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Four lawsuits filed in New York and California are part of the settlement, which names Sprout, its affiliated company Recovco Mortgage Management LLC, and former top executives, including its founder Michael Strauss, as defendants. 

Defunct Long Island-based Sprout, led by industry veteran Strauss, informed hundreds of workers it was closing its doors on July 6 after a sharp rise in mortgage rates saddled the company with loans it was unable to sell to investors in the secondary market at par. 

HousingWire previously reported that ex-employees alleged the company did not pay the former employees’ last paychecks and severance package. The company also canceled health insurance coverage retroactively to May 1, resulting in several lawsuits against the lender.

In the request for the settlement approval, the plaintiff’s attorneys said they do not “believe Defendants even have a defense to the allegation that the Company failed to pay its employees for several weeks of work performed once the corporate entities shut down.”

To justify the settlement, the attorneys wrote, “Our primary concern has been the limited assets left in the accounts of the Corporate Defendants (Sprout and Recovco) and our ability to collect on a judgment against the primary individual defendant, Michael Strauss.”

The negotiations started seven months ago and included two mediations, in-person and virtual meetings and dozens of phone conferences. 

In October 2022, plaintiffs demanded about $20 million in unpaid wages, liquidated damages, and damages under the federal WARN and COBRA notice violations. In turn, the company responded that it would not have the financial ability to “pay an eight-figure judgment and that the collection risk against Strauss was high.”

“We learned many potentially valuable assets were, in fact, encumbered or no longer in Defendant Strauss’ possession. This information helped us to offer principled advice to our clients regarding settlement decision making,” plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in court filings. 

Strauss is reportedly trying to sell a property at 610 Park Avenue in New York for $22.5 million and has started a new mortgage company. However, he is facing some resistance. Strauss and his company, Smart Rate Mortgage, appealed in April a decision from an Illinois regulator to suspend their licenses to operate in the state. Meanwhile, the licenses remain active.  

Scott Simpson, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs at Menken Simpson & Rozger LLP, said in an email to HousingWire that the timeline for former employees to receive compensation will depend on when the court rules on the motion and any further dates set by the court.  

“If the court approves the settlement, a settlement administrator will send checks out to eligible class members,” Simpson said. 

“Our clients have no comment at this time,” Marc Wenger, an attorney for the defendants at Jackson Lewis P.C., said.

Source: housingwire.com

Apache is functioning normally

Weddings are a big deal. You plan them for months or even years and invite everyone you know, then you have the highly-anticipated, heavily-photographed event and they all live happily ever after. (Cue the end credits.)

So much goes on behind the scenes before the big day, as anyone who’s ever attended or been in a wedding should know. But what you don’t really find out until you plan one for yourself is just how expensive and wasteful they can be. 

What’s Ahead:

The true cost of a wedding

When I was planning my wedding between 2018 and 2019, I learned pretty quickly what weddings actually cost. And I’m not just talking about the bill. 

Each year in the U.S., couples spend thousands of dollars on average on their weddings. In 2022, the national average price of a wedding was around $30,000, according to The Knot. Of course, these averages vary by state and city but could be much higher. And destination weddings can add another several thousand onto your final total.

And every year, these averages go up.

I didn’t know any of this when I got engaged. But once I started actually planning and crunching the numbers using quotes from vendors and venues, I realized that there was no way I could afford the “average wedding,” and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. 

Creating my lists also had me thinking about how all of these different “to-do” items would eventually become “to-dump” items. Those flowers would have to go somewhere, right? The table decorations would need to be disposed of, the cards tossed, and the wrapping paper from the gifts thrown in the trash. 

So I decided to try to do things a little differently. Both out of necessity because I was poor when we got married – like still in college, barely 22 years old poor – and out of a desire to be eco-friendy. 

I’m going to share seven real ways I made my wedding greener and some ideas for making your big day low(er)-waste too.

Read more: Are you financially ready to get engaged?

1. Swap the flowers

Sola wood flower bouquet

My flower total: $94.55

Swapping real flowers for sola wood, paper, fabric, or anything else that will last is a smart place to start. Because the fact of the matter is, flowers are incredibly expensive. And then they wilt and die, as cut plants are prone to doing.

For my flowers, I opted for sola wood. This is a material that comes from tapioca that can be treated and shaped almost like paper. It’s lightweight and looks darn close to the real thing.

I found a shop on Etsy that sold individual sola wood flowers in a bunch of different colors and varieties, and I used 24 of these for my bridal party. For myself, I purchased a pre-made sola bouquet from another store so I didn’t have to cobble one together. 

The great part about using sola or another material for your flowers isn’t just that it’s inexpensive but also that you get a keepsake.

I let my bridesmaids keep theirs as a memento and I have the leftovers in vases.

For me, that was it in the way of flowers. I used other decorations for everything else, including repurposed antiques and some DIY items. But there’s nothing saying you couldn’t go all out with the sola since it’s a fraction of the cost of live flowers.

Tip: Purchase sola flowers in large quantities to save even more, and buy them early so you can match them to your other decorations and customize them.

2. Buy your dress secondhand

My dress total: $700 (without alterations)

I know, I know. This one is a harder sell. Many brides have very clear visions in their heads about how they want their dresses to look and make them feel, and purchasing secondhand limits your options. Plus, thrifting a top or a pair of jeans is different from thrifting one of the most important outfits of your life.

But hear me out. No one is going to know someone else wore your dress before you. Wedding dresses usually get worn once, maybe twice, before collecting dust. And creating gowns is so labor and resource intensive that even repurposing one has an impact.

For my dress, I went to The Brides Project in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is a nonprofit bridal boutique that collects donated dresses, sells them, and uses the profits for charitable causes. The Brides Project donates to the Cancer Support Community of Greater Ann Arbor and everyone who works there is a volunteer. 

Buying secondhand saves serious money and prevents a dress from being wasted. At the end of the day, I spent $700 on my dress and I loved it. This was in 2018 when the average cost of a wedding gown was right around $1,750. 

Tip: If you don’t have access to a secondhand bridal shop, check out your local consignment and thrift stores, go on eBay and Poshmark, or browse a marketplace specializing in pre-owned bridal gowns.

Secondhand marketplaces include:

Point is, you’ve got options.

3. Use one venue

Wedding venue with dance floor and tables and chairs set up

My venue total: $1,850

If you can find a venue with enough room for both your ceremony and reception, book it. This is one of the best decisions we made. Venue rental fees will eat up a big chunk of your budget no matter where you go, but choosing one for the whole event can help you save a little money and make things easier on yourself – and your guests.

With one venue, nobody has to kill time in between, you don’t have to get multiple places set up, and you don’t need to pay for twice the decorations. You save your elderly relatives from climbing into a car more than necessary and nobody gets lost.

This creates less waste and simplifies your planning. Plus, without all those cars on the road getting from one place to another, you’re not responsible for as many carbon emissions.

Tip: To pull this off, you have to love whatever venue you choose. Rather than picking a “blank canvas” venue you’d have to style from floor to ceiling, consider one with some personality. If you choose a place that suits your style, you don’t need to do as much decorating. 

We got married in a city club that had vintage art, furniture, and accents throughout, and our wedding was in spring when the flowers were blooming. It felt timeless and setup was minimal.

Overall, highly recommend. 

4. Skip (some of) the cards

My card total: $117.19

Physical engagement announcements, save-the-dates, invitations, and programs are nice to look at. But that’s a lot of material that’s probably just going to get recycled. And wow is it pricey.

The only paper I purchased was invitations and RSVPs. We ordered these from Paper Culture, a company that creates custom eco-friendly cards using recycled paper and bamboo. 

The cards included links to our wedding website where people could RSVP and find out everything they needed to about the event. We did receive some physical RSVPs back, but the majority of our guests used the website to “joyfully accept” or “regretfully decline.”

There are so many wedding planning websites and apps that organize everything from responses to registries in one place. You can pretty much skip most of the cards if you want to.

Great wedding websites include: 

  • The Knot
  • Zola
  • Joy
  • WeddingWire

Tip: Send invitations a little earlier than recommended if you’re doing digital. This will give guests more time to “save the date” and you more time to track down RSVPs. And you might need to give your tech-averse relatives a call if they don’t respond.

As for programs, you might not need them. I wrote down the schedule of events with times on an extra-large mirror (that I got on sale for $35) and displayed this centrally at the venue. I still have this mirror today, with the writing on it, on my wall.

Bonus tip: Not everybody needs a plus-one

Maybe this seems selfish, but we gave out plus-ones very sparingly. If we had met a person’s significant other, they were invited. Otherwise, we didn’t really want to give them hugs in the receiving line or pay for their dinner.

We made a note on the RSVPs that if someone wanted to request a plus-one they could, but no one actually did this. People get it. 

5. Choose food wisely 

Appetizers on trays and stands at wedding

My food total: $3,077.50

For many couples, the food and drink bill ends up being the biggest. The Knot 2022 Real Weddings Study found that the average food bill for a wedding comes out to $75 per person. 

But most people don’t go to a wedding for the food. In fact, this is often the worst part (just stating facts). Don’t put too much pressure on the meal you’re serving to be a highlight of the day or evening, and don’t fork over more cash than necessary.

That said, we decided to do a menu of just appetizers. We ordered enough that everybody would be able to pile their plates with several individual bites and have plenty to eat, but not so many that we’d have leftovers to deal with. 

Every venue is different, but ours charged a per-plate or per-head price on dinners and a per-item price on appetizers (or hors d’oeuvres if you want to be fancy). By choosing apps instead of plates, we saved a ton of money and gave our guests more options. They were able to enjoy dinner-sized portions and we still hear from people about how fun this was.

Tip: Some venues require you to use their caterers and might place a minimum on how much you need to order. Try to get this information before signing a contract to rent a venue. And if your venue doesn’t offer appetizers or you’re not into the whole strolling dinner thing, buffet-style meals can be an economical alternative to plated dinners.

For 130 guests, we could have spent over $9,000 going the traditional route. I’m glad we didn’t.

6. Ask for money

It’s not weird anymore to tell people you just want cash.

Especially if you and your partner already have most of the things you need or have been living together for a while, chances are you don’t need a gift from everybody coming to your wedding. Feel free to ask for money.

Many wedding planning websites have built-in options for collecting cash contributions (we called ours the “Honeymoon Fund” but I’ve also seen “Newlywed Fund”). This is easier for your guests because they can just virtually send cash without having to buy and wrap a gift and better for you because you can get what you really need. Bonus, there are no boxes or piles of wrapping paper to get rid of.

Tip: Don’t worry about offending anyone. A lot of your guests have been in your shoes. They know weddings are expensive and would probably be more than happy to help you out this way instead of buying you a pan or sheet set.

7. Rethink the diamond

My ring total: $2,000

Okay, so this one isn’t technically for the wedding. But it’s important.

Consider an alternative to a diamond engagement ring if you’re planning to get engaged. There are much more sustainable options out there than the standard diamond, and ones that won’t break the bank.

Moissanite is one of the trendiest non-diamond stones but precious gems like sapphires, emeralds, morganite, and opal can be fantastic choices for couples looking to save money. 

And if you love traditional diamonds, that’s great too! There are so many ways to buy diamond rings that don’t involve going to a big box store.

Tip: Antique shops and estate sales are perfect for finding vintage rings and many online retailers carry gorgeous rings without the markups you typically see. Try Blue Nile for discounted conflict-free diamonds.

You can also choose an “imperfect” diamond. This is what I did. I have a salt-and-pepper diamond from Alexis Russell and it’s pretty perfect to me. It’s certified conflict-free and made with recycled gold. 

When I got engaged in 2018, my husband spent $2,000 on this ring. That year, couples were spending over $7,800 on average for engagement rings. 

Read more: Where’s the best place to buy diamonds? 

When to splurge

The great thing about getting married is that you get to do what you want. It’s your day. 

You and your partner can strive for a greener wedding if you feel compelled, and that can look however you want it to look. Compromising in some areas and splurging in others is the best way to have the wedding you’ve been dreaming of without too much guilt or sticker shock.

You should splurge on the parts of your wedding that matter most to you and your partner, and try to save on the things that don’t. For example, maybe you love fresh flowers. You can’t imagine a wedding without fresh flowers, so you get these and rent the rest of your decorations or buy them used.

Or maybe the pictures are most important to you. To balance out this cost, maybe you serve cupcakes or cookies instead of a tiered wedding cake. 

There are no wrong answers, as long as you’re doing what makes you happy.

Bottom line

The wedding industry is due for a shake-up, and enough people making tiny changes to their big days could have a huge impact on the planet.

With careful planning and some compromises, we were able to completely recoup what we spent on our wedding in gifts and cash contributions. That means we got married without debt, and that was worth celebrating in and of itself.

Our wedding was by no means the most eco-friendly it could have been. And if I were to plan it again today, I’d probably try to do better. But I feel good about the little changes we did make.

Read more: 

Source: moneyunder30.com

Apache is functioning normally

This is a guest post from Joanna Lahey, an associate professor of economics at the George H.W. Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Ellen’s note: Joanna has written four articles about health insurance. This is the first, and every Saturday for the next month, we’ll be publishing one. Given the readers’ concern over the cost of health insurance as well as the ability to get insurance, we think her articles will be a great addition to GRS.

We save for retirement in order to smooth our consumption over time. Money saved now when we have income allows us to eat more than cat food when we’re retired and not bringing in as much.

Mikey eating cat food

Insurance works in much the same way, except instead of smoothing our consumption over time, we’re smoothing it over conditions of the world. In the good state of the world, the one in which we haven’t been hit by a bus, we spend money on insurance. In the bad state of the world, the one in which the bus hits us, the insurance company pays out money to help compensate us for our medical care.

People value this insurance because they are risk averse. For most people, losing money hurts us more than gaining the equivalent amount of money makes us happy. We’re willing to pay a little extra during good times to offset the bad times.

Of course, in reality it’s a little bit more complicated than that. Insurance companies have an incentive to keep you from getting into that bad state of the world, so they might pay for annual check-ups and other sorts of preventive care. Additionally, some people like the idea of using health insurance as a prepayment for expected medical expenses. However, preventive care and prepayment are not technically insurance even if they are bundled in with many policies. The point of insurance is to make the bad times less bad by paying for insurance during the good times and accepting a payout during the bad times.

In an ideal world, this insurance system would just work and the free market could handle everything. People would pay their expected cost of insurance into the insurance system and the insurance would pay out for the people who were unlucky enough to get hit by buses or have other health problems.

Unfortunately, there’s a problem. People who know that they are likely to use medical care value insurance more than people who believe they will never get sick. The problem arises when people know their expected medical costs better than insurance companies do. This situation is called “asymmetric information” — one party (you) knows more than the other party (the insurance company) does.

Death Spiral in the Insurance Market

In this world of asymmetric information, there is theoretically no way for an insurance company to make a profit, or to even exist in the private market. If the insurance company sells insurance at the average cost of medical care — what it expects to pay out on average — then people who know deep down that they’re healthy are going to prefer not to buy the insurance. People who know they are likely to get sick are more than willing to pay the average cost of medical care and sign up in droves. When that happens, the average cost of medical care that the insurance company sees goes up, so they have to charge higher rates for coverage. That means that the folks who expect to have ingrown toenails but no other health problems will drop coverage while the people who expect to get diabetes will stay on. That drives up the average cost of health insurance further, which means that the next healthiest group of people will stop buying coverage and only the most expensive stay on. Eventually only the most expensive person will be willing to buy insurance (and he or she probably won’t be able to afford it). The market fails, and insurance cannot be offered. The private insurance market is broken.

Asymmetric information and this “lemons problem” (the term coined in an article by George Akerlof) are why it is so very difficult to get coverage on the private market and why the coverage is so expensive. It’s also why private coverage deliberately doesn’t cover conditions like pregnancy if it can legally choose not to.

Side note: You may have noticed that even though the private health insurance market is broken, it still exists. That’s because of that risk aversion we talked about in the previous section — most people value insurance more than its expected cost. If they value it enough, they’re willing to pay more and are able to get over the death spiral. Incidentally, David Cutler, one of the main architects of the Affordable Care Act, argues that the individual mandate is not needed — we just need to get the price low enough and risk aversion will get people to buy. Jon Gruber, another of the architects, disagrees — he doesn’t think it is likely that risk aversion will overcome the adverse selection problem.

Why is Health Insurance in the U.S. Bundled With Employment?

The solution to the problem? Group markets for insurance. In a group market, people are in a group for some reason that has nothing to do with health insurance. Working for the same employer functions especially well because adults who work are healthier on average than adults who don’t work. Everyone in the group is charged the same amount for insurance, and the average cost is low enough that the downward death spiral doesn’t occur. The bigger the group, the more risk and costs are spread out and the happier the insurance company is. Large companies get cheaper insurance rates than smaller companies because it’s less likely with a large company that the boss is getting insurance because he just found out his wife has cancer (and even if he did, that cost is spread out across more workers).

Doesn’t that argue that we should have just one group for everybody? Well, yes. However, for historical reasons (price controls during WWII, as several folks pointed out in the comments of this Ask the Readers post), we ended up with our groups being attached to employment. That’s fine if you’re employed by a large firm that offers insurance (or married to someone who is), but makes things more difficult if you’re not.

Why don’t we just tear the system down and start from scratch? Well, it is difficult to destroy a private industry that is around 7 percent of our economy, especially when said industry has powerful lobbyists. It may be more efficient to have government-provided health insurance, but the costs of getting to that point would be large.

Given our current political and institutional situation, we can still get to universal health care even if single-payer insurance is unlikely. In the U.S. that means something like the Affordable Care Act, with its universal mandate, subsidies, and regulations prohibiting preexisting-condition exclusions or charging prices based on anything other than age and tobacco status. I will talk more about the basics of the Affordable Care Act in a future post.

How Much Insurance Should be Provided?

In the ideal world, insurance companies would provide full insurance. They would pay 100 percent of your medical care and maybe something to compensate you for pain and suffering. You’d have to pay a larger premium to get the insurance, but it would be worth it because if you got hit by a bus you wouldn’t be out of pocket for anything. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world and people are flawed.

  • If you knew you were going to get compensated, you might be less careful about looking both ways before crossing the street.
  • If going to the doctor is completely free, you might go in for a sniffle right away just to be on the safe side rather than waiting a few days.
  • If someone else is paying, you might move to more expensive infertility treatments faster than if you have to pay the bill yourself.
  • Your doctor might decide to do extra tests that only have a small chance of finding anything, because why not?

We call these changes in behavior caused by the program availability “moral hazard.” Moral hazard occurs when people do bad things they wouldn’t have done if they were bearing the full cost of their actions.

Political economy side note: The trade-offs caused by moral hazard are one of the main points of disagreement between political parties. Public programs help deserving people who need help, but they can also cause people to do bad things in order to qualify for the public programs (through moral hazard). Programs that help children tend to be popular with politicians on both sides because children don’t have moral hazard with respect to government programs — they’re not the decision-makers.

In order to keep moral hazard down, it is optimal to provide less than full insurance. So insurance companies don’t pay the full amount of every bill. That’s why we have deductibles and co-payments and coinsurance.

Terms You Need to Know

Premium: The (usually monthly) amount that you pay to the insurance company to buy insurance. (Mine is $693/month for my dependents and me.)

Deductible: Some amount of money that you have to pay before the insurance starts paying anything. (Mine is $750.)

Co-payment: A flat dollar amount that you pay when you show up at the doctor (or the hospital) no matter how much your visit actually costs. (Mine is $35 for in-network and $45 for out-of-network.)

Coinsurance: After you reach your deductible, you may still be responsible for some of the costs. Coinsurance is a percent of the costs that you pay. (Mine is 30 Percent.)

Sometimes economists will group all three of these together: deductible, co-payment, and coinsurance under the umbrella term of “co-payment.” We do this because they’re all ways of cost-sharing and thus reducing moral hazard. Living in Texas, I get all three types. The bill for my daughter’s birth was $750 for the deductible, $35 co-payment for the doctor, and 30 percent coinsurance of $2,345 + $191 + $218 is $826 for my share of the rest (assuming that all of the bills have finally come in). So a total bill of $1,611.

That’s a lot of information about the basics of health insurance. Next time I will talk about the pros and cons of different kinds of insurance you can get in the U.S. (PPO, HMO, HDHP, ACO).

Source: getrichslowly.org

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Sophia Bell is a Mortgage Banker at our Leominster, MA branch. She was born and raised in Leominster, MA, where she graduated from Leominster High School and started her career in the banking industry, where she has spent 14 years focusing on the needs of her clients.

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?
Knowing that I can be present for my children for any event of their life will always be my biggest motivation, while also being able to provide a life for my children that I didn’t have. I spent years of my professional life before becoming licensed subjected to the corporate world in an executive position where I didn’t have the flexibility to be around for my children and was told how to hustle. This career allows me to be in control of my success and that keeps me grinding every day!

What would you do for a career if you weren’t doing this?
Hard to say, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to college after high school since I moved out on my own at the age of 17. I got right into banking from high school and spent my years working my way up the corporate ladder until I decided to bet on myself and become licensed as a Loan Officer. When I was a child I always wanted to be a gym teacher though, so if I had the opportunity to go to college, I’d probably have pursued that career.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Sports and playing with my children! I’m a sports junkie and have played nearly every sport; basketball, soccer, co-ed football, women softball, co-ed softball, hockey, golf, snowboarding, fishing, etc…Once I was pregnant with my first, I quit all sports except for women softball and continue to play on the same team for almost 20 years, even though my second pregnancy.

If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?
That’s a great question! Teleport! With having family all over the united states, a very demanding job, and kids of my own – teleporting would allow me to be more present at family gatherings, while also not missing work events or my children! (because we all know traveling on a plane with two kids under the age of 5 isn’t a fun time hahah.

What’s your favorite food?
Tacos!!

What are 3 fun facts about you?
I’m a forced extrovert, I LOVE to bake but usually don’t eat 90% of what I bake hahah, and I HATE being cold.

If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you would do?
The very first thing I would do is pay off my mortgage. Then make sure my family was taken care of.

If someone was going to visit your hometown, what is one local spot you’d suggest they visit and why?
Oh goodness, it’s Leominster so I’d say there is a lot of cool places to go BUT I would recommend coming here in the fall and doing apple picking at Sholan farms.

What’s your favorite thing about working at Total Mortgage?
How the majority of folks all have the same mindset that it’s about the client and getting them to closing, which means rolling up our sleeves and working nights/weekends, etc…

Source: totalmortgage.com

Apache is functioning normally

HomeServices of America, Berkshire Hathaway’s real estate brokerage business, has increased its ownership stake in Title Resources Group, an underwriter currently partially owned by Anywhere Real Estate.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Anywhere, a competing real estate franchisor formerly known as Realogy, sold 70% of TRG to Centerbridge Partners in October 2021 for $210 million in cash.

Then in May 2022, HomeServices purchased its first stake in TRG, but the size and price were not disclosed. However, Anywhere reported it made a sale that quarter of a 4% share of its portion of the title company to an unnamed purchaser for a $4 million gain in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

More recently, iBuyer Opendoor Technologies took an ownership interest during March in the title insurance underwriter, but again, details were not provided. But in the SEC filing, Anywhere reported a further 1% reduction of its stake for a $1 million gain during the first quarter.

Title Resources Guaranty, TRG’s business unit, finished 2022 as the eighth largest underwriter by market share, with 2.5% of the premiums generated according to American Land Title Association data.

Industry-wide, title insurance premiums generated totaled $21 billion last year. Among the independent underwriters — those not affiliated with Fidelity National, First American, Old Republic and Stewart — TRG only trailed Westcor, which had a 4.4% share.

During 2021, TRG had a 2.4% share of the $26.2 billion of total title insurance premiums written.

“The team and I are thrilled about HomeServices of America’s decision to increase its ownership stake in our company,” Scott McCall, TRG’s president and CEO, said in a press release.” Our expanded relationship with HomeServices of America speaks volumes to the value we create for our customers and our best-in-class solutions.”

Muncie - Circa November 2021: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices sign. HomeServices is subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

Muncie – Circa November 2021: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices sign. HomeServices is subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

Jonathan Weiss/jetcityimage – stock.adobe.com

Messages were left with TRG and HomeServices to get further specifics about the transaction but not returned by press time.

“Our partnership has already created value for our operations,” Gino Blefari, CEO, HomeServices of America, in the same press release. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration and the positive impact we will have on the industry over the years to come.”

Source: nationalmortgagenews.com

Apache is functioning normally

Whether you’re looking to take your real estate business to the next level or are ready to start thinking about retirement, this episode is for you. On today’s podcast, Stephanie Heiser interviews Jessica and Justin Ball about succession planning for real estate agents. Tune in and learn more about one of the best lead sources in the business. In addition to talking about inheriting another agent’s book of business, Jessica and Justin explain why all agents should have a succession plan of their own.

Listen to today’s show and learn:

  • Commercial and residential real estate compared [3:48]
  • About The Jessica Ball Team [4:15]
  • Succession planning for real estate agents [7:00]
  • How Jessica and Justin wrote Succession Planning for Real Estate Agents [9:43]
  • Inheriting another agent’s sphere of influence [11:51]
  • About Jessica and Justin’s book on succession planning [13:47]
  • Why broker owners should know the ins and outs of succession planning [16:38]
  • Jessica and Justin’s experience inheriting other agents’ business [17:54]
  • How to find the right successor [26:22]
  • Jessica Ball’s start in real estate [31:00]
  • Co-marketing and co-branding [33:52]
  • Why all agents should consider a succession plan [34:54]
  • Bringing different skill sets together for a successful business [37:40]
  • Getting over the fear of growth [40:34]
  • Jessica and Justin’s goals for the future [49:19]
  • Where to learn more from Jessica and Justin Ball [51:45]

Jessica and Justin Ball

Jessica Ball is a Realtor, the president and team leader of The Jessica Ball Team – RE/MAX Traders Unlimited (BALL HOMES LLC) in Peoria, Illinois, a speaker at national conferences, and has worked through several succession plans with seasoned real estate agents to transition and monetize their books of business as they retire from actively selling real estate.
Throughout the first succession plan, Jessica and her team were able to improve on the succession plan that her partner had gone through 15 years earlier when he had done a succession plan with another retiring agent. The planning for this succession is what really started this book as she realized the lack of information for other real estate agents, their successors, retirees and others in similar positions in the industry.

Justin Ball is a Realtor, a commercial broker with The Jessica Ball Team RE/MAX Traders Un-limited (Ball Homes LLC), and serves as a Vice President of Bradley University. His background in customer relationship management (CRM) systems, marketing, lead generation, and sales funnels supports the team as it continues to grow and as the industry of real estate changes faster than it ever has with the introduction of new technology. He contributes to succession planning most di-rectly in helping to facilitate co-branding and co-marketing efforts, as well as valuing the book of business for beginning to craft an initial succession plan contract.

Related Links and Resources:

Thank You Rockstars!
It might go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: We really value listeners like you. We’re constantly working to improve the show, so why not leave us a review? If you love the content and can’t stand the thought of missing the nuggets our Rockstar guests share every week, please subscribe; it’ll get you instant access to our latest episodes and is the best way to support your favorite real estate podcast. Have questions? Suggestions? Want to say hi? Shoot me a message via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Email.
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Get a $500 Cash Bonus.

Open a BMO Harris Premier™ Account online and get a $500 cash bonus when you have a total of at least $7,500 in qualifying direct deposits within the first 90 days of account opening. Expires 9/15. Conditions Apply.

There are several businesses near me that either only take cash or highly encourage the use of cash via heavy discounts. One of them even takes pesos if that’s all you’ve got, but they prefer you don’t use credit cards. And it’s all about avoiding interchange fees.

That’s because every time you swipe, tap, or dip, the merchant has to pay for the privilege of accepting plastic payment methods. And that can add up fast for small businesses already operating on razor-thin margins. 

Even if businesses take debit and credit card payments, those interchange fees impact your shopping experience long before you check out in the form of higher prices. That’s why it’s important to understand interchange fees and how they impact the businesses you frequent.

What Are Interchange Fees?

Interchange fees are the fees card networks like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express charge for processing and settling payment transactions. These (usually) invisible costs help compensate the various parties involved in the payment card ecosystem. 

Card issuers like banks and credit unions collect these fees from the merchants who accept the card as a form of payment. They help facilitate the smooth transfer of funds between the merchant’s bank (the acquiring bank) and the bank that issued the payment card.

Interchange fees may seem like an additional burden, but they help keep the payment card system functioning smoothly. For example, the card networks and issuers use the revenue to cover the costs of maintaining the payment infrastructure, ensuring fraud-prevention measures, and providing customer support services.

How Interchange Fees Work

When it comes to interchange fees, there are a lot of moving parts and hands in the pot — which is only a mixed metaphor if you don’t consider how modern manufacturing works. Fortunately, they’re fairly straightforward to understand.

Structure & Calculation of Interchange Fees

Interchange fees aren’t arbitrary. Payment technology companies like Visa and Mastercard determine them through a structured process that takes various factors into account, such as: 

  • Transaction type. Online purchases, in-store payments, or international transactions may have varying fee structures. For example, you might pay a foreign transaction fee if you use your card overseas.
  • Card type.  Whether it’s a credit card, debit card, or rewards card can impact the interchange fee applied to a transaction. For instance, debit cards tend to have lower transaction fees than credit cards.
  • Merchant category. The industry or sector in which the business operates is also a consideration. For example, transactions made at a grocery store might have different interchange fees compared to those at a gas station or a restaurant.

Regardless of the factors involved, the calculation methods typically involve a percentage of the transaction amount, a flat fee, or a combination of both. 

The specific calculations depend on the card network and region. Card networks like Visa and Mastercard have intricate fee schedules that consider multiple factors to arrive at the appropriate interchange fee for each transaction. They update these schedules regularly.

Participants in the Interchange Fee Ecosystem

To understand interchange fees fully, you must take a closer look at the key stakeholders. These participants play crucial roles in determining and collecting interchange fees. 

  • Card issuers: Financial institutions like banks and credit unions issue payment cards, including credit, debit, or prepaid cards. They collect interchange fees from merchants on behalf of the payment networks they partner with.
  • Payment networks: Payment networks like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover act as intermediaries between merchants, card issuers, and acquiring banks (merchants’ banks). They facilitate transaction authorization, clearing, and settlement and establish fee rules and structures.
  • Merchants: Merchants are physical stores, online retailers, or service providers that accept payment cards. They have agreements with (acquiring) banks to process their card transactions and pay interchange fees to card issuers through those banks. 

How Interchange Fees Impact Consumers

Interchange fees are as important to consumers as they are invisible. That’s perhaps a bit strange in a country where retailers calculate tax at the register and have a line on the receipt for it (it’s included in the tag’s sale price in other countries). And it impacts everything from the cost of your rewards card to the cost of the products you buy.

Funds Secure & Ever-Larger Payment Card Systems 

Payment networks invest some interchange revenue in the technological infrastructure needed for seamless transactions, including secure processing, fraud-prevention, and data security. Those are vital to consumers’ trust in the network and the merchants who use them. 

The fees also provide crucial revenue that helps cover the costs associated with expanding, ensuring more options available to Americans nationwide (and potentially abroad).

Increases Prices

Interchange fees can impact the prices consumers pay, even if they don’t use payment cards for their transactions. 

To offset these fees, merchants factor them into their pricing strategies. That means that even if a consumer pays with cash or another non-card method, they still usually pay slightly higher prices for goods and services.

By incorporating interchange fees into their overall cost structure, merchants distribute the expenses across all customers, regardless of their payment method. That helps ensure the business can cover the fees without cutting into their desired profit margins. 

The extent of the price adjustment varies across businesses and industries. Small businesses with tighter profit margins may feel the impact of interchange fees more significantly and may adjust prices accordingly. Larger businesses with higher transaction volumes have more flexibility to absorb these fees without significant price adjustments.

Limit or Discourage Card Payments

A relatively small number of merchants and service providers have taken to charging the interchange fees directly to the customers who use plastic payment methods as a way to disincentivize them. For example, my local government services, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, charge you for swiping.

Still others positively reward customers who pay in cash. I buy all my appliances from local secondhand appliance places, and they give you a discount that amounts to at least free delivery for paying in cash. And there used to be a pizza place near me that would even accept Mexican currency to avoid having a customer tap or dip. 

Some are even more forceful about it. The only plastic their employees will touch are bags — maybe utensils. A restaurant down the street, also a pizza place, only started taking credit or debit cards during the pandemic. And they’re not alone.

This type of avoidance keeps their prices in check, but it could also limit their foot traffic or growth to those willing to carry or go get cash. Government services can pull it off because they’ve cornered the market. Small-business owners are often compelled to comply or risk losing their livelihood.

Funding Rewards Programs

Controversially, interchange fees play a role in supporting cardholder benefits, such as rewards programs. Card issuers use them to fund incentives like cash-back rewards, travel miles, loyalty points, and exclusive discounts at partner merchants. 

To some, these benefits enhance the overall cardholder experience and incentivize card usage. They may have several cards in their wallets for various purposes, including cash-back credit cards, travel credit cards, and gas rewards cards.

To others, they’re at best an expensive nuisance. You spend your own time and money trying to earn rewards you already paid for via higher prices due to interchange fees that would be lower if there were no rewards cards.

Still others think they’re part of an overall trend of reallocating money from the have-nots to the haves. People with lower incomes often can’t afford rewards cards’ steep yearly fees if they even qualify in the first place. But nonetheless, they pay extra for products — even those they pay cash for — thanks to interchange fees. Yet they reap no rewards.

Interchange Fee Impacts on Small Business

Interchange fees can present significant challenges for merchants, especially small businesses, making it harder for them to compete effectively. These challenges ultimately become a problem for consumers too.

Creates a Financial Burden

Small businesses typically operate on thinner profit margins compared to larger enterprises. As such, interchange fees can significantly impact their bottom line, especially for businesses with high transaction volumes or lower average transaction values. 

They can make it more challenging for them to allocate resources to other essential areas of business growth.

Increases Pricing Pressure

To offset the interchange fees, small businesses must adjust their pricing strategies. That can result in slightly higher prices for their goods and services compared to cash-only businesses and larger competitors who can spread the costs over a higher volume of transactions — and may even pay lower fees because of that volume. 

Higher prices can potentially deter cost-conscious consumers and make it more challenging for small businesses to compete. This pricing pressure can affect customer acquisition and retention for small enterprises.

Limit Negotiating Power

Large merchants and national chains may have more leverage due to their higher transaction volumes, allowing them to negotiate more favorable terms.

In contrast, small businesses may face less favorable fee structures or have fewer options to negotiate better rates. That puts them at a disadvantage in terms of managing their interchange fee expenses.

Requires Technological Investment

Implementing payment card acceptance infrastructure and staying updated with evolving technologies can be costly for small businesses. They must invest in point-of-sale systems, security measures, and training to ensure smooth card transactions. 

Interchange fees further strain their financial resources, making it challenging for them to invest in the latest technology and stay competitive with larger, more financially equipped players in the market.

Causes Cash Preference

To avoid interchange fees altogether, some small businesses may prefer cash transactions or even incentivize cash payments. 

This preference for cash can limit their customer base and pose challenges in an increasingly cashless society. It can create inconveniences for consumers who prefer or rely on card payments, potentially leading them to choose competitors that offer more flexible payment options.

Those secondhand appliance places I told you about can get away with it because their closest national competitors are big-box retailers like Lowe’s and Best Buy. Those charge about three times as much for brand-new appliances, often only a year model or two newer (for better or worse) and with only a slightly better warranty. People are willing to run to an ATM for savings like that.

A mom-and-pop stationary or hardware store doesn’t have the same luxury. Only a select few people who want exactly what they have and nothing else are going to bother with that.

Interchange Fee Regulation & Evolution

Just as interchange fees haven’t always existed, they won’t always be the same as they are now. Regulations and new technologies are bound to change them somehow — if payment network and banking policies don’t get there first.

Regulatory Efforts & Policies

Payment networks have implemented voluntary initiatives aimed at increasing transparency and competition. For example, some networks have adopted standardized fee disclosure practices, enabling merchants to have better visibility. These initiatives also promote fair competition by ensuring that all participants in the payment card ecosystem have access to essential information regarding fee structures and terms.

But industry efforts seem to have fallen short if Congressional action is anything to go by. 

For instance, the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, named for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), introduced regulations on debit card interchange fees for issuers with over $10 billion in assets, aiming to provide relief to merchants.

In 2022, Durbin was at it again, this time taking aim at credit cards. The Credit Card Competition Act, which he introduced with Republican co-sponsor from Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, would set similar limitations on credit card interchange fees. The bill has yet to pass, but they plan to reintroduce it. 

This is the bill everyone says would kill your credit card rewards. And maybe they’re right, though there are other revenue streams that can fund those — streams that come from bills only credit card users pay rather than costs everyone bears whether they pay with plastic or not. 

And if you’d still rather not pay extra for goods and services just to get those rewards, you’d also be forgiven. 

These regulatory actions, along with other measures implemented globally, demonstrate the ongoing efforts to address interchange fee practices and ensure fair and equitable outcomes for all participants in the payment card ecosystem.

Technological Advances & Future Trends

Technological advancements have significantly transformed the payment landscape, paving the way for new possibilities and potential changes in interchange fee structures. 

  • Digital payments, including mobile wallets, contactless payments, and peer-to-peer payment platforms, have brought increased convenience. Interchange fee models have to adapt and may have to accept getting cut out altogether.
  • Alternative payment methods like cryptocurrency have taken a big hit lately. But they’re not down for the count. Blockchain is (probably) the future. These innovative payment methods operate outside traditional card networks and will almost certainly challenge the traditional interchange fee models, given that they already charge interchange-like fees to keep them operational.
  • Open banking initiatives enable the integration of various financial services and promote increased competition within the payment ecosystem. That could drive the exploration of alternative fee models tailored to specific transaction types, consumer segments, or payment scenarios.
  • Artificial intelligence offers new opportunities for personalized pricing and risk assessment. That could lead to the development of dynamic interchange fee structures that consider individual consumer behavior, transaction history, and risk factors, resulting in more tailored and optimized fee models.

As the payment landscape continues to evolve, interchange fees are likely to adapt to accommodate technological advancements and emerging trends. The future of interchange fees may involve greater flexibility, transparency, and customization, allowing for a more dynamic and efficient payment ecosystem.

Final Word

Whether you’re all for interchange fee limits or you want them to keep their filthy paws off your rewards program, one thing’s for certain: We could use more transparency around interchange fees in the United States. 

By learning more, consumers gain valuable insights, allowing them to take practical steps to navigate their financial choices more effectively. At the very least, you know you might be able to get a better deal from small businesses on higher-dollar goods and services by offering to pay in cash.

Heather Barnett has been an editor and writer for over 20 years, with over a decade committed to the financial services industry. She joined the Money Crashers team in 2020, covering banking and credit content for banking- and credit-weary readers. In her off time, she enjoys baking, binge-watching crime dramas, and doting on her beloved pets.

Source: moneycrashers.com

Apache is functioning normally

Let’s talk mortgage basics: “What is the loan-to-value ratio?”

If you’re currently shopping for a home or already going through the mortgage loan process, chances are you’ve heard the phrase loan-to-value ratio get thrown around on more than one occasion.

You may have also encountered the acronym “LTV” while perusing mortgage advertisements or playing around on mortgage rate comparison websites.

Regardless of what’s going on in the housing market, you should know all about this very important term when applying for a home loan.

Why? Because it can greatly affect mortgage rate pricing, refinance options, and overall loan eligibility.

How to Calculate the Loan-to-Value Ratio (LTV)

loan to value ratio

  • It’s actually one of the easiest calculations you can make
  • Simply divide the loan amount by the appraised value or purchase price
  • And you’ll wind up with a percentage known as your LTV
  • The tricky part might be agreeing on a sales price and getting the home to appraise at value

Simply put, the loan-to-value ratio, or “LTV ratio” as it’s more commonly known in the industry, is the mortgage loan amount divided by the lower of the purchase price or appraised value of the property.

If we’re talking existing mortgages (in the case of refinance loans), it’s the outstanding loan balance divided by the appraised value.

When calculating it, you will wind up with a percentage. That number is your LTV. And the lower the better here folks!

It’s actually very easy to calculate (no algebra required) and takes just one step. You don’t even need a mortgage calculator. In fact, you might be able to run the numbers in your head. Honest!

Let’s calculate a typical LTV ratio:

Property value: $500,000
Loan amount: $350,000
Loan-to-value ratio (LTV): 70%

In the above example, we would divide $350,000 by $500,000 to come up with a loan-to-value ratio of 70%.

Using a basic household calculator, not a so-called “LTV calculator,” simply enter in 350,000, then hit the divide symbol, then enter 500,000. You should see “0.7,” which translates to 70% LTV. That’s it, all done!

This means our hypothetical borrower has a loan for 70 percent of the purchase price or appraised value, with the remaining 30 percent the home equity portion, or actual ownership in the property.

LTV ratios are extremely important when it comes to mortgage rate pricing because they represent how much skin you have in the game, which is a key risk factor used by lenders.

A Lower LTV Ratio Means More Ownership, Better Mortgage Rate

low LTV low rate

  • The lower your loan-to-value ratio the more home equity or down payment you have
  • Which is another way of saying ownership or skin in the game
  • A low LTV equates to a lower mortgage rate because you’re viewed as less risky
  • It means the bank is risking less since you are more invested in the underlying property

Essentially, the lower the loan-to-value ratio, the better, as it means you have more ownership (home equity) in the property.

Someone with more ownership is less likely to fall behind on payments or foreclose, seeing that they have a greater equity stake, aka financial interest to keep paying the mortgage each month.

They’ve also got more options if they do struggle with payments, as they could just sell the property without taking a loss (or the bank losing money).

Not only that, but banks and mortgage lenders also set up pricing adjustment tiers based solely on the LTV ratio.

Those with lower LTV ratios will enjoy the lowest interest rates available, while those with high LTVs will be subject to higher mortgage rates and/or closing costs.

For example, if you’re being “hit” by the lender for having a less-than-stellar credit score, that adjustment will grow larger as the loan-to-value ratio increases (higher LTV ratio = greater risk).

So if your mortgage rate is bumped a quarter percent higher for a loan-to-value ratio of 80%, that same pricing hit may be increased to a half percentage point if the LTV ratio is a higher 90%.

This can certainly raise your interest rate in a hurry, so you’ll want to look at all possible scenarios with regard to down payment and loan amount to keep your LTV ratio as low as possible.

More importantly, just maintain an excellent credit score and you’ll have plenty of loan options, regardless of your chosen down payment or available home equity.

80% LTV Is a Very Important Threshold!

80% LTV

  • Keep your mortgage at/below 80% LTV if you want to save money
  • You won’t have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI)
  • And it should result in a lower mortgage interest rate with fewer pricing adjustments
  • You’ll also enjoy greater lender choice as most banks will lend up to 80% LTV

Most borrowers (who have the means) elect to put 20% down when buying a home, as it allows them to avoid mortgage insurance and the much higher pricing adjustments often associated with LTVs above 80%.

Fewer adjustments mean you can secure a lower interest rate on your mortgage. And if you can avoid PMI at the same time, it’s a win-win for your monthly housing payment!

You may also find it easier to get approved, as virtually all banks and mortgage lenders will accept LTVs of 80% or less.

But you don’t necessarily need to put 20% down to enjoy the benefits of a low-LTV mortgage.

Also Get to Know the Combined Loan-to-Value Ratio (CLTV)

Looking at the above example again, if you were to raise the first mortgage amount to $400,000 and add a second mortgage of $50,000, the combined loan-to-value ratio, or CLTV as its known, would be 90%.

Banks and mortgage lenders have both LTV and CLTV limits, meaning they won’t allow homeowners to borrow more than say 80, 90, or 100 percent of the property value.

These limits came down after the Great Recession but are creeping back up again…

Let’s do the math here; again, no mortgage calculator required!

Simple math: $400,000 + $50,000 = $450,000 / $500,000 = 90% CLTV

You would have a first mortgage at 80% LTV, and a second mortgage for an additional 10% LTV, making the CLTV 90%. Simply add up both numbers.

Sometimes borrowers elect to break up home loans into a first and second mortgage, known as combo mortgages.

This keeps the loan-to-value ratio below key levels, thereby reducing the interest rate and/or helping the homeowner avoid private mortgage insurance.

Tip: The undrawn portion of a home equity line of credit (HELOC) typically isn’t included in the CLTV calculation.

Max LTV by Home Loan Type

max LTV

  • FHA loans go as high as 96.5% LTV (3.5% down payment)
  • Conforming loans (Fannie/Freddie) go as high as 97% LTV (3% down)
  • USDA and VA loans go to a full 100% LTV (zero down)
  • Jumbos, cash-out refis, and investment properties are much more restrictive
  • And there is no maximum LTV in many cases for streamline refinances

There are certain LTV limits based on home loan type, with conventional loans (non-government) typically being more restrictive than government loans.

And mortgage refinance programs often less accommodating than home purchase loans.

At the moment, you can get an FHA loan as high as 96.5% LTV, which is just 3.5% down payment.

You can get a conventional loan as high as 97% LTV, which at just 3% down is higher than it used to be.

In recent history, the maximum was 95% LTV, but now Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are competing directly with the FHA.

[See FHA vs. conventional for more on that.]

You can get either a VA loan or USDA loan at 100% LTV (which represents no money down).

These are the most flexible loan programs LTV-wise, but they are also only available to veterans or those living in rural areas, respectively. So not everyone will qualify for these types of mortgage loans.

There are also proprietary home buying programs from various private mortgage lenders that allow for 100% LTV financing if you take the time to shop around.

If it’s a jumbo home loan, a cash-out refinance, or an investment property, the loan-to-value will be a lot more limited, potentially capped at just 70-80% LTV, depending on all the attributes.

And finally, those underwater or upside down borrowers you hear about; they owe more on their mortgage than the property is currently worth.

This can happen due to negative amortization and/or home price depreciation.

A quick underwater loan-to-value ratio example:

Property value: $400,000
Loan amount: $500,000
Loan-to-value ratio (LTV): 125%

As you can see, the underwater borrower has a LTV ratio greater than 100% (this equates to negative equity), which is a major issue from a risk standpoint.

For the record, you get 1.25 by dividing 500 by 400.

The problem with homeowners in these situations is that they have little incentive to stick around, even with a modified mortgage payment, as they’re so far in the red that there’s little hope of recouping home value losses.

However, the popular Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) allowed millions of underwater homeowners to refinance to lower rates with no LTV limit. And many of these folks are probably now back in the black.

Today, this type of program still exists, but is a permanent option known as a high-LTV refinance, or HIRO for short.

So there are options to refinance and get a lower interest rate, as long as your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, no matter the mortgage balance relative to the property value.

Same goes for FHA loans and VA mortgages thanks to the FHA streamline refinance and the VA IRRRL option.

Despite being far behind new homeowners entering the market in terms of building home equity, many of these formerly-underwater borrowers now have lots of equity thanks to rising home prices and several years of paying down their mortgages.

That’s why you have to consider the long-game in real estate and never give up, even when times get tough. This also illustrates why home buying shouldn’t be a quick or hasty decision.

A Lower Loan-to-Value Can Save You Money!

  • A lower LTV generally results in a better interest rate
  • Which means cheaper monthly mortgage payments
  • It puts more of your hard-earned dollars toward the principal balance each month
  • Potentially saving you thousands of dollars over the life of the loan!

As noted, a lower LTV will likely result in big savings thanks to a lower interest rate.

Additionally, you may be able to avoid costly private mortgage insurance, enjoy expanded loan program eligibility, and have an easier time getting approved for a mortgage.

If your LTV is higher than you’d like it to be, there are some creative options to lower it.

Borrowers Can Reduce Their LTV in a Variety of Ways

  • Come in with a larger down payment if it’s a home purchase loan
  • Ask for gift funds to increase your down payment
  • Or break your mortgage up into two separate loans (combo loan)
  • Make extra payments or a lump sum payment for a refinance to get the LTV down before you apply
  • Or simply wait for natural amortization and home price appreciation to lower your LTV over time

If we’re talking about a home purchase, simply bring in more down payment money and the LTV will be lower. Easier said than done, sure, but possible for some.

Perhaps someone will gift you the money or act as a co-borrower?

Alternatively, you can look into breaking up your financing into two loans, with both a first and second mortgage.

If it’s a mortgage refinance, simply pay down the mortgage balance a bit more before you apply, whether on schedule or by making extra mortgage payments.

This can be especially helpful if you’re super close to a certain LTV threshold, or just above the conforming loan limit.

Speaking of, pay close attention to your LTV – if it’s just above 80% or some other meaningful tier, think about adjusting your loan amount down (your loan officer should advise you here!).

Lastly, there’s another way existing homeowners can get their LTV down and it requires no effort whatsoever.

You don’t have to do anything except sit back and watch your property value increase over time, thereby lowering your LTV in the process. Of course, the opposite can happen too if home values drop!

But as noted, real estate should be treated with a long time horizon, so be sure you have the ability to ride the ups and downs and make moves when it’s most favorable to you.

Read more: 10 ways to build home equity.

Source: thetruthaboutmortgage.com

Apache is functioning normally

While it’s hard to compare the current possible housing crisis to the very real one experienced about a decade ago, there are fears of negative market impact due to COVID-19.

We’ve already seen listing prices fall, along with a big jump in delistings, where home sellers pull their properties off the market.

And home purchase mortgage applications continue to plummet, especially in large metros like LA, NY, and Seattle, per the MBA.

purchase apps

Meanwhile, real estate brokerage Redfin revealed via an SEC filing that it was laying off 7% of its workforce, which could result in roughly 236 job losses.

Then we have Wells Fargo curtailing its mortgage menu, and ARMs pricing higher than fixed-rate mortgages.

The number of mortgages in forbearance has also surged 1000%, and is likely to get a lot worse the longer this goes on.

The real estate and mortgage industry certainly isn’t operating as usual, and it’s even reminiscent of times back in the early 2000s.

Temporary Inability to Pay the Mortgage?

  • The housing crisis a decade ago was driven by shoddy financing
  • Such as stated income, option ARMs, interest-only loans, and so on
  • This potential crisis is being driven mostly just by loss of income due to COVID-19
  • As long as it’s temporary it shouldn’t create too many problems for the housing market

This time around, the number one issue is inability to make mortgage payments due to loss of income or unemployment as a result of coronavirus.

Either companies have laid off staff due to a loss of business, or small business owners have taken a hit because they’ve had to close up shop.

Others might just be experiencing a temporary loss of income or a pay cut while companies navigate the uncertain waters ahead.

Whatever the situation, the problem seems to center around capacity to pay, as opposed to being overleveraged, or holding a home loan with some creative financing terms like interest only or an exploding ARM.

Homeowners could mostly afford their monthly mortgage payments before this unforeseen event took place, unlike the crisis that took place in the early 2000s.

Back then, borrowers took out mortgages they couldn’t afford, and serially refinanced them as their inflated home values grew.

Today, many homeowners have a sizable equity cushion, partially because cash out refinance volume has been very low, and also because home prices have risen a ton over the past decade.

This puts them in a much better position than those homeowners from 2006 who purchased a property with zero down financing and stated their income on the application.

That’s the good news. The bad news is many housing markets were already vulnerable before COVID-19 hit, and thus could see some an uptick in foreclosures if this plays out for a long period of time.

Almost Half of the 50 Most Vulnerable Counties Are in Florida and New Jersey

  • 14 of the highest risk counties can be found in New Jersey
  • Several are also located in the NYC suburban area
  • Another 10 are in Florida, mostly in the central and north part of the state
  • Others are scattered along the Mideast coast

So where are the potential foreclosure hotspots, once any coronavirus-related moratoria disappear?

Well, a new “Special Coronavirus Market Impact Report” released by ATTOM Data Solutions found that half of the most vulnerable counties reside in Florida and New Jersey.

They rank market risk by looking at three main factors:

– Percentage of housing units receiving a foreclosure notice in Q4 2019
– Percentage of homes underwater (LTV 100 or greater) in Q4 2019
– Percentage of local wages required to pay for major homeownership expenses

As we know from the prior mortgage crisis, payment default was driven by homeowner equity to some degree, with underwater borrowers often throwing in the towel because they had nothing to lose.

This was further exacerbated if they didn’t have the money to make mortgage payments, or if they were simply overextended.

Finally, if a foreclosure notice was already received before the coronavirus pandemic took place, it’s clearly a bad sign for a situation that likely just got worse.

As for which counties are on alert, there are 14 in New Jersey, such as Camden and Ocean, along with five in the New York City suburban area: Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Middlesex, and Union counties.

And there are 10 counties in Florida, mostly in the northern and central portions of the state, including Clay, Flagler, Hernando, Lake, and Osceola counties.

Additional New York counties include Orange, Rensselaer, Rockland, and Ulster.

There are also a handful of counties in the top 50 in Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Only Seven Risky Housing Markets in the Midwest and West

  • The housing markets in the Midwest and West appear to be stronger overall
  • The only high-risk markets are in Illinois, mostly the Chicago metro
  • Along with Shasta County, CA, which is just south of Oregon
  • And Navajo County, AZ, in the northeast part of the state

Things appear to be a lot better in the Midwest and West, with just seven counties total landing in the top-50 most vulnerable list.

Every single Midwestern county can be found in Illinois, including Kane, Lake, McHenry, Tazewell, and Will.

Most are in the Chicago metropolitan area, a region that has never really seen massive amounts of home price appreciation since the crisis.

In terms of the West, only two counties made the top-50, including Shasta County, CA and Navajo County, AZ. Both aren’t major metros.

The report also revealed that counties where median home prices range from $160,000 to $300,000 account for 36 of the most vulnerable counties.

Meanwhile, counties with median home prices below $160,000 or above $300,000 made up just 14.

This is because those with median prices below $160,000 are among the most affordable, while those priced above $300,000 have some of the highest home equity amounts, and thus the lowest foreclosure rates.

The takeaway here is that most of the country looks pretty good overall with regard to housing market risk.

That could change depending on how long things play out, but there are plenty of mortgage relief programs available, including a 6-12 month forbearance via the CARES Act.

As long as this is somewhat temporary, and most homeowners get back to work, it should be a momentary blip.

Read more: How does mortgage forbearance work?

Source: thetruthaboutmortgage.com