Posted by Todd/OH on 1/16/09 4:38pm
Msg #274778

Refi boom

I was talking to a banker friend for whom I did a closing last month. He states they are busy saving people money and their processors work into the evening to keep up.

I read that mortgage rates are lowest in years and apps are up. This is all great but my phone sits quiet. Anyone else slow??

Reply by cdoty_IL on 1/16/09 4:47pm
Msg #274780

Yes I also am not seeing a huge increase yet....but I am patiently waiting. I believe that due to the low volume and all the downsizing last year the lenders and TCs are running on minimum employees and therefore I am thinking that the turn around on this application boom might be slower. So I am hoping that EOM or in February the increase in phone calls will come. Let all hope!!!

Reply by Teddog/CO on 1/17/09 8:25am
Msg #274824

cdoty IL it has been a decent month so far here in Colorado. I'm sure everyone shares in your hope that February will reflect an increase in business. Only time will tell.

You are correct about TC's runnning on minimum employees. You can tell when you are playing the "waiting game" for docs when they get a little busy.

Have a great weekend

Reply by Ireneky on 1/16/09 4:49pm
Msg #274781

Slow here in KY also. Getting calls from new signing co's, seems there is alot of them out there, been burned too many times last year can't take the change sick of doing closings and not getting paid or worse a cold check. I'll stick with the one's I've been with for yrs. NO MORE SIGNING COMPANYS

Reply by Sandra Clark on 1/16/09 4:54pm
Msg #274782

Our business is up. Have closed more so far this Jan. than same period last Jan. and have 4 booked already for next week. Just saw docs for 4.8% interest (no buy down). Hope it keeps up and hope everyone else is busy also.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 1/16/09 7:46pm
Msg #274804

I've been busy since December. Super busy. It's been like the twilight zone! However, I've also been willing to drive a little farther than I used to for the same fee and that's one thing that's keeping my phone ringing.

However, since all the lenders and TC's have cut all their staff over the last two years, I'm starting to see mistakes on docs and very late docs once again on a somewhat regular basis.

Reply by Teddog/CO on 1/17/09 8:41am
Msg #274826

CopperheadVA

I've been doing the same as you expanded the areas I'll drive to and hours.

Gee, thought I was the only one seeing all the mistakes (State and County wrong on the first page but correct on the last page) good thing we read those docs Finding a lot of typos. I've had to call TC's a few times for RTC, Residential loan applications, one forgot the HUD and ID forms.

Have a great weekend

Reply by CopperheadVA on 1/17/09 4:23pm
Msg #274868

Re: CopperheadVA

Another thing I've seen a lot of recently is having docs for other borrowers sent to me in error. The other day, there were about 5 docs for someone else tacked on the the correct doc file for my borrower. Another time I received docs in two files - one was for my borrower and the other was for a borrower in another state with a similar first and last name. A few days ago I received a HUD out of the blue that was intended for another notary. Last week I received a package of loan e-docs that was for another notary. And just last night I realized right before I was to leave for the appt that the HUD I had received and printed hours earlier was for a completely different borrower. I think these TC employees are just so busy and are moving so fast that they attach the wrong file by accident or click on the wrong e-mail address to send to.

I personally hate e-docs and think most people would have a fit if they knew their personal info was flying around the internet in this fashion.

Reply by GA/Atty on 1/16/09 5:13pm
Msg #274787

Business is definitely up in my area. n/m

Reply by Linda Juenger on 1/16/09 6:04pm
Msg #274792

I have been very busy this week. n/m

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/16/09 6:47pm
Msg #274797

Did a refi for 4.875% tonight and 4.95% last night, but

the lenders are STILL up to their old tricks, IMO. Both of these loans were stated income and the one from last night had an absolutely ridiculous appraised value. I really don't know how a new home purchased in 2007 for $347,315 could appraise today at $360,000 even though the development is near bankruptcy, has slashed new home prices to the low $200s and area values are down 50% from 2006.

Anyone care to tell me how this can happen? I hate to mention the "F" word, as in fraud, but greedy appraisers had much to do with the mess this country's in right now.

Reply by jba/fl on 1/16/09 7:05pm
Msg #274798

There appears to be a "G" word involved as well: Greed n/m

Reply by MistarellaFL on 1/16/09 7:13pm
Msg #274800

Purchases are what I am seeing

No refi's here, except the occasional RM.

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/16/09 8:53pm
Msg #274812

No doubt! Appraisers are as slow as NSAs now, but that

doesn't mean we should start backdating to makeup for the loss of volume.

Greed has brought this country to its knees and it's so very sad.

Hey, Mozilla, how's that tan?

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/16/09 7:18pm
Msg #274802

Re: Did a refi for 4.875% tonight and 4.95% last night, but

"a new home purchased in 2007 for $347,315 could appraise today at $360,000 even though the development is near bankruptcy, has slashed new home prices to the low $200s and area values are down 50% from 2006"

Becca, just for giggles (and to confirm your suspicions) check the county assessor's office - I just had my house appraised and the drive-by came in right at what the assessor's office showed - which happens to be $20K less than what we paid 2.5 years ago AND after putting another $45K into the property. My understanding is the assessors aren't too far off from real market value....at least up here they're not. Just a thought.

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/16/09 8:19pm
Msg #274809

Linda, I emailed a Realtor/Investor I have worked w/ 4 years

He indicated that the Orlando Appraisal company had a very jaded past. Here's what he said...disinfected for public view.

RE: How is this possible?

Becca,

I would say yes. "ABC" is notorious for questionable appraisals.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/16/09 8:29pm
Msg #274810

Oooo..ouch... n/m

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/16/09 8:48pm
Msg #274811

I KNOW! n/m

Reply by Accesstoledo on 1/17/09 10:08am
Msg #274833

Re: Did a refi for 4.875% tonight and 4.95% last night, but

Seams as we have some life. Things perked up after 1/1. Couldn't have been worse than Nov & Dec

Reply by MW/VA on 1/16/09 7:59pm
Msg #274805

It's been busy here consistently--especially Christmas week. I've done a couple in the last week or so at 4.75 w/no tricks. These were people with great credit, etc., of course.
It looks like 2009 will be really good for refi's and purchases of foreclosure props.

Reply by Claudine Osborne on 1/16/09 10:16pm
Msg #274817

I have been busier in the last 6 weeks than the same period last year. Quite a few cash purchases, RM and refis. Already a few scheduled for next week. I expect that once lenders catch up with the apps the refinancing boom will hit everywhere!

Reply by VIP Mobile Notaries on 1/16/09 11:22pm
Msg #274819

North Texas is busy Re: Refi boom

I've seen a considerable increase this year. Starting this week most were about 4.55% to 4.85% interest loans.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 1/17/09 6:48am
Msg #274821

I have had several borrowers call me with their Wells Fargo Close At Home loan papers.
They come to me for a notary not for a signing agent, so I just have them pull out the three docs out of the package for notarizing and do those. Of course I can only charge the notary fee - $10 per notarization, but as the three docs only take about 5 minutes I don't mind.

Interesting the last couple, the husband was a little upset as Wells Fargo were escrowing, and the borrowers have always taken care of their own taxes and insurance without a problem (they were with Wells Fargo already). Wells Fargo told them they were no longer allowing borrowers to do their own taxes and insurance as their had been too many problems, and those borrowers with them that didn't have escrow with them were going to be getting letters telling them they would now have to escrow for taxes and insurance.

Our mortgage is through Wells Fargo and we take care of our own taxes and insurance. Have a special savings account for it where we make the interest. So I am not in favour of Wells Fargo asking us to escrow with them.

The RM's have picked up too, one LO has been really busy in the Polk county area so my notary in that area is doing well at the moment.
Hopefully it will pick up all over.

Reply by GWest on 1/17/09 11:39am
Msg #274836

Wells Fargo requiring impounds

I have never had an impound account and have always paid my own taxes and insurance. After reading this I pulled my loan documents (with WF) and I don't believe they can force you to impound at a later day unless you fail to pay your taxes and insurance on time. I read through the form "Escrow Account Notice to Borrower" and it states they can only require an impound account if you don't pay your taxes and insurance on time. If they try to impound after the fact I will certainly fight them on it.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 1/17/09 12:48pm
Msg #274844

Re: Wells Fargo requiring impounds

I will scream too if they try to force me to escrow for taxes and insurance.
Last time I had a company escrow for taxes, they didn't pay the first month it was due (if you pay the first month there is a discount for paying early), they always waited until the last month, which meant we paid the maximum in taxes.
We always pay as soon as we get the bill to get the lower taxes.

Reply by Julie/MI on 1/17/09 12:36pm
Msg #274842

we have wells too

We don't escrow either, BUT if they want to refi my 5.5 to 4.5 I'll let them escrow!

Also, in my county the FHA maximum was recently reduced from $291,000 down to $271,000 and so many are upside down due to pulling out equity to pay ArtVan Furniture store for their crappy furniture and the appraisals are down so far, that no one can refi anyway regardless if applications are up. Sorry for the run-on off to son's hockey.

Reply by 101livescan on 1/17/09 8:30am
Msg #274825

I'm busy, and have been busy since mid December, loan mods, loan refi's, foreclosures still mounting. Did any one see the piece on CNN last night about the borrower whose lender told him it was easier to foreclosure on their clients than to work on a loan modification to help the borrowers stay in their homes? Guess we need to slap these greedy b#*$&# around a bit and get them to do the humane thing.

One of my local lenders told me this past week that they are extremely busy with refis in SB county, the one I signed was 4.875%, very stable borrowers, great LTV in the home. Those who can refi, will.

Just printed out edocs for esigning today, hitting the road early, busy day. Hope it takes off across the country for all of you on this board.

Reply by Teddog/CO on 1/17/09 9:37am
Msg #274830

101livescan long

Re:CNN Any lender that would rather do a foreclosure then help the borrower because they don't want to "work on a loan modification" that is just disgusting. They should be reported and brought to task by the government and the states involved.

The sad truth is the only way the government can really "help" homeowners is to freeze the home payments for 6 months or until the lenders complete the requested modifications. If the government did this you would see a modification done in under two days. Plus the government wouldn't have to be asking "What did you do with that bail-out money we gave you."

JMO but a "person" could get the idea that it's just another scam to acquire loads of dirt cheap properties and hang onto them until the housing market recovers and make another killing. This mess we are all caught up in started because of greed. Now the government can't get lenders to account for the bail out money that was supposed to help people save their homes. Gee anyone surprised by that. Another problem thousands of people are filing for bankruptcy. That will eliminated thousands of people from being able to even get a car loan let alone purchase a home.

No state/country can afford to have thousands of people living on the streets. Just here in Colorado the Human Services departments are at their breaking point. Not to mention the rise in crime. The term "no man is an island" comes to mind none of us is exempt from this fiasco. Each and every day thousands of Americans are being laid off. The government had better do something Very fast before the lid blows off completely.

Sorry this is so long but I find the whole situation appalling.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 1/17/09 10:33am
Msg #274835

Great thread. Yes, even here in sparsely populated

Central Oregon Coast, much more activity.

From 4.25%-7% - with lower rates for no-cash out refis, to higher rates for consolidations. Purchases picking up, and tons of RMs.

Some of the the apps are worrisome, though. I'm seeing the same sleazy fast-talkers trying to justify humongous fees to hopeful refi-ers...and borrowers throwing down their pens in disgust. One LO *hung up* on a prospective borrower when she confronted his non-disclosures of all the fees -

Read a report this week about the return of the sleazebags with their greedy, lying ways, opening up new companies - praying on the most desperate and vulnerable - which I suppose is par for the course - but somehow I feel hopeful that there will be more oversight/auditing/policing - some curtailing of the greedy bad actors preying on the undereducated, the desperate, the easy marks.

Here's to a new year, here's to all of you, and here''s to ample work for us all. Things are so dire, we can only get better!

Reply by Dorothy_MI on 1/17/09 11:59am
Msg #274838

If there was a refi boom

a public board would be the LAST place I would post. If word gets out that the "good times are back" (and heavens knows they're not) we will again be flooded with hoards of newbies plus all the others that have gone on to greener pastures deciding that if it's that good they will either a. come back on a part time basis (and undercut the going rate because they are not relying on this as their only source of income) or b. encourage the XYZ (and many others) to start their classes on "how to make a fortune overnight in the signing business". So if the refi boom does happen, advertise it at your own peril.

Reply by Julie/MI on 1/17/09 12:38pm
Msg #274843

You're right Dorothy!

You typed what I was thinking.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/19/09 2:24am
Msg #275005

A big "Amen" to that!!

I've read in several places that the number of new applications is way up. However, I recently spoke to a loan officer client of mine who said that people are having a waaaay more difficult time qualifying for those loans. So while they are very, very busy, a fairly small percentage of the applications make it all the way through the process. In fact, nearly all of the refi's I've seen lately have been people with nearly pristine credit histories.

Dorothy is so right, though. All we need is another surge of advertising of loan signing classes to flood the market. I can't imagine having to go through another downward spiral like the last time: decreasing fees, increasing instructions, threats, hand-holding and baby-sitting... And everything needs to be put into a contex. Especially after the holidays this past year (which tend to be slow anyway), nearly anything will look like a spurt of business to some folks.

Reply by Todd/OH on 1/17/09 5:19pm
Msg #274873

If there was a refi boom

I was just curious if anyone was experiencing what I had heard.

If those idiot ripoff brokers are coming back, I hope the borrower "pulls power" and puts the pen down. I really don't want to contribute to more mess by notarizing bad paper. The bank buying the paper needs to pull out the "higher power" magnifying glass when reviewing the loan package. They can always require a repurchase with the broker.

I would also imagine that it's tougher for a broker to get approved for a purchase line. If it isn't, it should be.