NEWZ://U.S targets JPMorgan executives/The housing market is like a teeter-totter
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'No corner was cut, nothing was too expensive': the strange story of the most expensive private listing in America - $159 million
Excerpts:
Robert Pereira had a vision to build a 'spectacular' home for his family, but never moved in. With $3m dollars in gold leaf on the property, what's not to like?
Sometimes, the 11 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms in your house simply aren't enough. Just ask construction tycoon Robert Pereira, whose 60,500-square feet Florida mega-mansion went back on the market this week because he apparently changed his mind about wanting to live there.
The asking price of $159m makes it the most expensive private listing in the country. The lucky buyer of the 4.4 acre Hillsboro Beach estate, if there ever is one, will become the proud owner of an on-site nightclub, ice-skating rink, bowling alley, go-kart circuit and private Imax cinema alongside the cavernous residence.
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Coester VMS getting hate mail for American Girl feature including photos of two gay dads
Get ready for one circuitous story
Excerpts:
First, doll-maker American Girl ran (an) article about foster child Amaya and her two dads, one of whom works at Coester.
While not the primary focus of the article, several action groups took pause at the inclusion of the two, gay fathers in the article.
Most notably, the group One Million Moms called for a boycott of American Girl...
...
Here's the thing. One of the dads featured in article, Rob Scheer, heads the operations of a charity called Comfort Cases. Scheer is a senior vice president at Coester, which runs Comfort Cases.
"Basically, the offices of Comfort Cases share space with the Coester offices," Coester said. "We're getting hate letters to the office."
"The backlash, and the support has been amazing," he added.
Coester explained they started Comfort Cases in response to Scheer's own experience growing up in foster care.
My comment: I know Coester gets some negative comments from appraisers. Congrats to Coester for helping children in foster care!!
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USPAP Q&As Nov. 17, 2015
2015-14: APPRAISAL REVIEW
Review For an Ethics Committee
Question: Does STANDARD 3 apply to a review of an appraisal report performed by an Ethics Committee or a Board of Examiners of a professional appraisal organization?
2015-15: ETHICS RULE - CONDUCT
Does Disclosure of Prior Services Apply to Appraiser or Property?
2015-16: APPRAISAL REVIEW
Definition of Value in Appraisal Review Reports
Link to the recent Q&As
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How to reduce your stress and be more productive
Excerpts from my July 15, 2015 article in the paid Appraisal Today:
Since AMCs took over appraisal management after HVCC in 2008, many appraisers have had much less control over their businesses. The less control you have, the greater your stress. The ever increasing Scope Creep, requests for revisions, etc. has caused dramatically increasing stress levels for many appraisers.
In this article, I provide many, many ways to reduce stress. A few examples: throwing a smurf ball at a picture of an AMC logo (or a photo of what you imagine the reviewer or underwriter looks like), walking outside for 10-15 minutes, or doing tai chi or yoga. Pick those that you are interested in. They all work. Just Do It!!
You can't eliminate stress, but you can change your reaction to stress. When I was in college, I felt very stressed. I met with a local psychologist once, who gave me a relaxation tape that changed my life. I still feel stressed, but the relaxation techniques really helped.
I know what it is like to keep "steaming" for several days about a hassle from a client, particularly when it is a nuisance call with irrelevant questions.
What happens when you "steam" for several days? The client has won, even if they don't care. The time you spend on the appraisal is significantly magnified, even if you're just thinking about it. It is hard to concentrate on your other appraisals. Even worse, some appraisers get crabby with their family and friends, bringing more
people down.
To read the full article and lots more, sign up for the paid Appraisal Today!
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U.S. pursuing criminal cases against RBS, JPMorgan executives: WSJ
Excerpt from Reuters story:
Federal prosecutors are pursuing criminal cases against executives from the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS.L) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) for allegedly selling flawed mortgage securities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
People familiar with the probes said officials were trying to determine whether the bankers ignored warnings from associates that they were packing too many weak mortgages into investment offerings and whether they can prove that constituted fraud, the newspaper said. (on.wsj.com/1QKB76u)
If filed, the charges would be among the first pursued against specific employees of the largest Wall Street firms over the housing collapse, the WSJ said.
Link to original Wall Street Journal article. Note: you may not be able to view this more than once unless you subscribe to WSJ.
My comment: The "little people" (loan officer, real estate agent, etc.) are regularly prosecuted, often with relatively small dollar amounts that they scammed, such as $50,000. Finally, prosecutors are looking at the "big boys". Of course, they have armies of attorneys to fight back. We will see if anything happens.
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The housing market is like a....
Another great post from Ryan Lundquist!!
Excerpts:
Here are a few. The housing market is like a:
Teeter Totter
The market is like a playground teeter-totter, it likes to be in balance, but adults keep coming along and screwing things up (Gary Kristensen).
Pizza
The Sacramento market is like a pizza. We are affordable, there is a piece for everyone, and even when we cool off a bit, we are still great (Barbara Lebrecht)
Parent who Threatens Consequences (and doesn't give them)
The Fed's talk of raising interest rates is like a parent who threatens consequences but doesn't give them. We all know interest rates will eventually increase in the future, but we've been hearing about an impending increase for years now. All we know for sure is rates will definitely, probably, maybe increase soon (Ryan Lundquist).
Multi-Layered Real Estate Cake
Value in a real estate market is like a multi-layered cake since there are many "layers" in the market that help impact or create value. When one of the layers changes, it can change the rest of the market. See more here (this is my favorite analogy to use). Source: Unknown (though I first heard it from Dennis Lanni over a cup of coffee years ago).
Read more "is like"... Worth reading. Interesting and fun. Wow!!
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HOW TO USE THE NUMBERS BELOW. Appraisals are ordered after the loan application. These numbers tell you the future for the next few weeks. For more information on how they are compiled, go to www.mbaa.org .
Note: I publish a graph of this data every month in my printed newsletter, Appraisal Today. For more information or get a FREE sample issue go to http://www.appraisaltoday.com/products.htm or send an email to mailto:info@appraisaltoday.com . Or call 800-839-0227, MTW 8AM to noon, Pacific time.
Mortgage applications increased 6.2 percent from one week earlier
...according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 13, 2015. This week's results included an adjustment for the Veterans Day holiday.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 6.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 6 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 2 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 12 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week and was 19 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 58.6 percent of total applications from 59.8 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 6.3 percent of total applications. The average loan size for purchase applications rose to a survey high of $301,200.
The FHA share of total applications increased to 14.4 percent from 14.1 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 11.7 percent from 10.9 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.7 percent the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.18 percent, its highest level since July 2015, from 4.12 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.45 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) increased to 4.05 percent from 4.04 percent, with points decreasing to 0.33 from 0.38 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.90 percent from 3.87 percent, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.25 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.40 percent, its highest level since July 2015, from 3.35 percent, with points increasing to 0.45 from 0.35 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.18 percent from 3.22 percent, with points increasing to 0.45 from 0.28 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.
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