Quantitative Easing Explained for Us Plebians

Quantitative Easing Explained for Us Plebians

The video below, Quantitative Easing Explained, is a simple, but very funny and sadly true video that explains the intended and unintended effects of the Fed's latest round of "Quantitative Easing" (QE2). I just had to share it.

In my opinion, this QE2 will result in soaring prices of basic living necessities (food, utilities, medical care, etc.) without causing the intended goal of igniting the economy and inflating housing prices. Since housing sales are now (unlike in the past) extraordinarily dependent on buyers who borrow practically the entire amount of the purchase price via loan programs such as FHA, VA, USDA, THDA and other such loan programs, housing prices are now extremely dependent on mortgage loan interest rates. If the Fed's QE2 does in fact cause significant inflation (many economists believe this will happen), mortgage loan interest rates (remember the 1970's) will also surge with the result that buyers will not be able to afford the high interest monthly payments. Therefore, it is very possible that QE2 will actually cause housing prices to deflate (i.e. decline) further. I think the possible general inflation without corresponding household income inflation will reduce the amount of money homeowners have available after paying for basic necessities. This plus a further housing price decline will create even more foreclosures, short sales and other distress sales over the next several years. See my previous blog post, The Truth About Home Prices) to get an idea of how housing prices compare to historic housing prices.



Nashville and Middle Tennessee Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance for Homeowners and Property Owners in Financial Distress. If you are a Nashville Tennessee, Franklin Tennessee, Brentwood Tennessee, Nolensville Tennessee, Spring Hill Tennessee, Murfreesboro Tennessee, Smyrna Tennessee, La Vergne Tennessee, or Middle Tennessee homeowner, property owner, condo owner, real estate investor, home builder or real estate developer who cannot pay your mortgage payments (due to losing your job, having your income reduced, illness, health problems, adverse business conditions, slow sales, loss of investment property tenants, vacancy issues, lack of funds to complete the project, feuding business partners, etc.), know that you will not be able to pay your mortgage, have defaulted on your mortgage, are already in foreclosure, or owe more than your home is worth, please contact me to discuss your options including a loan modification and a short sale (a real estate short sale occurs when the sale proceeds are not sufficient to pay off all the mortgages and liens on the property/home). I am a Nashville Tennessee and Middle Tennessee distressed real estate, short sale, pre-foreclosure (preforeclosure) and foreclosure REALTOR, Expert and Real Estate Investor. I primarily help sellers (homeowners, property owners, condo owners, owners of high end homes and properties (estate homes, luxury homes and executive homes), real estate investors, home builders and real estate developers) of distressed real estate, short sales, pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, investment properties, failed new construction projects and struggling commercial real estate developments located in Middle Tennessee (Rutherford County TN, Williamson County TN, Davidson County TN, Robertson County TN, Maury County TN, Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN, La Vergne TN, Eagleville TN, Lascassas TN, Rockvale TN, Christiana TN, Brentwood TN, Franklin TN, Nashville TN, Belle Meade TN, Nolensville TN, Spring Hill TN, Gallatin TN, Springfield TN and Mt. Juliet TN). If you do need to short sell your home or property, or you need a quick sale due to being in foreclosure, you can request short sale and foreclosure help and assistance on my website at Get Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance from a Nashville Tennessee and Middle Tennessee Short Sale and Foreclosure REALTOR, Real Estate Expert and Real Estate Investor.

Bank of America Stops Foreclosures In Every State

Bank of America Stops Foreclosures In Every State

According to this HousingWire article, Bank of America halts foreclosures in all states, "Bank of America will stop foreclosure sales in all 50 states as it extends its review into faulty affidavits." This decision is an expansion of Bank of America's decision on 10/1/2010 to stop foreclosures in 23 states due to paperwork problems. The article states that Ally Financial and JPMorgan Chase halted their foreclosures as well, but have not expanded their suspensions to all 50 states. According to the article, Wells Fargo, Citigroup (CitiMortgage) and PNC Financial have not enacted moratoriums on their foreclosures. For now, financially distressed homeowners and borrowers who have Bank of America loans will be able to temporarily avoid foreclosure. This should allow more time for short sales to close, and, hopefully make Bank of America more motivated to accept a short sale outcome. Eventually, however, the foreclosure moratorium will be lifted and more distressed homeowners will face foreclosure again. Therefore, I highly recommend that these financially distressed homeowners move quickly to start the short sale process.

Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance for Homeowners and Property Owners in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. If you are a Nashville Tennessee, Franklin Tennessee, Brentwood Tennessee, Nolensville Tennessee, Spring Hill Tennessee, Murfreesboro Tennessee, Smyrna Tennessee, La Vergne Tennessee, or Middle Tennessee homeowner, property owner, condo owner, real estate investor, home builder or real estate developer who cannot pay your mortgage payments (due to losing your job, having your income reduced, illness, health problems, adverse business conditions, slow sales, loss of investment property tenants, vacancy issues, lack of funds to complete the project, feuding business partners, etc.), know that you will not be able to pay your mortgage, have defaulted on your mortgage, are already in foreclosure, or owe more than your home is worth, please contact me to discuss your options including a loan modification and a short sale (a real estate short sale occurs when the sale proceeds are not sufficient to pay off all the mortgages and liens on the property/home). I am a Middle Tennessee distressed real estate, short sale, pre-foreclosure (preforeclosure) and foreclosure REALTOR, Expert and Real Estate Investor. I primarily help sellers (homeowners, property owners, condo owners, owners of high end homes and properties (estate homes, luxury homes and executive homes), real estate investors, home builders and real estate developers) of distressed real estate, short sales, pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, investment properties, failed new construction projects and struggling commercial real estate developments located in Middle Tennessee (Rutherford County TN, Williamson County TN, Davidson County TN, Robertson County TN, Maury County TN, Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN, La Vergne TN, Eagleville TN, Lascassas TN, Rockvale TN, Christiana TN, Brentwood TN, Franklin TN, Nashville TN, Belle Meade TN, Nolensville TN, Spring Hill TN, Gallatin TN, Springfield TN and Mt. Juliet TN). If you do need to short sell your home or property, or you need a quick sale due to being in foreclosure, you can request short sale and foreclosure help and assistance on my website at Get Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance from a Nashville Tennessee and Middle Tennessee Short Sale and Foreclosure REALTOR, Real Estate Expert and Real Estate Investor.

Who Owns My Mortgage Loan?

Who Owns My Mortgage Loan?
How to Lookup the Actual Owner of Your Mortgage Loan

Most people would be surprised to learn that it is likely that the bank or mortgage company they send their monthly mortgage payment to does not actually own their loan. That bank or mortgage company is very often just servicing the mortgage loan on behalf of the owner (referred to as the "Investor" in the mortgage industry). If the loan was conventional (i.e. 20% down including so-called 80/20 loans with a 1st and 2nd mortgage loan), or subprime, the Investor on the mortgage loan is probably another financial institution, or more likely Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) or Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation). It is important to know who owns your mortgage loan since it impacts your loan modification, foreclosure prevention and short sale options. For example, currently Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not pursue deficiency balances (the amount of the mortgage loan remaining unpaid after the closing of a short sale). This is very important since it will allow borrowers to walk away after a short sale closing without having to worry about Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac pursuing them for the unpaid loan balance. Below are a few ways you can find out who owns your conventional or subprime loan (not every loan will be found):

• Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS®) Servicer Identification System - According to the MERS website, "MERS was created by the mortgage banking industry to streamline the mortgage process by using electronic commerce to eliminate paper. Our mission is to register every mortgage loan in the United States on the MERS® System. Beneficiaries of MERS include mortgage originators, servicers, warehouse lenders, wholesale lenders, retail lenders, document custodians, settlement agents, title companies, insurers, investors, county recorders and consumers. MERS acts as nominee in the county land records for the lender and servicer. Any loan registered on the MERS® System is inoculated against future assignments because MERS remains the nominal mortgagee no matter how many times servicing is traded. MERS as original mortgagee (MOM) is approved by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, FHA and VA, California and Utah Housing Finance Agencies, as well as all of the major Wall Street rating agencies. "
• Fannie Mae Loan Lookup - Collectively, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own in excess of 50% of all the mortgage loans in the US so this is a good place to lookup your loan.
• Freddie Mac Loan Lookup - Collectively, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae own in excess of 50% of all the mortgage loans in the US so this is a good place to lookup your loan.

If you have an FHA (Federal Housing Administration) mortgage loan, a Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) mortgage loan, or a USDA Rural Development loan then you will need to contact your loan servicer with questions regarding a loan modification, foreclosure prevention, or a short sale. If your loan servicer is not responsive, or not helpful then I recommend that you contact the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) or the USDA Rural Development Housing & Community Facilities Programs, whichever is applicable.

Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance for Homeowners and Property Owners in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. If you are a Nashville Tennessee, Franklin Tennessee, Brentwood Tennessee, Nolensville Tennessee, Spring Hill Tennessee, Murfreesboro Tennessee, Smyrna Tennessee, La Vergne Tennessee, or Middle Tennessee homeowner, property owner, condo owner, real estate investor, home builder or real estate developer who cannot pay your mortgage payments (due to losing your job, having your income reduced, illness, health problems, adverse business conditions, slow sales, loss of investment property tenants, vacancy issues, lack of funds to complete the project, feuding business partners, etc.), know that you will not be able to pay your mortgage, have defaulted on your mortgage, are already in foreclosure, or owe more than your home is worth, please contact me to discuss your options including a loan modification and a short sale (a real estate short sale occurs when the sale proceeds are not sufficient to pay off all the mortgages and liens on the property/home). I am a Middle Tennessee distressed real estate, short sale, pre-foreclosure (preforeclosure) and foreclosure REALTOR, Expert and Real Estate Investor. I primarily help sellers (homeowners, property owners, condo owners, owners of high end homes and properties (estate homes, luxury homes and executive homes), real estate investors, home builders and real estate developers) of distressed real estate, short sales, pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, investment properties, failed new construction projects and struggling commercial real estate developments located in Middle Tennessee (Rutherford County TN, Williamson County TN, Davidson County TN, Robertson County TN, Maury County TN, Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN, La Vergne TN, Eagleville TN, Lascassas TN, Rockvale TN, Christiana TN, Brentwood TN, Franklin TN, Nashville TN, Belle Meade TN, Nolensville TN, Spring Hill TN, Gallatin TN, Springfield TN and Mt. Juliet TN). If you do need to short sell your home or property, or you need a quick sale due to being in foreclosure, you can request short sale and foreclosure help and assistance on my website at Get Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance from a Nashville Tennessee and Middle Tennessee Short Sale and Foreclosure REALTOR, Real Estate Expert and Real Estate Investor.

Credit Scores Getting Worse: Another Reason The Housing Market Will Decline Further and Then Stay Down

Credit Scores Getting Worse: Another Reason The Housing Market Will Decline Further and Then Stay Down

According to this article, Analysis: One-Third of Americans Highly Unlikely to Qualify for a Mortgage Today, 29.3% of Americans has a credit score under 620. This means that almost 1 in 3 Americans cannot qualify for a mortgage loan right now. This is yet another reason why the housing market will decline further: too many potential buyers are eliminated from the buyer pool due to poor credit. By the time this housing market decline is over the percentage of Americans with poor credit will likely increase to as much as 35% to 40%. In addition to that, nearly 50% of Americans will owe more than their home is worth (see SCARY STUFF: About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011) and there is just no way buyers can come back into the market in a big way absent a substantial decline in home prices, which would allow new buyers into the market. Therefore, even when this housing market decline hits a bottom there will be no driver to push home prices back up resulting in more of a "thud and muddle" rather than a "V" recovery (also see: The Truth About Home Prices). As a result of this there are going to be a high level of foreclosures, short sales and other distress sales for the next several years.

Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance for Homeowners and Property Owners in Nashville TN and Middle TN. If you are a Nashville Tennessee, Franklin Tennessee, Brentwood Tennessee, Nolensville Tennessee, Spring Hill Tennessee, Murfreesboro Tennessee, Smyrna Tennessee, La Vergne Tennessee, or Middle Tennessee homeowner, property owner, condo owner, real estate investor, home builder or real estate developer who cannot pay your mortgage payments (due to losing your job, having your income reduced, illness, health problems, adverse business conditions, slow sales, loss of investment property tenants, vacancy issues, lack of funds to complete the project, feuding business partners, etc.), know that you will not be able to pay your mortgage, have defaulted on your mortgage, are already in foreclosure, or owe more than your home is worth, please contact me to discuss your options including a loan modification and a short sale (a real estate short sale occurs when the sale proceeds are not sufficient to pay off all the mortgages and liens on the property/home). I am a Middle Tennessee distressed real estate, short sale, pre-foreclosure (preforeclosure) and foreclosure REALTOR, Expert and Real Estate Investor. I primarily help sellers (homeowners, property owners, condo owners, owners of high end homes and properties (estate homes, luxury homes and executive homes), real estate investors, home builders and real estate developers) of distressed real estate, short sales, pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, investment properties, failed new construction projects and struggling commercial real estate developments located in Middle Tennessee (Rutherford County TN, Williamson County TN, Davidson County TN, Robertson County TN, Maury County TN, Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN, La Vergne TN, Eagleville TN, Lascassas TN, Rockvale TN, Christiana TN, Brentwood TN, Franklin TN, Nashville TN, Belle Meade TN, Nolensville TN, Spring Hill TN, Gallatin TN, Springfield TN and Mt. Juliet TN). If you do need to short sell your home or property, or you need a quick sale due to being in foreclosure, you can request short sale and foreclosure help and assistance on my website at Get Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance from a Nashville Tennessee and Middle Tennessee Short Sale and Foreclosure REALTOR, Real Estate Expert and Real Estate Investor.

The Truth About Home Prices

The Truth About Home Prices
Median Single Family Home Price to Median Family Income Ratio Over Time (1/1989 to Present)

As you can see on the graph below, Median Single Family Home Price to Median Family Income Ratio Over Time (1/1989 to Present), the current Median Single Family Home Price to Median Family Income Ratio ("Ratio") is higher than at any point during the entire period evaluated except for the 2002-2008 housing bubble. The problem is that unemployment is higher that any time except for the prior few months. The question is : How can home prices, per the Ratio, be relatively higher than any non-bubble period when unemployment is extremely high and foreclosures are at record levels? The answer is: artificial government housing market propping. Once this market propping is over the organic (and true) housing market will become clear. That clarity will show that housing prices will decline as soon as this artificial government market propping ends see my previous blog post: Home Prices Headed Down.

In short, housing prices will continue to decline because current housing prices still do not reflect the current economic reality: the economy is poor, but housing prices remain "average". This simply does not make sense. This is not my opinion, but, rather, is proven by the facts. I analyzed the data in the NAR Home Affordability Index (HAI) from 1/1989 through 7/2010 and found that the Median of the Ratio of Median Home Price to Family Income is 2.92 and the Average of the Ratio of Median Home Price to Family Income is 3.07. Over this same period, the lowest reading occurred in 12/1990 at 2.654. Therefore, it is safe to say that from an historical perspective the typical price of a median home should be about 3 times the median family income. The 7/2010 reading was over 3 at 3.032 (i.e. over 4% higher than the historical median and about the same as the historical average). The problem is that we are not in a “typical” economic environment – we have record foreclosures that seem to persist and near 10% unemployment. Given that the lowest reading of 2.654 occurred in 12/1990 and that our current economic conditions are far worse than 12/1990, it is logical to conclude that the Median Home Price to Family Income Ratio should be below 2.654. If the ratio declines to 2.5, home prices will decline by over 21%. If the ratio declines to 2.5 and family incomes decline by just 5%, home prices will decline by nearly 28%. Given that personal incomes are declining and that a 2.5 ratio is probably a bit optimistic, I believe it is very feasible that home prices will decline by an additional 30%. As a result, there will be more short sales and foreclosures. See the graph below for a representation of the Ratio of Median Home Price to Family Income Over Time and how it compares to the Average and Median of that same Ratio.



The graph shows that houses are still overpriced when compared to incomes. Keeping homes overpriced by artificially allowing more home buyers into the market and encouraging other home buyers to purchase more expensive homes (because of artificially cheap money) is completely irresponsible. Why should Americans be happy about being forced to overpay for homes (due to having to compete with home buyers who should not be home buyers, but only are do to the "government housing stimulus" described above) - that only leaves less money available for saving, investment, non-debt spending, etc. In short, it makes it harder and harder to get by on their current incomes. The American Dream is being killed by unnaturally high home prices, which are made possible by irresponsible government housing market propping. The government should just let home prices fall to where they should naturally be given the current economic situation (i.e. a lot lower than they are right now).

Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance for Homeowners and Property Owners in Nashville TN and Middle TN. If you are a Nashville Tennessee, Franklin Tennessee, Brentwood Tennessee, Nolensville Tennessee, Spring Hill Tennessee, Murfreesboro Tennessee, Smyrna Tennessee, La Vergne Tennessee, or Middle Tennessee homeowner, property owner, condo owner, real estate investor, home builder or real estate developer who cannot pay your mortgage payments (due to losing your job, having your income reduced, illness, health problems, adverse business conditions, slow sales, loss of investment property tenants, vacancy issues, lack of funds to complete the project, feuding business partners, etc.), know that you will not be able to pay your mortgage, have defaulted on your mortgage, are already in foreclosure, or owe more than your home is worth, please contact me to discuss your options including a loan modification and a short sale (a real estate short sale occurs when the sale proceeds are not sufficient to pay off all the mortgages and liens on the property/home). I am a Middle Tennessee distressed real estate, short sale, pre-foreclosure (preforeclosure) and foreclosure REALTOR, Expert and Real Estate Investor. I primarily help sellers (homeowners, property owners, condo owners, owners of high end homes and properties (estate homes, luxury homes and executive homes), real estate investors, home builders and real estate developers) of distressed real estate, short sales, pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, investment properties, failed new construction projects and struggling commercial real estate developments located in Middle Tennessee (Rutherford County TN, Williamson County TN, Davidson County TN, Robertson County TN, Maury County TN, Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN, La Vergne TN, Eagleville TN, Lascassas TN, Rockvale TN, Christiana TN, Brentwood TN, Franklin TN, Nashville TN, Belle Meade TN, Nolensville TN, Spring Hill TN, Gallatin TN, Springfield TN and Mt. Juliet TN). If you do need to short sell your home or property, or you need a quick sale due to being in foreclosure, you can request short sale and foreclosure help and assistance on my website at Get Short Sale and Foreclosure Help and Assistance from a Nashville Tennessee and Middle Tennessee Short Sale and Foreclosure REALTOR, Real Estate Expert and Real Estate Investor.