The article omits any mention of the lost income these very same borrowers are facing on their savings or the larger than normal profits banks are now able to make on mortgage refinancing versus what they normally make. What a fluff piece! ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- For those sober souls who were... [more]
The article omits any mention of the lost income these very same borrowers are facing on their savings or the larger than normal profits banks are now able to make on mortgage refinancing versus what they normally make. What a fluff piece!
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-------------------------------------------------------------
For those sober souls who were thrifty long before it became fashionable, the last few years have been intensely aggravating.
Now, at last, the frugal are celebrating. With a leg up on their less creditworthy neighbors, they are qualifying for refinanced home mortgages at interest rates that in any other recent era would have been considered stealing. And unlike in late 2008, when rates started their plunge to historic lows, many lenders say they are rushing to accommodate the influx in applications.
This month the Bernreuters were told their new loan was on track for approval. Their mortgage payment should soon drop by more than $1,000 a month.
“Now we’ll have more money available to us to actually fix up this house,” said Mrs. Bernreuter.
“The nice thing about this mini-refi boom is that folks who have got into a loan that is a bit of a ticking time bomb have the opportunity to get out,” said Kevin Marshall, president of the research firm Clear Capital.
Another upside of the refinancing surge is that households with more cash in their pocket tend to spend it. And more refinances might also help heal the troubled housing market.
“If you could wave a magic wand and give a refinance to everyone who wanted one, that would absolutely reduce the problem of folks who are defaulting,” said Mr. Marshall.
Bobby Frank, a Valley Stream, N.Y., mortgage broker, offers this advice for homeowners who have been turned down in the past: “Call your bank. Every day, like a hungry dog, call and ask.”
Happy are the borrowers who do not need to wait for aid that may not come. Dr. Samson, the Connecticut physician, was taught the virtues of saving by his father, an immigrant from Haiti who died this month with all bills paid.
Dr. Samson and his wife are not taking the monthly savings from their refinance and spending it. Instead, they are continuing to pay the same amount each month. “Paying down the loan faster opens up options for us,” said Dr. Samson, who is 42. “We might want to retire early.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/business/23refinance.html?_r=1&ref=business[less]
Response by buyerbuyer
about 15 years ago
Posts: 707
Member since: Jan 2010
Yeah, this is a dumb article. It alludes to but doesn't examine a huge issue which is affecting millions of prudent savers and retirees -- the zirp policy is screwing savers, basically trying to force them to play the reflation game by buying riskier assets. Who knows what distortions are being caused in an economy when the govt does all it can to bail out the imprudent, and penalize the prudent.
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Response by columbiacounty
about 15 years ago
Posts: 12708
Member since: Jan 2009
so...you agree with yourself? except when you don't.
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Response by acluisticcomm1
about 15 years ago
Posts: 45
Member since: Oct 2010
hey shriveled up old man!
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Response by Riversider
about 15 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
The Fed is like an amateur golfer trying to get the ball out of the sand trap.
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Response by w67thstreet
about 15 years ago
Posts: 9003
Member since: Dec 2008
Queen Get your groove on! Did you figure it out. Streeteasy troll patrol takes the weekend off? HahahahahahahhAaaa. Alright go nutz, you got 2 days bf you get trolled again! What a waste of your coop board/borker life! But then again your whole life revolves around open houses and se. Flmaoz.
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Response by w67thstreet
about 15 years ago
Posts: 9003
Member since: Dec 2008
On point. Yes, that doctor is a financial lemming. $300 savings for new mortgage but fking clueless to $2000 month lost interest on his savings and $200k loss on his home! Oh he needs to get a prettier trophy wife. I mean he's like saving $300 a month!!!!!!!! He's a playerz NOW!
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Response by Truth
about 15 years ago
Posts: 5641
Member since: Dec 2009
Riversider:
Outside my building today the production trailer/trucks are parked for filming an HBO movie.
One of the big trucks is from "Not Another BailOut Production" (address: Leroy Street, N.Y.C.).
That's a good one.
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Response by Riversider
about 15 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
Nice!
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Response by acluisticcounty
about 15 years ago
Posts: 14
Member since: Oct 2010
w67th, speaking of loopholes, how was that tax situation you told us about? What about the mortgage fraud? That landlord you didn't pay the last month's rent to? And those residential tenants you were in a lawsuit with when you were a residential landlord?
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Response by Truth
about 15 years ago
Posts: 5641
Member since: Dec 2009
Riversider: The title of that movie they are filming: "Too Big To Fail", from the book.
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Response by Riversider
about 15 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
ZIRP actually exposes a big lie or misconception about our government's finances. The U.S. government doesn't really get its money from taxes and borrowing. In reality all the government does when it disburses or receives money is it credits or dedits numbers in the Federal Reserve's computers. The only reason it taxes and borrows is to sop up dollars( in other words taxes and bonds are a monetary tool). So right now the Fed is undoing all the government's borrowings by purchasing its debt(putting those dollars back in circulation).
But at the end of the day a zero interest rate is very dangerous.
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Response by Riversider
about 15 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
Ever look at the comments posted on the Times responding to these pieces...
-----------------------------
I am old and eating 79c mac and cheese because my cd's get 1%. I feel we had some expectation of variable rates but not slashed to zero to rescue rich bankers at old people's expense.
This country is evil to the core - I hate my country that I used to love and I hope it dies.
A great many people are responding negatively to the times p.r. piece. Here's another one.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Peddling low interest rates as a reward for the thrifty misses the forest for the trees. Truly thrifty people save more and borrow less. Low interest rates are a penalty for the truly thrifty.
Some people may applaud the thrifty, others may view them as soft targets for redistribution. Whichever side you're on, let's at least get the facts right.
wow..you posted on the new york times. that is fascinating.
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Response by nude67county
about 15 years ago
Posts: 12
Member since: Oct 2010
columbiacounty
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Response by chenangocounty
about 15 years ago
Posts: 10
Member since: Oct 2010
columbiacounty
about 2 hours ago
stop ignoring this person
report abuse
wow..you posted on the new york times. that is fascinating.
(I figured that since you are on streeteasy's auto-ignore that I'd do you a "solid" and make your brilliance more prominent. You can thank me any time)
For more and more seniors, retirement doesn’t mean a debt-free life of leisure. An increasing number of Americans aged 65 and older are declaring bankruptcy, according to a recent study by John Pottow, professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School.
Those aged 65 and older represented seven percent of bankruptcy filers in 2007, a mind-boggling jump from 1991. They are the “fastest-growing age demographic,” according to Pottow’s study.
***BUT WHY ARE THEY RESORTING TO CREDIT CARDS*****
Two-thirds of Americans who filed for bankruptcy said credit cards were the key reason for their financial problems, according to Pottow’s research. Besides having more credit card debt compared with younger bankruptcy filers, 44.8 percent of those aged 65 and older also had more plastic in their wallets. “They’re using credit cards as a maladaptive coping mechanism,” Pottow says.
*************NO MENTION OF ZIRP ******************
Stephanie Osterland, a supervisor in the bankruptcy department at GreenPath debt solutions, sees an increasing number of seniors living beyond their means. Says Osterland: “They’re just trying to live off of a fixed income, and that’s usually Social Security. Maybe they have a small pension. We find they’ve used credit cards to supplement that income and expenses or they just end up getting into a lot of medical debt.”
In addition to escalating medical expenses, seniors have seen their portfolios hit hard by the lagging stock market. Carolyn Rodi of Saving Your American Dream says those considering bankruptcy should see a credit counselor at a non-profit organization to get their finances in order.
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Response by columbiacounty
about 15 years ago
Posts: 12708
Member since: Jan 2009
here's the bottom line: we have created a zero sum society. we don't have the political will to come together to attempt to increase the overall pie so we are left with endless scenarios in which someone loses so someone gains. current workers are furious with seniors who they see as getting excess benefits; zero interest rates merely flip this upside down.
riversider loves to point out everything that is wrong without thinking through how this type of approach merely makes everyone angry and everything worse.
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Response by Riversider
about 15 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
Refis are earning the bank big $$$$
-----------------------------------------------
A rush by U.S. homeowners to refinance at near record-low interest rates marks a rare bright spot for the mortgage industry, under attack for choking the economy with shoddy loans and botched foreclosures.
Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, received $194 billion of loan applications in the third quarter, the second-most in its history, Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins said last week. About 80 percent were to refinance. Bank of America Corp. CFO Charles Noski said lending margins are up and demand should remain robust through yearend.
As the Mortgage Bankers Association opens its annual conference today in Atlanta, lenders that survived the real estate crash are finding the pickup in refinancings overshadowed by a national foreclosure investigation and fresh investor efforts to force loan buybacks. They are also concerned that new consumer-friendly regulations will be burdensome.
As one of the 33-40% (most estimates) of homeowners that have no mortgages, I find this article as well as the entire foreclosure debacle entirely aggravating. Almost all the coverage of the current credit mess neglects to cite the fact that a large percentage of homeowners have no debt on their homes, coops, condos. Paid up in full. The foreclosure mess is in reality a bigger problem because the true denominator is not all homeowners, but just those with outstanding debt. As for this article, a truly "thrifty" homeowner would not see the "big whoop" in taking out a loan at 4% when they could use their savings (generating 1%) to pay off their loan.
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Response by Riversider
about 15 years ago
Posts: 13572
Member since: Apr 2009
The point was made earlier that the truly thrifty are typically not borrowers. Suggesting that they are now benefiting from low interest rates is a veiled attempt to confuse the issue. The truth is that the thrifty/saving class are a convenient and easy target for which to "steal from" or to put it in more kindy kindly terms to use as a source of wealth to redistrubute from in favor of the banks.
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Response by columbiacounty
about 15 years ago
Posts: 12708
Member since: Jan 2009
Another one that would benefit from you quitting. Please.
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Response by winnebagocounty
about 15 years ago
Posts: 13
Member since: Oct 2010
columbiacounty Ignored comment. Unhide
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Response by marifranz
over 14 years ago
Posts: 1
Member since: Apr 2011
Americans are finding it simpler to keep paying the mortgage, even if the homes industry is thought to be all but a leper colony. As employment begins to improve, the homes market will as well. I found this here: Paying mortgages getting easier, but housing still depressed
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Yeah, this is a dumb article. It alludes to but doesn't examine a huge issue which is affecting millions of prudent savers and retirees -- the zirp policy is screwing savers, basically trying to force them to play the reflation game by buying riskier assets. Who knows what distortions are being caused in an economy when the govt does all it can to bail out the imprudent, and penalize the prudent.
so...you agree with yourself? except when you don't.
hey shriveled up old man!
The Fed is like an amateur golfer trying to get the ball out of the sand trap.
Queen Get your groove on! Did you figure it out. Streeteasy troll patrol takes the weekend off? HahahahahahahhAaaa. Alright go nutz, you got 2 days bf you get trolled again! What a waste of your coop board/borker life! But then again your whole life revolves around open houses and se. Flmaoz.
On point. Yes, that doctor is a financial lemming. $300 savings for new mortgage but fking clueless to $2000 month lost interest on his savings and $200k loss on his home! Oh he needs to get a prettier trophy wife. I mean he's like saving $300 a month!!!!!!!! He's a playerz NOW!
Riversider:
Outside my building today the production trailer/trucks are parked for filming an HBO movie.
One of the big trucks is from "Not Another BailOut Production" (address: Leroy Street, N.Y.C.).
That's a good one.
Nice!
w67th, speaking of loopholes, how was that tax situation you told us about? What about the mortgage fraud? That landlord you didn't pay the last month's rent to? And those residential tenants you were in a lawsuit with when you were a residential landlord?
Riversider: The title of that movie they are filming: "Too Big To Fail", from the book.
ZIRP actually exposes a big lie or misconception about our government's finances. The U.S. government doesn't really get its money from taxes and borrowing. In reality all the government does when it disburses or receives money is it credits or dedits numbers in the Federal Reserve's computers. The only reason it taxes and borrows is to sop up dollars( in other words taxes and bonds are a monetary tool). So right now the Fed is undoing all the government's borrowings by purchasing its debt(putting those dollars back in circulation).
But at the end of the day a zero interest rate is very dangerous.
Ever look at the comments posted on the Times responding to these pieces...
-----------------------------
I am old and eating 79c mac and cheese because my cd's get 1%. I feel we had some expectation of variable rates but not slashed to zero to rescue rich bankers at old people's expense.
This country is evil to the core - I hate my country that I used to love and I hope it dies.
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/business/23refinance.html?sort=oldest&offset=2
A great many people are responding negatively to the times p.r. piece. Here's another one.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Peddling low interest rates as a reward for the thrifty misses the forest for the trees. Truly thrifty people save more and borrow less. Low interest rates are a penalty for the truly thrifty.
Some people may applaud the thrifty, others may view them as soft targets for redistribution. Whichever side you're on, let's at least get the facts right.
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/business/23refinance.html?sort=oldest&offset=2
Yep. I had that comment pegged as 'riversider'.
Nope, but I did have one up there.
wow..you posted on the new york times. that is fascinating.
columbiacounty
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columbiacounty
about 2 hours ago
stop ignoring this person
report abuse
wow..you posted on the new york times. that is fascinating.
(I figured that since you are on streeteasy's auto-ignore that I'd do you a "solid" and make your brilliance more prominent. You can thank me any time)
http://blogs.reuters.com/deep-pocket/2010/10/22/retired-and-broke-why-retirees-are-declaring-bankruptcy/
For more and more seniors, retirement doesn’t mean a debt-free life of leisure. An increasing number of Americans aged 65 and older are declaring bankruptcy, according to a recent study by John Pottow, professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School.
Those aged 65 and older represented seven percent of bankruptcy filers in 2007, a mind-boggling jump from 1991. They are the “fastest-growing age demographic,” according to Pottow’s study.
***BUT WHY ARE THEY RESORTING TO CREDIT CARDS*****
Two-thirds of Americans who filed for bankruptcy said credit cards were the key reason for their financial problems, according to Pottow’s research. Besides having more credit card debt compared with younger bankruptcy filers, 44.8 percent of those aged 65 and older also had more plastic in their wallets. “They’re using credit cards as a maladaptive coping mechanism,” Pottow says.
*************NO MENTION OF ZIRP ******************
Stephanie Osterland, a supervisor in the bankruptcy department at GreenPath debt solutions, sees an increasing number of seniors living beyond their means. Says Osterland: “They’re just trying to live off of a fixed income, and that’s usually Social Security. Maybe they have a small pension. We find they’ve used credit cards to supplement that income and expenses or they just end up getting into a lot of medical debt.”
In addition to escalating medical expenses, seniors have seen their portfolios hit hard by the lagging stock market. Carolyn Rodi of Saving Your American Dream says those considering bankruptcy should see a credit counselor at a non-profit organization to get their finances in order.
here's the bottom line: we have created a zero sum society. we don't have the political will to come together to attempt to increase the overall pie so we are left with endless scenarios in which someone loses so someone gains. current workers are furious with seniors who they see as getting excess benefits; zero interest rates merely flip this upside down.
riversider loves to point out everything that is wrong without thinking through how this type of approach merely makes everyone angry and everything worse.
Refis are earning the bank big $$$$
-----------------------------------------------
A rush by U.S. homeowners to refinance at near record-low interest rates marks a rare bright spot for the mortgage industry, under attack for choking the economy with shoddy loans and botched foreclosures.
Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, received $194 billion of loan applications in the third quarter, the second-most in its history, Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins said last week. About 80 percent were to refinance. Bank of America Corp. CFO Charles Noski said lending margins are up and demand should remain robust through yearend.
As the Mortgage Bankers Association opens its annual conference today in Atlanta, lenders that survived the real estate crash are finding the pickup in refinancings overshadowed by a national foreclosure investigation and fresh investor efforts to force loan buybacks. They are also concerned that new consumer-friendly regulations will be burdensome.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-25/refinancing-surge-gives-lift-to-banks-amid-foreclosure-scrutiny.html
As one of the 33-40% (most estimates) of homeowners that have no mortgages, I find this article as well as the entire foreclosure debacle entirely aggravating. Almost all the coverage of the current credit mess neglects to cite the fact that a large percentage of homeowners have no debt on their homes, coops, condos. Paid up in full. The foreclosure mess is in reality a bigger problem because the true denominator is not all homeowners, but just those with outstanding debt. As for this article, a truly "thrifty" homeowner would not see the "big whoop" in taking out a loan at 4% when they could use their savings (generating 1%) to pay off their loan.
The point was made earlier that the truly thrifty are typically not borrowers. Suggesting that they are now benefiting from low interest rates is a veiled attempt to confuse the issue. The truth is that the thrifty/saving class are a convenient and easy target for which to "steal from" or to put it in more kindy kindly terms to use as a source of wealth to redistrubute from in favor of the banks.
Another one that would benefit from you quitting. Please.
columbiacounty Ignored comment. Unhide
Americans are finding it simpler to keep paying the mortgage, even if the homes industry is thought to be all but a leper colony. As employment begins to improve, the homes market will as well. I found this here: Paying mortgages getting easier, but housing still depressed