Video Mortgage Market Solution

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October 2011 Status and Revised Strategy to Create the Texas Mortgage Guaranty Corporation

It’s been a while, so I apologize for the lack of communication. The fine gentlemen at the Texas A&M Real Estate Center turned out to be a yellow light instead of a green or red light. They raised some valid questions about the project’s functionality and acceptability in the secondary market, and I had neither [...]

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Form, Function and Purpose of the Proposed Texas Mortgage Guaranty Corporation -By Rick Baron

I have met with officials from the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, and the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association and they all believe this concept has merit and deserves serious consideration. I hope you will consider it and support it as well. Description of Purpose – [...]

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10 Reasons We Should Create the Texas Mortgage Guaranty Corporation – by Rick Baron

If you’re a mortgage lender of any type, or a Realtor, a builder, a homeowner, an elected state official, a school teacher, or if you have anything to do with the Texas housing and real estate industry in any way, listen up. This has something to do with you and you need to know about [...]

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Status and Strategy for Creating a Texas-only Fannie Mae – by Rick Baron

I met with Commissioner Doug Foster of the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending last Monday (2/28/11) and TDSML attorney Chris Schneider. They were gracious enough to hear me out and completely understood and saw the value in all of my points. The Commissioner has been working on another project to address the brewing [...]

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A Better Way for Mortgage Lending – by Rick Baron

The Fed guys have made their intent clear – Frannie is going away and they intend to push the entire mortgage industry over to the private markets. Attempting to get them to change course this late in the game is an exercise in futility. They’re trying to bury the fact that they caused Frannie to [...]

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GSE Reform – A Fast, Practical Solution – By Rick Baron

We don’t need to re-create the wheel nor do we want throw the baby out with the bath water. We only need to change and repair the business model. It’s as if we spent 25 years building a state-of-the-art computer to connect lenders to investors and enhance market liquidity. But like most folks in the [...]

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Formal Proposal for Texans to Consider

Proposal for a Texas Mortgage Market Solution • For over six decades, Fannie Mae (and later Freddie Mac) served a vital role in providing affordable financing for homes in the U.S. They had the most sophisticated, conservative underwriting philosophy and risk assessment best practices ever devised, requiring good credit, down payments and income verification to [...]

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Let’s Create a Company to Enhance or Save the Texas Real Estate Market

The Great State of Texas experienced its real estate bubble in the 1980’s as a direct result of the U.S. Congress loosening lending regulations for Savings & Loans to irresponsible levels. This created the Savings & Loan debacle, the bubble burst, then the Resolution Trust Corporation’s “fix” nearly destroyed the Texas economy. However, Texas emerged [...]

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Why Texas is in better shape than just about every other state – by Rick Baron

Yes, this economic climate is difficult. The news is mostly gloom and doom, Uncle Sam continues to pile on new mortgage rules and regulations, and underwriting requirements continue to tighten to the point of absurdity. I find myself thinking we’re all just having a bad dream. But for those of us who are still left [...]

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