New Software Product helps Mortgage Companies create a “Green” Business Environment for a paper intensive industry.

ATLOS, LLC (Automated Tracking Loan Origination System) loan software is a new web-based mortgage loan processing and document management system that provides a completely paperless environment for any mortgage company...Big or Small. This is one of the first truly green solutions specifically tailored for a paper intensive mortgage industry. ATLOS was originally an internal system for a New Orleans based mortgage company. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed this company’s office, the owner knew his internal software was something many other mortgage companies could benefit from. It allowed his company to retain all customer loan data when most mortgage companies in New Orleans lost everything including their paper files. Today, ATLOS, LLC has launched and is having a great response in the mortgage industry.

ATLOS includes a host of features not readily available to mortgage companies. These features allow mortgage companies to streamline workflows thereby reducing costs. Loan fraud prevention is also built into ATLOS.

In today’s mortgage lending industry, real-time answers and online functionality are crucial for survival and success. With web-based technology, ATLOS finally gives mortgage companies the freedom of anywhere/anytime functionality.

Below is a description of the main features:

- Web-Based Loan Origination With ATLOS mortgage companies have access to their loan information any time anywhere. There is no cumbersome installation. Mortgage companies can greatly reduce IT expenses. All that’s needed to utilize ATLOS is a PC and the Internet.
- Hosted Paperless Loan File Manager With ATLOS mortgage companies get online electronic storage of all loan files. Mortgage companies can eliminate all paper files, along with the timely and costly delivery fees that can be associated.
- Integrated Payroll & Billing Features With ATLOS, mortgage companies can automate all payables and receivables. Mortgage companies can create fast commission calculations through a completely customizable platform.
- Web Conferencing With ATLOS, mortgage companies can communicate with anyone, directly through ATLOS using video, audio, chat, and desktop sharing.
- Much More ATLOS incorporates an Integrated Internet phone, message board, calendar, contacts, reports, and fraud alerts.

SOURCE: http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com/pr/pressrelease.cfm?PRID=27690&CFID=2758360&CFTOKEN=39663993

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Bailout Bill Passes!

The house passed the bailout legislation today. The vote for passage of the Senate-amended bill was 263 to 171.

Remember that the Dow dropped over 700 points the last time they couldn’t get this bill passed and so today’s passage marks a possible turnaround for the economic slowdown we have been seeing.

Some of the major benefits we expect to start to see once implemented include:

- Once the Government purchases the mortgages from Banks they will have the flexibility that the banks DO NOT to modify loans which will help stem the surging foreclosures that we have been experiencing.
- Confidence will slowly return to wall street which will lead to lower 30 year interest rates spurring more home purchases
- Banks will have more liquidity and hopefully will be able to approve more credit worthy borrowers for new loans also decreasing the glut of housing on the market today.

These three major points will all with the underlying problems that at dragging down the economy. That is that there are too many homes available on the market and not enough qualified buyers to purchase them up. The rising foreclosure both adds to this as well as hurts the banks and their ability to lend.

We will keep you updated with the actual results as they become live as the bill goes into effect. Watch next week as we delve into the other major legislation that recently went into effect regarding the changes to FHA and the new HOPE initiative!

SOURCE: http://www.fivestarsmortgage.com/mortgage-articles/15/

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House barely passes vote to move Bailout bill vote forward today

This is not encouraging news at all. Many house republicans have come out speaking optomistically about the passage of the legislation, but this vote to move forward with debate and vote today barely passed!

We are hoping that this is not a sign of the fate of the bill's vote today. Leaders have said that they would not bring the legislation for vote without having enough support to pass it, but the fact that President Bush and his VP have been placing frantic calls to the house Republicans to garner last minute votes is scary.

A decision by the House to amend the bill would delay enactment of the proposal because the Senate, which passed a bill late Wednesday night, would have to go back and vote again.
If House leaders at any point think they don't have the votes for passage, they could pull the bill from the floor rather than vote on it.

We as well as the rest of the country will be keeping a close eye on this afternoon's planned vote. Either we may very well be seeing the bottom of our financial crisis this week or... it was nice knowing you all. We stand ready to see where we go from here.

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Interesting new blog

http://linkbacklink.blogspot.com

Check it out. very interesting blog that we are supporting

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$700B Bailout? NO… stimulus package

This is no bailout of Wall Street that we are dealing with. This is a bailout of our entire economy and possibly even the global economy. This credit crisis has reached critical mass in record time. If the Government does not act immediately we are about to see a depression that will make the Great Depression look like a walk in the park.

Let us take a look at what is really being proposed and how it will affect each of us and Wall Street in detail. It’s important that the American People begin to understand exactly how important it is that we enact this legislation yesterday!

What will it do?

This article is not going to go into depth about how we got into this situation. Let’s take a look at what exactly this proposed “Bailout” stimulus package will do. The proposal is for the Government to purchase up to $700B in distressed assets from banks at a discounted price. These assets will be held by the government until such as time as they can be resold for a potential profit in the future.

In simple terms this is all that is being proposed for this economic “Bailout” stimulus package being considered.

How Does that Help?

Great question. Once these distressed assets are removed from the books they will be able to free up those funds and make a fresh start at incurring more safe assets that will yield profits. This instant liquidity will allow banks to once again lend each other and the consumers of the United States of America credit again in a more responsible and profitable manner. This will reverse the current credit freeze that is in place in our Country. Over time the market will begin to gain confidence in these types of assets and the economy will return to normal.

This is the basic theory of how the stimulus proposal will help.

How Do I Benefit?

The question here should be how I will be hurt if it is not enacted immediately. Without this package being signed into law we expect to see an immediate and swift decline in the US Financial markets that will quickly infect all other aspects of the economy. More and more banks will continue to fall which will either require further intervention on behalf of the Feds or a steep and precipitous depression in our global economy.

- Housing prices will fall at an even faster pace that we are have seen thus far.
- Stocks will fall DRAMATICALLY and CONSISTENTLY causing massive losses to your 401K and any other stock market portfolios
- Your HELOC and credit card balances will be lowered or frozen
- Mortgages will be near impossible to attain except for the elite borrowers with plenty of money and liquidity

In essence you will be living in a modern great depression. This is not an option that should be allowed to come to fruition. It is important that every American educate them about what is happening and push their elected officials to act NOW without partisanship.

In the mortgage market we are seeing interest rates on the 30 year fixed slowly climb. Interest rates doing up on top of home values decreasing, stock market falling, and credit markets tightening all add up to only one thing… that is pain for you and me.

Silver Lining?

If our Government can pull it together and get something workable passed we predict that all of this doom and gloom can be reversed. It won’t be an overnight turn around but within the next 12 months we think that the market will gain some confidence, home values will finally level off in mid to late 2009, and interest rates should remain relatively low assuming inflation stays in check. Depending on which President we elect in November will be the biggest deciding factor after this stimulus legislation that will ultimately decide our economic fates. Hey… one thing at a time lets get this nuclear bomb behind us before we consider the impact of the two Presidential candidates plans for our futures.

We’ll be sure to keep everyone updated and try to translate as much as possible into every man terms the events and the impacts of this financial crisis as it develops!

SOURCE: http://www.fivestarsmortgage.com/mortgage-articles/14/

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New Florida Mortgage Blog Opened

Another authority site for Florida Mortgage news we have found is: http://fivestarsmortgage.wordpress.com/

Visit often for all the industry specific inside information about mortgage, rates, and real estate.!

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n Depth Look at the $7,500 tax credit

The $7,500 tax credit for first time homebuyers was signed into law as part of the 2008 American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Act. To qualify for this tax credit, you must close on your new house between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009.

Now this sounds like a great incentive to help stimulate home buyers into jumping into the real estate market and helping to dry up some of this excess housing we are floating in. I see this tax credit being plastered all over Florida mortgage company and home builders marketing materials. There are some very important aspects of this "tax credit" that is not being disclosed to buyers. If you don't do some homework on your own you may be in for a big surprise when you find out it's not so much a tax credit as it is an interest free loan that must be PAID BACK!

Now before we get into how this payback is structured, let’s first see how much you qualify for. That's right the law says you can qualify for "up to" $7,500, but that is not necessarily how much you will get.

Here is a breakdown of how it works:

The “first-time home buyer credit” is a temporary refundable, repayable tax credit equal to 10% of the purchase price of a home, up to $7,500 for singles and married couples filing jointly. (Singles who buy a house together get only $3,750 each, as do married couples filing their tax returns separately.)

The income limit is $75,000 for a single and $150,000 for joint borrowers. If your income is above those limits there is a convoluted formula that can be used to determine the diminished amount of tax credit you will qualify for.

Confused? Here's an example...

Just as an example, assume that a married couple has a modified adjusted gross income of $160,000. The applicable phase-out to qualify for the tax credit is $150,000, and the couple is $10,000 over this amount. Dividing $10,000 by $20,000 yields 0.5. When you subtract 0.5 from 1.0, the result is 0.5. To determine the amount of the partial first-time home buyer tax credit that is available to this couple, multiply $7,500 by 0.5. The result is $3,750.

Now lets learn about how you repay this government loan (oops... we meant tax credit)

Home buyers will be required to repay the credit to the government, without interest, over 15 years or when they sell the house, if there is sufficient capital gain from the sale. For example, a home buyer claiming a $7,500 credit would repay the credit at $500 per year. The home owner does not have to begin making repayments on the credit until two years after the credit is claimed. So if the tax credit is claimed on the 2008 tax return, a $500 payment is not due until the 2010 tax return is filed. If the home owner sold the home, then the remaining credit amount would be due from the profit on the home sale. If there was insufficient profit, then the remaining credit payback would be forgiven.

So be prepared that two years after you claim your "tax credit" you will begin repaying the loan back annually at $500 per year until the loan is repaid or you sell that home.

This is some of the detailed information that you should be aware of prior to claiming your tax credit. We are not suggesting anyone NOT claim the credit merely that you be aware so you are not shocked in two years time when the Gov. begins requesting their money back. Hey... it's still an interest free loan! Oops, we meant tax credit :)

SOURCE: http://www.fivestarsmortgage.com/mortgage-articles/13/

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Feds takover Fannie Mae & Freddie... rates plummet

So the inevitable has finally happened. A few months back the government authorized themselves the power to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "should the need arise". Yesterday the government finally pulled the trigger on their carefully planned take over of the mortgage giants that are responsible for about $6 trillion dollars in mortgage debt between the two of them. This debt is now no longer held by the independent Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. It is now you and I, the average tax payer that is responsible for half of the mortgage debt in the U.S.

Make no mistake; this is the largest government bailout of a financial company in U.S. history. The Government will immediately invest about $30M of liquidity into these companies, but in reality most experts agree that the Government will invest at least $250 Billion into the two firms before it is over. These are companies that reported about $14 Billion dollars in losses over the last year.

Why would the Government do such a thing you ask?
They never had a choice!

Had the Gov. not stepped in now and engineered this indefinite Gov. "conservatorship" the fall of these two behemoths was inevitable. Had we seen either or both of these companies fall it would undoubtedly have been the end for the U.S economy and likely a catalyst for a global meltdown. This is big stakes folks. There was no way Uncle Sam was going to let these companies fall, and hey if you are going to bailout the biggest financial firms in the country... why not make a little money while your at it right!

The Gov. will be given nearly 80% of preferred stock in the companies with a guaranteed 10% annual return. All those other investors holding stock are now in 2nd place if anything should happen being Uncle Sam :)

What does this mean to the average Joe?

Well here is the good news. The day after the Feds shot their bazooka at the financial meltdown, the 30 year interest rates fell from 6.25% down to 5.5% overnight! This is in large part because interest rates are risk based. The lower the risk the lower the rates. Now that Uncle Sam is taking charge the market is GUARANTEED by the Fed Gov. to not fail. No matter how much cash it takes to stay afloat Uncle Sam is willing to foot the bill. This means far less risk and therefore far lower rates. We are predicting that very soon we will see par interest rates in the low 5% range!

This not only provides lower rates but also more liquidity into a strangled credit market. The spigot just got opened a little further and we are now drizzling mortgage financing instead of dripping it. So in addition to lower rates and more liquidity we are predicting that the actual cost of banks lending money will decrease which should drive some investor interest back into the mortgage backed securities. This "could" result in slightly less stringent underwriting standards allowing more people to snatch up some of the excess housing inventory that is hammering home prices.

New construction has already decreased significantly so lower rates, more affordable loans, and more accessible financing could be the catalyst to get us on the road to a housing recovery.

What about the future of Fannie & Freddie?

This is where the Gov. is flying blind. Their hands were forced to step in and their "conservatorship" is open ended. This means that the truly hard decisions will be left to whoever becomes president of the United States in our next elections cycle and their Congress. Senator McCain has hinted that he would like to see the companies broken up or at the very least down sized considerably. Senator Obama on the other hand has seemed to tend toward more regulation but allowing them to remain more unchanged.

Yet another reason to stay on top of politics this year and delve deeply into the policies of our two candidates!

Here is to hoping you and your family can take advantage of the lower rates and cheaper financing... hey... you paid for it!

Source: http://www.fivestarsmortgage.com/mortgage-articles/12/

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Is a Florida Cash out Refinance for you?

There are many factors that you should consider before doing a cash out refinance. Overall one typically cashes out to pay off other debts and consolidate them for monthly savings. Some people just want to have extra cash to do remodeling projects or to take a dream vacation. The reasons for cashing our on your home are as varied as the families that take out the loans!

One school of thought is that the equity in your home does nothing for you while it sits there. Especially in today's declining real estate market. The average depreciation on home values this year has been 13% nationwide. That is money lost to those with equity in their homes! Consider that by taking out as much cash as possible and investing it into money making ventures such as stocks, other business ventures, other real estate, etc... one can actaully use the equity as a means of making more money. The cost of taking the money must be weighed by the ability to pay it off and make a profit with the monies taken against the mortgage of the house. We have seen calculations that show by cashing out equity in your home and using those funds to make more money you can cut as much as 15 years off of the life of the loan. It requires a good game plan and a very strict hand to accomplish this, but for many this concept can be the key to a future of self employement and early retirement.

For others owning the home is the primary concern. They want to pay off the house as early as possible just for the pride of knowing they own their home and don't have to share ownership with a bank or lender. The above mentioned methods are one way to accomplish this in record time. If you lack the knowledge or willpower required to do that then perhaps a cash out refinance is not for you.

The number one reason for doing a florida cash out refinance is to save money monthly by paying off other debts. Cashing out and paying of car loans, credit cards, student loans, medica debts, and other bills not only saves money monthly but it also builds your credit score. The key to saving money is to ensure that you get the lowest rate possible on your new loan. It is important to work with a reputable company that can acquire the lowest rates possible on your new loan. For many families in the U.S. doing a cash out refinance free's up montly expenses and allows them to finally be debt free and save money monthly for a rainy day.

One cannot stress enough the predicament we are in with our housing market in the U.S. With equity disappearing faster than most could have ever predicted it is vitally important to act quickly if you are considering a cash out refinance in Florida. Our market is declining at a rate far quicker than the national average. Some areas of Florida are seeing values declined at a rate of 3% monthly. Don't leave equity on the table if you have been thinking of doing a refinance NOW is the time.

More information is available on the web at http://www.fivestarsmortgage.com/cash-out-refinance.

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Federal Reserve officials disagreed sharply in early December about whether the Fed should cut interest rates aggressively or not at all, according to minutes released Tuesday of Fed board meetings held in November and December.

Ultimately, the Fed board of governors and the Federal Open Market Committee decided to cut two key interest rates by a quarter-percentage point on Dec. 11.

Three of the 12 Fed regional banks requested a relatively large half-point cut in the largely symbolic discount rate at the Dec. 11 meeting, while two requested no cut at all, the minutes released Tuesday showed. The other seven banks requested a quarter-point cut.

The minutes reveal more disagreement about the course the central bank should take than had been seen in either the Dec. 11 statement or in the minutes of that day's FOMC meeting.

Subprime lending has all but vanished in the wake of last year's meltdown. 100% Florida mortgages are still available at increasingly lower rates due to these ongoing rate cuts.

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