Buying a home in today's economy

Campaign 82 currently deals with many states across the nation and though the price ranges and home types vary, the general concerns are always the same...  Loan qualification.   Recent statistics show that 6 of 10 applications for home loans are being denied.  That's the majority!  So when you ask for help with getting to the point of buying a home you are in good company.
Here are the generals:
Most loans are done by banks and mortgage brokerages and are backed by FNMA, FHA, VA, FHLMC, or USDA.  The main difference in these is the down payment and credit score requirements.  Any loan given by a bank or mortgage broker will require a minimum of 620 credit score.   We will talk about alternatives to bank loans after these.
For no down payment (100% financing) VA and USDA are the options.  VA is a veteran's loan and requires honorable military service.  USDA is a loan for rural development and has income limits as well as location requirements.
FHA loans require 3.5% down payment.  If you do not have the down payment saved you can try for down payment assistance programs which are common in the State, City, and County levels.  FHA has a loan limit for each area - generally in the $300k range.
FHLMC and FNMA (Fannie Freddie) both require 5% down payment and generally 680 credit scores.  No income or geography restrictions.

So for those that do not meet any of the above requirements there are alternatives as well.  The most popular are direct loans (section 502) and not for profit entities such as NACA.  Section 502 is also a USDA loan but this loan does not go through a bank or mortgage company.  It comes direct from the government and also has the bonus of below market rates fixed for 33-38 years.  This means the payment could be a couple hundred dollars less than a traditional loan for the same amount.  There is no down payment required.  It has income restrictions of 80% Area Median Income and the same geography requirements as the basic USDA guaranteed loans.
NACA is a not for profit entity that advocates home ownership through stringent education to buyers.  They pride a less than 3% default rate in the process of about 60 days educational requirements to potential homeowners.  It may be more tedious but it has not geography restrictions and a 95% approval rating.
For more detailed information please feel free to email us at info@campaign82.com and we will respond quickly with the best options in your area for your situation.

4th of July Dessert Ideas

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing:

nocoupons

• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To assemble:

nocoupons

• 2 half-pints blueberries
• 3 half-pints raspberries

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.
For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.
Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.

I serve this cake right in the pan. If you want to turn it out onto a board before frosting, use parchment paper when you grease and flour the pan.

Better in numbers

Campaign 82 has started a few social media sites in the cities we work to help us deal with the volume of clients we are experiencing.  I have to admit, this makes my job a lot of fun!  At first it was kind of boring... one or two people a day per area would join and we disabled the live chat and new member areas so no one coud see how pathetically small our community was:)  This morning I woke up to 46 new emails!  That means that from the time I went to bed to the time I woke up we had 46 new members in our communities.  Awesome! 
This confirms what we already suspected.  As a group we can make things better for ourselves and the industry.  I think it is so inspiring to see people ready to start their journey of home ownership.  It may take 2 weeks and it may take 6 months but I assure you if you are ready to own a home we will be here to help.  I personally greet each person to the site and read your situations.  I look forward to your success stories and each week several of our clients are moving into their new homes. 
Please take a minute to realize what brought you to this page.  Buying a home is not something that is easy and 6 out of 10 buyers have been denied a home loan in recent months.  You are not alone but you are also not going to give up.  There ARE people who care and are here to help you get there.

What brings us here?

I have met many real estate agents and home sellers both online and off.  There are so many support channels for real estate agents...  How to market to clients, how to sell them a home, how to follow up with your database, etc.  I think somewhere down the line agents and builders forgot why they were there in the first place.  Home ownership is one of the most desirable goals for every single human being in the US.  It is the American Dream and for a good reason.  Campaign 82 is a real estate brokerage with a "Why we do what we do" as our entire core focus. 
In this economy people need help!!!!!!  Who are the agents and mortgage lenders and builders that are actually helping poeple get into homes.  All I see out there is a "come back when you get approved" approach and its just not enough.  In order to claim our title as Real Estate Agents we need to go that extra step and help the millions of people who want a home and are willing but need help being ABLE to buy.  This is my reason for going to work every day.  If you want to buy a home and need REAL help please let me know.

Amanda Dailey
amanda@campaign82.com
http://www.campaign82.org

Eleven months

I grew up in real estate.  As a matter of fact just this year my parents retired from it at the age of 61 and now they are obsessed with moving to Florida...  because real estate is so cheap!  So when I was out of college I began a career in the mortgage business.  By the age of 24 I was a branch manager of one of the largest mortgage companies in the U.S.  This meant I not only originated loans but I also underwrote them.  Back in the day the branch manager made the decisions.  We did not have automated systems telling us who was and who was not approved for a loan.  We had to analyze and make a sound decision based on certain criteria.
So one Sunday driving home from the gym I noticed an open house at the end of my street.  It was a gorgeous bungalow priced at $60,000 and I had not one thought before that day of owning my own home.  But there I was, ready to sign a contract. 
The next day I applied with the employee loan division and started my process.  By the end of the day I got the call...  Denied!  It seems I had two problems:  1)  I did not have much credit  2)  I had been issued two credit cards in college that I took straight to the travel agent and purchased a spring break trip for myself and a friend, and then NEVER paid the bill!  Whoops.
So that day I started.  I started being conscious of my credit because now I had a reason.  It took me 6 months but I called the collectors and worked out an agreement on the credit cards.  I also established two secured credit cards and paid every month on time.  This became a fun challenge for me - the credit card companies noticed my timeliness and rewarded me with higher credit lines.  11 months later I was driving to Home Depot and saw an open house sign in a very small historic neighborhood just off downtown.  From the outside I already could tell this was a house I probably could not afford but out of curiosity I walked in.  This home was amazing!  It was for sale by owner and she had decided to retire to AZ.  She was a master gardener and the house was as beautiful outside as it was inside.  The house was of course out of my price range...BUT!  There was a guest house in the back that brought in $600/mo rent.  I could barely sleep that night and in the morning called again to the employee loan division.  That afternoon when I got the call it actually brought tears to my eyes.  Approved!
When I look back now 11 months does not seem very long.  I had spent more than four years before that blatantly disregarding my credit and in 11 months was able to accomplish one of my biggest lifetime achievements.  That was one of the proudest moments of my life and I still drive by that house today.  This is the reason I do what I do, you see, helping each other achieve our dreams is what its all about!

Why is Home Ownership the American Dream?

I have read many opinions over the last few years about how certain people should not be allowed to buy a home.  I often wonder if these people really take a moment to consider what they are saying.  Home ownership has been the subject of multiple studies over the years and specifically shows that it leads to a better community, a stronger community, better families, broader sense of economic responsibility, etc.  Raising children in a home you purchased could be the most important and responsible decision a person will ever make.  So why do some not think this should be an opportunity we make possible for everyone who wants it? 
I think the mortgage crisis helps cause a lot of fear in the industry.   But keep in mind the subprime loans were all in all BAD loans!  They had interest rates that would eventually rise as high as 13%.  Most of these loans had payments that were more than 50% of the borrowers gross monthly income when the max is suppose to be 29%.  Do you know that over 70% of all mortgages still in existance today are in excess of 40% of the borrowers gross income - we are house poor!  I will put this into real numbers for you:
Say your salary is $4,000/mo
Max amount of housing payment should be 29% of this income or $1160/mo
Average Net take home on $4000/mo is 70% or $2800/mo
This would leave $1640/mo for all other expenses including utilities, car payment, food, clothing, etc

During the housing boom mortgage companies were giving loans that started at a lower payment and then adjusted yearly.   So the payment may have started at $1160/mo but then over the next two years could end up at 50% of your gross monthly income.  Let's go back to that scenario:
Salary $4000/mo
50% Housing payment = $2000/mo
Take home = $2800/mo
This leaves a whopping $800/mo for EVERYTHING else!

I can see why these people were forced to walk away from their homes - I would gladly leave that payment behind if it meant I could not eat or provide transportation.  When this became the norm housing prices began to fall and even more people walked away because the house they were trying to salvage was now worth less than the amount owed. 

So let's talk about the loans we provide and encourage.   NONE of the programs we place allow more than 40% housing payment and most do not allow more than 30%.  This is a strong point because it is likely that a person could not find even a comparable rental for less than 30% of their gross income.  Our programs also allow the loan to be modified to the buyer's needs.  For example if the house I want is $140,000 that would equate to a payment of $1150 on a standard 30 year fixed loan in most areas.  But if my gross income is $3000/mo and I only qualify for a $900 payment Section 502 will actually modify my loan to make the payment lower.  They do this by lengthening the term from say 30 years to 33 years.  They also start reducing the rate (always fixed) to sometimes as low as 2%.  This will make that same $140,000 loan have a $900 payment vs a $1150 and I get the home I want and need for the price I can AFFORD. 

All of this of course leads to the benefits of the community as a whole that we spoke of above.  When people are allowed to own their own piece of the community they immediately start becoming more involved, more responsible, and more successful.  This is the core of the American Dream.

Innovative real estate?

I have been thinking a lot lately about joining forces with a few brokers in other states and sharing my knowledge of alternative lending resources with them and their clients. I was not sure how to approach this so I Googled innovative real estate brokerage and was taken to a craigslist ad advertising a brokerage to agents. This brokerage talked about it's amazing level of innovation and how they adapted to this economy and how they are now booming in business. So I reached out and gave them a call.
In speaking with their founder and CEO I was given a good lesson on his history. He had come from a technology background and was consulting large real estate firms on Internet marketing when he started as an agent in 2006. His numbers were quite impressive with nearly 14 million in sales that year and almost 60 million the next. He was a top agent and in late 2007 started his own brokerage. Then the story changed. "The economy did this and the economy did that" was pretty much the gist of the remainder of his history. From there he decided to close all the offices and go virtual. He created a software system to make his office virtual, complete with avatars and 3D movement, astounding! But how in the heck does that change anything??? Does your system change the economy because that seemed to be your problem in the first place according to your story.
I think there is a general consensus that most of us were at the top of our game in 2006-2007. What people fail to realize is that it is not the economy that hurts us, it is the economy that exposed our weaknesses. Maybe that weakness was depending on it always being a seller's market. Maybe the weakness was depending on the availability of credit to buyers. In either case there have been weaknesses and a little preparation and diversification will be the most innovative step anyone could take right now.
So here is my suggestion to those that want to become the most innovative agent/broker of your time. Do something that fixes a problem. Most successful entrepreneurs will tell that problems create opportunities. For instance, why don't you create a private social network for clients that want to invest in REO. You could advertise this member only network on free sites or within your blog and have a self run captive audience of buyers and sellers just waiting for you to tell them what to do. I personally created such a site 2 weeks ago and advertised it on craigslist. As of this morning I have 44 members and potential clients. I have never met any of them and better yet I paid less than $100 to build the site which took me 3 hours. Here's another one... Pay a consultant a portion of your commission to find alternative forms of financing for your buyers that cannot get approved. What most agents do not realize is that there are alternatives to banks and mortgage brokers. The reason you do not know about those alternatives is because banks and brokers are the only ones marketing themselves. Government direct loans and not for profit entities usually do not have a sales department attending breakfasts with real estate agents. You have to seek them!
In the end technology has most likely contributed to the most innovative changes to date in the real estate industry but if you are looking to be innovative start thinking like a real business and do something that brings prosperity by solving the money problem first.

What is good business about helping those that cannot buy?

Over the last 18 months Campaign 82 has completely changed its focus into one group in the marketplace...  Those that have been turned down and are having trouble getting a home loan. 
Now most people in the industry would see this as an insane gesture for business.  There is very little guaranty that we can help a situation and even further guaranty that we can motivate others to take the steps that are needed to overcome the obstacles and buy a home.  So why do we do what we do? 
The answer is we have a fundamental belief that every individual with a desire to own a home should have the chance to do so.  This belief is at the core of our business model... it is why we go to work in the morning and now the very reason Campaign 82 exists. 
Just take a minute and imagine what compels a person to apply for home ownership.  Most people in the U.S. have the desire to have a home of their own at some point in their lives.  It is still the American dream and the first rung on the economic ladder for future security and stability.  It brings ownership to a community and therefor true "community" exists.  Multiple studies show that children brought up in owned homes versus rented homes have higher achievement levels in education, lower behavioral problems, and a more positive development process due to stability.  Home ownership helps strengthen neighborhoods and community and so we cannot just keep reading about the people who want to buy a home but cannot.  Is the problem with the housing market that we do not have enough buyers or that we do not have enough answers for the ones who want to buy?  I would argue it is the latter and that is why I spend my days researching alternatives and programs for those who are willing but not able.

When we talk about reinventing real estate and an industry as a whole I have one suggestion and that is to think about why you do what you do.  As real estate agents we spend entirely too much time thinking about what and how but never why. 
Which agent would you choose:
Agent A "Hello my name is Amanda and I am a real estate agent.  I sell homes and negotiate contracts.  This year I have closed over 5 million in home purchases.   I give great customer service and have 12 references.  Can I be your agent?"
Agent B "Hello my name is Amanda and I want to hand you the keys to your first home.  Everyday I try to make my community a better place by encouraging homeownership.  Every person has the right to the American Dream and I am proud to say it is why I get up in the mornings.  I also happen to be a real estate agent, could I be yours?"
So when you go out today and speak to potential and current clients keep in mind the why's and I would dare to say that they will trust your passion before they trust your resume, they will follow your motivation before they follow your CMA, and they will follow their dreams because you folow yours. 

Amanda Dailey
Campaign 82

Join our member group on facebook!

Reaching out to all agents.  Please take time to listen to our podcasts page as well:

http://www.campaign82.com/real-estate-agents.html

Podcast 1 Intro

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-341545a2bded1ea7aa44e710f7a13160}

Real Estate podcast:Campaign 82

Real Estate podcast:Campaign 82

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$14,990 DPA grant until September

This down payment grant is for Hickory Place in Sapulpa by Rausch Coleman homes. Must close by September to receive the grant. Only 8 grants available must meet 80% AMI income requirements (see chart on our Oklahoma page). Call Amanda for more information 918-899-9299

Awesome new mortgage program!

We found an awesome new program this week. This is a comprehensive program for you to become a homeowner. This program makes the mortgage process as efficient and effective as possible.

Here are the general requirements: The first step is to attend a workshop. During the workshop you will learn steps to become a homeowner. This workshop will also give you an overview of the homebuying process and focus on you becoming qualified. Once you are qualified, you are essentially approved for a mortgage, since the majority of applications submitted to participating lenders are approved.

After your approved you will need to attend a purchase workshop. These workshops are required and take place 4 times a month. You will learn about the homebuying process and what to focus on.

These are simple requirements to meet. Get approved today~!!!

Visit Campaign 82 Real Estate for more information..
www.campaign82realestate.com

Join our mailing list! Newsletter launch

Hello May! Hello $15,000 Tulsa Down Payment Assitance Grant

It has been some time since our last update. We have been working very hard to find new programs for home buyers. In our search we found some really interesting subsidy programs!

Tulsa, OK
1. CARD is offering a $15,000 dollar down payment assistance grant! Must close by September!
2. Oklahoma State Bond 3.5% Down Payment Assistance Income limitations 1-2 person family $64,151 and 3 or more $73,151. Purchase limit $258, 690, first time home buyer rules apply!
3. USDA Guaranteed and Direct (Rural Dev.)

ONLY OFFERED BY QUALIFIED LENDERS! THIS MEANS 100% FINANCING..

This is only Tulsa and only 3 of the MANY programs that can aid in getting you into the home of your dreams!!

Call Campaign 82 918-899-9299

www.campaign82.com

Making Home Affordable

February 18th the Obama Administration announced the Making Home Affordable (MHA) Program, a plan to stabilize the US housing market and offer assistance to up to 7 to 9 million homeowners by reducing mortgage payments to affordable levels and preventing avoidable foreclosures.

There are now updates to the program, including additional details on Foreclosure Alternatives and Home Price Decline Protection Incentives. Foreclosure Alternatives will help to prevent costly foreclosures by providing incentives for servicer and borrowers to pursue short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure in cases where a borrower is eligible for MHA modification but unable to complete the modification process. This program will assist homeowners who cannot afford to stay in their homes by helping them to avoid foreclosure and relocate to a home they can afford. Building on insights developed by the FDIC, Home Price Decline Protection Incentives will provide additional payments based on recent home price declines, and therefore will incentive additional modifications in areas where home prices have been falling. By increasing the available program modifications and the use of other options verses foreclosure, this will ideally reduce the negative impact of foreclosure, minimizing damaging costs for banks, borrowers and communities.

www.campaign82realestate.com

214-599-0063

MORE EFFORT TO AID HOMEOWNERS

Good news!! Friday the Obama administration announced new initiatives to help homeowners, potentially refinancing millions of them into fresh government-backed mortgages with lower payments!

This program is also meant to reduce the payments of borrowers who are unemployed temporarily. Also they will encourage lenders to note the value of loans held by borrowers in modification programs to make their mortgages more affordable.

The government is under much pressure from Congress to resolve the foreclosure crisis, which is effecting our economy and also putting millions of American at fist for losing their homes.

No Taxpayer money will be used for these programs. They will be supported by funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program which is a $50 billion dollar fund. This program is set to help up to 3-4million homeowners over the next few years.

www.campaign82realestate.com

Tulsa County Down Payment Assitance Bond

Tulsa County is offering a bond that is only available to certain lenders. Campaign 82 can help you get this money!! This bond is up to 3% of your down payment which means you only own half of a percent!!! (1/2%, .50%). This bond require NO courses!!

Builder paid closing costs!!

- 620 credit score desired (but certain instances are considered)
- .50% down payment ($150,000 home=$750 dollars down
- Income
1-2 person family=$62,000 max
3 or more =$73,000 max

This money will not last!!! Get qualified today!!!

http://www.campaign82realestate.com/register.html
contact me directly
Amanda
918-899-9299

$8,000 + $40,000= $48,000!!!!

The tax credit is due to expire April 30th there is no time to waste! Find out if you qualify for this amazing once in a life time offer. Along with this credit Campaign 82 is proud to announce the offer of up to $40,000 dollars in down payment assistance. The combination of this once-in-a-lifetime offer.

This down payment assitance program was designed to help low to median income families find the home of their dreams. These homes are BRAND NEW and are available in Safford, AZ Willcox, AZ and McAlester, OK. These brand new homes are located within within city limits and are customizable.

Get started today with the free simple steps to getting approved.
www.campaign82realestate.com
Call Amanda and get started today! 918-899-9299

40down.com Affordable Housing Initiative (brought to you by First Home Partners)

Campaign 82 is happy to be a part of the Affordable Housing Initiative program that will be offered in 14 different cities over the course of the next 5 years. These BRAND NEW HOMES are for sale and qualify for up to $40,000 dollars in down payment assistance.

Down payment assistance means- NO DOWN PAYMENT IS REQUIRED by the home buyer. Each home buyer will go through a simple approval process, that has income restrictions and credit requirements. This program is offered on a first come first serve basis, Campaign 82 does offer a credit repair service, so those of you who do not qualify our credit repair solution can help!

Start your approval process today! Feel free to call Amanda with Campaign 82 for any questions! 918-899-9299

http://www.campaign82realestate.com/register.html

No more USDA Guaranteed?

So as I am sure that most of you or us who have taken advantage of the USDA financing know they are already running out of funding.

Although this news is disappointing its not the end of USDA. USDA also has a Direct loan program which can help millions more Americans finance the new home of their dreams.

The USDA Direct Mortgage Loan Program is a federal program offered through the United States Department of Agriculture. Rural Housing through the USDA program provides a number of homeownership opportunities to rural Americans, as well as programs for home renovation and repair. This is an excellent product and benefit for those individuals that qualify. Rural Housing also offers 100% financing opportunities for those who qualify.

Rural Housing loans are now easier to qualify and are a financially secure option for home financing regardless of your situation.

There are several advantages to using USDA ’s Home Loan Program.

• 100% Financing
• No Monthly Mortgage Insurance(MI)
• Low Mortgage Interest Rates
• Low Closing Costs
• Zero Down Payment.
• Easy Credit Qualifying
• Never a Pre-payment Penalty

To those who were planning on using USDA guaranteed...

SFH Origination News

From the National Office in Washington DC

	Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program

March 10, 2010

Notice of Funding

This message is to notify you that program funding for the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program will likely be exhausted by the end of April, 2010.

Once funding is exhausted, the Agency will not issue Conditional Commitments “subject to receipt of appropriated funds.” This is because it is not certain when additional funding will be available.

Limited funding may become available for disaster areas declared in 2008, or in disaster areas declared for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Limited funding may also become available as prior Agency commitments are de-obligated, however, such funding will be very limited.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. Should you have any questions, you may contact the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Division at (202)720-1452.

To unsubscribe from this list, please do the following:

Go to http://www.rdlist.sc.egov.usda.gov and enter your email address and click on the “SFH Servicing News” checkbox and then click on the “Unsubscribe” button.

To Subscribe to this list or other available lists or unsubscribe an old email address and subscribe a new email address, go to http://www.rdlist.sc.egov.usda.gov and enter your email address and click on the appropriate e-mail list(s) to which you wish to subscribe and then click on the “Subscribe” button.

Campaign 82 Real Estate Announces Expansion

Campaign 82 Real Estate announced today that they are expanding their business and the verticals in which they can help home buyers across the U.S. get the information and representation that they deserve.

Campaign 82 was formed in 2009 with the goal to represent our clients and create an opportunity for our buyers. To accomplish this goal we realized that we needed to expand not only our brokerage from Texas to other states but we realized that our clients were getting turned down left and right with no solution!! Because of the lack of follow through we decided to incorporate two other facets to our Real Estate business, Credit Repair and Financing. Our Credit Repair division is designed and dedicated to improve our clients credit so that they can finally get approved for the purchase of the home of their choice. Our financing division is focused on knowing and understand all of the programs designed to give new home buyers an edge on making an educated decision on the available loans and finance programs that are available!!!

Subscribe to our blog to get more information!!

www.campaign82realestate.com

214-599-0063

All the talk about change

Every morning it seems there is a new article out about how the real estate broker will evolve in the next 5 years. The part that I do not get is the doom and gloom outlook, much of this being blamed on discount brokerages. What I don't get is this..
Why are Realtors still acting like we are in a seller's market? Agents need to shift their understanding that we are most definitely in a buyer's market. If they would truly shift to that understanding they would see that the sellers are actually increasing the commissions they are willing to pay an agent bringing a willing and able buyer. Based on pure supply and demand this will always be the case.

What happens when the tax credit goes away?

As you have heard the current Federal $8000 tax credit is just months from expiring. Most real estate agents commenting on the fact that 38% of the home buyers today are first time home buyers account this large percentage to the tax credit. So what happens when the credit goes away? Does the housing slump pummel to the ground? I would imagine that there will be a huge push at the end of June to get the loans closed and people in the property which will account for record numbers like we saw end of 2009 before the credit was extended. There are still so many people out there wanting to own a home that due to the lack of available credit have not been able to buy a home.
Above the $8000 credit (which I will say is a huge incentive), home ownership has tax benefits above and beyond any other benefit most of us can claim. Mortgage interest deductions in TX alone usually make the difference of a tax payer owing at the year end or getting a check back. So let's not forget that home ownership is still the American dream. It is a dream that is still very attainable with tax credits as well as subsidy incentives. If you are having trouble getting the home you deserve because credit standards are too strict Campaign 82 has a VERY effective credit program that is a third party service with over 15 years experience. If you are serious about buying a home please talk to us about your options as we differ from the rest. I do not care if your credit is too low now, if you are serious we will work together and get you where you need to be. Credit denial happened to me on my first home and no one was there to tell me what to do. In the end it took a lot of time and effort on my part but buying a home was the proudest moment of my life. I want to help, that is my promise.

Campaign 82 Real Estate's Subsidized Housing

Campaign 82 has recently partnered with a large developer who builds homes that qualify for the government subsidy programs. These programs are a unique opportunity individuals with low to median income to purchase a new home.

This program creates the option of qualifying for up to $40,000 dollars toward the purchase of this new home. Wouldn't it be great if the $40,000 dollar credit was forgiven? Well it is, if you purchase a home through this program and stay in the residence for 5 years you can forget about paying back that $40,000!!

We have 58 homes that qualify for this program located in Stafford AZ, and Willcox AZ. Contact us soon for more information. 520-413-1600

What's a subsidized loan? Subsidized loans are loans for which the borrower does not pay interest. Interest would normally be charged periodically according to the annual percentage rate (APR). With a subsidized loan the interest is paid by another party.

How do I qualify for a subsidized loans? Depending on the source of your loan, you'll need to see if you qualify. Some housing loans (like some first time home buyer loans) require that you live in a certain area and earn less than specified dollar amount.

Finding value in today's market

Many people are still very much in the market for a new home. I have a lot of buyers asking advice on getting "the deal" but before you set your sights for low balling a home builder I suggest you think about a few things.
Let's suppose you purchase a home from a builder today and offer something like $5,000 off sale price. Great, what a deal! But think about this... What happens when your neighbor gets $5,000 off your price? The $5k you just pocketed just cost you $10k. Builders who cut prices do not add stability! Buyer beware.
Also pay attention to the neighborhood. Is it in a community that financing is easily obtained? You do not want to be somewhere that is difficult to finance or you soon will be surrounded by renters.
How is the builders stability? Do they have cash or tons of inventory they cannot move? Most larger builders are publicly traded and this information is public. For instance DR Horton was very cash heavy end of Dec 09 when they announced over $2 Billion in the bank!

Campaign 82 offers credit assistance for those who need it!

We are please to announce that we have partnered with Credit Score Consultants based in Houston, TX with offices in Tulsa, OK to offer those clients that need credit assistance in buying a new home. With credit tightening and more and more people not able to meet the minimum credit score standards we noticed that much of the reason people do not qualify is due to past credit collections and items that can quickly and easily be corrected or removed from reports. This allows the borrowers credit score to reach the level it needs to be in order to qualify for a mortgage.
We are able to offer one of two programs depending on the clients budget:
1. For $49/mo and available to cancel at any time, Campaign 82 will issue the borrower their credit report and a blue print on how to self correct and update to the three bureaus to best improve their score. This process typically takes about 3-6 months depending on the level of credit repair.
2. For $495 flat fee ($250 down and $245 due in 30 days) buyers are offered a fast track repair done by a third party team of credit consultants. This company has been in the business of credit repair for 15 years and will blow you away with how capable of moving your score in the right direction in a matter of 60 days. For those that have good credit lines and just need an improved score to purchase a home quickly this is the way to go.

For more information on the credit programs please register or email us. We are always available by phone as well (214) 599-0063 direct, (918) 899-9299 cell.

The numbers game

So we have officially been in business (on our own) for about 17 days! From what we have learned from our previous company and especially now that our website registration and approval process is improving is that every morning we wake up to several new opportunities. Whether a client has simply filled out a registration or a full pre-approval we do know that most clients these days do not qualify for a home purchase. It is the 5-10% that do that we wait for and eventually close.
But what do we do with the other 90-95%? That was the topic of conversation in our living room last night.
Every day we are turning away 6-7 potential clients because they don't fit the mold. Whether it is a credit glitch, income issue, divorce, bankruptcy, foreclosure, etc the underlying point is that every one of these people would like to own a home. So why not help them? Today starts a new division of Campaign 82 where we help people correct their situation and eventually get into the home they deserve. I have spent a lifetime reviewing credit and know the ropes for sure. After all, I was denied my first home purchase because my own credit at 23 years old was terrible! Because I was in the business I spent the next 10 months cleaning it up so that I could purchase my 1st home at 24 years old via FHA financing. I was soooo proud! What about those that do not know how, don't know where to start? That is my commitment.

Olympics opening ceremony...

A few billion of us will be watching tonight and I am very excited to see the show! Wouldn't it be great if the next Olympics was opened by a James Cameron creation?

The fear of the http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifunknown: Down Payment Assistance

I spent most of my career in the finance world as a loan officer, then an underwriter, then a sales manager. I remember clearly that every year I would look back on the year before and think to myself, "Last year I had NO idea what I was doing!"
After two years in the business I was comfortable enough to speak to large groups of realtors at their weekly sales meetings. After four years I was winning awards for production. Finally after seven years I thought I knew it all. I was producing close to $100 MM per year in mortagage loans and considered by my Realtors an expert in real estate.
I went on to be a builder/developer and now am on the Realtor side of things. I have officially been in real estate my entire life, born into a family that owned Title/Escrow companies their entire life. So why is it that when the market changed and buyers became scarce, I had NO IDEA how to sell down payment assistance programs??
I had heard of them, sure, but nobody really ever needed them. There were plenty of 100% financing programs available as long as you were willing to pay a higher rate. They always seemed confusing and involved way too much effort. So I found myself a little embarrassed to learn that these assistance programs are quite simple and very abundant in the market place. They also happen to be one of the ONLY ways to help buyers that struggle to obtain financing for 100% of the price of the home. Here is a run down of what is out there:

USDA Rural Development Loans

These loans are based on geography. When I hear of USDA I think of meat! What we forget is that this is the Department of Agriculture and they are focused on Rural area development. This program is as simple as an FHA with no down payment requirements. It is typically available in areas outlying major cities and are popular in many suburbs that are more favorable than the City center. Many builders have figured this out started building specifically in these areas which means opportunity for more development otherwise.

Housing Authority Down Payment Assistance

Many local and State agencies allocate a certain amount of funds each year for homebuyer assistance. Typical FHA loans require 3.5% down payment and this assistance is popular coupled with FHA loans. The authority typically offers 4% assitance so the total financed is 100.5% (the remainder can be used for buyer closing costs). These programs typically require attending a 2 hour homebuyer class and have income maximums of around 115% AMI.

FHLB Subsidies

These programs are specifically aimed at providing affordable housing options for those considered very low income to moderately low income. This can be also in the form of USDA direct loans but are more commonly offered by developers of large housing projects. The developers apply for grants by the government to allow them to credit a certain amount of subsidy to the home buyer. Typically this susidy is 5% but we currently have a project that is offering buyers up to $40,000 in down payment assistance. These are typically forgiven over time (usually 5-7 years) and have no monthly payment obligation. Income restrictions are tight on these but what a great way for someone to purchase a $100,000 home for $60,000!

Campaign 82 giving back to community.

In trying to figure out a way to market an affordable subdivision in a very small town we started a brainstorm on how to carry information to people that did not typically surf the web. There are traditional advertising avenues like radio and print but those are expensive and not always effective. The local agents already knew that the way to the community is word of mouth. Ok... what if I do not know anyone in the community?? Who does? And then there was the lightbulb! The community knows the community. Churches, schools, police and fire departments, large employers, etc. So I email the pastor of the local church and ask him to provide pamphlets on our program, "Sure", he said. "Just mail them to this address and I will set the info out front."
Not exactly a home run marketing plan.
So I emailed the pastor and said, "Thanks. For every home we close we will donate an amount to your church." BINGO!
So this is our platform. There are some work arounds as most States' Real Estate Commissions are very careful about what may seem like a kickback but in the end, the client gets the credit, the community charity or church gets the donation, and we got a marketing strategy!
This just goes to show that it is possible to "Do well" and "Do good" at the same time...

Campaign 82 Focuses on new E-zine

In less than one week Campaign 82 will release our first ever e-zine, the Renegade Realtor! In this publication we will focus on how going back to the traditional means of selling (actually talking to people) is a hit in these days of efficiency overkill. Every sales person out there is pushing technology tactics and we could not agree more that this is an incredible way to maximize production and meet new goals. What technology does not do for us is create the relationship between us and our clients. This first publication will be geared to those agents looking for a point of difference to crank up their real estate career.

58 homes offered in AZ with up to $40,000 forgivable assistance

58 brand new homes will be built targeting 1st time homebuyers and subsidizing each home purchase up to $40,000! What this means is that when you purchase a home the credit will be determined by your annual income and given to you at the day of closing as a credit toward down payment of the home. Each year 20% of the debt will be forgiven and on the 5th year the debt will be completely forgiven and is your equity! There is never a payment on the subsidy unless you sell the home prior to 5 years occupancy and at that time it is a prorated payback depending on how long you have lived in the home. For example, if you purchase a home for $120,000 and are given $40,000 subsidy and stay in the home 3 years, 60% of the subsidy will be forgiven (20% per year) on the sale date close and 40% added to payoff. For more information including floor plans and pricing contact Amanda at 214-599-0063.

50 New Affordable Homes being built in Mcalester, OK

Wow! 50 brand new homes will be built targeting 1st time homebuyers and subsidizing each home purchase up to $40,000! What this means is that when you purchase a home the credit will be determined by your annual income and given to you at the day of closing as a credit toward down payment of the home. Each year 20% of the debt will be forgiven and on the 5th year the debt will be completely forgiven and is your equity! There is never a payment on the subsidy unless you sell the home prior to 5 years occupancy and at that time it is a prorated payback depending on how long you have lived in the home. For example, if you purchase a home for $120,000 and are given $40,000 subsidy and stay in the home 3 years, 60% of the subsidy will be forgiven (20% per year) on the sale date close and 40% added to payoff. For more information including floor plans and pricing contact Amanda at 918-899-9299.

Campaign82 Real Estate launches Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona!

Campaign 82 Real Estate launches real estate sales, marketing, and financing in Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona.

Campaign 82 LLC, is a premier Real Estate Sales and Marketing company, with expertise in residential finance. We specialize in marketing developers that specifically target new home buyers in low to median income of their county. These developers are often "not for profit" and cannot advertise the programs available for new home buyers in need of affordable housing. There is affordable housing available, and we can show you where!

What ever happened to everyone working together to help??

Campaign 82 is different from most real estate companies because we have an extensive background in finance. One of our founding members was a mortgage underwriter for one of the largest mortgage companies in the country and has the ability to determine eligibility for programs much more difficult to understand than the standard FHA and conventional models.

We know that many real estate agents do not want to deal with the buyers that may need much more attention via government subsidies and down payment assistance. We especially understand the opportunities allowed to buyers that do not qualify based on income and debt to income ratios. These are government programs that require experience and knowledge that most real estate professionals have not acquired.

So give us a call

Amanda Dailey

918-899-9299

www.campaign82realestate.com

Valentines Day Ideas

Are you looking for the perfect Valentines Day present? We have found the perfect opportunity to give him or her the perfect Valentines day, by making money instead of spending it! I know this sounds completely ridiculous but its not!

Buy a new home for Valentines and you may qualify for the $8,000 or $6,500 tax credit! Get into that home for zero down, and take advantage of the programs you deserve by using 100% financing.

Campaign 82 Real Estate is Oklahoma's source for Zero down & 100% financing on new construction homes all over Green Country. The great part about the programs that we represent is that many of them are available to those of us who do not have perfect credit.

There are a number of communities in Oklahoma that qualify for this program. Tulsa, Ok has a number of real estate communities that can qualify and are actually in some of the most popular areas, Owasso New Homes, Bixby Homes, Broken Arrow Homes, Glenpool Homes, Skiatook Homes, Inola Homes and Pryor homes.

Get the credit you deserve!

Call us with any questions you may have or visit us online http://www.campaign82realestate.com/ to chat with a live person.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY.

Two Big Questions for Mortgage Markets in 2010

Two Big Questions for Mortgage Markets in 2010

S&P’s Top 10 Worries for 2010

S&P’s Top 10 Worries for 2010

Foreclosure Listing Service Gears up for Shadow Inventory

Foreclosure Listing Service Gears up for Shadow Inventory

News : USDA working to grow rural economy (Wahpeton, ND and Breckenridge, Minn.)

News : USDA working to grow rural economy (Wahpeton, ND and Breckenridge, Minn.)

Posted using ShareThis

Indian Loans

Mortgages to Native Americans plummet

Efforts to loan on reservations are stagnant

By Mark Fogarty, Today correspondent

Story Published: Jan 7, 2010

Story Updated: Jan 7, 2010

As recently as a dozen years ago, lenders did not make mortgages on American Indian reservations.

The General Accountability Office, an arm of Congress, could find just 91 mortgages made on Native homelands during a five-year period in the 1990s.

A determined effort to end the effective redlining of Native homelands began in the second half of the 1990s, with many promises made and some actual progress achieved. However, much of that progress seems to have evaporated in the implosion of the mortgage market and the ensuing credit crunch of the past several years.

Mortgage lending to Native people both on- and off-reservation has shriveled in recent years, and the market for mortgages on U.S. reservations, an area comparable in size to the state of Utah, remains at an average of about one per tribe per year.

Totals (on- and off-reservation) drop 67 percent

Since the market high in 2005, mortgages to Native people, probably the most underserved population in the country, have fallen by more than two-thirds, according to 2008 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, which measures loans both on- and off-reservation (and doesn’t break out the two categories).

Last year, just $17.5 billion in mortgages was extended to Native people (American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders), down from $53.7 billion in 2005. American Indians and Alaska Natives in particular were hurt the most. At $8.6 billion, their volume was eclipsed by $8.9 billion in mortgages to Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (mainly Natives of Guam and American Samoa), a much smaller cohort.

Why this enormous drop, much larger than the general market falloff and larger than the drops for other minority populations? The cratering of the subprime mortgage market has something to do with it, as Native people were targeted (for good and bad) by subprime firms that have since vanished. But subprime lenders also targeted other minority populations, whose volumes, while hurt, didn’t fall off as far.

Mortgages on reservations hard to do

Numbers of mortgages on Indian reservations are hard to come by. Indian Country Today can quantify only 258 for fiscal 2009, though the total must be somewhat higher.

Mortgage lending on Native homelands is a hard thing to do. But it can be done, and at one point there was a lot of lender interest in solving the problem.

Beginning in the 1990s, a lot of energy came together to extend mortgages to American Indians on their reservations, through people, nonprofits and lenders who acted with passion and purpose to try to improve some of the worst housing conditions in this country.

Issues of poverty and culture, racism, an almost total lack of financial and real estate infrastructure (no realtors, home builders, closing attorneys, title insurers, bank offices and all the other infrastructure of mortgage lending) and a knotty legal problem over how to mortgage land that technically belongs to the federal government, had combined to completely stifle home finance in tribal areas. How much land is it? Homelands range in size from a few acres to 27,000 square miles, and if cobbled together would be larger than the state of Utah.

During one five-year stretch (1992 – 1996), the GAO could find only 91 private mortgages extended on the 300 or so reservations in this country, home to more than half a million people belonging to more than 550 tribes. And those were made to members of just two tribes, the Tulalip and Wisconsin Oneida, which had relationships with local banks. Knowingly or not, lenders had drawn a bright red no-lending line around this enormous area.

By 1999, lenders had improved on that to close a total of 471 mortgages in Indian areas, but that was still an average of less than one per tribe, according to a task force reporting on the issue to former President Bill Clinton. Ten years later, the situation remains roughly equal.

A home being constructed on the Flathead Reservation in Montana shows a fairly typical building plan.

Test case: Navajo Nation

The Navajo Nation, the biggest reservation in the United States, which is the size of West Virginia and sprawls across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, became a testing ground for lender initiatives in the 1990s, with both successes and failures to show for it.

Mortgage summits held at the Aneth Chapter House in the Utah section of the Navajo reservation in June 1994 and Montezuma Creek, Utah in September 1995 laid the foundation for an arduous effort that took three years to close a loan despite the eagerness of an impressive array of nonprofit organizations, private lenders, tribal entities and government agencies to make it happen.

And it took a full five years before the first private mortgage (as opposed to government) closed in the fall of 1999. But meantime, a scrappy locally-based nonprofit had rolled up its sleeves and began an effort that has resulted ultimately in hundreds of loans.

Following the first summit, the Navajo Nation and Fannie Mae entered into a two-year negotiation to allow the development of a secondary market for mortgages on the reservation. (In a secondary market transaction, an agency like Fannie Mae buys a loan from the original lender, in effect giving the lender enough money to make another loan.)

There was a lot of ground to cover. First was the status of the land to be mortgaged. The federal government technically holds the land “in trust” for either tribes or individual Indians, who were allotted land in the 19th century by the Dawes Act. By law, the land cannot be mortgaged without the approval of the government, through the BIA, whose traditional slowness in completing TSRs (Trust Status Reports) has been one of the many barriers to Indian mortgage lending.

In recent decades, the federal government has tried to remedy this restriction, which in essence denied Indians access to credit available to potential homeowners everywhere else in the country. In the early 1980s, it introduced the Federal Housing Administration Section 248 mortgage, which guaranteed lender outlays to Indians living on reservations. But the program closed only a handful of loans (18 in FY 1987, and 11 in 1989) and so Congress tried again in 1992, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 184 Indian loan in the Housing and Community Development Act of that year.

Need is great

A $180,000 loan was part of the financing for this multi-family project at the San Juan pueblo in New Mexico.

The need for more housing in Indian country is undisputed. The National American Indian Housing Council, has estimated current need at more than 200,000 units. On the Navajo, at the time of the summits, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle (which sponsored them, Utah being in its jurisdiction) estimated that 20,000 Navajo families were in need of homes. Nearly one-third of its existing homes needed major rehab work, and more than half lacked running water, electricity or telephones.

Besides the trust status of Navajo land, there was a difference of cultures. Each of the players in the deal had differing things that were of paramount importance to them: Sovereignty for the Navajo and retention of their land base, and being able to perfect a security interest to be able to foreclose, if necessary, on Fannie Mae’s part.

Eventually, Fannie Mae and the Navajo came to a deal where the Navajo would be allowed to assume the mortgage if a tribal member defaulted. This way, the tribe would not lose any more of its land base. And, in a victory for Navajo sovereignty, the tribe did not grant a limited waiver of sovereign immunity. But it did issue a judicial ruling that Fannie Mae could perfect a security interest on Navajo trust land, which gave the agency the ability to foreclose on homes through the tribal courts, if necessary.

The Fannie Mae/Navajo agreement was announced at the U.S. Capitol in June, 1996, but it was to take another three years before a conventional loan would close.

In the meantime, the HUD 184 mortgage, which guaranteed all lender outlays, was implemented in 1995 and quickly outstripped the impotent FHA 248 loan. The HUD 184 was designed to act like a “conventional” (private) loan. Initially, it gained acceptance in the non-reservation “Indian areas” where there is little or no trust land – Alaska and Oklahoma. Here, much of the property in Indian areas has “fee simple” status, the same as anywhere else in the country, making it much easier to mortgage.

But eventually, the HUD 184 began to be used on trust land as well, and early in 1999, the program passed 500 mortgages. By the middle of 2000, the HUD 184 had closed 835 mortgages, for a total of $82 million, including about 300 on trust land. Since then, volume has grown more than tenfold.

A second key government program has proved to be successful – the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service Section 502 (homeownership) and 504 (rehab) loans; 148 of these were made in Indian country during 1999. Many of the loans closed on the Navajo have come through this program, which can either make a direct outlay of money, or guarantee a lender’s outlay.

NAHASDA changes the rules

One of the most significant bills ever passed in Congress affecting Indians was voted in on the last legislative day of 1996. The Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act, championed by Rep. Rick Lazio, R-N.Y., was designed to do something radical in Indian housing finance, just at the same time HUD 184 was gathering steam and the move to conventional lending was getting off the ground.

What NAHASDA did (partly in response to findings of a 1991 Congressional task force on Native housing issues), in one breathtaking swoop, was to end the role of HUD as the paternal father of Indian tribes, doling out assistance money to Indian Housing Authorities through programs like Mutual Help, authorized by the 1937 Housing Act.

Instead, assistance would now come in a block grant that tribes or their designated housing entities could use as they wanted. NAHASDA was an acknowledgment of tribal sovereignty (the “self-determination” part), and an encouragement to leverage those dollars through partnering with private companies, like mortgage lenders.

Along with this shove out into the real world of finance, Uncle Sam also increased tribal housing assistance significantly in the aggregate, going from $485 million in 1997 to more than $600 million this year (with a dip during the Bush administration).

Banks and lenders, usually as part of rural or affordable housing or Community Reinvestment Act outreaches, started to become interested in Indian country lending. Bank One, (now part of Chase), Norwest Mortgage (now Wells Fargo Home Mortgage), and Bank of America, Washington Mutual Bank (now part of Chase), and Countrywide Home Loans (now part of Bank of America) announced their willingness to participate. PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. also got involved, first through some programs in Oklahoma and later with a commitment to insure $100 million in Indian mortgages.

Key to the success of the ventures though were nonprofit intermediaries that could bridge the cultural gaps between tribes and lenders. These have included the Enterprise Foundation, Neighborhood Housing Services, and Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.

NRC played a key role on the Navajo, which found itself bogged down both with Fannie Mae on the conventional side and with HUD on the government side. NRC helped found the Navajo Partnership for Housing, now based in Gallup, N.M., which began an aggressive movement to qualify Navajos for home ownership, and then to find loans for them.

NPH had gotten the wheels in motion, and had even closed its first couple of loans (the first, a rehab loan, went to Sandra Yazzie of Window Rock, Ariz. in early 1998), when President Clinton gave it some nationwide publicity in 1998 by announcing a “One Stop” Mortgage Center concept for Indian trust lands, naming NPH one of two such centers.

Total financings to 28 NPH borrowers as of June 2000 passed the $2 million mark, and as of 2006 the nonprofit was approaching 250 financings for $18 million.

The first conventional closing

Finally, in 1999, five years after the first summit and three years after the Fannie Mae agreement, Ron and Karen Maldonado closed the first-ever conventional mortgage on the Navajo on their home in the Goat Springs region of Fort Defiance, Ariz. Fannie Mae bought the mortgage, which was extended by Suburban Mortgage of Albuquerque.

The report on Clinton’s “One Stop” program gave a breakout on “Indian area” lending in fiscal 1999 (this is basically trust land plus the private property or “fee-simple” land in Oklahoma and Alaska). It found 165 HUD 184s, 11 FHA 248s, 40 RHS 502 direct loans, 108 RHS section 504 rehab loans, 31 loans through the Department of Veterans Affairs, 16 conventional loans through Fannie Mae, and 100 through mortgage agency Freddie Mac on fee-simple land in Oklahoma, for a total of 471.

Some of the players involved stood up in church and pledged large amounts to develop Indian mortgage lending. Fannie Mae, for instance, committed to financing $350 million in Indian country mortgages nationwide in this decade as part of a $2 trillion affordable housing effort. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, quickly followed with a commitment to buy $100 million in NAHASDA Title VI loans nationwide (the Title VI program, however, has been far less active than the HUD 184, with just 14 loans closing in a recent two year period). PMI made its own $100 million commitment.

These heady initiatives, combined with the real estate and mortgage bubble of the middle of this decade, pushed mortgage lending to Native people (both on and off reservation, the HMDA numbers do not differentiate) to more than $53 billion in 2005.

Subprime targets Indians

But a new and less beneficial influence began to be felt in Indian country: Subprime lenders who targeted Indians as part of their outreach to underserved markets that could be charged more for riskier loans.

A study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, for instance, found that in 2000, Indians were twice as likely (26.5 percent) to get subprime or manufactured housing loans as the national average. And in some states, like New Mexico (78.8 percent) and South Dakota (39.1 percent), the percentages were far higher.

Subprime lenders and finance companies began to turn up in the top ranks of lenders to Natives in the HMDA rankings. In 2004, for instance, subprime lenders Argent and Ameriquest Mortgage, New Century Financial, and MortgageIT appeared in the top 10 ranking. Lehman Brothers Bank, later called Aurora Bank, an alt A/nonconforming lender, was in the top 10 as well, and a substantial amount of Wells’ Native originations came through its finance unit, Wells Fargo Funding. Countrywide Home Loans, consistently the top lender to Natives throughout this decade, made an ill-advised push into subprime lending.

Beginning in 2007, firms like Argent/Ameriquest, New Century and MortgageIT began to go bust in huge numbers. And loans to Natives began to fall: $51.6 billion in 2006, $31.6 billion in 2007, $17.5 billion in 2008.

Success stories

First Mortgage of Oklahoma City remains aggressively involved in lending to Oklahoma tribes (though it has discontinued efforts outside its home state).The HUD 184 program for Natives had closed more than 8,000 mortgages as of this summer (though 80 percent of them are for Native people living off-reservation). Wells remains a top lender to Native people, with $1 billion loaned to Indians and Alaska Natives and another $1 billion loaned to Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders last year, and Chase posted similar numbers. Tribes and nonprofits like the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority remain committed to assembling financing from multiple sources, including the Federal Home Loan Banks, to cobble together Indian housing initiatives.

But the groundswell of lenders that started to bring mortgage finance to Native homelands a dozen years ago obviously is in broad retreat in the current credit crunch.

The HUD 184 remains the most successful Indian country mortgage program. In fiscal 2009 through August (the government’s fiscal year ended Sept. 30), 197 mortgages had been closed on tribal trust land, and 61 on land allotted to individual Indians, for a total of $36.4 million.

Program totals through August show 1,869 loans made on trust land, about 15 percent of all HUD 184s, for total financing of $192.4 million.

Requests to Fannie Mae and USDA for their 2009 Indian mortgage numbers were unanswered as this analysis went to press.

As a new decade begins, it will be interesting to see how many Indian country mortgages GAO will be able to tally the next time they do a five-year survey.