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Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category

Wachovia Bank Losses Forces Game Playing

Wachovia today reported losses of over $8 Billion, well beyond any analyst’s expectation. With most of Wachovia’s losses coming from the mortgage market, which I would assume was made even worse by the purchase of Golden West and the Pick A Payment loan program, Wachovia is scrambling to prevent being a lame duck ripe for a takeover.

Right now they need to make their shareholders feel confident that Wachovia can turn this ship around quickly. So what do they announce? Wachovia is withdrawing from the wholesale mortgage business and will no longer do business with mortgage brokers. (Really? Did they really?… we’ll explore that more in second.)

The idea here is that since mortgage brokers have been unfairly held repsonsible for the entire mortgage snapfu that we are in, why not seperate themselves from the “evil mortgage brokers” and show investors that they have made major changes! This will allow them to put on a show to their shareholders to make them feel a little better about the major losses.

But this show is really just smoke and mirrors. Read the rest of this entry »

Ed Nailor, Charlotte Mortgage Lender, Out of Office July 11

On Friday, July 11, 2008 I will be out of the office and unavailable. I will be having wisdom teeth removed and will be on pain meds most of the day afterwards. Although I may be unavailable Friday, that does not mean that I am not here to help!

If you are seeking to refinance your mortgage or get approved to buy a home in Charlotte, you can still apply online for your Charlotte mortgage loan. I expect to be back to work on Monday and will begin on your mortgage application right away.

Thanks for your patience and understanding, and any prayers you may be willing to send my way as I am just a little nervous! LOL

{{FHA}}

Celebrate your Independence!

What a city! What a town! Charlotte, NC is one of the best places to live in the entire country! Our local economy is strong, our local real estate market is solid and we are about to celebrate the 4th of July!

As we celebrate our great Nation’s Independence, let’s also remember someone less fortunate than ourselves. Take a few moments to reach out to someone that could use a hand and help them out. What a blessing it would be to help someone else achieve their own personal independence!

Have a great and safe 4th of July!

Banking on Bank of America could Cost You

Charlotte Realtors… If you currently count on Bank of America for majority of your Charlotte mortgage needs, you may want to start looking around a bit. With the aquisition of Countrywide, you should expect to see some changes at Bank of America!

Its no secret that Bank of America is buying trouble. Countrywide is riddled with bad loans, major defaults, negative press and a ton of impending lawsuits. And yet Bank of America is still buying Countrywide. The latest news is that 7,500 jobs will be cut as a result, mostly expected to be on the Countrywide side. But Bank of America will have to make changes too.

Any time a lender in the mortgage business sees major losses and defaults, they have to tighten up their lending practices to help compensate. We in the lending business have seen this time and time again. Mortgage banks that used to offer more flexibility are having to tighten up and offer less in terms of mortgage products and mortgage underwriting. Bank of America, while having made good decisions overall, is buying a major black hole that will force them to have to over-correct.

As a Realtor, if you have been relying heavily on Bank of America as your Charlotte mortgage referral source, you will want to quickly explore other lenders. As a result of this acquisition, you should expect Bank of America to begin raising their internal standards to accept only the cream of the crop home buyers. They will begin to further separate the margin of perfect credit borrowers with major equity from the less than perfect home buyers needing less money down. Very soon, those that fall into the latter circumstances will not see favorable mortgage programs offered.

At the same time, placing all your mortgage business with a major Bank will limit your opportunities. Major banks like Bank of America and Wachovia are having a tough time and will only have a handful of options for your buyers. However, working with a dedicated Charlotte Mortgage Lender will offer many solutions!

For example, the Carolina Mortgage Connection works for a Charlotte mortgage Lender. We offer the same mortgage products that any bank can offer, with mortgage rates and closing fees just as competitive. However, when you have a buyer that does not fit the “traditional bank mold”, we still have the flexibility to broker to other mortgage investors willing to take a risk on your buyers. And as investors come and go, we will always be in position to line your buyers up with the money they need at a price they can afford!

So Charlotte Realtors, arm yourself and your Charlotte real estate business with more options and opportunity. Let Ed Nailor and Residential Mortgage Center help you get more buyers qualified and close more deals! From the credit perfect to the credit challenged, we are uniquely positioned to provide the best in Charlotte mortgage rates, mortgage programs and mortgage solutions to your home buyers!

Cruising Charlotte, North Carolina

This morning on the way in to the office, I stopped for some gas. As I was filling up, I heard a car revving the engine and spinning its tires. Two thoughts came to mind… “I remember the days!” and “With gas at $4 a gallon, are you nuts?!?”

This got me to reminiscing and that got me to thinking… Does anyone Cruise in Charlotte?

Growing up in a small rural town, I remember the days of getting in the car and heading uptown to cruise the “main strip.” We would drive from one end of town to the other just to be seen. Before long, local lawmakers began to “outlaw” cruising, stating that if your car was seen going back and forth more than twice, you could be ticketed. We just changed our routes!

But today I am 35 and that was years ago. Do teens and twenties still cruise? And in Charlotte, where would you do that? Does Cruising in Charlotte still happen, or is that a dying art form?

Charlotte Home Loans Went Offline

Due to a recent influx of guests and visitors, Charlotte Home Loans traffic and server loads jumped! While this is exciting news, it also means the EdNailor.com is getting too big! Too big for our current server, anyway!

We are in the process of making changes and will be moving the website to a new server soon. We want to ensure that the information and services that we have become well known for in the Charlotte real estate and mortgage markets continues to be there for you!

So thank you for visiting and helping us to outgrow out host!

Ed Nailor

Down Payment Assistance for FHA sees Increased Fee

According to The Nehemiah Program, effective June 9, 2008, the fee for processing the down payment assistance program through Nehemiah will be increasing. Here is an excerpt from their press release:

Nehemiah has built its reputation through our relentless commitment to providing affordable homeownership solutions to the public. Unfortunately, current economic conditions have had a dramatic impact on our costs of operation. Additionally, we incurred significant costs associated with our recent regulatory victory and the expenses related to educating the public and governmental officials regarding the facts about downpayment assistance. While we strive to hold costs down and have held the line for a long time, it is now necessary for us to temporarily increase our processing fee.

Currently, the new list price of this fee is $599, up $100 from before.  However, as a preferred client, Residential Mortgage Center is able to get this fee at a discount, better enabling our clients to accomplish their goals! (including Charlotte first time home buyers!)

Down payment assistance for FHA mortgage loans is a key part of helping Americans realize the dream of home ownership, especially first time home buyers. Despite the recent demise of the subprime mortgage market, buying a home without a major down payment is still possible. Some critics say this is a bad idea, citing that this is what caused the mortgage and real estate crisis we are currently in. But I disagree as the real issues stem from a combination of investors speculating that values would just continue to increase at record pace with no end in sight and the offering of mortgage loans to individuals that should not have qualified in the first place. The amount of money down had no impact on a home buyer’s ability to make their mortgage payments.

With the continued use of Down Payment Assistance programs, many first time home buyers in Charlotte can actually take advantage of a soft market and stop renting. Getting the country’s real estate market back on track should be a priority and banning DPA programs would bring that recovery to a stand still.

{{fha}}

Does the Real Estate Advice Apply for Charlotte?

Have you noticed the new section of the Charlotte Observer on Sundays? They call it Real Estate Today. It’s a special advertising section for Charlotte real estate and homes for sale. Besides the listings and ads of Charlotte properties for sale, you will find a few articles about home ownership, buying a home or investing in real estate. This week they highlighted how working with a Realtor can help make the home buying process smoother.

I applaude the efforts to provide informative articles along with the homes for sale listings. But if you look closely, you will notice that the articles were mostly written from newspapers located in other real estate markets, like Milwalkee and Detroit. This should make you pay closer attention to what is being written.

Why is that a big deal? Ever heard the saying: “All Real Estate is Local”? This means that the real estate market in Charlotte North Carolina is different than the real estate market anywhere else. And today, this statement rings very true! With majority of the country in a declining real estate market, Charlotte’s real estate market is one of the few markets still growing! So getting articles from out of state does not reflect the market we are currently in!

So why doesn’t the Observer get local experts to write the articles? I don’t know. I have not aked them yet. Maybe they don’t want to offend one Charlotte real estate office by having another one write an article. That could hurt the ad space they are looking to sell. Or maybe it is so new they just haven’t found someone to help.

Either way, as a reader you must pay attention to these small details. Otherwise, if you believe everything the media is pushing right now, you would think that every 3rd home is a foreclosure that you could buy for 1/3 the price you should pay. Sure, foreclosures in Charlotte are up; however Charlotte is in North Carolina, not California and we are not seeing the kind of loss of value that California and other markets are.

Hillary Clinton and John McCain offer a Joke to Voters

Hillary wants to use a “windfall tax” on the oil companies (which will increase their expenses and thereby our gasoline prices - DUH!) so that she can use that money to suspend the gasoline tax for the summer. McCain also wants to suspend the gas tax to save us money!

Ok.. you ready for the joke? You just got it… this gas plan is a joke.

Real Life Example:

The federal gas tax is only 18.4 cents per gallon. My Acura TL holds roughly 15 gallons of gas and I fill up about 6 times a month. 15 x 18.4 = $2.76 saved per fill up. That’s not even ONE GALLON OF GAS! Ok, so 6 fill ups a month would be $2.76 x 6= $16.56 a month. Over 3 months I would save $49.68, roughly one fill up!

So Hillary and McCain’s Plan on Gas: Vote for me and I will save you about $20 a month on your overall gas bill. Hmmm. Sounded better the other way: Suspend the Gas Tax and save Americans “millions of dollars” this summer. (Of course, we won’t take office until next year, so you do understand this is all talk, don’t you?)

Although my savings would be $50, somehow I believe the gas prices would continue to go up as a result of the “windfall tax” as to erode my savings. And when that gas tax comes back, OUCH!

I hope others are seeing past these political jokes as well. This is nothing more than smoke and mirrors and when the smoke clears and the whole thing fails, these politicians will simply blame the oil companies again.

So does this mean we simply vote Obama? Not so fast… I just bring you this reality of the joke to make you think in reality when considering who you will vote for. Don’t just listen to their words. Discover for yourself what they are really saying.

Ideas for your Stimulus Check

If you haven’t heard, most Americans will be getting a check either in the mail or deposited directly into your account over the next few weeks and months. These checks will range from $600 to more than $2,000 for qualifying families. The idea is that you might spend the money right away and get the economy going again.

Many people have said they plan to save the money. While that sounds good, with more than 90% of Americans having very little savings, it can best be assumed we will spend the money rather than save it or pay off debt. So with that in mind, here are a few things you can do that will satisfy the “spender” in all of us while ultimately saving you money!

If you are only getting the $600, consider using part of that money to upgrade the light bulbs in your home. I know that sounds a bit silly, but going from traditional incandescent lights to the new compact fluorescent bulbs can save you hundreds of dollars in both energy and replacement of bulbs. These bulbs use a fraction of the energy and last much much longer!

If you are getting $1200, maybe spring for a good digital thermostat or replacing a worn storm door. You may also want to consider upgrading an older appliance that may save on your energy bill as well. New water heaters, dishwashers and refrigerators can save you a ton on your energy bills.

Getting over $2,000? If you rent, use it as part of a down payment to buy a home. If you already own a home, consider putting it towards a new HVAC system. The newer, more efficient heating and air conditioner units can save you so much money that you could end up paying for it in savings alone in no time!

The bottom line is that you can spend part of the money to stimulate the economy, while still making a positive impact on your own! With the right research, you can find the right upgrades that will help your house run smoother and more efficiently.