Welcome to 2009! Will things change for the better for all of us?

That’s a great question.  The big answer is what the new administration will do. Obama has a lot of work cut out for him and a huge mess to clean up.

The big concern is, can we Americans actually give him time to set things right. We, as people, are all about instant gratification. We are going to want to see things change quickly or we may give up to soon. There are some great ideas floating around about how to fix the mortgage mess.  Did you know that half of the modifications that were made last year are back into default? I wonder why? Did you read my blog about modifications? Who made money off those modifications if half went bad? Are we going after the modification companies for their fee? Obviously, they did not do a good enough job or how would they have approved them for the modification in the first place.

The new modification plan being talked about would actually cut principal and lower the interest. This would be great! The down side is the person being modified would give up 50% of any appreciation they get. This will probably get tweaked before it goes into effect but I think they are on the right track. Also, on a side note, they are going to limit the amount of money that modification companies can charge, well around $1000. How many of these mod companies are going to stick around for that? Did you know that one of the big firms that got our TARP money is using it to pay out their bonuses? I ask you guys again, why are you continuing to do business with these big banks when they are only looking out for themselves?! So let’s follow the money as my professor used to say.

The big banks took big gambles with your money that you deposited into their institutions and lost, so they stopped lending you, the consumer, money. They threatened bankruptcy and some failed, such as WAMU and Indy Mac Bank. The government had to step in and bail them out with our money, again. Some banks took our money, bought other banks and blamed those failed institutions for the bad loans to not make them look bad. Others took the TARP money and bonuses out there. Now we, as consumers, are still going to those institutions for loans and going to start the cycle all over again. I ask you this if you voted for change why are you continuing the same old cycle.

You should be getting your home loan whether it is a refinance or purchase through a small company like Samuel Scott. This is going to be the only way to create in 2009 and not repeat the same mistakes. Do you really think what these big institutions are doing is okay? I ask because that is what everyone’s actions are saying.

Let’s really make a change in 2009 and not make the same mistakes of the past. Make companies like Samuel Scott your first and only phone call. I look forward to hearing from you all. Let’s have a great 2009 and remember Mark and I are here for all your residential lending needs in 2009.
Samuel Scott Financial Group Todd Pianin (858) 259-6070