Marc Brinitzer's (merlin) Blog

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Mortgage and Lending - Big Valley Mortgage - NMLS#220931, DRE#00899544
RECENT BLOG POSTS
This morning, the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee voted on H.R.3915, The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007. While legislators attempt to erect a defense shield against mortgage lending abuse, this current law strikes wide of the target and is sure ...
11/06/2007
Although everybody hates mortgage insurance (MI or PMI as it is known) we’ve once again become dependent upon it. Those who have recently purchased homes know that the 2nds used in “80-10s” and “80-20s” to avoid mortgage insurance are gone. But have the MI companies ignored the risks in their ex...
10/23/2007
Sub-prime mortgages have largely evaporated. What remains are a few offerings in the 10–11% range with nasty prepayment penalties and the potential for future rate resets. So what do you do if you or your client have sub-prime credit? Try Fannie Mae’s DU engine. Although most lenders think of Fa...
10/16/2007
The California State Teacher’s Retirement System (CalSTRS) created a home loan program for teachers back in 1984. I used to do a lot of them until the market went crazy and prices drove everyone into stated income loans. However prices are retreating to more affordable levels again, and CalSTRS ...
10/09/2007
Mortgage insurance, or PMI, has had an unfair rap ever since the media grabbed the topic 10 years ago and beat the life out of it.  Every client thereafter spit out the same warning when we met.  I don’t want PMI! Ok, I get it.  So, most of us started doing the 1st/2nd combo loans that eventuall...
10/05/2007
I ran across this article from Kiplinger Forecasts this morning.  It does a fair job of addressing the question on every troubled home owner’s mind:  Is there a bail out coming?  So far, the answer appears to be no.   Despite high level legislative chatter, the recent Bush proposal for FHASecure—...
09/27/2007
As sub prime, Alt-A and 2nd mortgages continue their disappearing act, the GSE’s have been busy trying to help make housing more accessible and affordable. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have brought forth fantastic programs that can help consumers buy homes with no down payment or refinance ho...
09/25/2007
Acknowledging the growing concern over a recession which was cemented by the August jobs report, the Fed cut both the Fed Funds and the Discount Rate today by one half point.  Here is the text of the statement: The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal fu...
09/18/2007
While we wait for the Fed’s final decision on rates this morning (announcement at 11:15 Pacific time), we can chew on the Producer Price Index (PPI) report that preceded it. This is a good example for anyone confused by these numbers.  The “headline” PPI figure showed a drop of 1.2% vs. the expe...
09/18/2007
With the tide shifting back toward old-school underwriting, source of down payment is once again becoming an issue. Conventional loans often require that the borrower have 5% of their own funds, and that money must be “seasoned”. FHA is different and far more flexible. Did you know that FHA loan...
09/15/2007
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Marc Brinitzer

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