Foreclosure Help at myClosingSPACE.com

myClosingSPACE.com is excited to announce the completion of their Foreclosure Resource Center. The mortgage and real estate industry has taken a big hit recently. During the height of the real estate boom many homeowners signed up for ARM loans expecting their home value to keep going up. When the market started turning at the same time their ARM loan teaser rates ended many of these same homeowners were no longer able to afford their payments.

Far too many homeowners feel that they have no other choice but foreclosure. There are other homeowners who want to avoid foreclosure but end up getting involved with unscrupulous companies who are out to take advantage of homeowners in trouble. Because of this myClosingSPACE.com has developed a Foreclosure Resource Center that provides information and links to quality services are designed to help homeowners who may be facing foreclosure. If you are facing foreclosure please take the time to visit myClosingSPACE.com Foreclosure Resource Center and you may be able to find the help you need.

Great Post at Title-Opoly

Ed Rybczynski of the Title-Opoly blog recently wrote a post encouraging title companies to focus their marketing efforts on their past customers (consumers who they have worked with before). This is excellent advice and something that many title companies have overlooked.

As he mentions, in the past title companies did not really need to market to their past customers but in today's title business environment it is a necessity. The fact that the title business is moving much of its production offshore means that title companies need to actively market to consumers have used their services in the past.

myClosingSPACE.com has advocated that title insurance companies market to consumers. Much of our discussion has focused on finding new customers but actively marketing to past customers is an excellent way to reach consumers who may be in the market to refinance or even buy a new home. In today's slow real estate market title companies must diversify and open any new business opportunities that may be available. Marketing to past customers is a great way to do just that.

Politicians Would Rather Collect Money Than Help Consumers

Shocking right? The fact is that most politicians above the local level care more about grabbing a few extra bucks than actually helping the people they represent. This is not a secret to most people who pay attention to politics but sometimes it has to be reiterated. The title insurance industry has evolved to be totally anti-consumer and we can't rely on the politicians to fix it. They only care about collecting money and getting re-elected. So when the title insurance big shots throw a few bucks their way they can make sure that any reform proposals are shut down.



It Happened Again

This time in New Mexico. It seems the Governor Bill Richardson has decided not to place title insurance reform on the agenda even though state regulators pushed for it. His reasoning is that there is just not enough time to deal with it. Of course, the $30K he received from title insurance industry insiders and the fact that one of his top aids has ties to the title industry probably have nothing to do with that decision. Of course not.

Those pushing reform want to bring competition to the title insurance industry by removing state mandated prices and allowing title companies to charge less than the maximum premium set by the state. I was always lead to believe that our elected politicians were supposed to represent the people that elected them. The fact is that they represent the highest bidder. In this case the majority get left out in the cold so the traditional title companies can continue to gouge consumers.

It has to end

Until consumers finally take notice and push back against this obvious cronyism those of us in the industry who really want to change it need to step up. At myClosingSPACE.com our goal is educate consumers about their right to shop for title insurance. Even if they do not use our services we hope that they will at least learn as much as possible and make educated decisions. When enough consumers fight back these corrupt politicians will be forced to take notice. All the money in the world is not enough to combat the fact that if enough consumers push back these corrupt politicians will be out of office and the next one may learn from the mistakes of the predecessor. Competition in title insurance is long past due and I hope by speaking out more consumers will get the message and force their money hunger "leaders" to take notice.

Even the Big Dogs are Getting Whacked on the Head

Far too many small title companies are struggling or even going out of business with the downturn in the housing market. Obviously as the housing market goes so goes the title insurance market but until recently those who were struggling were the smaller title agencies. Part of the reason was because they are getting by on the smallest margins and their entire revenue stream was tied to the housing market. On top of that many were competing with the large underwriters and they relied on referrals from real estate and mortgage professionals. All of these issues came to a head and those small companies who did not diversify their revenue stream and potential customer base (by marketing directly to consumers) are either just getting by or closing their doors.

Now even some of the large underwriters are feeling the pinch. Recent news shows that Fitch Ratings has placed all First American Corp. ratings on Rating Watch Negative with the expectation of lowering the ratings by one notch following the company's fourth-quarter financial report. Fitch is expecting First American to see a fourth quarter loss of $50 million. While First American is fully diversified and currently operates in five segments: title insurance and services; specialty insurance; mortgage information; property information; and a risk-assessment division, the title insurance division is hurting their bottom line. This is probably the reason they decided to spin off the title and specialty insurance business into its own entity.

The real estate slowdown is hitting everyone hard and even the big dogs are not immune. Maybe they will wake up and realize that they need to put consumers first instead of playing the back room games that made them so much money before. When the market was booming the consumer was looked at like an ATM machine. As long as everyone got paid and they could hide the kickbacks and charges everyone was happy. Consumers are getting smarter and the with the market continuing to slide everyone needs to change the way they do business. The consumer is the ultimate client in any financial transaction and if they stop buying nobody gets paid. I hope the industry can change and get this mess straightened out before too many more small (and maybe even large) title insurance companies go out of business.

Rental Prices Flat. How will this Affect the Real Estate Market?

CNN is reporting a flattening of rental prices across the US as the mortgage meltdown continues to depress the real estate market. The article points out that rental prices do rise and fall independent of the traditional housing market but in many cases their is a connection between the two. In my opinion the flattening of rental prices is not going to help the situation.

Many potential buyers are waiting until the cost of owning a home is closer to what it costs to rent. If the cost for renting is significantly lower than buying those potential buyers will hold out until the costs are more in line with each other. To me this means that home prices still have a way to go until the bottom is reached. Once potential buyers see that they can buy a home and have a similar monthly payment as what they pay in rent they will start to buy. Until that day comes many will wait and continue to save their money while paying rent.

Title Insurance Implode-O-Meter

Diane Cipa over at the Radical Title Talk blog is talking about putting together a title insurance implode-o-meter similar to the mortgage implode-o-meter. The mortgage implode-o-meter is a continually updated sites providing consumers information about mortgage lenders who have gone out of business or are close to it. I think it is a great idea if for no other reason than to provide another side to the real estate meltdown.

When you read and watch the news about the mortgage/real estate meltdown you hear about the mortgage lenders and real estate agents that have fallen on hard times but problems in the title insurance industry are largely ignored. Part of that is due to the way title insurance was marketed and sold. Because title insurance has been a behind the scenes aspect of the real estate process the public and the news does not really hear about it. This is also a big part of the problem that title companies are facing now. They relied on referrals from other real estate professionals and when the mortgage lenders and real estate agents go out of business the referrals dry up.

Too many title companies are now being forced out of business because they can't get the referrals any more. The title companies that are able to make their way out of this market are those who had diverse marketing plans focused on consumers as well as real estate professionals. They may not be able to make big profits but they will be able to survive until the market turns around.

I support Diane's idea and I am here to offer any assistance she needs to make this happen. Hopefully, it does something to help title companies see the writing on the wall before it is too late and change their business plan. Too many good people are losing their jobs and their businesses and if the remaining title companies don't take heed and change their business plans to be more consumer friendly we will see many more people on the unemployment line. I don't want to see that and maybe by putting this problem in front of those in charge we can make a change and keep others from suffering in this meltdown.

Diane, I am with you and if you need anything from me please don't hesitate to ask.

Report Says Florida Market will begin Recovery Soon

According to an article in the South Florida Business Journal the Florida Real Estate Market will begin to rebound. The report, released by Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund, showed that every market in Florida experienced a slow down. The unsustainable increase in prices along with the subprime mortgage meltdown contributed to the slowdown according to the report.

While I agree that both of these issues played a role in the real estate slowdown I don't necessarily think that it will rebound that quickly. The real estate market is cyclical and it is in a downward cycle now. On top of that many home sellers refuse to accept the fact that their homes are not worth the inflated values that they reached when the market peaked. Until they get the message and price their homes accordingly the buyers are going to stay away. The market will correct but it will not be as fast as some hope it will.

Once sellers begin pricing their homes in line with their real value and buyers see the market becoming stable the market will begin to stabilize and eventually go up. It would be a good idea to remember this recent bubble when the market looks like it may blow up again but once people get those dollar signs in their eyes they tend to forgo common sense and if that happens again we will go through this situation once more.