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Wicked 2007-08-24 12:37:50     Last night the family and i went to see Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz.  The family and I like to go see at least one show per year.  This can be a musical, ballet, etc.  This year's show tickets were a birthday present to my better half.  I'll admit to being a closet fan of the Wizard of Oz but she is a huge fan.     The show was at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.  I've been to the venue before to see the ballets, The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet.  It's a good venue as long as you don't sit too far back in any one of the sections as you lose the view of the very top of the stage.  Our seats were good and we got to see everything that happened.     The story was completely amazing and for anyone who has knows just the basics of the Wizard of Oz story, a show that must be seen.  There is some humor that is injected but overall I was amazed at how the back story told here can forever change your perception of Dorothy, ...

Understanding Flow-based Correspondent Lending 2007-08-24 10:14:52 We’ve had many inquiries about what direct lenders are and how the bank food chain is set up from top to bottom. To help answer those questions I’ve created a 2 part video that discusses the intracacies of flow-based correspondent lending. Flow-based lending is typical for small direct, correspondent lenders. Please note that this does not represent all mortgage banking and correspondent banking scenarios it is accurate for smaller flow-based correspondent scenarios. View the video here. As always we appreciate your feedback. Stay tuned for the next video in this series which uncovers some of the reasons that people start correspondent lending; and identifies the additional profit centers opened up by the switch. ...

Ecoplace Community for Whitby 2007-08-24 07:02:10 It’s exactly what Whitby’s been looking for “? an opportunity for living and working in one place. When the planned Ecoplace Community by the Lake is completed, it’s expected to provide homes for 14,000 and jobs for 10,000. That’s huge for Whitby, says Mayor Pat Perkins. As Durham Region’s fastest-growing municipality, Whitby has homes but not jobs for new residents, Perkins explains. “People are spending two to three hours on the highway every day” to get to work in Toronto. “The highlight of this development is the employment opportunities for residents.” Preliminary plans for the first phase of the development include a 20-storey office tower, 700 units in three condominium highrises and retail stores. “It will be the place to be east of Toronto.” says developer Saverio Montemarano. See article in the Toronro Star » ...

Toronto ranks 5th most livable city 2007-08-24 02:41:30 Vancouver takes top ranking for fifth year in a row in Economist magazine survey Vancouver has been ranked the best place to live in the world for the fifth year in a row in a survey by the Economist magazine, while Toronto took fifth place out of 132 cities. The two Canadian cities rank among the top five because they have low crime rates, little threat from instability or terrorism, and a highly developed transport and communications infrastructure, says the survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Vancouver scored a livability index of 1.3 per cent, with zero indicating exceptional quality of living and 100 indicating life there is intolerable or severely restricted. A good transportation system helped Vancouver top the Economist’s list of the world’s most livable cities, again. Australia also fared well in the survey, securing four spots among the top 10 cities. Algiers came in at the bottom of the ranking. Nine cities, including Algiers, present the worst-case ...

Peace, Love and Props (to our sponsors) 2007-08-23 22:23:52 I just wanted to take a breather and throw a few shout outs (did I really just say that?) to our sponsors and supporters. I highly recommend visiting them and showing some love. All of these folks pay to be here because they can help people like YOU! MyFICO.com - Credit is king these days. MyFICO.com lets you manage your report and keep an eye on your score, with out presky trigger-lead phone calls. An invaluable service. My wife and I use it ourselves. I’ve raised my personal score over 100 points in less than two years (through hard work and being cognizant of my score) using MyFICO.com. OfferAngel.com - Blown Mortgage is all about transparency and honesty. OfferAngel.com offers both. Consumers - is your head swimming from the myriad mortgage offers you’ve received? Get clarity and insight in to what each offer really is. Loan officers - tired of dealing with bait-and-switch bozos promising the moon to unwitting customers? Wipe those clowns (donkeys, frauds, m ...

IndyMac wades back in to the jumbo market 2007-08-23 18:43:40 After hastily eliminating jumbo loans a couple of weeks ago due to a lack of buyer interest on the secondary market IndyMac announced today a return of the loan product.  Well, a return of sorts.  Jumbo loans will now require full income documentation and a minimum borrower equity position of 15% in the property.  IndyMac is planning on holding those loans in its portfolios until secondary market interest returns. While its a welcome development to the jumbo market - it still is vastly restricted from the standards available to borrowers only 4 weeks ago. One has to wonder though, is IndyMac gambling with its liquidity in an attempt to win business from other competitors?  If cash is currently king during this credit crunch, why is IndyMac willing to tie up a large portion of its available cash in jumbo mortgages? Jumbo borrowers, even those with prime credit, are severely restricted as of late as the secondary market has lost all appetite for jumbo loans (loans above Fannie Mae an ...

Bank of America says “No more garbage loans!”� 2007-08-23 14:49:28 Bank of America just sent out an announcement to all of their brokers stating that Friday will be the last day of any stated income loans or no income loans.  This officially marks the beginning of the end of the stated income loan days - if BofA is making the change the rest can’t be far behind. From Bank of America: Expanded Criteria and Conforming Adjustment Changes August 23, 2007 Bank of America continues to evaluate market conditions to determine necessary changes and improvements to help our products fit an ever-changing environment. As a result, we will be making the following changes: Expanded Criteria Products All Expanded Criteria products will be suspended until further notice.  Expanded Criteria products include, but are not limited to, Stated Income/Stated Asset, Stated Income/Verified Asset, No Income/No Asset, No Ratio and 80/20. All Expanded Criteria pipeline applications must be locked by end of day Friday, August 24th. Conforming Adjustments Bank of America i ... America

Countrywide’s Mozilo sees recession as likely 2007-08-23 09:51:12 In a televised interview last night chief executive officer of Countrywide, Angelo Mozilo, said he believes its likely that the troubles in the housing market will lead to a nation-wide recession. From a CNN article covering the interview: In a televised interview, Mozilo said, when asked if housing would lead the United States into a recession: “I think so … I can’t believe … that this doesn’t have a material effect … on the psyches of the American people and eventually on their wallet.” There is a “very serious situation going on” in the U.S. housing market, Mozilo told CNBC Television. “This environment is certainly not getting better.” Mozilo also went on the offensive regarding the Merrill downgrade of Countrywide stock last week. Mozilo in his own words called the downgrade “irresponsible behavior” on the part of the analysts who prepared the report. Countrywide as the nation’s largest mortg ...

The Home Renovation Decision 2007-08-23 07:29:23 Anyone who has lived through months of dusty floors, washed dinner dishes in the bathtub, and stayed with friends when the water in the house is off for two days knows major remodeling is an extraordinary pain. But letting go of what you have and trading up to a new home is not an easy decision. Ask yourself what factors are most important to you: Do you love your neighborhood? Are you near services and schools? What is your commute time? Is there room to renovate - considering lot size, etc.? Have you built up enough equity in your current home to justify spending on a remodel? You’ve heard the old adage “location, location, location.” If you already live in a desirable neighborhood, but the house vexes you because it has one bathroom, or a kitchen that was last updated in 1960, remodeling may be the answer. Timing and the Market Does it make sense to invest in a major renovation in your market? A renovation that will pay off in Toronto, may not pay off in Beaver ...

Bank of America Bets on Countrywide 2007-08-22 13:11:58 A scenario that many of the best financial theorists dreamed up over the last week amid speculation of a Countrywide bail out seems to be playing out in front of our eyes. Bank of America has taken a $2 billion equity stake is ailing Countrywide, the nation’s number one mortgage lender. From Market Watch: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Bank of America Corp. Bank of america corporation, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site late Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation. BofA will buy $2 billion worth of the mortgage company’s preferred stock yielding 7.25%, which can be converted into common stock at $18 per share, the Journal reported. ... America

The Web Is Becoming A Gigantic Lead-Generating Contraption for Business-As-Usual 2007-08-22 10:10:12 The Wall Street Journal’s Rebecca Buckman published an article yesterday depicting Redfin as the oddball on an ad-crazed Sand Hill Road. Which is unfortunately true. When we were meeting investors about our last round of financing, three huge deals for ad networks had just set venture capital abuzz: Microsoft bought aQuantive for $6 billion, Google bought Doubleclick for $3.1 billion, and Yahoo! bought RightMedia for $680 million. Eager to capitalize on the trend, many potential Redfin investors seemed genuinely shocked that Redfin doesn’t run any ads whatsoever. Serving customers directly via flesh-and-blood agents, rather than simply sending them from our website to a traditional brokerage — this is a much messier business than running ads. Yet having come to grips with this fact, investors couldn’t stop asking about “page views,” as if there were no other measure of a website’s success than how many ads it could have served. This page-view f ...

Lehman Brothers to Close BNC Mortgage 2007-08-22 09:46:24 Lehman Brothers announced today that they are closing the BNC Mortgage group. BNC was a huge subprime player; and is further evidence that the subprime mortgage industry is dead, dead, dead. The closure will result in the loss of approximately 1,200 jobs. Lehman will retain Aurora servicing as part of its business unit. You can learn more at CNBC or Market Watch; the BNC web site says its merging with Aurora, but the news is reporting that Lehman is closing the unit. More updates as they become available. ...

FNBA suspends wholesale originations 2007-08-22 07:27:45 1st National Bank of Arizona suspended wholesale operations effective yesterday. Here is a notice to their employees: **** CMC BROADCAST MESSAGE *** To: All Employees Priority: High 1st National Bank of Arizona (FNBA) has suspended Wholesale originations effective as of 1pm EDT (10am PDT) August 21, 2007. Wholesale locks received prior to 1pm EDT (10am PDT), August 21, 2007 will be honored. Requests for Edits or Extensions to locks after 1pm EDT (10am PDT) August 21, 2007 will not be accepted. We’ll keep you posted as this story develops. ...

Accredited Home Lenders - layoffs & no new loans 2007-08-22 05:54:31 Accredited Home Lenders has been up against the ropes for some time now and with the sale of the company to Lone Star private equity group hung up in court they pull the plug.  From Market Watch: Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., the San Diego mortgage-loan provider, said it would stop accepting new loan applications and would restructure, reducing the workforce by 62% to 1,000 from 2,600. The moves include closing its retail lending business as of Sept. 5, cutting 480 jobs. The company will continue to operate its customer-retention unit. It will close half its 10 wholesale divisions, cutting 490 positions and leaving 340 in the wholesale operation. Accredited said it would pare down its Inzura unit, which provides appraisal, title insurance and other settlement services. And it will cut 180 of 400 jobs at headquarters in San Diego. The company said it won’t take new loan applications but “will honor existing commitments” and will “resume wholesale loan o ... Amp

Cheap Home Staging 2007-08-22 04:18:38 Fake Furniture provides a unique sales tool to fill the empty spaces of vacant homes. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reports that staged homes sell an average of 17% higher than the listing price, which is why the home staging business is booming. But what if you don’t have a lot of cash to have the home properly staged, yet you want to help buyers visualize the living space? Or maybe you’ve already moved your stuff to a new home and you need to fill the home you’re selling so it doesn’t look empty and lifeless. Fake Furniture is a wonderful, new low-cost solution to staging vacant homes for sale, furnishing theater sets, trade show sets, and showrooms, where visualizing how ‘real’ furniture would best be located is important. Fake Furniture is made from cardboard boxes and easily assembled to produce full-scale, life-like furniture to help home buyer ...