hannible's Profile
- John
- 1965
- 2008
- Manhattan
- Carroll Gardens
- Condo
- Engineer
- Male
- 55
Author's Posts
September 10, 2009
Still 25% Down to Go?
Thurday's new reports cited business reports that call for still another 25 percent rate drop in home prices. Can it be possible for such places as Carroll Gardens and Brooklyn Heights? Shouldn't the government be stepping in to help these poor homeowners hold on to their properties?
May 31, 2009
Where are they moving?
I noticed alot of moving trucks in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens Sat and Sunday. I know it is the end of the month but I counted more than 20 trucks. Where is everyone moving to? Is it because they have found more affordable rents somewhere else in Brooklyn?
May 2, 2009
A new day has come
Text Size May.01
2:51 PM ET Friday, 1 May 2009
Home Valuation Code of Conduct: Fix or Fraud?
Posted By:Diana Olick
Topics:Interest Rates | Housing | Real Estate
Sectors:Financial Services | Construction and Materials
Companies:Freddie Mac | Fannie Mae | Citigroup Inc | Wells Fargo and Co | JPMorgan Chase and Co
Today is the official start of a new policy at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to only buy loans that were appraised under the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. The HVCC was the outgrowth of a lawsuit filed by New York Sate Attorney General Andrew Cuomo against Washington Mutual and was designed to “improve the reliability of home appraisals,” according to FHFA, Fannie and Freddie’s regulator.
But don’t talk to an appraiser or a mortgage broker about it, or you’ll get an earful. Most of them claim it was crammed down the collective throat of Fannie and Freddie by the very powerful Mr. Cuomo, and that it puts good solid appraisers out of business, complicates the loan process for mortgage brokers, and inevitably hurts consumers.
“One of the biggest stories here is that my appraiser, I've been using for twelve years, he just got his business ripped out from him,” says Craig Strent of Apex Home Loans in Bethesda, MD.
The HVCC requires a firewall between appraisers and those who produce loans, i.e. mortgage lenders and brokers, and that ends up being Appraisal Management Companies, middlemen essentially, that order up independent appraisals. So the appraisal fee, which would have gone wholly to the appraiser, now gets split between the AMC and the appraiser. That’s sending a lot of good appraisers right out of the business.
“Yesterday, Thursday, appraisers may have had 50 or 60 clients that they could deal with, so if they were getting undue pressure from somebody they could just tell that client no, I'm not doing any more work for you,” says Jim Amorin, of the Appraisal Institute. “Today the number of players in the field have been drastically reduced to generally these appraisal management companies, so the pressure that's going to be brought to bear on appraisers we fear is going to be as strong if not stronger than it was before, the whole thing the code of conduct was trying to address.”
Another concern is that the AMC’s may hire appraisers who don’t know the particular neighborhood where the house is, and may use the lowest bidders, again, putting good local appraisers, who know their market best, out of business.
But the biggest issue is something Dana, a mortgage broker, cites in a blast to the RealtyCheck:
Based on Attorney General Cuomo’s website, the appraisal fraud in the mortgage industry was due to the practices used by some of the country’s largest banks pressuring appraisers to artificially inflate the value of homes.
Why is it that some of the largest banks in the country are allowed to have partial ownership in the Appraisal Management Companies ?? Isn’t this once again the fox watching the hen house??
Interestingly, as I wrote earlier, the HVCC arose out of a 2007 lawsuit against First American Corp. and its subsidiary, eAppraiseIT, whose largest client was Washington Mutual. It charged eAppriaseIT with conspiring with WaMu to “inflate real estate appraisals.”
If the whole idea is to get the appraisal system out of the banking/lending system, then why is it that First American Corp., still has joint venture appraisal management companies with: JP Morgan Chase (Quantrix), Citigroup (Finiti), Wells Fargo (Rels), making First American one of the largest Appraisal Management Companies in the nation? Oh, and there’s currently a class action lawsuit against Rels, claiming it rigged the appraisal process for Wells Fargo.
A press release from Attorney General Cuomo’s office, from March of 2008, states: Lenders will be prohibited from using “in-house” staff appraisers to conduct initial appraisals and Lenders will be prohibited from using appraisal management companies that they own or control.
I contacted Fannie Mae, Attorney General Cuomo’s office and the FHFA for comment, but nobody wanted to talk. FHFA Director James Lockhart gave me a statement, which, interestingly, hammers home the need to rid the system of fraudulent appraisals, but never actually, in words, directly supports the HVCC.
March 29, 2009
Same Real Estate Agents
I think that in order to fix the housing situation in New York as well as the rest of the country. You can not have the same real estate agents that were selling just a few years ago, continue doing business as usual. Could you do business with an agent that sold you a place for 500,000 and swore that it was worth that amount and that the value would only go up and now that same agent is selling your neighbors place for 325,000?
March 13, 2009
New York Real Estare Tanking
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For real estate appraisers, determining what a house is worth has become increasingly difficult, which is making it even harder for buyers to purchase homes or for homeowners to refinance.
0:00 /1:07Plan to aid ailing homeowners
The main tool in the appraiser's kit is the sale prices of homes in the area. If they can find similar houses nearby in similar condition that sold recently for, say, $300,000, they can assume that the home they are appraising is worth a comparable amount.
But with sales volume falling, there are fewer homes with which to compare. In fact, sales of new homes crashed in January to the lowest level in 45 years, and existing home sales fell to a 12-year low.
And even when there are recent sales figures, they often don't hold up as a reliable baseline. Appraisals are estimates of market value at a given time, and with prices in free fall, values "age" quickly.
"We just don't have a flow of transactions to be able to come up with credible values," said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a noted New York appraisal firm. "Closed sales are now largely irrelevant because they're so far behind the market."
In fact, Marc Savitt, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, recently had a bank underwriter object that none of the appraiser's comparable homes were near enough.
"They told him they wanted comps within a mile," said Savitt. "But, the market the way it is, there haven't been many sales and there were no recent comps within a mile."
Other options
So in lieu of good sales figures, appraisers often consider contract prices, the ones first agreed to between buyers and sellers. But those are not much better because many sales don't close.
And listing prices are "hit or miss," Miller said, because most sellers overestimate the value of their homes. Columbia business professor Eric Johnson calls that the "endowment effect," which causes people to place higher values on properties once they own them.
Sellers set their listing prices far too high, as a result, and that leads to a big chasm between list and sale price. In the New York region, for example, there's a 16% gap, on average.
During the boom, pressure was put on appraisers to inflate values so that sales would go through. Sellers, buyers, real estate agents, loan officers and mortgage brokers all had a vested interest in getting the sale completed. So if appraisers weren't cooperative and raise their values, they often got frozen out of deals.
February 26, 2009
She is sinking by the bow
"Median home price: $455,000
Median income: $63,000
Affordability score: 13.9%
In the nation's largest metropolis, New York, home prices took a steep dive during the quarter, to $455,000 from $500,000 three months earlier.
That was not enough to dislodge the city from its rank as the least affordable metro area in the land. Only 13.9% of the homes sold there during the quarter were affordable for median income families, who earned $63,000. That was still a major improvement from two years ago when only 5.1% of homes sold during the fourth quarter of 2006 were affordable.
The good news is that New York households have been barely brushed by the foreclosure crisis so far with only 0.71% receiving some kind of foreclosure filing during 2008.
Housing markets in the New York metro area had held up comparatively well, even after declines started to hit other boom markets hard, but with the financial services industry recording huge losses and shedding jobs, home prices may be in for some steep declines." Taken from a CNN webpage. Do we need anymore proof that home prices are falling in Brooklyn?
December 19, 2008
Crumbuling Brooklyn real estate prices?
I would like to know if anyone has any confirmation that there are alot of Brooklyn real estate agencey's involved with the Madoff scandle. If that were true hundreds if not thousands of homes will be hitting the market soon,
December 5, 2008
Affordable rents in Carroll Gardens
I wanted to ask how much longer do we have to wait for rents to come down to affordable levels for families? There are alot of families that would like to move back into Carroll Gardens but can not afford to compete with landlords that rent to 5 or 6 adults that work and pay 500 dollars each a month making the joy of the homeowners wallet but destroying the happiness of many families
Author's Comments
Amen to your words dandel! Put real estate brokers and bankers in that catagory too. Our prayers will be answered as soon as that idiot of Bernanke starts raising interest rates and stops printing money and giving it to speculators for free.
Posted by: hannible at November 7, 2009 5:41 PM in response to 85 State's Roller Coaster Ride
Is it true that there are "hit the peddle water wahing ass" toilets in the bathrooms?
Posted by: hannible at November 7, 2009 2:56 AM in response to 85 State's Roller Coaster Ride
Don't only pray for us haters Brooklyn Willy but also pray for your homeowners who because of their greed and speculation evicted families with children and seniors so they could pocket more rent money. Now while Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill are no longer affordable for middle class and seniors your homeowners have the gaul to ask the government for help paying the mortgage! So yes you do keep up with those prayers my child there are alot of sinners and sins to be prayed for.
Posted by: hannible at November 5, 2009 6:04 AM in response to Closing Bell: Columbia Street Traffic Petition
First the buses made too much noise so you had the city move bus stops at your liking then the side wals were not wide enough so you had the city overtake a major project because of youe whinning. Now you want Colombia Street to be a car free zone. Look when you bought your McManshions you paid and in most cases overpaid. Now stop asking the city to spend our tax dollars to add value to your investment mistakes!
Posted by: hannible at November 4, 2009 9:55 PM in response to Closing Bell: Columbia Street Traffic Petition
It is all those people from the midwest that don't know what a STOP sign means. Now we have to accomidate people that don't know how to drive too? Send them back to driving school!
Posted by: hannible at November 4, 2009 7:34 PM in response to Closing Bell: Columbia Street Traffic Petition
Please le us know when your Credit Union comes through with a 950k loan from what I am hearing and seeing banks and credit unions back away from jumbo loans like that once the work out the figures.
Posted by: hannible at November 4, 2009 5:44 AM in response to Mortgage Questions
Starbucks and pizzerias that charge 3.00 dollars or more for a slice of pizza.
Posted by: hannible at November 3, 2009 6:53 PM in response to Closing Bell: Gentrification Indicators
Cut out those parisites and just put a "for rent" sign in your window. Why do you want to give your hard earned money to these blood sucking parisites?
Posted by: hannible at November 3, 2009 11:27 AM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?
If you smoke enough miracle whip I am sure 3.6 looks feasable
Posted by: hannible at November 2, 2009 5:27 PM in response to First Resale at 14 Townhouses
You renovate on your time not when the tenant is paying you. What yours is yours and what is his is yours also!
Posted by: hannible at November 2, 2009 5:16 PM in response to Tenant Compensation?
Two weeks to put in a new showerhead? Heck you could have transported Niagra Falls into your apartment piece by piece for that amount of time!
Posted by: hannible at November 1, 2009 8:33 PM in response to Tenant Compensation?
" Honest and considerate realty practices."? Don't make me laugh. Honest hard working people who get up early to go to work and raise a family or people who work 2 jobs in order to save up to buy a home "deserve"! Your blood sucking speculating Real Estate brokers deserve squat!
Posted by: hannible at November 1, 2009 6:52 AM in response to Realty Collective Buys Out Frank Manzione!
Well Rel I hate brokers with a pashion and I think that there is no need for them in the current housing market. I hate them because thanks to their blood sucking rents have gone from 1000 dollars a month to 3000 dollars a month. So if they go out of business and get the old mozzarella store I will be very glad. You enjoy your newish stuff. This newish stuff of yours is flushing this country right down the drain California has been flushed already. New York is next.
Posted by: hannible at October 31, 2009 3:44 PM in response to Realty Collective Buys Out Frank Manzione!
And all this was done for free REL is suppose ? Stop trying to toot your own horn. Most of us hate real estate agents because they are blood sucking vampires that suck blood from renters until there is no more left. People like you have made brooklyn unliveable for the working man by raising prices in the thousands just so you could collect your commisions. Blood-suckers!
Posted by: hannible at October 31, 2009 7:28 AM in response to Realty Collective Buys Out Frank Manzione!
Realty Collective please go back where you came from and give us the fresh mozzarella and aged provolone store back!
Posted by: hannible at October 30, 2009 8:50 PM in response to Realty Collective Buys Out Frank Manzione!
Oh Brother an "Artistic " broker. Does it now mean that only artists and movie stars can talk to these artist brokers? I remember months back before the housing ninja bubble asset bubble popped I inquired about buying something if housing prices went down. Their answer was no. Housing prices will never go down in Carroll Gardens. Well you know what kind of business they will get with that type of mentality. Your artists are all broke. Cash is king and the smart saving hard working man has that not your artists working for food and drinks.
Posted by: hannible at October 30, 2009 11:12 AM in response to Realty Collective Buys Out Frank Manzione!
First the Mayor was all for the development and making money left and right now that the economy has tanked he is all for public housing and helping lower income families. How elections change a person!
Posted by: hannible at October 29, 2009 4:24 PM in response to Evaluating the Mayor's Development Legacy
I wonder if people will still be able to see you walking out of the shower while they drive by on the BQE?
Posted by: hannible at October 27, 2009 6:25 PM in response to Humboldt Police State Finally Making Progress
Snake and drill
Posted by: hannible at October 26, 2009 2:33 PM in response to Sewer Clog
Are real estate brokers allowed to bid and resell?
Posted by: hannible at October 25, 2009 10:14 PM in response to The Locale: Greenpoint Condo Auction
Is it one of those stores where the used cloths cost more than the new ones? Is it a goodwill store or is it something private?
Posted by: hannible at October 24, 2009 6:13 AM in response to StreetLevel: Used Clothing Store Opens on Van Brunt
Hooters would have been much better!
Posted by: hannible at October 21, 2009 8:36 PM in response to Streetlevel: New Nails Spot for The Heights
Would it not be better to see Bloomberg swim in the mess he created? him and his idea of making every home worth more than a million dollars so he could create wealth for his friends. See you at budget and tax time FDR sorry I ment Mayor.
Posted by: hannible at October 21, 2009 8:34 PM in response to Rental Prices Continue to Fall in 3rd Quarter
There is no database. Don't you understand the city is broke and there is no money anywhere to collect data. Remember when not too long ago every landlord sent rents are going up up forever? Well now is the moment for saying rents are going down down forever.
Posted by: hannible at October 21, 2009 9:20 AM in response to Rental Prices Continue to Fall in 3rd Quarter
Excuse my ignorence but aren't nails composed of dead cells? A SPA is suppose to massage certain areas and bring them back to life. Now I don't know you but when was the last time you heard someone getting their nails massaged? I think they are probably massage something else in there! There goes the neighborhood.
Posted by: hannible at October 19, 2009 5:57 PM in response to Streetlevel: New Nails Spot for The Heights
Instead of making bigger signs ask smaller asking prices!
Posted by: hannible at October 19, 2009 2:30 PM in response to Enourmous For Sale Sign
You have the best super but unfortunately he does not have the best paying landlord. What cheapoos these modern landlords are. They will spend 3 dollars for a latte at Starbucks 5 dollars for a slice of pizza but will not give an honest worker his fair pay and yetthey are the first to cry to the government about the housing bubble crisis and how they need financial assistance. Shame on you wannabe "homeowners". P.S. it is your home once you finish paying for it before that act like good human beings!
Posted by: hannible at October 18, 2009 7:36 AM in response to The Best Brownstone Super
Good mortgage broker would be right under the " Honest car salesman" catagory
Posted by: hannible at October 17, 2009 5:38 PM in response to Good Mortgage Broker Needed
Of course newsouthsloper I know the difference between a MORTGAGE Broker and a REAL ESTATE Broker the Mortgage Broker is like your local drug dealer that gives you drugs on credit the Real estate broker is the one that steals your money from your pocket while you are going to pay off your local drug dealer. Our society will be much better when all 4 catagories are behind bars.
Posted by: hannible at October 16, 2009 10:17 PM in response to How Are Mortgage Brokers Paid?
If Countrywide can You can.
Posted by: hannible at October 16, 2009 10:06 AM in response to Relationship between Towns and Countrywide Scrutinized
Don't spend money on enzymes. Just use baker's yeast it does the same thing. Just remember if you keep using bleech you kill those enzymes and have to replace them every so often. See if you have a check valve and maybe it is blocked in the open position. Otherwise it might be a clogged vent or a dry trap. Make sure you keep water blocking the smell in the trap.
Posted by: hannible at October 16, 2009 10:04 AM in response to Sewage Smell in Basement
Very good slick I thought I was the only one to consider real estate brokers blood sucking vampires. Does anyone feel sorry for their bad situation now? Renters are no longer paying brokers to find places to live. Their blood supply is running very low.
Posted by: hannible at October 16, 2009 9:58 AM in response to How Are Mortgage Brokers Paid?
Good let them get the pizzerias that charge 5 dollars for a slice of pizza and 3 dollars for a cup of coffee.I don't need junk food at hip prices
Posted by: hannible at October 15, 2009 4:41 PM in response to 1,500 Rental Units for DoBro
Yes it will fly right after the chicken and the dog do. Thank goodness home prices are coming down for the middle class american and not for the wall street broker only.
Posted by: hannible at October 15, 2009 3:53 PM in response to House of the Day: 295 Pacific Street Revisited
A really nice landlord Donatella! Doesn't pay for steam hot water and hallway electricity. I would have stopped paying rent months ago to this self proclaimed slumlord. He is probably looking for the government to help him pay his mortgage while he continues collecting rent. Some people have no shame!
Posted by: hannible at October 14, 2009 10:28 AM in response to Negotiating Rent Reduction
Oh what a shame the Tishmann group is in financial trouble. More semi free co ops on the market.
Posted by: hannible at October 14, 2009 10:25 AM in response to Still 25% Down to Go?
So let me get this Diego I live on the 4th floor of a Brownstone and I have to pay more because? I get less polltion from the Gowanus or because I get more exersise taking the food and trash up and down?
Posted by: hannible at October 13, 2009 6:27 PM in response to Negotiating Rent Reduction
Well with an asking price of $2250 a month I would get the runs too!
Posted by: hannible at October 13, 2009 6:23 PM in response to Closing Bell: Two beds, 11 Baths?
Find another place with the rent you desire to pay then tell your landlord" This is my offer, take it or leave it". In case he says no move to the other place.
Posted by: hannible at October 13, 2009 1:46 PM in response to Negotiating Rent Reduction
Almost a year later and rents are still coming down!
Posted by: hannible at October 10, 2009 7:00 PM in response to Affordable rents in Carroll Gardens
Anything to cut out the middleman. In this case the middleman is that parasite of a real estate broker you hire to do nothing. Homeowners just put for rent signs in your windows it is the best way to force bloodsucking parasites away!
Posted by: hannible at October 9, 2009 11:03 AM in response to New Rentals Site Tries to Cut out the B.S.
Is it asking for too much just to have homeowners to pay taxes on their rent and not hide it like they do now? Can the city stop trying to ridicule renters by only makes renters deduct 8000 dollars a year for living expenses? Let the city show me somewhere to live for 8000 dollars a year anytime! Poor homeowners they are not going to get their 300. dollar tax rebate this year. Boh Hoo! Give that money to renters!
Posted by: hannible at October 8, 2009 2:38 PM in response to Affordable Housing: Promises vs. Reality
Any homeowner that takes government money should be forced to rent one of their units as "affordable". If you take government money because you bought more house than you could afford then be prepared to give back. If the middle-class did not get cought up in the housing bubble yhere must be a reason. Maybe they are alot smarter than most yuppie geniuses who thought were so smart in buying homes with no money down. Thank you for bringing the price of homes to millions of dollars. We will enjoy shopping for them on propertyshark for pennies.
Posted by: hannible at October 8, 2009 10:39 AM in response to Affordable Housing: Promises vs. Reality
Maybe i you stopped doing bussness wt Cocorean you would do much better. After al it i because of greedy commision charging idiots like them that rents have gone through the roofs for the regular working family. Butterfly you better hope you never get someone like me for a homeowner. You respect elders not treat them like trash.
Posted by: hannible at October 7, 2009 10:17 PM in response to Advice on Rental Market
You are assuming that your future renters are all computer savey and that they surf the internet. What about that older generation that is not so computer savey? Is their cash no good|? or are they too stupid for you?
Posted by: hannible at October 6, 2009 2:33 PM in response to Advice on Rental Market
Mortgage fraud? Eman when was the last time you heard of a mortgage broker going to jail for inflating the value of a home or a client for buying a home at an over inflated price? Welcome to the toxic acid ninja bubble market. It is just starting to hit the fan in Brooklyn. The best is yet to come as far as home prices are concerned. Jut wait another 6 months
Posted by: hannible at October 4, 2009 11:32 PM in response to Bizarre Foreclosure Scenario
Don' be surprised if some real estate agency that has an interest in the neighborhood doesn't buy it just to not make prices go down on the other properties they own near by. If I were your friend tell him to live as long as possible in there rent free. If slumlords are getting breaks why shouldn't renters?
Posted by: hannible at October 4, 2009 6:20 PM in response to Bizarre Foreclosure Scenario
And all that construction work on the BQE during rush hour is for? Don't tell me it is just to keep construction workers busy and people bottled up in traffic for hours. I don't want to hear that the BQE or Gowanus are a wreck after I see them spending millions of taxpayer money every single day.
Posted by: hannible at October 1, 2009 10:29 AM in response to Contractors Group Lists Saddest El Roadways
Yes they need more pharmacies in Carrol Gardens. It is not good if you have to walk more than a block to get to one. After all they are not eating foos but medication, so away with the supermarkets and lets open another pharmacy.
Posted by: hannible at September 29, 2009 3:46 PM in response to StreetLevel: Henry St Pharmacy Reopening as a 'Farmacy'
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
You are not going to get 1.15 million mortgage when you are buying the property for 1.1 million.
There are a few Rehab lenders out there still if you are looking for HARD MONEY rates and terms. 13-14% rates and multiple points for short term loans.
I would borrow as much as possible with an FHA loan and use my own funds for the renovation. If you are short funds then you should scale back on your renovation or do a little bit at a time. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Just my honest opinion.
Posted by: Adam Dahill at November 4, 2009 1:07 PM in response to Mortgage Questions
Thanks for all the comments. Seems I was able to find someone through Craigslist afterall. The brokers didn't pull through. They really only showed it a handful of times and then tried to get me to come down significantly in price for the tenant. I felt like they were working for the tenant. Also, one of the brokers didn't tell me I had to pay until after they had already found a "great" tenant for me.
Posted by: grilledsardine at November 5, 2009 8:43 AM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?
How do FHA loan rates compare to conventional loan rates? And are there restrictions on who is eligible to receive an FHA loan?
Posted by: eltrain at November 5, 2009 9:15 AM in response to Mortgage Questions
And do you have to pay PMI if you get an FHA loan?
Posted by: eltrain at November 5, 2009 9:17 AM in response to Mortgage Questions
Agree, brokers are not usually very helpful for either the landlord or the tenant.
Posted by: mopar at November 5, 2009 11:47 PM in response to Landlord Paying Broker?
Sorry was away from the computer all day yesterday. Yes FHA loans have both an upfront MI and a monthly MI.
FHA loans finance 1.75% upfront that goes to HUD and an additional .55% annually. I know it's a lot but it's the only way to get above 80% in Brooklyn these days as PMI companies will not insure 2-4 units in BK.
I have one bank that will do 90% on 2 units only in Brooklyn up to 90% with NO PMI but there rates are in the high 5's low 6's but they are not a Fannie Lender so loan limits donot apply to them.
-Adam Dahill
Posted by: Adam Dahill at November 6, 2009 1:35 PM in response to Mortgage Questions
Well dandel who is going to write or call Cuomo and tell him to take action against Greenspan and now Bernanke who will not raise interest rates as to not let the value of homes to come down anymore. We get pennies for keeping our money in the bank while speculators and greedy jerks live the life with our money? Are we idiots not to do the same?
Posted by: hannible at November 8, 2009 12:33 AM in response to 85 State's Roller Coaster Ride