Introducing MortgageZen: The First Blended Rate Mortgage Calculator for the iPhone

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Posted on in Technology

Introducing MortgageZen: The First Blended Rate Mortgage Calculator for the iPhone

I’m really excited to announce that MortgageZen 1.0 went live in the iTunes App Store today. To my knowledge, MortgageZen is the first blended rate calculator to be approved for the iTunes App Store. The idea for MortgageZen came from a desire to have a quick & simple way to calculate the weighted average interest rate of an existing 1st & 2nd mortgage. The ‘Blended Rate’ comes up frequently when discussing refinance options with customers. My old workflow required a calculator, pen, & paper. It’s not a difficult calculation but it’s cumbersome when you’re mobile and the tools to calculate the rate aren’t available. Maybe other originators want this too? Finding no existing solution, we built one. The plan is to extend the feature set of MortgageZen to fulfill other niche mortgage calculations, so that mortgage originators are able to deliver more timely & useful information, thereby increasing the value they provide to their customers. I’d love feedback, comments, suggestions. […]

by jberman
Posted on in Mortgage Regulation

Colorado Division of Real Estate establishes rule clarification to comply with S.A.F.E.

The Colorado Division of Real Estate is getting it’s regulations in shape for the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act (passed in 2008). One of the requirements of the S.A.F.E. Act is an annual renewal process for mortgage originators. Currently, Colorado has a three year renewal process, so the Division proposed a License Cycle Transition Process to get state and federal requirements in sync. Here is the substantive portion of the new rule clarification: 1. All licenses set to expire at any point in 2009 will be administratively set to expire on December 31, 2009. The Division of Real Estate will change the expiration dates for this group of affected licenses on October 1, 2009. 2. All licenses set to expire at any point on or after January 1, 2010, will be administratively set to expire on December 31, 2010. The Division of Real Estate will change the expiration dates for this group of affected licenses towards the end of 2009. The […]

by jberman
Posted on in Mortgage Rates

Ben Bernanke Leaves Clues About The Future Of Mortgage Rates

On the 1-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that the “recession is very likely over at this point”.   His comments were supported by a Retail Sales report for August that was much better-than-expected. Equities improved on the day, mortgage markets worsened, and home affordability suffered.  The days of ultra-low mortgage rates may be coming to an end. Since last September, mortgage bonds markets have been in Rally Mode.  As the Financial Crisis of 2008 worsened, investors fled the relatively risky world of stocks and moved dollars into safer investments like cash and bonds — including the mortgage-backed kind. Risk aversion is common when market uncertainty exists but last year’s aversion was so strong that, by late-November, it had forced mortgage rates down to an all-time low.  Since November, however, rates have been on the rise.  Stronger economic data and a general feeling of optimism have helped stock markets recover and some of those gains are coming at […]

by jberman
Posted on in Housing Market

The Geographical Concentration Of Foreclosures

Once again, the country’s foreclosures are concentrated in just a few states. As reported by foreclosure-tracking company RealtyTrac.com, more than 50 percent of the country’s foreclosure-related actions in August occurred in just four states: California : 25.76 percent Florida : 17.4 percent Michigan :  5.4 percent Nevada : 5.0 percent The rest of the “Top 10” foreclosure states included Arizona, Illinois, Georgia, Ohio, Texas and New Jersey. Versus July’s numbers, the U.S. foreclosure rate improved last month.  However, the August data is awful in comparison to last year — foreclosures are up nearly 18 percent. The silver lining? High foreclosure rates are yielding tremendous opportunities for today’s home buyers. Buyers of distressed properties now account for about one-third of all home sales and low mortgage rates and a federal tax credit are spurring sales. Search the complete August 2009 foreclosure report for yourself, including foreclosure heatmaps and other trends on the RealtyTrac website.

by jberman
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