TraderPlanet.com :: grantstern's Commentaries

Condos Vie for the Good House-Lending Seal of Approval

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:18:27 +0000

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 Administration, means potential buyers can more easily qualify for a low-down-payment mortgage backed by the FHA -- a highly coveted amenity in this era of tight credit.
Condo developers are able to sell...

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Mortgage Markets Regain Health with Adverse Impact on Rates as they Rise

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:02:39 +0000

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 point and a lot of people are still well within the range of buying property with a loan they can afford." "
"It's definitely going to dampen refinancing activity, though,'' Stern said.

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It feels like the very first time

Fri, 29 May 2009 13:35:04 +0000

"I have waited a lifetimeSpent my time so foolishlyBut now that Ive found youTogether 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 bulging new and used home inventories looking for bargains. While baby boomers were still more likely to marry in their early 20s and move to the suburbs, Gen X and Y buyers are just starting to settle dow...

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Mortgage-Bond Yields Jump, Jeopardizing Fed’s Housing Effort

Wed, 27 May 2009 22:04:44 +0000

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 Beach, Florida. Today, one lender he works with increased its pricing four times, he said.
“The last two months have been quite abnormal” as mortgage rates generally held in a range between 4.5 percent a...

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‘Drag Me to Hell’ Turns Home Lending Into Horror Show (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

Thu, 14 May 2009 09:13:19 +0000

‘Drag Me to Hell’ Turns Home Lending Into Horror Show - 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 their role in the housing collapse. The industry opposed letting bankruptcy courts modify mortgages to help about 1 million Americans keep their homes. Foreclosure filings set a record in April, according to Realt...

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FHA is the only solution for market sales in new construction condos

Mon, 11 May 2009 17:18:20 +0000

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 reduce their inventories organically through sales to end users. One of the primary reasons that new homes are disproportionately represented in the FHA insurance pool is the low down payment feature...

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Buyers stymied by tough rules on condos - Business - MiamiHerald.com

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:40:31 +0000

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 recovery in the region's depressed condo market -- and drive unit prices even lower -- just as demand seems to be on the upswing.

''There is this tide of demand out there,'' said Grant Stern, a Bay Harbor Isla...

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Broken Condominiums - CondoVultures.com

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:33:37 +0000

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, whose agents represent buyers looking for the lowest priced condos.

Broken Condominiums-CondoVultures.com

Excerpt:

My recommendation for value investors who want maximum profits for minimum input is to eng...

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Rates are Great, but "It's Very Tough"

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:24:37 +0000

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 other mortgage brokers, lenders and bankers. Nowadays, when I tell someone that I'm still in the business, they have a look of disbelief.

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Is HomePath a yellow brick road?

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:19:41 +0000

Fannie Mae has launched a website called HomePath to sell off it's book of real estate owned . 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 properties through Flagstar Bank.

In what may become a model for other lenders who have foreclosed properties to sell, the Fannie Mae HomePath program has the following features to speed absorption of their...

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A touch of world finance, in advance.

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:00:06 +0000

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 "Special Drawing Rights" which is in effect, a global shadow currency maintained by the world bank, which is pegged to a basket of other currencies and it is how the World Bank can actually act like the Fed ...

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The Rise of the Condo-tel

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:36:30 +0000

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 is a true fractured condominium. Once a condo is converted from residential condo to residential condo-hotel, the prospects for a developer selling end units are pretty dim in the short term. In the ca...

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Thousands in South Florida in line for home loan relief

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:06:49 +0000

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 fallen under water in the last 12 months:

Under the plan, only first mortgages can be refinanced. Borrowers must not have been more than 30 days late in the previous 12 months.
Grant Stern, president of Bay...

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Fannie Mae tightens condo guidelines - part 2

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:16:44 +0000

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 responding to these restrictions by turning to the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance program for condominium lending.

Grant Stern of Morningside Mortgage Corp., just got FHA approval o...

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New rules raise the bar for condo mortgages in Florida

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:02:16 +0000

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 , there are no FHA restrictions on the Loan to Value or age of condo projects that are eligible for loans insured by the FHA endorsement.Here's a clip of the article, related to the effects that the new Fannie Mae condo finance re...

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