The American mortgage market is surgically attached to the Federal government. What would bring private capital back into the reverse mortgage marketplace?
Continue readingRegulations Changing Practice & Behavior
With the recently released final rules for loan officer compensation and the expected suspension of the standard fixed rate HECM product government agencies have drastically changed the motivations and interaction between mortgage lenders and borrowers. First loan officer compensation…
Continue readingChopped? Standard Fixed Rate Days Are Numbered
It appears the super sweet fine grain sugar of the standard fixed rate is flying off the shelves and it’s return is uncertain. Brokers, lenders and loan officers are now faced with selling a new product mix and perhaps focusing on a new breed of borrowers.
Continue readingWhere Else Would They Go?
It’s difficult to stand and keep taking punches from a largely misinformed media when it comes to reverse mortgages. On December 20th the Wall Street Journal published a Peter Bell (NRMLA President) response to an article the week before…
Continue readingWhat just happened? A look behind the scenes.
Even though HUD telegraphed their intentions to make substantial changes to the reverse mortgage program many today are in a state of shock. Here’s brief look behind the scenes courtesy of NRMLA’s special bulletin. First, our industry has been very active in working with those shaping policies for the HECM program. NRMLA and others have been working tirelessly
Continue readingRisk Management: A Fair Approach?
With FHA’s mortgage portfolio showing and estimated negative $16 billion dollar balance after accounting for projected future losses the agency is in risk management mode. But with the HECM program possibly facing reduced loan to value ratios, or as we call them principal limit ratios, wouldn’t it be wise to reduce lending ratios for traditional FHA mortgage borrowers? Today, despite the housing crash and fragile market recovery, borrowers can pay a minimum of 3.5 percent down…
Continue readingSaving the Reverse Mortgage. What If?
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What if? That is pretty much all we can say as an industry about the certain and yet unknown changes to the federally insured HECM or reverse mortgage program. With an estimated future negative balance of 2.8 billion FHA finds itself in an awkward postion. One of defending the existence of the program before the Senate. Yes, some members of the Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs pushed the idea of suspending, yes stopping the program as a solution
What You Need to Know About Appraisals: Our Exclusive Interview with Brian Coester
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We spoke with Brian Coester, CEO & founder of Coester Appraisals. We discuss if home values have really hit the bottom? Which markets are doing well and which are still struggling. The shadow inventory of foreclosures and banks releasing them into the market as well as how to help protect reverse mortgage borrowers from spending too much when their value is uncertain.
What’s going on in MY market?
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In part two of our interview with Reverse Market Insight’s president John Lunde, we look at how you can get detailed information about your local reverse mortgage market. Who is my competition? How many loans are being closed in my area? These and other questions are answered.
Our Industry’s Trends & Outlook
We interviewed our industry’s top analyst John Lunde who is founder and President of Reverse Market Insight. RMI gathers and makes sense of industry data, market trends and much more. List as we discuss overall loan volumes, pull-through rates and our future.
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