Declining Market?

Question

I just got off the phone with my mortgage lady. She told me that she can't do any more mortgages for houses in the county that I've been focusing on. Apparently they sell all of their mortgages to Citibank. Citibank has declared the whole county as a "declining market" and won't buy any mortgages there. Has anybody ever heard of that? Kinda sounds like BS to me. What do you think?

Aly W. · Answer

They also agreed to waive the 1/4 point fee for not setting up escrows. I wanted to pay the taxes myself. And they extended my  rate lock 3 times at no charge.

I'm a happy customer :)

Matt Bohanon · Answer

Thats still a great deal! I dont do many loans under 80k for that very reason people get hammered with pts on little loans.

Aly W. · Answer

Sorry, missed that item. Yes, I put down 20%.

Aly W. · Answer

I closed on my first rental property with a $48K mortgage from WaMu two weeks ago. No problems, other than they wanted a couple of small things fixed in the house prior to closing. They only charged for the appraisal and a 1 point app fee. My attorney was impressed that they hadn't tried to hammer me with junk fees on a loan this small. Maybe because I already refi'd with them on my current home.

Anyway - no complaints here about a small investor loan with WaMu.  I can recommend my loan officer if interested.

Matt Bohanon · Answer

Aly,

Did you have to put anything down with that loan?

Our investment property loans are 90%ltv and we go off of the purchase price for calculating LTV

David Albertson · Answer

Is there any way to find out if FannieMae has declared it a declining market?

Matt Bohanon · Answer

There really isnt an easy way or list that I know of. That isnt the only declining market indicator though. There is another through OFHEO which can mark it as well.

Rate and term transactions are not affected by these though only cashout loans and investment properties are smacked.

It sucks but its gonna be around for a while so time to get creative!

Minna Reid · Answer

I thought they might have had some kind of reasoning for who they declared "declining", but you're right what are you gonna do? Nada.

Except find a new way to raise money like the old fashioned "earning it" or something crazy like that! Theres no more easy handouts! What's the world coming to? LOL

On the brighter side I have noticed just in the past few weeks my local market has been improving. Properties have been moving again and the next town over has actually seen an increase is selling prices. 
So the rules of the game may have changed, but after all is said and done, people will still need places to live, and houses will continue to be bought and sold and rented. Mortgages are still out there, there just not as easy to get as they used to be.

Sorry OP for getting way off track of your original question. Anyway - maybe you should try some other mtg brokers who don't sell to citibank. I dont know your story, but theres still some great programs for owner occupieds or first time homebuyers out there (if thats what you're after). NOO is a little tougher.

Joshua D. · Answer

The lenders have a new excuse not to lend.  What can you do?

Matt Bohanon · Answer

I work for a large direct lender and there are very few counties in the us that are not declared "declining markets"