Recent grantstern's Commentaries
Condos Vie for the Good House-Lending Seal...
From the Wall Street Journal A nationwide glut of new condominiums has prompted developers to use new marketing ploys to sell their units. One increasingly popular move: get a government stamp of approval for the entire building. From the Wall Street Journal The approval, from the Federal Housing...
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Mortgage Markets Regain Health with Adverse...
As posted in the Miami Herald article called "Mortgage Rates Rise": ''It's going go start to put a damper on the activity but not a whole lot,'' said Grant Stern, president of Morningside Mortgage in Bay Harbor Islands. ``Fortunately, prices have been steadily dropping off for a long time at this...
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Tags: mortgage-rates | interest-rates | miami-herald | monica-hatcher | grant-stern | morningside-mortgage
It feels like the very first time
"I have waited a lifetime Spent my time so foolishly But now that Ive found you Together we'll make history" Open up the door, wont you open up the door?" - Foreigner - Feels like the first time Nothing says generational change like the wave of first time home-buyers rifling through the nation's ...
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Mortgage-Bond Yields Jump, Jeopardizing...
As seen in Bloomberg News A good-credit borrower who could have gotten a 4.625- percent 30-year mortgage on May 22 and a 4.875-percent loan yesterday will probably be offered a rate of 5.25 percent tomorrow, according to Grant Stern, the owner of Morningside Mortgage Corp., a brokerage in Miami B...
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Tags: mortgage-rates | spreads | bond-yields
‘Drag Me to Hell’ Turns Home Lending Into...
‘Drag Me to Hell’ Turns Home Lending Into Horror Show (Update1) - Bloomberg.com. Yes, it is my solemn duty to defend my profession from Hollywood The Cannes Film Festival hosts a midnight screening of “Drag Me to Hell” this month amid public rage at home lenders that led to U.S. hearings about ...
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FHA is the only solution for market sales in...
Miami's vertical homebuilders are slowly waking up to the reality that the Government backed mortgage loan will be the only way to sell off bloated inventories of condos. The FHA mortgage is the clear choice of new home buyers and represents the only legitimate option for vertical homebuilders to...
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Tags: fha-condo-approval | condo-approval-consulting | fha-loans | first-time-home-buyers
Buyers stymied by tough rules on condos -...
Buyers stymied by tough rules on condos - Business - MiamiHerald.com. Complex federal rules that make it extremely tough for buyers to qualify for loans in many South Florida projects, unless they pony up steep down payments. Those rules, recently made even more rigid, could undermine any recov...
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Tags: fha-condo-approval
Broken Condominiums - CondoVultures.com
This is a new column I will be writing weekly for CondoVultures.com, a news and information website by Peter Zalewski. His company is the premier market research company for the South Florida condo market and represents bulk buyers, as well as having a real estate brokerage of the same name, who...
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Tags: condo-termination | broken-condos | fractured-condominiums | high-rise-condo
Rates are Great, but "It's Very Tough"
Yes, this is my quote for the year. Thank you Bloomberg News for noting that I say these days which is "I own a mortgage company, And I'm still in business" :) Lol. It's an odd feeling personally. I got into the business at a time when you could go to a party and rub elbows with nothing but o...
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Tags: bloomberg | mortgage-rates
Is HomePath a yellow brick road?
Fannie Mae has launched a website called HomePath to sell off it's book of real estate owned (REO). In addition, they have rolled out a new loan program with the same name to facilitate faster sales of these REO properties. My company, Morningside Mortgage is eligible to issue loans for these ...
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A touch of world finance, in advance.
The global credit crunch has some serious global effects brewing.This Op-Ed piece in the New York Times describes the financial behind the scenes dealings of the World Bank and how it works to assist developing nations with their currency and finances. There's something they mention called "Speci...
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The Rise of the Condo-tel
The shift from condo to condo-tel marks yet another level of capitulation in the Miami condo market. One of the buildings that I've seen, Opera Tower, is held by a very strong developer, and longtime landlord named Tibor Hollow. The other one on Hotels.com is called The Club at Brickell Bay and i...
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Tags: condominium-hotel | condo-tel | condo-hotel | opera-tower | club-at-brickell-bay
Thousands in South Florida in line for home...
In this Miami Herald Article, there's a nice FAQ about who qualifies for the Obama mortgage relief program's Phase 1.Although many people are in disbelief, there's actually a substantial number of people with good credit, who made down payments and have loans with Fannie or Freddie that have fall...
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Fannie Mae tightens condo guidelines - part 2
As noted in my last post, Fannie Mae tightened lending guidelines for condos in Florida, as well as added a specific review process for new condos in Florida that other states' housing does not have to endure. This new article by Oscar Musibay goes further in depth to explain how developers are r...
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New rules raise the bar for condo mortgages...
Yes, the next leg down for the Florida condo market is potentially in sight, unless developers and associations wise up and move quickly to obtain FHA financing approval.Though this Miami Herald article on the Florida condo financing restrictions does not mention it (though I did tell Monica), th...
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