Refinance Free Credit

     Kenny was leaving for work yesterday afternoon, and as he left I was giving him a laundry list of things to do:  Don't forget to bring home some business cards, so we can stuff those sale envelopes and get them mailed before we leave... Bring home the insurance paperwork so we can get it filled out before we leave... Stop by the Credit Union and cash in the coins you rolled...  If you have a minute, can you call Brent with Countrywide and ask him about the status of refinance?

 

     Besides the fact that it's a really horrible way to be sent off (I really am not one of THOSE wives.  I was just having a little pre-trip STRESS.), Continue Reading »

On Friday, Freddie Mac (FRE: 9.27 +11.28%) moved ever-closer to a planned stock sale by becoming a registrant with the Securities and Exchange Commission; the company’s filing of a Form 10 registration statement with the SEC is a large milestone for the company, and paves the way for the company to offer shares. “Becoming an SEC [...]

Resales of single-family homes and condos posted the slowest June on record last month, according to statistics released Friday morning by real estate data firm DataQuick Information Systems. During June, a total of 35,202 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month — up 6.6 percent from 33,024 in May, but off [...]

When a CEO talks about the “beginning of the end,” it isn’t usually a good thing. But in an interview Friday with the Financial Times, Deutsche Bank (DB: 88.91 +1.83%) CEO Josef Ackermann said that the credit crisis that has rocked global markets for roughly one year so far was likely nearing its end, as [...]

It can be a little too depressing to continually trudge out bad news. At least, that seemed to be the lesson of a second quarter earnings report released Thursday by MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG: 5.89 +3.33%), which said that it lost $97.9 million during the quarter as foreclosures continued to soar; the company, however, offered [...]

Rolfe Winkler at Option ARMageddon questions the wisdom of MBA’s recent real estate purchase — in 2007, the trade group purchased a new office building to house its operations (and pull in some income by leasing to other tenants). As the market has continued to tank, however, the weakness in real estate has spread into [...]

We know how important the process of buying a home will be for you. This is why you need to make sure you are completely comfortable. You also need to make sure that you fight away stress. Stress is one of the worst things that can happen to you during this process and it can even have some negative effects. The following are some tips that you can follow in order to make sure that you do not let stress play a role in this process at all. You will find that you can come out on top of this process and that everything goes like you have wished it would. Make sure that you are not rushing through the home buying process either.

Some of the Top Tips

Some people will want to tell you to wait for the right time for you to buy. The right time for you to buy is when you feel comfort and can get a great deal. Second guessing on interest can lead to a lot of stress. If you see a home that you like and can afford then go for it.

You should ask for an opinion or two on the situation you are facing. However, if you ask too many people and get too many opinions then you might get confused. Too many ideas could lead to more stress that you really did not want. It is important to make your own decision.

No house is going to be completely perfect. You must enter each house knowing what is most important to you, and look to get that. There will be some flaw in every house, but learn to deal with minor ones. If you worry about the little things then they will begin to control you.

Negotiate in limited amounts. It is important that you try to get the best deal you can, but if you focus on negotiation too much then you could be in trouble. You will get upset that the seller is not agreeing with you 100% then you might end up hurting your chances and losing a home.

Make sure you do not forget about maintenance. There will probably be some changes and improvements that will have to be made in the upcoming years. Make sure you understand this, and it will not sneak up on you. The burden of maintenance can be tough if you do not see it coming.

Find an agent who will help you and understands you needs. This is important because you will be working with this person very closely, so you want to make sure that they exactly what you want. It can be very stressful if you align yourself with an agent who has other ideas about what you should want.

Additional Resources:

• Buying a Home
• Buying a Home With Little Down

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Triad Guaranty Inc. (TGIC: 0.65 -2.99%) said Thursday that president and CEO Mark K. Tonnesen will retire from the company, effective August 15. William Ratliff, currently chairman of the board, will assume Tonnesen’s role on an interim basis, the company said in a press statement. Tonnesen will remain a consultant to Triad for two years following [...]

Citi posted a quarterly loss of $2.5 billion on $7.2 billion in fresh loan writedowns as the credit crunch continues unabated.  Of course it was positioned as good news since the company lost twice as much money last quarter.

I’d like to take this opportunity at this point in the mortgage and credit crisis to suggest that any one calling bottom or the end of the crisis be either a) evaluated by a psychiatric professional b) tarred and feathered.

Consider the following news that I can’t spend time writing about today:

• Citi posts massive loan-related loss of $2.5 billion
• Merrill posts massive loan-related loss of $4.65 billion
• Freddie Mac is trying to raise $10 billion in fresh capital with a <$10 stock price

Things are not getting better folks, we are not at the bottom.  If you say so you are either lying or have your head in the sand - both unaccpetable.

Happy Friday!

From the New York Times on Citi:

Citigroup said Friday morning that it lost $2.5 billion, or 54 cents a share, in the second quarter.

The loss was largely caused by $7.2 billion of write-downs of Citigroup’s investments in mortgages and other loans and by a weakness in the consumer market, which cost Citigroup $4.4 billion in credit losses and $2.5 billion to increase reserves. Analysts had expected a loss of 66 cent a share.

The bank has recorded more than $56 billion in credit losses and write-downs in the last four quarters. Citigroup lost more than $17 billion in that time. And its share price has fallen nearly 70 percent since the credit market began to tighten.

And Market Watch on Merrill:

Merrill Lynch & Co. reported a $4.65 billion second-quarter net loss late Thursday as the brokerage firm was hit by more write-downs on large mortgage-related exposures.

The firm also said it agreed to sell its 20% stake in Bloomberg LP back to the media company for $4.425 billion. It also plans to sell a controlling interest in its Financial Data Services unit, which has an enterprise value of more than $3.5 billion.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Merrill to A2 from A1 after the results.

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Citigroup Inc. (C: 19.74 +9.85%) reported a net loss for the 2008 second quarter of $2.5 billion, or $0.54 per share, as write-downs and credit costs helped push the nation’s largest banking institution by assets into the red for the third consecutive quarter. Q2’s results were substantially better than the $5.1 billion loss reported one [...]