We are in a time where many lenders, brokers and banks are running as fast and as far as they can from the mortgage/housing industry. Aequor Funding Corp. seeks to not only fill a void that is being felt by all future and current homeowners but also looking to add value to our clients experience. It is difficult to imagine that there is any kind of light at the end of this financial tunnel. This can be attributed to all of the negative publicity, deflating home values and rising living expenses. However, in conducting daily due diligence on our financial markets, we feel very confident that our economy is starting the healing process. We are constantly monitoring the capital markets and following trends that are emerging daily. We want to restore faith in our financial sectors and let you know that we as a country will emerge from this experience much wiser and with a steadfast desire to learn from what we have gone through. Starting today, we as brokers and lenders need to ensure that we are always maintaining the highest level of fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the new economy that will emerge will be one that is strong in foundation and sound in practice and decision making as it pertains to lending. It begins with consumer education, tough licensing requirements and extensive background checks on the Loan Officers of tomorrow. Through this, be confident that your home values will indeed rebound, lenders will once again lend and buyers will return to buy your homes. Everyday we look for ways to educate our clients while enhancing their experience to make us a full service firm.

We look forward to working for you and with you!!!

Hopefully after reading the preceding article you get a sense of how crucial Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are to both our mortgage sector and the overall stability of our economy. In recent months there has been widespread speculation about the U.S. government possibly bailing out the two mortgage giants and now that day has come. The federal government has taken control of both GSEs under a temporary government-supervised conservatorship. The Federal Housing Finance Agency will establish a short-term program to purchase the two companies’ securities that are backed by mortgages. In addition, they will replace the current executives and board of directors at both firms. Although this strategy will be expensive for taxpayers, a failure of either Fannie or Freddie could have been detrimental to the U.S. economy. There is also speculation that the American people will benefit from the bailout. We may begin to see lower interest rates, increased demand for our homes and an increase in our property values. The move should also alleviate concerns of foreign investors and restore their faith in the American government and economy. This is very important because these investors play an important role in our financial markets. The positives far outweigh the negatives in connection with the bailout and they certainly outweigh the detriment that could have occurred if Fannie and Freddie collapsed. It is for these reasons that we will continue to be optimistic on the outcome and we will keep you posted every step of the way.

More and more lenders are requiring larger down payments on new purchase money loans. PMI companies are less willing to insure loans with only 5% down. The new rule of thumb will be a minimum of 10% down with maximum loans at 90% of the purchase price and 700 minimum FICO scores. This new requirement will adversely affect first time buyers that do not have any equity derived from the sale of their current home. Today’s market place of home buyers is made up of renters with little or no down payment. Who can they turn to for their new mortgage? The answer lies with the FHA. These loans still offer 97% financing with credit scores as low as 530. The upfront mortgage insurance premium can be added into the new loan amount. This coupled with the new $7,500.00 tax credit will open the door for affordable home purchases to those individuals that were kept out of the housing market place for many years.

Let AEQUOR FUNDING CORP. be your educator to this and many other loan products that are available to you the buyer, you the seller and you the realtor. Join us in partnership to match all parties to the mortgage transaction that will best meet your goals.

In recent months, the nation’s two largest mortgage finance lenders have come under increasing scrutiny at the hands of Congress, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Federal National Mortgage Association, nicknamed Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Mortgage Corporation, nicknamed Freddie Mac, have operated since 1968 as government sponsored enterprises (GSEs). This means that, although the two companies are privately owned and operated by shareholders, they are protected financially by the support of the Federal Government. These government protections include access to a line of credit through the U.S. Treasury, exemption from state and local income taxes and exemption from SEC oversight. Throughout their history there has been mounting concerns over the privileged status these GSEs enjoy in the market place.

Fannie Mae was created in 1938 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. The collapse of the national housing market in the wake of the Great Depression discouraged private lenders from investing in home loans. Fannie Mae was established in order to provide local banks with federal money to finance home mortgages in an attempt to raise levels of home ownership and the availability of affordable housing.

Initially, Fannie Mae operated like a national savings and loan, allowing local banks to charge low interest rates on mortgages for the benefit of the home buyer. This lead to the development of what is now known as the secondary mortgage market. Within the secondary mortgage market, companies such as Fannie Mae are able to borrow money from foreign investors at low interest rates because of the financial support that they receive from the U.S. Government. It is this ability to borrow at low rates that allows Fannie Mae to provide fixed interest rate mortgages with low down payments to home buyers. Fannie Mae makes a profit from the difference between the interest rates homeowners pay and the foreign lenders charge.

For the first thirty years following its inception, Fannie Mae held a veritable monopoly over the secondary mortgage market. In 1968, due to fiscal pressures created by the Vietnam War, Lyndon B. Johnson privatized Fannie Mae in order to remove it from the national budget. At this point, Fannie Mae began operating as a GSE, generating profits for stockholders while enjoying the benefits of exemption from taxation and oversight as well as implied government backing. In order to prevent any further monopolization of the market, a second GSE know as Freddie Mac was created in 1970. Currently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are responsible for roughly half of the $12 trillion worth of mortgages in the United States.

GSEs such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with their combination of private enterprise and public backing have experienced a period of unprecedented growth over the past few decades. As far back as 2003 the assets of these two companies combine for a total that is 45 percent greater than that of the nation’s largest bank.

Aequor Funding Corp. is making great strides in the “for sale by owner” segment in the New Jersey housing industry. We are in the process of teaming with many homeowners who are willing to offer seller concessions and other considerations in order to showcase their homes in today’s difficult market place. We understand that due to falling home values, many homeowners may not have enough equity in their homes to pay high commissions upon selling their home. We are offering this service free of charge and feel that any additional exposure may help in getting your home sold. We are helping educate the seller and the buyer about the various loan options still available. We at Aequor take pride in our ability to structure purchase loans whereby both the seller and the buyer can both save money. The dream of homeownership is now a reality to many families who in the past may have felt left out. Owners whose homes have been for sale over many months now have a partner that can stimulate buyers with low rates, reduced down payments and lower closing costs.

Why not become part of this joint venture and see how you to can benefit from Aequor Funding Corp. and our innovative mortgage lending practices. Our management team and seasoned loan consultants are ready to work with you and for you. If you have a home for sale; are looking to buy a home or have a client in this category then let us team together.