Diane Gerdes's (dianegerdes) Blog

The predicted demise of the American Economy again has proven the soothsayers wrong again. Fannie and Freddie were handed “get out of jail free” cards by the Fed on Sunday, with extended credit lines they can access anytime they want. (I can’t even get my bank to reinstate my $25,000 home equity ...

A gentle breeze turned into a hurricane this week with the Wall Street gossip mongers howling that the lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are insolvent, sending their stocks into a steep decline. Proof? Wall Street doesn’t need any stinking proof, rumor and innuendo will work just fine tha...

Stop the hand wringing! The announcement from Fannie Mae on recent guideline changes are not so much about the changes but the enforcement.  The guidelines for Bankruptcies  has always been 4 years.  But in the drunken haze of 2005 and 2006 Fannie got a little lax and would allow BK's with as lit...

  Three years ago if any of the above went into a bar, the banker would have gotten preferential treatment, paid the tab and taken everyone to the Ocean Club for dinner.   Today, the banker, if he has a job, is probably in rehab.  The oil rigger and the farmer are too busy to party. Bankers have ...

If there is a knock on your door today and you are not in the U.S. illegally, it may be the Feds to ask you a few questions about any dubious real estate transactions you may have been involved in between 2004 and 2007. In March “Operation Malicious Mortgage” produced 144 cases nationwide with ap...

Our annual vacation to San Diego and the beach in our SUV with the kids and dogs has been replaced with a sleepover near the pool.  As you may remember our SUV is parked in the front yard keeping guard over our neighbor's gnomes. Why did the gas prices go up?   There are several reasons.  Economi...

Did you just attend an F.H.A. seminar sponsored by H.U.D. or by a non-lender?  Take all of the hand outs, walk to your nearest trash can, open the lid, and throw them away.  FHA is going through changes and the information you have may not benefit you or your clients.  The down payment assistance...

The week started out with the stock markets doing the happy dance after May’s surprising increase in retail spending. We were out shopping with our government rebate checks at Wal-Mart and Costco. The markets also loved the hawkish remarks from Ben Bernanke, Fed chairman, about the economy and th...

No one was sending roses to the U. S. bond markets this week after the 10 year treasuries (30 year fixed rates) were kissed by an ugly stick. The “stick” was the revision of the first quarter Gross Domestic Product (What we are buying; How much are we paying; If the products we are shipping outsi...

This weekend, we will be parking our gas thirsty SUV and walk to the movies to see Indiana Jones. Sticker shock took on a whole new meaning with gasoline in the United States hitting $4.00 a gallon and $9.00 a gallon in Europe (it is not a typo). After our long walk to the theater (since public t...