Advice, Community & Common Sense

I am providing this spot as an update area for the recent changes occuring in the mortgage markets, mostly effecting the Jumbo and Alt-A programs.  This has been created by the resistance on Wall Street to invest in these instruments until more transparency of these pools of mortgages can be realized, as a result of the blending of A-paper high quality mortgages with Alt-A and even Sub-Prime loans in tranches of Collaterallized Debt Obligations (aka "CDOs").

I will provide links to articles and reports as they become available and I am able to update them after reviewing for appropriate content.  Some of the referenced material may require either a free registration by the source (i.e., LA Times, MarketWatch, News Tribune, CNBC.com, etc.), or a paid subscription (i.e., Barron's, Wall Street Journal, etc.).

The now infamous "Implode-O-Meter" is at:  http://ml-implode.com/.  They track the lenders closing their doors or filing for bankruptcy.  Also have articles and commentaries for rumors of all kinds, so please read carefully.

Second mortgage fixed rates are holding up quite well.  In light of the recent blow up in the mortgage markets on Wall Street affecting Sub-Prime, "Alt-A" and now Jumbo mortgages, second mortgage rates have held up pretty well in comparison.  However, underwriting guidelines are changing frequently, and many former 100% combined-loan-to-value ("CLTV") lending sources have eliminated those programs lately.

What does this mean to you?  Many Jumbo mortgage clients with ARM loans due to adjust in the next year or so, who plan on keeping their homes more than another 5 years, are converting their loans to "Piggybacks" using a Conforming 1st mortgage and a 2nd mortgage combination of 30-Year fixed rates.  The new loans simply total the balance of their current Jumbo ARM.  The effective "Blended Rate" of these Piggybacks are MUCH better than the current 30-year Fixed Jumbo market offers.

Contact us for more information if this situation applies to you or your friends, family or co-workers.