Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin November 5, 2010
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MBA – Commercial Mortgage originations up in Q3
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations, third quarter 2010 commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 32% higher than during the same period last year and 15% higher than during the second quarter. Origination volumes for life companies and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were relatively strong during the third quarter; originations for CMBS remained very low in absolute terms but picked up considerably on a%age basis; and commercial mortgage borrowing at commercial banks fell on both a quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis. The 32% overall increase in commercial/multifamily lending activity during the third quarter was driven by increases in originations for multifamily and industrial properties. When compared to the third quarter of 2009, the increase included a 129% increase in loans for industrial properties, a 37% increase in loans for multifamily properties, a 36% increase in loans for office properties, a 19% increase in loans for retail properties, a 20% decrease in hotel property loans, and a 46% decrease in health care property loans. Among investor types, loans for conduits for CMBS saw an increase of 940% compared to last year’s third quarter.
There was also a 154% increase in loans for life insurance companies, a 16% decrease for Government Sponsored Enterprises (or GSEs – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), and loans for commercial bank portfolios saw a decrease of 49%. Third quarter 2010 mortgage originations were 15% higher than originations in the second quarter of 2010. Among investor types, loans for conduits for CMBS saw an increase in loan volume of 43% compared to the second quarter, originations for the GSEs increased 42% from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2010, loans for life insurance companies saw an increase in loan volume of 20%, and loans for commercial bank portfolios decreased by 27% during the same time span. Compared to the second quarter, third quarter originations for health care properties saw an 84% increase. There was a 50% increase for multifamily properties, an 18% increase for industrial properties, a 12% increase for retail properties, an 18% decrease for office properties, and a 54% decrease for hotel properties.
Jobs up
The economy added 151,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department reported Friday, an improvement over September, when the economy lost 41,000 jobs. That was much better than the 68,000 gain that economists were expecting, and the best overall number since May. Businesses continued to hire for the tenth month in a row, following nearly two straight years of private sector losses. Companies added 159,000 jobs to their payrolls in October, much stronger than the 92,000 jobs economists had predicted for the sector. But the government continued to slash jobs, shedding 8,000 workers in the month.
Only a handful of census workers were cut from government payrolls in October — nearly the last of the temporary census jobs that have dragged down public sector job growth for the last four months. And upward revisions for August and September showed there were 110,000 additional job gains in those months than previously reported. The unemployment rate, which is calculated in a separate survey, remained unchanged at 9.6%, the government said Friday. While the report was a generally positive sign, the job market is still very fragile, said Stephen Bronars, senior economist with Welch Consulting. The labor market needs about 150,000 jobs per month just to keep pace with population growth, and at least 300,000 per month to make a dent in unemployment. Unemployment is likely to remain high for some time. The rate doesn’t include 1.2 million discouraged workers who’ve stopped looking for a job.
BoA fights back
Yesterday Bank of America rebuffed claims by a lawyer for several big investors that it should buy back troubled mortgages because the loans were made improperly. A group of investors, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Pimco are pressing Bank of America to buy back a portion of some $47 billion worth of mortgages. Bank of America argued that the effort would have the effect of speeding up the foreclosure process and force it to evict more homeowners. The investors’ claims have become a major worry on Wall Street as the foreclosure crisis has escalated. Bank of America said the problems stemmed from the economic downturn rather than any underlying problem with how the mortgages were sold to investors. It called the investor claims “utterly baseless.” Signaling a much more aggressive legal stance, the bank also criticized the lawyer behind the effort, Kathy D. Patrick. It argued that a letter she wrote last month that was signed by clients was “written for an improper purpose, or in furtherance of an ulterior agenda.” Ms. Patrick did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. “I don’t think we should be put in a position where we aren’t trying to help homeowners through this strife because people want us to foreclose faster,” said Brian T. Moynihan, Bank of America’s chief executive. In addition, Mr. Moynihan said, he was caught off guard by the decision of the Federal Reserve and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled giant, as well as private investors to sign the letter.
President Obama might compromise on tax cuts
Until now, Obama has argued fervently that the country could not afford extending lower tax rates enacted under former President George W. Bush for those with individual income above $200,000. The Bush-era tax rates are set to expire at the end of the year. Apparently now he might have changed his tune – at least a bit. A Whitehouse spokesman said he’s is open to talks with Republicans about extending all of the Bush-era tax rates Republicans back renewing rates for the lower income groups, but also for those with individual income above $200,000 a year, which would benefit about 3% of taxpayers. A sticking point could be the length of the extensions. Obama backs permanent extension of the middle-class cuts, but not permanent renewal for richer Americans. A compromise on extending all of the Bush-era tax cuts would also include extension of lower rates on dividends and capital gains, now taxed at 15%. Obama proposes to raise those taxes for high-earners to 20% in 2011, but if Congress fails to act before Dec. 31, the rates for dividends for high earners jumps to 40%, a prospect worrying some companies and investors.
Olick – will the massive change in AGs speed up the Robo investigation?
“Seventeen out of the fifty state attorneys general currently investigating the robo-signing foreclosure scandal at some of the nation’s largest lenders will be out of a job in a few months. In fact, one of the leaders of the cause, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who filed a lawsuit against Ally Financial’s GMAC Mortgage, charging faulty foreclosure practices, lost re-election to Mike DeWine. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is heading up the investigation, did keep his seat and sent out a statement saying: ‘While some members of the multistate group, including a few executive committee members, will change political leadership in January, these changes do not affect the work we are now doing at the staff and leadership levels. This is a bipartisan and united effort with a clear mandate to put a stop to improper mortgage practices.’ I spoke with AG Miller this afternoon about the possibility that the change in leadership would speed up the process:
Miller: I don’t think it will speed it up. We’re already going as fast as we can, but the limitations are we want it to be thorough. I don’t think that some AGs leaving will make it go any faster than it is.
Olick: What about the fact that some on the investigation’s executive committee were not re-elected?
Miller: I think that the executive committee states were chosen because of the AGs and staff, and in each and every case the staff are very engaged in the investigation [staffs largely don't change]…I think as a group there’s a lot of interest in investigating this. If there are a few [new AGs] with less interest, there’s still going to be a lot of interest in doing this right
Olick: After meetings with the AGs, some bank sources say you are more interested in pushing mortgage modifications than fixing foreclosure paperwork. Is that true?
Miller: We’re very focused on the robosigning, that’s what got us here, but in addition we want to focus on creative solutions and one analogous problem is that they’re not fully funding the modification side of it, just as they didn’t fund the foreclosure process. Also there’s the nexus of maybe instead of paying huge fines they adequately fund the modification process.
As soon as AG Miller said that I immediately thought he was talking about a deal that banks would put money into principal write-down or lower rates, instead of paying huge fines. However, he said the deal would be that the banks would increase staffing levels to deal with modifications, instead of paying fines. When I pushed him on principal write down, he admitted, ‘We want to look too at some of the substantive modification processes and see if there are ways they can do more modifications that would meet the basic criteria of people being able to make those payments.’ Today a JP Morgan executive told a conference in Boston that the bank would start up foreclosures again in 40 states ‘in a few weeks.’ Bank of America and Ally/GMAC have already started submitting foreclosure documents again. I asked Miller if he thought that was too soon. ‘We would like to have a chance to do some verification before they move forward, however we’ve said in Iowa that for properties that are vacant, if they can sell those properties and they’ve checked out the process, we don’t have any objection to vacant property sales.’”
Now for our real estate education section…
Friday File – 15 Minute Resolution: Five Social Media Marketing Mistakes
Sure, you may not be a social media marketing wizard but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to pay attention t how you communicate with prospective clients. Research indicates that nearly 80% of real estate buyers begin their search at least six months in advance of selecting an agent to work with; most of the early stage consists of virtual window shopping but what may initially seem like a dead-end is likely to be the beginning of a long term relationship when properly managed. Unlike traditional forms of communication that required extensive and time consuming interaction, maintaining direct contact with prospective clients (or referrals) is simple with social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. However, there are five major mistakes that tend to turn people off rather than entice them to do business with you in the future. For this week’s 15 minute short sale resolution, we will examine five major social media marketing mistakes and how to avoid them when working with your own client list:
1. Digging a Rut. Ever feel like you have said and done the same old thing over and over? Chances are – so have your clients. If you are bored with the process then it is very difficult to inspire enthusiasm in others. Despite your best attempts at keeping things fresh, it’s time to face the facts and either hire out the job to a professional or do something (anything) to put some zest back in your step. Remember, if you notice, so will your clients.
2. Me, Me, Me. It’s not about you but rather the client. While occasionally sharing a bit of personal information is a great way to show another side of yourself, keep it short and simple. Don’t make yourself the center of attention; after all, these are not your friends and family but rather people that you are working with. It’s great to have a personal relationship but not by sacrificing service. Besides, the majority of people tend to have their own ego-centric streak. Keep communications focused on the client rather than yourself.
3. Cheap. Social media marketing is one of the most cost effective means of communicating with clients ever invented yet there are some professionals that still fail to invest even the most meager sum into supporting their efforts. Compared to direct mail marketing, printing costs and other forms of communication, it’s a bargain. Stop treating it like an optional add-on and instead, budget for it like you would any other marketing or advertising campaign.
4. Arrogant. They say that success breeds success…and it does, but it also breeds arrogance in some people. Always keep an eye out on how, when and with whom you communicate in order to stay close to the client. Once you achieve a level of success it’s easy to forget the people that made you popular to begin with – BIG Mistake! Remember, if they made you they can also break you. Word of mouth marketing works both ways online.
5. Fear. Perhaps one of the biggest problems for most real estate investors is trying to overcome a sense of fear when putting their words, thoughts and opinions “out there” for others to read. Fear of scrutiny, fear of intimacy or even fear of rejection are all normal and natural feelings. It’s difficult to strike a balance between professionalism and personality but with a bit of time and practice, it will come. Everyone has a unique “voice” both online and in person. They key to creating a successful online persona is to tap into that voice in a way that is engaging, informative and motivational. Like the old adage “practice makes perfect.”
See you at the top!
Chris McLaughlin
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About the author:
Chris McLaughlin is widely known as America’s top
Real Estate Attorney and Investment Consultant.
* As the top Florida foreclosure and pre-
foreclosure expert, he oversees more than
100 short sale & REO closings each month
* Long-time authority on real estate investing
and rapid reselling of distressed homes. Owns
portfolio of nearly 100 high-value, high-profit
properties
* Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
running 4 different offices, supporting over
400 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
thousands of investors make money in the
biggest market opportunity ever!
* Highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and
seminar leader for current trends and hot topics
in Real Estate Investing, Entrepreneurship, and
Wealth Building
* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mclaughlinchris
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