One of my friends, an old dude like me who's been involved in real esate for eons, called the other day. Here's what he told me:
- Bank lobbyist are pushing for legislation which will prohibit a person who owns a home from selling it and taking back the mortgage. The buyer will have to get his financing through a commercial, licensed lender.
- Soon it will be impossible for mortgage brokers to remain in business; all or the majority of the loans will be required to be made through a borrower's commercial banking relationship.
- The new rules requiring appraisers to be retained from a pool that is controlledby a third-party "appointment service" has a) raised the cost of the appraisals to the buyer and b) lowered the amount the appraiser nets. For an example, Wells Fargo owns a company that is one of the newly required appraisal "booking agencies." They charge upwards of $500 for an appraisal for which they pay the appraiser $200 to $300. It's projected Wells Fargo will net $500,000,000 the first year from this riskless venture.
Whether or not I have reported this precisely and totally accurately isn't the point. That banks and their lobbyist continue to tinker with the real estate business is the point. Taking free enterprises out of the components of loans is a bad idea. Making the rules more complex and the time to close a transaction longer is not to the public's benefit, much less Realtors.'
There are an enormous number of people -- Realtors -- paying dues to local, state and national associations. Do those groups not understand that their most important charge is to represent us as a group before lawmakers?
BILL CHERRY, REALTORS
DALLAS - PARK CITIES
Our 45th Year
214 503-8563
well none of this sounds too good...I am going to have to check in to this... thanks for the heads up.
We're working to reverse this nonsense. The aggregators are hiring out of town appraisers who do not know the local markets, and wreak havoc on an already distressed market.
Bill...we need realtors like you with years of experience to keep an eye on things and sound the alarm when things seem to be getting out of hand. Keep it up!
Bill, Bill, Bill, Really you are concerned about the amount Wells Fargo is making on Appraisals.... at least someone has to perform a service first. You should read the blog by Bob Hertzog regarding One West Bank then you will really get fired up.
Thanks for the post.
I have to say that banks are always trying to figure out a way to squeeze out competition and make more money off the public. What a pain!
The government should not be in business, they can't even do a good job with their own money.
I don't believe that banks will be able to prevent a property owner from selling his or her home and taking back a mortgage. That would be an unconstitutional infringement of personal property.
The other restrictions you describe are much more likely to happen. Until and unless we take back our country from the socialists who presently control the government, the constitution will be meaningless, and America won't be recognizable by the end of this decade.