Email me directly for quick quotes: marksmortgage@gmail.com
As of Dec. 16th, 2008: 4.875% 30 Year Fixed. Act fast!
Also, for First Time Homebuyers, here’s a good article by the NY TIMES: (Click Here!)
Thanks, - Marks & Marks
Time to Refinance! (or better yet, buy a home)
December 11, 2008
Ipod Winner : Vicky Britton of Clearwater Police Dept.
December 8, 2008
Congratulations to Vicky Britton of the Clearwater Police Department. She was the winner of the Marks & Marks Mortgage “M&M Challenge”, by guessing within 10 M&M’s at the Clearwater Employee Wellness Day. (Out of 5,310 total.)
Special thanks to Allen Del Prete and the Human Resources Department for allowing us to participate in this year’s Wellness day. We look to forward to next year.
Marks & Marks Mortgage is available for free consultations for anyone who has questions regarding their finances. We have the ability to broker Government Loans (VA and FHA), as well as all conforming and non-conforming mortgages. Contact us today to learn more. Thank you, -Marks & Marks
Email: marksmortgage@gmail.com
Phone: 727-698-7264 or 727-564-4377
Clearwater Employees: Rays Pendant Winner Announced
November 20, 2008
Congrats to Robert Hallett! He was our winner of the Rays pendant, compliments of Marks & Marks Financial, and Jeff the Jeweler. We enjoyed meeting everyone who participated in the M&M Challenge at the Clearwater Employee’s Wellness Day. We look forward to assisting Clearwater Employees with their financing needs.
Please remember, all employees are eligible for a $500 closing cost discount on new mortgages.
Plus, we’re available for “Loan Modifications”. If you’re behind in your payments, and need advice, please contact us immediately. tmarks3@gmail.com or marksmortgage@gmail.com
For information on how to obtain a Rays pendant, or other jewelry from Jeff, email us: tmarks3@gmail.com
Thanks! -Tim Marks Co-Owner, Marks & Marks Financial
Clearwater Employees: M&M Challenge Results
November 3, 2008
Thanks to everyone who particpated; we had over 230 registered “guesses” from the City of Clearwater Employees. As you know, the closest guess to the actual number, wins a free Ipod Shuffle. So, without further ado, here are the results:
Number of actual M&M’s: 5,310.
The Winner, with a guess of 5,320: Vicky Britton
Thanks to everyone who particpated! We enjoyed meeting all of you, and look forward to providing Clearwater Employees with expert mortgage advise. -Marks & Marks Mortgage
Uncle Sam Wants You! (to buy a home)
August 22, 2008
…. TO BUY A HOME!
Uncle Sam has been working to come up with incentives to help stimulate the current housing market. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 has a few incentives designed to help you, the homeowner or future homeowner, get back into the housing market. On July 30, George W. Bush signed into law the Housing Stimulus Bill H.R. 3221, as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The focal point of the bill is a $7,500. tax credit for eligible First Time Homebuyers. Contact us today at, 727-564-4377, or email us at marksmortgage@gmail.com to learn more. Meanwhile, here’s “Question and Answer” from HUD/Government Website:
Q: How will the law help struggling homeowners keep their homes?
A: Through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), an estimated 400,000 borrowers in danger of losing their homes will be able to refinance into more affordable government-insured mortgages. The program offers government insurance to lenders who voluntarily reduce mortgages for at-risk homeowners to at least 90% of the property’s current value.
Q: When will the program begin?
A: The program will begin on October 1, 2008 and sunset on September 30, 2011. Homeowners in danger of losing their homes before October 1, however, should not wait to contact their loan servicers and should begin applying for federally insured mortgages now.
Q: Who is eligible?
A: To be eligible to participate in this program, a borrower must:
- Have a loan on an owner-occupied principal residence. Investors, speculators, or borrowers who own second homes cannot participate in this program.
- Have a monthly mortgage payment greater than at least 31 percent of the borrower’s total monthly income, as of March 1, 2008.
- Certify that he or she has not intentionally defaulted on an existing mortgage, and did not obtain the existing loan fraudulently.
- Not have been convicted of fraud.
Q: How can a homeowner access this new program?
A: Homeowners or a servicer of an existing eligible loan need to contact an FHA-approved lender. The FHA-approved lender will determine the size of a loan that a borrower can reasonably repay and that meets the requirements of the program. If the current lender or mortgage holder agrees to write-down the amount of the existing mortgage and make the new loan affordable, the FHA lender will pay off the discounted existing mortgage. Loans provided under this program must be 30-year fixed rate loans.
Q: Are lenders required to participate in this program?
A: No. The program is completely voluntary for lenders, investors, loan servicers, and borrowers.
Q: How does this law help neighborhoods that have been hit by the foreclosure crisis?
A: The impact of the current crisis has not been isolated to individual borrowers or investors, but has been felt broadly by neighbors, communities, and governments across the nation. The law strengthens neighborhoods hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis by providing $3.9 billion in Community Development Block Grants to states and localities to buy foreclosed homes standing empty, rehabilitate foreclosed properties, and stabilize the housing market.
Q: Will this law be a bailout for speculators, homeowners, investors, and lenders?
A: No. It is narrowly tailored to keep families in their homes. For example:
- Only primary residences are eligible: NO speculators, investment properties, second or third homes will be refinanced.
- Investors and lenders must take big losses first in order even to participate. The owner of the old mortgage can get a maximum of 90% of the current value of the home (which presumably will be considerably less than the value of the original loan). In many cases the loss will be significantly greater, but 10% is the minimum.
- In addition, lenders must waive any penalties or fees, and help pay for the origination and closing costs of the new loans.
- Most homeowners will have seen the equity in their homes disappear before being able to refinance under this program. In addition, the FHA will get a portion of any future profits on the house, to make sure the government recoups its investment over the long run.
Q: Will this law reward families who bought homes they could not afford?
A: Many homeowners facing foreclosure were misled, were deceived, or were in other ways the victims of unfair lending practices.
To prevent future abuses by lenders, this law will establish a nationwide loan originator licensing and registration system to set minimum standards for all residential mortgage brokers and lenders. It also strengthens mortgage disclosure requirements to help ensure that borrowers understand their mortgage loan terms.
Q: How will this law make it more affordable to own a home?
A: There are a number of provisions that will make homeownership more affordable:
- Creates a refundable tax credit for first-time homebuyers that works like an interest-free loan of up to $7,500 (to be paid back over 15 years).
- Grants states $11 billion of additional tax-exempt bond authority in 2008 that they can use to refinance subprime loans, make loans to first-time homebuyers and to finance the building of affordable rental housing.
- Raises conforming loan limits for the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $625,500. Because of the high cost of housing in California, a majority of the state’s residents were previously shut out from these programs. Raising these loan limits will lead to lower interest rates on some loans, greater refinancing opportunities, and enable more borrowers in high cost areas to avoid the type of nontraditional and frequently abusive loans that led to the current crisis.
- Provides couples using the standard deduction with up to an additional $1,000 deduction for property taxes ($500 for individuals).
Q: Does the law provide help to those who still cannot afford to own a home?
A: Yes. The bill includes a number of provisions to increase the supply of affordable housing, which has been a major problem in California pre-dating the current foreclosure crisis. For example:
- The bill creates a new permanent affordable housing trust fund – financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and not by taxpayers – to fund the construction, maintenance and preservation of affordable rental housing for low and very low-income individuals and families nationwide in both rural and urban areas.
- In addition, the legislation provides a temporary increase in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and simplification of the credit to help put builders to work to create new options for families seeking affordable housing alternatives
-Timothy Marks 
727-564-4377 or direct email at: tmarks3@gmail.com
Making Sense of Problems at Fannie and Freddie - Recap of New York Times Report
July 14, 2008
The New York Times published this chart (above) of how Fannie Mae works. (July 11th, 2008) To see the full publication, click here. Today, July 14th, 2008, Dan Green of the Mortgage Reports Blog, published an interesting follow up. Here’s an excerpt of the post; specifically what the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac news means to consumers, and 12 discussion points that highlight a few issues.
1. News and opinion often blend on TV: The hardest part about watching business television is that it’s tough to distinguish between fact and opinion, especially when it’s coming from the mouths of “experts”. A good rule of thumb — if the expert is talking about something that hasn’t happened yet, it’s opinion.
2. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t too big to fail: But, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are too important to fail. This is an important distinction and it’s the reason why the Federal Reserve and the U.S. treasury issued statements to bolster the GSE’s standing Sunday.
3. Beware of colorful metaphors: TV producers and newspaper editors love good metaphors because they generate emotional responses. When we hear phrases like “Fannie Mae is running on fumes“, it makes us scared. Even if we don’t know what “Fannie Mae” is or what it means for a GSE to be “running on fumes”.
4. Same goes for the word “bailout”: Mortgage-related news is rife with negative connotation and has been since sub-prime became a buzzword circa 2005. The reality, however, is that since 2005, mortgage rates have fallen in some pockets, even as mortgage guidelines have tightened. For the well-qualified homebuyer, mortgage news has been anything but negative.
5. Fannie and Freddie are mortgage insurers, not mortgage lenders: This means that if you already have a home loan, any problems you face because of the GSEs will be indirect only (i.e. broader economic recession). You will still pay your mortgage as agreed.
6. 
The government works weekends: Just because the Fed and the Treasury issued statements on a Sunday doesn’t mean that the issues with Fannie and Freddie are ones of crisis. The reason the statements were issued on Sunday is because Sunday in Cincinnati is Monday in Beijing and the international credit markets are already open.
7. Fannie and Freddie probably saw this coming months ago: Because loan-level pricing adjustments made Fannie and Freddie’s mortgages too expensive, Americans with on-the-fence credit profiles have run to FHA-insured mortgages instead. FHA responded with LLPAs of its own, ironically, in effect as of today.
8. Mortgage rates should benefit: The government’s support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is an explicit guarantee of debt and elevates the GSE’s debt quality to near-Treasury levels. In other words, the risk of buying Fannie or Freddie-issued debt is dramatically lower and yields should fall to reflect it.
9. The biggest reason why Fannie and Freddie matter to you: When your local bank branch lends you money for a mortgage, in theory, it is lending you deposits from its customer base. Then, the bank sells the loan to Fannie or Freddie for its value plus a fee. The “value” replaces the deposit money and the fee is a profit. If Fannie and Freddie were to stop buying loans, banks have to get a lot more picky about the people they lend to, or would have to stop lending entirely. This is why Fannie and Freddie are too important to fail.
10. 98.8 percent of Fannie mortgages are paid on-time: Let’s remember that the typical Fannie Mae borrower is well-capitalized, has sufficient home equity, and a strong credit score. We’re not talking — and will never be talking — sub-prime loan quality.
11. The last time Fannie and Freddie were pinched like this, they raised fees: Different from loan officer fees, mandatory “delivery charges” pumped up the interest rates available to everyday Americans. For some, the charges were cost-prohobitive, amounting to 2 percent or more. It would be reasonable to expect additional delivery charges later this year.
12. Monday’s evidence that the news isn’t so dire: Today, Freddie Mac sold $3 billion of debt and it was well-bid by the markets. This means that demand for the debt was higher-than-expected and that markets still have confidence in Freddie Mac.
The world is unpredictable and so are mortgage rates: Last Monday, few people predicted what had come to pass by Friday, and then again by this morning. Unexpected events — or lack of expectation at all — are the biggest reason why mortgage rates have been so volatile this year. If you have the chance to lock in a new mortgage rate, do it. You can always remortgage to a lower rate sometime in the future.
Sources
Homeowners and Homebuyers: What the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Story Means to You.
The Mortgage Reports Blog, July 14th, 2008.
Making Sense of Problems at Fannie and Freddie
The New York Times, July 11, 2008
Freddie Auction Is Successful After Treasury, Fed Pledge Aid
James R. Hagerty, Deborah Solomon And Sudeep Reddy
The Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2008
For any questions, please email us at marksmortgage@gmail.com
Metlife Purchases Mortgage Operations from First Horizon
June 4, 2008
As most of our readers/customers know, we posted awhile ago that First Horizon and Metlife were working on a possible deal. To update, as of 6/04/2008, the deal has been made official, and Metlife will purchase the mortgage operations of First Horizon. All First Horizon customers who have worked with me (Tony Marks) in the past, should contact me directly at marksmortgage@gmail.com to learn how this effects you.
In the meantime, here are some financial articles to read regarding the sale: (click on the links)
Marks & Marks Financial will continue to work with, and guide all First Horizon customers through this transaction. Thanks,
-Tony Marks
(727) 698-7264
Introducing: Adopt-A-Mortgage Program
May 30, 2008
-Tim Marks Co-Founder/Broker What is Mortgage Adoption?
Marks & Marks Financial recognizes the fact that many homeowner’s today have been abandoned by their Lenders, Mortgage Brokers, or Loan Officers. We refer to homeowner’s who haven’t heard from their broker or lender, as “Orphaned Mortgages”. In other words, now that business isn’t booming for many mortgage professionals, they’ve left the industry, or have simply gone “out of business”. So who would you call for questions or advice regarding your mortgage? Well, you can call a ”call center” and wait on hold, or you can have your mortgage adopted by Marks & Marks Financial, and we’ll give you the personal attention you deserve.
Our Mortgage Adoption Program is FREE and doesn’t require refinancing. We simply review your mortgage, and offer advice on how to manage your debt. Beyond that, we’re here to answer any questions you may have about your housing debt. If you have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, we’ll include you in our “Rate Watcher” program at no extra charge, to help you monitor and determine the best time to refinance out of your ARM. Furthermore, we have over 25 years of collective experience, and can help you purchase a new home, take out equity, or restructure your home loan.
Mortgage Adoption is a new concept with genuine intentions. We realize that with over 200 lenders closing their doors, or downsizing in the past year, many of you are without a real personal contact to help you manage your mortgage. At Marks & Marks Financial we’re family owned and operated and have taken the necessary steps to navigate through the downturn in our industry. It’s with this dedication to serving our current database, that we decided to create the Mortgage Adoption Program.
To Get Your Mortgage Adopted:
Email the following to marksmortgage@gmail.com
1. First and Last Name
2. Phone number
3. Address or Zip Code
Email Marks & Marks: marksmortgage@gmail.com
Thank you,
-Marks & Marks
-Tony Marks Co-Founder/Broker
(727) 698-7264
Important Update Re: First Horizon, Metlife, and Marks & Marks
May 19, 2008
We have two important announcements regarding your choices for home loan financing:
· 1st, in the coming days, Metlife and First Horizon will announce the sale of First Horizon Home Loans to Metlife. This can affect your account in a number of ways. It is believed that Metlife will be discretionary of which mortgages they’ll want to continue servicing, the rest will be sold to competing lenders/servicers.
· 2nd, in anticipation of First Horizon’s declining market position, I decided to pursue an opportunity to partner with my father, Tim Marks, a long time Banking VP, to open Marks&Marks Financial. We’re very proud to announce our official Grand Opening, and will be able to broker mortgages through over 25 top national lenders.
“Right now, the greatest advantage we have for our customers is the ability to work with multiple lenders and banks.”
Our flexibility allows Marks&Marks Financial to shop for the lowest rate and find the best program available. Each major bank or lender has retreated to their niches or individual strengths; our job is to capitalize on those strengths for you.
Having said this, I’m proud to announce Marks&Marks Financial’s full dedication to Mortgage Brokering. Our services include:
· Purchase and Refinance Mortgages (FIxed and ARMs, etc.)
· Debt Consolidation Plans
· Reverse Mortgages
· Government Loans, (FHA & VA) 100% Financing Available.
Thank you in advance for considering us for your Mortgage solutions. I’ve included my business cards for contact information. Please visit us online: www.marksandmarksfinancial.com or call directly: (727) 698-7264 or (727) 564-4377.
Tony Marks Tim Marks
