15 Jun 2010 | Economy, Interviews, Podcasts, Policy
I have a conversation with Mark Willis, a Resident Research Fellow at the Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy at New York University.
He is the co-author of Improving U.S. Housing Finance through Reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Assessing the Options along with Ingrid Gould Ellen and John Napier Tye. This white paper was completed as part of the What Works Collaborative, a foundation-supported partnership that conducts timely research and analysis to help federal, state and local housing policy-makers frame and implement evidence-based housing and urban policy agendas.
The paper is essential reading as we go through a period of financial reform. The report is described as a timely assessment of alternative proposals for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ranging from nationalization to dissolution. The paper explains the role Fannie and Freddie have played, explores the goals a healthy secondary market for both single- and multifamily housing should serve, and develops a framework to help understand and evaluate the various proposals for reform.
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11 Jun 2010 | Foreclosure, Interviews, Podcasts, Real Estate Brokerage
Last January I moderated a distressed property panel at the Inman Real Estate conference in New York. One of the panelists was Travis Waller, a sharp real estate agent from New Jersey who spoke with great clarity on his specialty, distressed real estate. In this podcast we have a great conversation via Skype on what life will be like after the end of the federal tax credit for first time and existing home buyers, how banks are coming to grips with property disposition, differences between short sale and foreclosure transactions, marketing distressed property, to name a few.
It’s great insight from someone who deals with distressed property first hand. Follow Travis on Twitter.
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20 May 2010 | Interviews, Podcasts, Real Estate Brokerage
I have a candid conversation with Chris Meyers, COO of Houlihan Lawrence, the largest real estate brokerage firm in Westchester County, New York. A family business, Houlihan Lawrence has 1,200 agents and 24 offices to service Westchester, Putnam and Duchess Counties.
We talk about many things including the housing market of the past 18 months, finding good agents and the introduction of social media to the real estate brokerage business.
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13 May 2010 | Interviews, Lending/Mortgage, Podcasts, Technology
Today I speak with Chris Williams, President and Chief Technology Officer of AIMSdashboard,
“Williams is a 15-year veteran of the IT industry, having served stints with Cisco Systems and PolyServe, a software startup acquired by HP. At one time he was co-owner of Carolina Appraisers, a real estate appraisal firm based in Raleigh.”
AIMS stands for “appraisal independence management system,” and “dashboard” is a software term meaning a control panel housing two or more applications.
His venture was enabled by introduction of the May 1, 2009 agreement between Fannie Mae and NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo known as the Home Valuation Code of Conduct.
AIMSdashboard is intended to help financial institutions take back control of the mortgage process through a software solution. Chris was very quick to point out that his company is a software company, NOT an appraisal management company.
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03 May 2010 | Appraising, Commentary, Lending/Mortgage, Podcasts
Think lender pressure on appraisers is a distant memory? Think again. Here is some commentary on a new report that indicates appraisal fraud is up 50% over the past year. It is laid out in Kenneth Harney’s excellent column in the Washington Post.
“Despite 2009 restrictions, mortgage and appraisal fraud spiked”
I also provide commentary on a recent episode with a bank client we now refuse to work with who pressured our firm to raise the appraised value of a property or they would not pay us for services already rendered.
In fact, they didn’t really understand what they were saying.
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29 Apr 2010 | Appraising, Interviews, Podcasts, Policy
Last month I spoke to and interviewed Tony Pistilli, a certified real estate appraiser on the Minnesota Department of Commerce Real Estate Appraiser Advisory Board. He’s got a possible solution to the current appraiser – appraisal management company conflict. Its all about conforming to RESPA and preventing banks from shifting the burden to appraisers to pay for bank compliance.
Its the first logical solution I’ve heard. The banks are essentially making the appraiser pay for their RESPA compliance by taking it out of the appraiser’s fee, often 50% of the stated appraisal fee. The consumer is being mislead by the appraisal fee stated by the lender at time of mortgage application.
- - Appraisers and borrowers are paying for services the banks receive, not the bank.
- - Banks should pay for the services received from the AMC’s who manage the appraisal process.
- - Appraiser’s fees should be market driven.
- - Banks should be held accountable for the quality of the appraisal.
He’s been spreading the word through all the channels/usual suspects in the blogosphere. Here’s my original post, including his article:
[HVCC and AMCs Violate RESPA?] Here’s a possible solution
His views seemed to have been picked up by the Appraisal Institute, the largest appraisal trade organization in the US, in their letter to HUD looking for clarification on RESPA and the disclosure of fees paid by consumers. Here’s the FAQ on the new RESPA rule.
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25 Apr 2010 | Foreclosure, Interviews, Law, Podcasts
Last month I was a panelist at an Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) conference covering lending trends. I was matched up with 2 lenders and attorney Steven Einig. I appreciated his take on the escalating foreclosure situation and his ability to articulate it.
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