Loan Think

In this new section we will explore some rules of selling in detail. Many come from a book from Murray Raphael entitled "52 Ways You Can Achieve Sales Success." While these rules really apply to almost any type of sale I will be sharing with you the personal experiences I have had with these concepts as they apply to the mortgage industry.

Home prices are beginning to firm up in the San Diego area. According to MDA DataQuick, in July the median home price in San Diego was $320,000 compared to $280,000 in January at was presumably the height of the recession. However, in July a year ago the median price was $364,000. (In 2005 the median price was $520,000.) Despite the recent rise in prices, analysts are hardly expecting a return to rapid price appreciation. Negatives hanging over the market: high unemployment in the state, rising mortgage rates and as I keep mentioning, an end to hefty state and federal tax credits for homebuyers. Meanwhile, in this past weekend's column I forgot to mention that GMAC (through its Ally Bank affiliate) is beginning to ramp up its warehouse lending unit. Back during the boom years of mortgage banking, GMAC/RFC had commitments north of $18 billion -- $2 billion of which was multifamily-related . Will it ever see those volumes again? Certainly, the need is there...

Over the last couple of weeks, I've received comments from readers (please do comment on these posts and ask questions if you like) that indicate to me there is still a thirst for the basics of the reverse mortgage product, namely how it works and why it's so important to seniors. While we could go into a great deal of content and detail, space will allow me to say just so much here today.

I'm on assignment in the San Diego area, Carlsbad to be exact. A few weeks ago I was on the Jersey shore (Ocean City) and discovered -- to my surprise -- that not many vacation properties were for sale. However, in the Carlsbad vicinity, the situation is a bit different. There seems to be a fair amount of homes for sale -- and plenty of vacation rentals. I met a fisherman on the beach one morning who told me his son recently bought a house in the area for $350,000. Two years ago, the same house would've fetched $550,000, he said. (The home is a bit inland though.) It seems to be a buyer's market ($500,000 is cheap for anything near the coast). But what will happen when California's $10,000 home buyer tax credit wears off next spring? More later...

Many people associate the Internet with the Wild West - a lawless place where almost anything goes, including trampling over copyrights.In reality, said several experts on the topic, that is not the case. Furthermore, be careful, what you post on a social network site can come back to bite you.For example, E. Thomas Watson, an attorney with the Charlotte, N.C., law firm of Robinson, Bradshaw and Hinson, notes that "creating a catchy viral marketing campaign or YouTube clip can be a big boost for business, but these endeavors are not a panacea for sluggish sales.

48 STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NOW HAVE ENACTED THE SAFE ACT; 14 ARE IN EFFECT NOW

Now that Joe Murin has hung up his cowboy boots at the Government National Mortgage Association there’s a growing fear in the industry that his departure could delay the agency from getting involved in aiding the warehouse lending industry. “He was definitely the point guy there on the issue,” said one warehouse consultant, requesting anonymity. A friend of Murin’s told National Mortgage News that, “Clearly he was the guy heading the effort. And it’s not like there’s a lot of people working at that agency.” Meanwhile, it appears that BB&T Corporation is the leading bidder to buy Colonial Bancshares of Alabama, the troubled bank that is also the nation’s largest warehouse provider. But will BB&T keep Colonial’s warehouse unit? Here’s the good news: BB&T is already in the warehouse business. Read the NMN website for an update later today...

Thought I would let you in on a secret, well at least a little known fact.

THIS JUST IN: Late this past week there was a bunch of chatter about the nonperforming loan market including a rumor that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. might be offering for auction a $1.4 billion package of troubled whole loans, including some FHA product. An agency spokesman had not returned a telephone call as this column went to press. As one nonperforming loan investor told us, "They have a bunch of that crap to sell." Meanwhile we understand that Bank of America has been quietly disposing of some of its troubled whole loans (which likely came from Countrywide) by selling them to two different hedge funds, one of which goes by the name of Waterfall. (At least $2 billion may've been sold.) We Googled the name Waterfall and could only come up with a Waterfall Investments in York, Ontario. Stay tuned. Also, in Monday's National Mortgage News we're publishing a story about a smaller pool being offered by BoA. Don't subscribe? Call 800-221-1809...

We keep hearing talk that American International Group is going to peel off and securitize another chunk of the $9 billion non-prime whole loan portfolio belonging to its American General Financial Services unit in Indiana. But will the now-publicly traded PennyMac get a piece of the deal like it did last time? (Its stock has floundered since its IPO.) Meanwhile, Guaranty Bank of Texas is expected to be taken over by the government and then sold. Guaranty announced its intentions to exit the warehouse lending business earlier this year but still has a few lines open. And in one other warehouse note, Bank of America has sued the troubled Colonial Bancgroup (the nation’s largest warehouse lender) seeking the return of $1 billion in collateral. BoA is the collateral agent for $1 billion in loans made to Ocala Funding LLC, a commercial paper vehicle sponsored by (are you ready for this?) Taylor, Bean & Whitaker. TBW – once thought to be a white knight for Colonial – is expected to file for bankruptcy protection shortly...