Jeff Taylor, the former longtime leader of Wells Fargo’s reverse mortgage division, had a stock answer when applicants declined a reverse because they felt the rates and fees were simply too high. Taylor had done the research for his own mother and decided the reverse was the best strategy to keep his mother comfortable in [...]

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New tools bolster vacation rental industry

by Tom on October 19, 2011

An old friend of mine who owns and operates a small development company showed up in town for a weekend event. We blocked out some time to revisit the old days and what was next for his living and work future. Like me, his four children had grown and gone. “If I were to do [...]

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Take time to make a plan for the family cabin

October 19, 2011

We have been parents for 31 years and dragged children through three primary residences. All of the homes had terrific amenities – views, schools, nearby playgrounds and neighborhood pals. The four kids are grown and gone now, but if you could find them (I am rarely able to do so) and ask where their fondest [...]

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Reverse mortgage ‘trailing spouses’ playing both sides

October 19, 2011

The example might come under the main category of “You Can’t Have It Both Ways.” Probably the last straw for the reverse mortgage lenders that exited the market this year (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Financial Freedom, Seattle Mortgage) was not only the “trailing spouse” controversy but also the fact AARP filed a case on [...]

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Wells Fargo’s exit stuns reverse mortgage industry

June 17, 2011

Wells Fargo announced in March it would no longer accept reverse mortgages through its broker network and yesterday it got out of the industry altogether. Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest reverse mortgage lender, was the kingpin in the industry in more ways than one. It had a 26.2 percent market share, according to the latest [...]

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Summer rental? Disclose, inquire so all benefit

June 15, 2011

We have some friends who rented a home in the mountains for Memorial Day weekend. It was the only weekend of the summer their entire family could gather. Summer jobs, baseball tournaments and out-of-town weddings erased the chance of taking their usual time during July and August, so they settled for the traditional opening weekend [...]

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FICO chief predicts 50 months of foreclosure problems

June 15, 2011

Mark Greene, chief executive officer at FICO, told attendees at a loan processing conference in Orlando that it would be 50 months before the foreclosure problem in this country “goes away, and that’s assuming there are no more foreclosures.” Minneapolis-based FICO provides lender analytics and measures consumer credit risk. Among its products is the FICO [...]

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Two new mortgage programs for energy improvements

June 15, 2011

Both the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and mortgage investor Fannie Mae recently launched startups in the energy conservation arena. FHA’s program, “PowerSaver,” allows eligible owners to borrow up to $25,000 at fixed rates between 5 and 7 percent for as long as 20 years to finance high-efficiency windows and doors, heating and ventilating systems, solar [...]

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Zillow announces upgrade to home valuation tool

June 15, 2011

Seattle-based Zillow, which introduced automated home valuations known as “Zestimates” several years ago, said it has improved and expanded they way it evaluates homes, its third major overhaul since 2006. According to Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, the company’s third algorithm allows the company to evaluate 97 million homes (up from 72 million) while being [...]

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Same playing field for first-time buyers, investors, agents?

June 9, 2011

First-time homebuyers are critical to the housing industry. Once they get in the door, this enables the former first-timer to move up, etc. In a nutshell, first-time buyers help to keep the housing ladder moving. What has skewed this traditional ladder is the number of distressed homes on the market. There are more homes than [...]

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