedom, but not everyone likes staring at numbers. Here are tips to make ‘budgeting’ an easy part of your routine.
Look up Atlantic Bancorp of CA..or Atlantic Bancorp of America..they may have changed their name. But I've been closing deals with them for 3 years. They're pretty great. You can look at http://www.atlanticloan.com
thehelpfund.blogspot
Which bank has the lowest mortgage interest rates? -
What are you thinking BRO that is a bad job especially this time of the year. You only get two applicants a week. No houses selling.
Personal finance could be harder than communication because it involves more math. There will be some speeches involved in business communication, but it shouldnt be a lot. Some professors even add short response papers and tests in there. At my school, that class is offered online, so there is barely any speechs (mostly quizzes)
I personally think business communication would be easier and more helpful in your career because it helps you practice your presentation/writing skills. Finance is also useful, but it could be harder, since there is probably more math involved (formulas and stuff)
The more that Palin speaks the more people start to tune her out. Keep up the good work.
This is pretty much the funniest thing I’ve seen today.