Lisa's Blog

Our society is a capitalist one, admittedly a fragile yet firmly planted one, based upon the natural swings of our markets - financial and otherwise, all carefully manipulated by the shrouded-in-secrecy, all powerful Fed (anyone out there read The Creature from Jekyl Island??).  But all confidenc...

The other day, I was deeply concerned about HR 3915 passing the House as written, because it could very well have put mortgage brokerages like mine out of business.   Why?  Because as a rule, I earn my living from lender-paid Yield Spread Premium (YSP), not origination points from the borrower.  ...

For many years, Wells Fargo and Citigroup have been leaders in funding and servicing home equity lines across the nation - both in the retail and wholesale arenas. According to CNNMoney.com, Wells Fargo announced today that it plans to liquidate $11.9 billion in home equity mortgage loans and the...

I just reread my first post tonight about the eye of the storm - it wasn't meant to be a sales pitch, but it does kind of sound like one on the re-read.  :)   My point was supposed to be that the mortgage market (and economy in general) is really in a funny spot right now and I don't expect the g...

Mortgage backed securities rallied today, and with some lenders, we saw rates on 30 year fixed, conforming full-doc loans at the best they have been in about two years.  For example, a 30 year fixed loan with fully documented income and assets, conforming loan amount (less than or equal to $417,0...

Today, Wachovia Corp announced a loss of $1.1 Billion in their Collateralized Debt Obligations, which are investments partially comprised of subprime mortgages and as a result, the stock market suffered losses. By now, most of us have at least some knowledge that there is a liquidity crisis in th...

Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Personal Bankers, CPA's, Escrow Officers, Financial Planners - we are all in an industry where social security and bank account numbers cross our desks many times on a daily basis.  We have an obligation to ensure that our client's information is safe. I've done more t...

As many of you are aware, this morning, New Zealand's Central Bank - their equivalent to our Fed - hiked rates to cool down their strong economic growth and fight inflation.  Australia will most likely follow suit, and the European Central Bank hiked their rates just yesterday.  The bond market i...

Mortgage Acceleration is when you combine your mortgage, checking or money market, savings, loans and credit cards into one account.  Doing this can make your money work for you -- potentially saving you thousands of dollars in interest.  Almost any type of property will qualify for this program,...