MELINDA POTCHER

Don't believe or buy in to the hype when the media says that there isn't any credit available out there! It's just not true!

I have 5 loans I am working on presently, including;

an $800k refi

4 homebuyers looking for properties that are preapproved for loans ranging from $142,000 to $270,000.

Everybody wants a "smokin deal", and believe me they are out there!

Rates are currently holding at 6% on a 30 day fixed conventional or government loan (FHA/VA).

3% down is all you need. A family member, employer or friend can also gift you down payment or closing costs. A seller can contribute 6% (STILL) to your closing costs.

Additionally, for entrepreneurs and small business owners, I have been visiting the local banks this week to confirm that they have money to lend to startup businesses and they assured me they are ready and willing to lend.

My phone has been ringing a lot w/ 5 new applications last week and one so far this week. My realtors phones are ringing too.

So don't buy the gloom & doom out there, folks - it IS what YOU make of it.

Have a great week, and call me w/ any questions.

best,

Melinda Potcher

Mortgage Maven

http://www.HomeLoansAlbuquerque.com

Currently listening : Where The Light Is:John Mayer Live In Los Angeles By John Mayer Release date: 2008-07-01

Category: News and Politics

Subject: FW: Worth reading!

Mortgage Crisis: The REAL Blame By Drew Zahn© 2008 World Net Daily

Stan J. Liebowitz

While many pundits are pointing to corporate greed and a lack of government regulation as the cause for the American mortgage and financial crisis, some analysts are saying it wasn't too little government intervention that cased the mortgage meltdown, but too much, in the form of activists compelling the government to pressure Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into unsound - though politically correct - lending practices.

"Home mortgages have been a political piñata for many decades," writes Stan J. Liebowitz, economics professor at the University of Texas atDallas, in a chapter of his forth coming book, Housing America: Building out of a Crisis. Liebowitz puts forward an explanation that he admits is "not consistent with the nasty-subprime-lender hypothesis currently considered to be the cause of the mortgage meltdown."In a nutshell, Liebowitz contends that the federal government over the last 20 years pushed the mortgage industry so hard to get minority home ownership up, that it undermined the country's financial foundation to achieve its goal."In an attempt to increase homeownership, particularly by minorities and the less affluent, an attack on underwriting standards was undertaken by virtually every branch of the government since the early 1990s," Liebowitz writes. "The decline in mortgage underwriting standards was universally praised as 'innovation' in mortgage lending by regulators, academic specialists, (government-sponsored enterprises) and housing activists. He continues, "Although a seemingly noble goal, the tool chosen to achieve this goal was one that endangered the entire mortgage enterprise." "As homeownership rates increased there was self-congratulation all around," Liebowitz writes. "The community of regulators, academic specialists, and housing activists all reveled in the increase in homeownership."

An article in the Los Angeles Times from the late '90s praised the sudden surge in homeownership among minorities, calling it "one of the hidden success stories of the Clinton era." John Lott, a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland, however, claimed in a Fox News article yesterday that the success came ata great price. According to Lott, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston produced a manual in the early '90s that warned mortgage lenders to no longer deny urban and lower-income minority applicants on such "outdated" criteria as credit history, down payment or employment income. Furthermore, claims Lott, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac encouraged and praised lenders - like Countrywide and Bear Stearns - for adopting the slackened policies toward minority applicants. "Given these lending practices mandated by the Fed and encouraged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," writes Lott, "the resulting financial problems for financial institutions such as Countrywide and Bear Stearns are not too surprising."

Liebowitz' contention that lenders were under pressure to loosen their standards for racial and political goals was confirmed years ago by the companies at the heart of today's crisis: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A New York Times article from Sept. 1999 states that Fannie Mae had been under increasing pressure from the Clinton administration to expand mortgage loans among low- and moderate-income people and that the corporation loosened its lending requirements to comply. An ominous paragraph of the article reads, "In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980s."

Liebowitz likewise predicted in a 1998 paper the risk of sacrificing sound financial policy for social activism."After the warm fuzzy glow of 'flexible underwriting standards' has worn off," Liebowitz wrote, "we may discover that they are nothing more than standards that led to bad loans. It will be ironic and unfortunate if minority applicants wind up paying a very heavy price for a misguided policy based on a badly mangled idea."

And though some have speculated that lenders in the '90s dove into sub-prime mortgages in an effort to gouge new markets, the president and chief operating officer of Freddie Mac in 1999, David Glenn, confessed his company was pushed by a federal agenda. "The mortgage industry intends to pursue minorities with greater intensity as federal regulators turn up the heat to increase home ownership," Glenn said in his remarks at the annual convention of the Mortgage Banker Association of America. "The federal government in the meantime has increased pressure on lenders to seek out minorities, as well as low-income groups and borrowers with poor credit histories," Glenn said.

Fannie Mae recently reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development tocommit half its business to low- and moderate-income borrowers. That means half the mortgages bought by Fannie Mae would be from those income brackets.

A few years later, when Greg Mankiw, chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, voiced a warning about weakened underwriting standards, Congress rebuffed him as well.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., in 2003 as criticizing Greg Mankiw "because he is worried about the tiny little matter of safety and soundness rather than 'concern about housing.'" Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, rejected a Bush administration and Congressional Republican plan for regulating the mortgage industry in 2003, saying, "These two entities - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - are not facing any kind of financial crisis." According to aNew York Times article, Frank added, "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

Currently listening : Yes I'm Ready By Barbara Mason Release date: 1997-10-08

Daily Real Estate News | August 19, 2008

Campaign Launched to Undo Down Payment Ban

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act prohibits the Federal Housing Administration from insuring loans made with a seller-funded down payment. This essentially bans the practice since nearly all these loans are made with FHA-guaranteed financing. The ban takes effect Oct. 1, 2008.

The Nehemiah Corp. of America, the nonprofit responsible for arranging thousands of these loans, has launched a campaign and Web site to persuade Congress to override this aspect of the housing bill. The site includes a countdown clock tracking the end of DPA to the second, a blog and links to YouTube videos and to its MySpace and Facebook presence.

So far, more than 75,000 "letters" to Congress have been generated, according to Nehemiah. The goal is to triple or quadruple that by the time that countdown clock hits zero. Lifting the ban won't be easy, but "I think that an active, organized American citizenry can change anything they choose to," says Scott Syphax, Nehemiah's president and CEO.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Dawn Wotapka (08/14/08)

To speak w/ a Professional with over 14 years experience about your options in Purchasing Real Estate, Call Melinda Potcher, Mortgage Maven today! (505) 259-6397, or email at; Melinda@TrinityMtg.Biz. http://www.HomeLoansAlbuquerque.com

Effective for all registrations after Friday, April 4th, another lender is eliminating the Agency Shortcut Mortgage program.


All Agency Shortcut mortgages must be registered no later than Friday, April 4th. We will not accept any registrations on the Shortcut program after this date. There is no lock cut off date as of yet, however all Agency Shortcut Mortgages must close and fund no later than April 30th. No relocks or extensions will be granted.



As an alternative to the Shortcut, I've included a couple of options to consider:

1) Agency "Limited Doc" -Best pricing: Borrower's who have at least a 680 middle credit score, may receive a "verbal VOE (verification of employment) only" or "evidence of existence of business only" option when running DU (desktop underwriter) or LP (loan prospector). WE will honor these findings, and will NOT require income documenation, since these loans are still considered full doc in the investor's eyes. If your borrower has at least a 680 score and they need a "limited doc" option, we recommend running DU or LP to determine if your customer is eligible.



2) Agency Express - Stated income/Verified Assets. Manual underwrite. Self employed borrowers or borrowers who's earnings consist of at least 50% commission can qualify on this program. All occupancy types are eligible. Cash out (O/O (owner occupied), 2nd home only), Rate & term refinance and Purchase. LTV's (loan to value) up to 90%. Fico credit score requirement 680 -720 depending on transaction type and LTV. Contact me for further info.


www.HomeLoansAlbuquerque.com

melinda@trinitymtg.biz