When does it go from "Too good to be true" to simply TRUE?

I have been talking to hundreds of people about the Principal Reduction Refinance program lately and all too often people tell me that it just sounds too good to be true. I admit, I agree, but with the federal government shoveling money to all the big banks and insurance companies, you have to wonder at what point some of this money will trickle down to us common folk.

Well like most things government related, the money is there, you just have to know where to look for it and how to grab some for yourself. This is no easy feat, believe me. Not only do you need to know that there is money there, but you have to know where "there" is. Your probably going to need to know the specific lingo and its going to take some time.

Problem is, most of us have a regular life. We have jobs, kids, commitments, responsibilities. We don't have the 5-10 hours a week that it would take to get through all of the road blocks and red tape. It's frustrating and, more often than not, just doesn't seem worth the effort. Especially when everyone is telling you that it can't be done.

But then I come along and tell you it CAN be done, and I show you proof. I show you examples of people we have helped to shave hundreds of Thousands of dollars off their mortgages. I show you how we have saved people hundreds of dollars a month on their mortgages. And I show you that all of this can be done without having to be delinquent on your mortgage.

And what does everyone say?

"It sounds too good to be true."

Well do me a favor. If you have read this far, please go to this link:

http://www.streetinsider.com/Economic+Data/Obama+Updates+Mortgage+Program+To+Include+Second+Mortgage+And+To+Refinance+Underwater+Borrowers/4594412.html

This is an article from the Street Insider that talks about the Obama Administration not only supporting Short Payoff Refinancing, but is actively forcing banks to consider them. Of course the banking industry will fight this, but with all the TARP funds they have accepted from the Government, they aren't going to fight it for long.

Question is, are you going to get in early and get your share of the Billions of TARP dollars or are you going to sit there and tell yourself "It sounds too good to be true."

Would you walk 50 Miles for a Friend? Would they walk that far for you?

Good morning everyone, today is Friday, August 21, 2009 and I am Vince Scuncio, your mortgage dude.

I have to be honest with you; the last several months have been incredibly stressful for me. The ups and downs of the mortgage business, the overregulation by the government and the just plain stupidity and unprofessionalism of the lenders we broker to drives me nuts. It got to the point where I could barely sleep at night.

But yesterday I had a rude awakening, literally. I woke up with my side really hurting and within an hour it felt like I had a 100 pound weight on my chest. Feeling that it is better to be safe than sorry I went to the emergency room where they ran all these tests on me for several hours. The good news is that I am fine, mainly stress.

But while I laid there I could hear the sounds of the patients in the other rooms who weren’t getting the same good news and I began to realize that I take my health, and the health of my family for granted. I may not be at the top of my game right now, but this is simply a chapter of life that will soon pass.

This leads me to why I am writing this today.

Recently I had the opportunity to reconnect with one of my best friends from when I was in the Navy, Cindy Pressley. We spoke for quite a while about life over the years and what is going on now. Seems Cindy is training to do a 50 mile walk for MS next month. Hell I don’t even like to Drive 50 miles but Cindy is doing in to raise money and awareness for MS.

You see, in 2006 her best friend Jannea Varni was diagnosed with MS when she went to see her doctor for what she thought was an eye infection. Turns out it wasn’t.

So Jannea and Cindy decided to do this walk and have been training all summer long for it.

But they need help. In order to participate with all the other walkers, they need to each raise $2500.00. Right now they are both at $1325.00 so they are a little over half way to their goal. But they are running out of time.

And this is where you come in.

I know times are tough right now. Everyone is cutting back and charitable giving is the first thing to go. Ironically, Starbucks still seems busy.

But I am not asking for much here. Even $5.00 will make a difference and if you don’t have it please forward this video to as many people as you can. I know that the power of the internet can help Cindy and Jannea blow through their goal in no time flat.

So here is what you do. Go to www.mymschallenge.com. The link is down here to your right and also right on the page here. When you get there, go to Donor and enter either Cindy Pressley or Jannea Varni and then follow the prompts to donate. It’s that easy and your money goes to a great cause and helps a very special person fight for a cure.

Thanks again for your help everyone. Remember, if you can or cannot donate, please forward this video to everyone you can and together we can make a difference.

Commercial Foreclosure Tsunami heading your way!

Commercial projects have always lagged residential projects. Case in point, Wal Mart doesn't build a Mega Store and wait for people to build around it right? No, residential builders build homes and then the commercial projects follow the people. So why is this important you might wonder?

Well right now you may have heard that we are in the biggest residential correction in over 50 years. In a previous Blog I mentioned that upwards of 14 Million people are upside down on their homes and that number is expected to climb to well over 50 Million. People who are upside down are statically more likely to walk away from their current mortgage than people who have some equity position in their home. When people walk, it drags down the neighborhood, further depressing values. And when enough people leave a neighborhood, they stop shopping at the local stores and going to dinner at the local restaurants and shopping for clothes at the local Mervyns.

What happens next is obvious. Mervyns shuts down. But they don't go down alone. Typically when a big box store, or what is called an "Anchor Tenant" leaves a shopping complex it takes all that traffic with it. The small mom and pop shops go under, and the cycle deepens.

My point to all of this is that when the big stores go under it causes a ton of vacancies and there is no one to lease to right now. When you can't lease your complex, you can't pay your mortgage and when that happens you default.

But we aren't talking small home loans. A lot of these loans are in the 10's of Millions of dollars and can take down the bank with them. Case in point is the government shut down of Colonial BancGroup Inc on Friday, the biggest U.S. bank to collapse this year with about $25 billion in assets.

Where this is going to hit home is that a lot of the smaller regional banks that are still standing didn't service most of the home loans that they originated, if they even originated home loans, but most of them have a substantial percentage of their portfolios in Commercial Paper.

And we haven't even seen THAT Tsunami hit yet.

14 Million Americans upside down....And Counting

I just read an interview with Karen Weaver of Deutsche bank who quotes that 14 Million Americans are upside down on thier homes. And by 2011, more than 48% of Mortgage holders will be upside down.

But it gets worse. According to the Housing Vacancy Survey conducted by the US Census Bureau, there were over 111 Million Occupied units in 2008. Doing the math, that means by 2011 experts are predicting that 53 Million Mortgage holders will be upside down on thier properties.

To add insult to injury, new reports are also coming out about a commerical loan meltdown, which is being caused by high commercial vacancy rates because of the slow down in the economy.

Doom and Gloom, Doom and Gloom.

Or is it?

John D. Rockefeller was quoted as saying "The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets."

I would venture to say that the streets are pretty bloody right about now in the housing market and NOW is the time to buy. Houses that we selling at the top of the market for $250,000+ are now selling for as little as $50,000. Rents are high, prices and rates are low.

And recessions end!.

My Favorite Quote

Action Conquers Fear!

What is a Short Refinance?

Just about everyone has heard about Mortgage Modifications. As stated in a previous Blog, I believe a Mortgage Modification is like putting lipstick on a pig, but that is another topic. What isn't being publisized is Principal Reduction Refinancing or "Short Refi's".

What is a Short Refinance?

A Short Refinance or "Short Refi" is where the lender agrees to take a reduced payoff on an exsisting lien in return for getting that lien off of thier books. The goal is to get a payoff demand from your current lender for about 90% of CURRENT MARKET VALUE in order to refinance the current lien into a Government Backed 30 year fixed rate loan. In my previous Blog I addressed why the Lenders are willing to do this. And not all lenders are. If you have a loan with ING, your not going to get anywhere. Like wise with Bank of America and Wells Fargo, who, ironically recieved some of the largest TARP checks.

I'm not saying that Bank of America, Wells Fargo or some of the other banks won't agree to this, but it's not going to happen overnight.

Stay tuned to hear about the possible tax consequences of Short Refi's

The Dirty 11 letter "S" word!

Times are tough. Gone are the days of sitting by the phone and taking orders, be it real estate or loans. Housing sales are down, Investors have taken their money and run and just about everyone who can refinance a house has done so. In Placer County alone over 20% of the members of the local Board of Realtors have not renewed their membership. There is no more business to be had. It looks like we are in for a bad run for a while.
Or maybe not.
The problem as I see it is that the people who are going to drop out of the business lack a clear job description. What does that mean, you may ask? Try this little test. Pick any Realtor or Loan officer in your office and ask them what they do for a living. Most Real Estate Agents will tell you that they help people attain the American Dream, or Make homes a reality, or some other non-sense and most Loan Officers will tell you that they are a Consultant to their clients, etc, etc. This is all fine and good but it only tells part of the story.
What I can guarantee you won't hear is "I am a salesperson!"
Why is that? We are all in sales whether you like it or not. You date someone, you are selling them on yourself. You talk to your kids, you are selling them on yourself. You interview for a job, you are selling them on yourself. And when you talk to someone about buying, selling or refinancing a house, you are selling them on yourself. But no one wants to be a "salesperson". We acquaint that name to used cars and insurance, both of which usually leave a bad taste in your mouth.
But the reality is that we are salespeople first and foremost, what we sell is ourselves.
Once you accept this fact, it is amazing how easy business becomes. You see, a dream maker waits patiently for the client to call. The salesperson makes the call. Is it important to take great care of your clients? Duh! I'm not saying churn and burn thru people. THats what Car salespeople do. But you can't be afraid of the phone. My Insurance guy, Brendan, calls 100 people per day! He laughed at me when I told him I was having difficulty finding the time to call my 15 people per day.
You want to double your business by March? Here is the secret pill.
Pick up the phone and dial away. Call 15 people per day, Monday thru Friday, 10 you know and 5 you don't. Keep a call log and turn it in to someone who will hold you accountable. (I have had to wear a tutu and almost had to wash cars in a Thong.) If you don't know 10 people, call 15 that you don't know. Where do you get 15 people that you don't know? Pick up a phone book, visit the local Chamber of Commerce, Join a network group, call business associates like Attorney's, CPA's, Dentists, etc. I guarantee that you will have 2-5 new transactions in 60 days.

Why Mortgage Modifications SUCK and here is the solution!

I have some great news for you homeowners out there that owe more on your house than it is worth, which should include just about everyone in California. Many of you have been told that you cannot qualify for a Mortgage Modification because you are not late on your payments. So basically people who fall behind are getting rewarded and people who are paying their mortgage as agreed are being penalized.

Now I am not beating up those people who have legitimate reasons for their financial difficulties. Trust me, I am in the mortgage industry, we have had our fair share of hits to our income.

What I am talking about are those people who have been caught in the crossfire of the housing meltdown, those people who have watched the values of their homes drop like rocks and find themselves, $50,000 or more upside down in their primary residence. Those people who figure they have no other options than to wait it out as they aren’t willing to sacrifice their good credit to fall behind.

If you are in the Mortgage Modification Business then I am going to apologize in advance for pissing you off but Mortgage Modifications are a joke. They are the big banks band aids on gaping wounds. First of all, the typical modification does nothing to address the total lack of equity in a home. Banks will reduce interest rates or extend terms to artificially reduce your payments for a short term, but someday you have to pay the piper right?

Secondly, you can call the bank yourself and get help. Of course this is a simplification. I mean, I pay a mechanic to fix my car because he knows what he is doing, but theoretically I could fix it myself.

But either way, if my car doesn’t work, I don’t pay the guy to fix it. Makes sense right? But that isn’t how these Modification companies are working, which is why the attorney generals of over a dozen states are going after them with a vengeance.

Regardless, in most cases, to obtain a mortgage Modification, you have to become delinquent before the bank will talk to you.

But what if I could offer you a solution that get you out of that current loan and into a new Government backed, 30 year fixed rate loan with a loan amount that is LESS than what your house is CURRENTLY worth, without damaging your credit?

This is not a modification. This is a brand new loan at 95% of what your house is currently worth. No prepayments, no balloons, nothing.

Why would the banks do something like this, you are probably asking? Well, if you have been watching the news, you are seeing that Congress is hammering the banks to do something about this mess that they created, and FAST.

Here is an example:

Let’s say you have a loan with Bank of whomever. You owe $400,000 but your house is only worth $300,000. Now multiply that by the 1000’s of homes that they service. That bank holds notes for 4 Billion dollars on assets that are only worth 3 Billion. That’s INSOLVENCY. And that is what prompts the government to come in and take you over.

So the banks have already written down billions in losses and want to get these negative loans off their books and onto someone else’s. They don’t advertise this because, well, why should they, your still making your payments on time RIGHT??

But I know their secret and I have watched dozens of people reduce their mortgages by hundreds of thousands of dollars and I can help you or anyone you know who has GOOD credit and income and who is upside down on their home strip away negative equity from their homes.

I don’t want to go into all the specifics here, as I could easily spend an hour doing so, but this IS NOT A MORTGAGE MODIFICATION!!! If you want to know more, my contact information is right there to your right. Call me, email me, smoke signals, I don’t care.

So if you, or someone you know might be interested in learning how they can strip away the negative equity in their home, please forward this video to them. I guarantee that you personally know dozens of people who could use my help, and it doesn’t cost them anything to talk to me.

And do me a favor; give me some feedback below right here. Let me know what I can do to help you or someone that you know.

Thanks again for your time. I hope you have a great end of summer and, if you have kids, fun time school shopping.