Category: Uncategorized

Only when it rains: Part 1, leaky roofs

23 November, 2009 (12:13) | Uncategorized | No comments

By: David A. Smith
 
“Does the roof leak?”
“Only when it rains.”
 

“Honey, the weather forecast says rain”
 
As water is housing’s greatest enemy – outranking fire, children, and pets in that order – the most essential structural element in a house is does it keep the water out?  If it doesn’t, it can reduce the bravest renovator and [...]

Mortgage brokers: the honorable mercenary? Part 2

5 June, 2007 (09:53) | Uncategorized |

[Continued from yesterday's Part 1.]
 
Yesterday we discovered that, in being to thine own financial interests true, mortgage brokers claim they work neither for consumers nor for lenders.
 

“Neither a borrower nor a lender work for.
And it shall follow as the night the day.
Thou canst not be sued by any man.”
 
Imposing a fiduciary duty would increase the [...]

Mortgage brokers: the honorable mercenary?

4 June, 2007 (09:35) | Uncategorized |

As the subprime shakeout works its way through housing’s crumple zone, and delinquent borrowers struggle to restructure their loans or otherwise hold on to their property,

“I’m innocent and you’re guilty!“

the search for blame among the lending community’s dramatis personae is increasingly zeroing in not so much on the subprime lenders as companies [...]

The El Dorado of permanent sustainable affordability

1 June, 2007 (09:15) | Uncategorized |

The conquistadores scoured Mexico and Latin America for the fabled seven cities of gold, including El Dorado, the land where gold and precious stones were to be found in abundance. 
 

 
They never found it, but in the process they discovered the Pacific Ocean, tobacco, and the New World.
 
Every government or policymaker I’ve ever encountered thinks [...]

The subprime lenders that worked: Part 3, more why

31 May, 2007 (09:58) | Uncategorized |

[Continued from the previous Part 1 and Part 2.]
 

Not only (as we saw two days ago) have the state housing finance agencies been able to lend in the subprime marketplace without experiencing high rates of default, we can also trace their lower defaults to specific structural elements in their business approach. Yesterday I [...]