Rob K. Blake, a 15 year veteran of the mortgage industry, is a renowned public speaker, author, and former radio talk show host. His blog, TheMortgageInsider.net, is dedicated to educating mortgage consumers, mortgage providers, and investors about both mortgage and housing markets.
Rob K. has written 49 article(s) for the BiggerPockets Blog.
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | February 14, 2009Even if you’ve been living in a cave for the last few years, if asked, “Who caused the mortgage meltdown?”…the mortgage debacle that triggered a bank implosion and a real estate market slide that would make a Japanese landlord cringe… You’d answer…”Those greedy mortgage brokers are the cause of this mess.” Why would you pull [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | February 7, 2009There is a plethora of speculations buzzing around Wall Street with the central theme being Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) our nation’s largest bank…and biggest “cleaner upper” of the financial crises buying both Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Home Loans before they collapse…is going to get “taken over” by the government. Oh my God! The sky [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | January 31, 2009Down payment assistance programs or DAPs are the pet project of every Realtor and home builder lobbyists ever since they came into existence. However, HUD got courageous a few months ago and outlawed them only to them get resurrected by the NAR (National Association of Realtors) in a House bill and now by the home [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | January 24, 2009The U.S. Senate confirmed Shaun L. S. Donovan as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) replacing former HUD chief Steven C. Preston. Donovan Bio Shaun Donovan was born in New York, is 42 and married. Donovan earned undergraduate and post graduate degrees from Harvard. This lead to positions at FHA [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | January 17, 2009I came across a research paper published by the Boston Federal Reserve Bank where the researchers looked into among other things a mathematical formula that demonstrates subprime lender have little financial motivation to modify mortgages facing default. This research I thought was interesting because I am caught between wanting the government or the lenders to [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | January 10, 2009I have written here on BiggerPockets extensively on the complete lopsidedness of the banking bailout and how the preference was given early on to helping Wall Street fat-cats over Main Street foreclosure victims. The bailout bill created the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP), funded it with $750 Billion of which about $350 Billion still remain [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | January 3, 2009The FDIC announced late today the sale of the remaining assets of the failed thrift, IndyMac, to a private consortium for $13.9 Billion. Dune Capital Management, J.C. Flowers & Co., and Paulson & Co. spear headed the buy in search of a rehabilitated servicing portfolio Sheila Blair reworked with her aggressive loan modification strategy. This [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | December 27, 2008National Mortgage News reported last week in a survey recently completed, mortgage brokers are now only receiving 18.9% of the orignation Q3 market place. This paltry percentage of originations is an all-time low figure. Mortgage broker market share reached almost 80% just a few short years ago. Mortgage Broker Demise Premature The report hypothesized the [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | December 20, 2008As I predicted last week here on the BiggerPockets Blog, the President told the press this afternoon he ordered the Treasury to bailout the automakers. In my post entitled, Can Hank Paulson Use TARP Funds To Bail Out Auto-Makers?, I foretold this action a week in advance. Surprisingly I received a few comments chiding me [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | December 13, 2008So just in case you’ve been living in a cave this week, Congress is struggling to figure out how to bailout the big three automakers. The House passed a bill which died in the Senate late Thursday night. The reports of the bill’s demise reached the White House where it was rumored the Treasury Secretary [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | December 6, 2008I call the Bernanke – Paulson twosome the Dynamic Duo because what they devise to solve our financial crisis is no more ridiculous than the far-fetched ways Batman and Robin used to escape sure death in the campy TV show. Unlike the TV show, I’ve stopped rooting for this financially bungling Dynamic Duo to succeed. [...]
Flipping Houses by Rob K. Blake | November 29, 2008I have the worksheet I use of a ‘quick and dirty’ hard money purchase analysis and I thought I’d share it with you…download here! First if you don’t know much about worksheets, don’t worry; you simply input a few numbers at the top, and the worksheet automatically calculates the fields without your assistance. You just [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | November 22, 2008I got an email a few days ago from the Colorado Department of Real Estate, the mortgage broker regulator, outling their new interpretation of “Loan Modification” as “mortgage brokerage”. I guess they are getting a lot of complaints from foreclosure victims who lost money to grifters posing as “Foreclosure Rescue Specialists” that promise a loan [...]
Commentary by Rob K. Blake | November 16, 2008Last week I made the case against real estate as an investment class. My recent change of heart is due to the ridiculous amount of market tinkering the Fed, the Treasury, and the central bankers around the world are doing to “support the real estate market”. All the bad loans, the foreclosures, and the schizophrenic [...]
Real Estate Investing by Rob K. Blake | November 8, 2008I love real estate as an investment class, but I must say, I do know of other investments that from time to time hold better returns than rental real estate. Whoa! Hold on, mister! I know…blasphemy! Talking about real estate’s downfall’s as an investment class can get one lynched over here…so I”ll tread lightly and [...]
Joshua Dorkin
Mortgage Brokers Get The Final Dagger In The Heart
by Rob K. Blake | February 14, 2009Even if you’ve been living in a cave for the last few years, if asked, “Who caused the mortgage meltdown?”…the mortgage debacle that triggered a bank implosion and a real estate market slide that would make a Japanese landlord cringe… You’d answer…”Those greedy mortgage brokers are the cause of this mess.” Why would you pull [...]