The Declining Value of A College Education In America

The Declining Value of A College Education In America

AMERICANS throughout the nation are feeling the burn of arguably the worst economic down turn in U.S. history. The job loss rate is at an all time high in most states with no clear projection as to when the economy will turn around.
What has happened to the value of a college degree obtained at a creditable university in the United States of America? More and more college graduates are finding it extremely hard to land a position in any company throughout the US today. After years of personal and family sacrifice, as many matured aged individuals are retuning to the classroom with the hopes of improving upon their overall quality of life, the reward for their efforts are shallow or non-existent. No one ever said that a college degree was a sure and solid path to a great career, but not having a college education is a sure path to being career less in the future for most people.
The way the economy is today, “TGIF” is no longer the “It” day of the week for many working class Americans. Friday has now become the “day” for many individuals, that will begin the weeks, and months, and even years, for some, of hunting for work and sending countless resumes to a countless number of employers that simply will never call or offer them a job.
Every day Americans are being encouraged, in some form or fashion, to return to school to get the knowledge to get a great job or that long awaited promotion. We are told, sometimes even by the President of the United States, that a good education is the key to a successful life and a more educated nation, yet more and more highly educated Americans are losing their jobs, their ability to afford their homes and the means to provide for their families.
Student from all over the world travel both near and far to have the opportunity to study in the United States. This is a fact because some of the worlds finniest universities are located right here in the USA. These institutions are being attended by foreign students from across the globe. However, both foreign and American born degree holders from the top public and private schools are questioning the power of a BA, MA, MBA and even a PhD..
Jobs are scarce and the opportunities in this great land are dwindling away it seems. The economy continues to tighten, many educated minds continue to go unused by employers looking to maximize profits while operating on a very thin budget. The term “over qualified”, is arguably, becoming the tag of the year for those degree holders looking for a position one step above the unpaid internship offered by more and more employers today. Straight commission jobs are at an all time high in the classified section of the paper and on most job search sights. The evidence of a decline in the value of a college education is undeniable.
Educated Americans, are finding themselves in a state of shock after graduating simply because there are little to no jobs available to pay them for their hard work and newly acquired expertise. Those graduates who were fortunate enough to have landed a job in years past, are receiving a pink slips at the end of the week from their employers in record numbers. Some are being told that there services are no longer needed, or that the company is downsizing and can no longer afford to pay for their contributions.
This may be slightly exaggerated, however you get the point, many employees across the U.S. are being canned, for lack of a better word, because of the economic state in the U.S. today. If one makes it to Friday its a blessing, because pinks slips are going out in the middle of the weak in some companies. For many individuals and entire departments, as seen in Los Angeles when the mayor shut down two entire city departments in weeks past, this Friday will be their last day on the job.
With all of the stimulus packages and government bailouts, one could easily be lead to believe that business, and the Americas economic situation is on the up swing. This is simply not the case! The reality for many educated individuals across the country today is quite sad and different from what it was just a few short years ago. How valuable is your college education today?


By Charles DuBois Rucker

Buyers, Realtors, & Investors Are Getting Really Creative!

The changing Real Estate and Mortgage industry has caused major spikes in Home Purchase and Mortgage Loan sales. This can be seen throughout the states. Some predict this could be the worst in the history of Real Estate here in US. However, this has not stopped many Buyers, Real Estate Pros, and Investors from collaborating to realize progress in the Field.
There are many instances where a buyer cannot qualify for a Mortgage Loan today that just a few months ago qualifying would not have been a problem. The creative pros have decided to go a different route,a new strategy, a plan B in the matter of obtaining financing. Committed buyers and Realtors, who look to defy the continuous restructuring guidelines of Mortgage Lender, have began to reach out to Private Investors for resources to accomplish the goal of home ownership.
Many Realtor Agents working with committed buyers continue to search for the right property for their buyers with full knowledge of their clients failing to qualify for financing with traditional lending sources. The reason why is simple,Private Investors! Private Investors are stepping in to save the transaction.
Some Investors are buying the properties that the prospective buyer settles and commits to owning and are simply doing the financing themselves.
Creative Investors with not so deep pockets but great profiles are obtaining loans with a commercial residential lender. They then buy the specific property under an Investment property lender program and lease the property back to the non qualifying buyers. The buyer gets the desired property and works until he can establish a profile that will prove worthy of the kind of financing desired. Once this is accomplished he then buys the property from the Investor.
Many of the borrower are in search of 100% Financing which has become much harder to obtain with respect to the conditions of Mortgage Lending Today. In several instances, borrowers qualify for some sort of Financing be it, 70%, 80% or 90% of total purchase price. The problem is that, that small percentage needed to complete 100% is just to big of a gap at the time of purchase.
Many might argue that if a buyer cannot meet the commercial residential lenders guidelines for 100% financing, he cannot afford the property. One might agree with this assessment but the truth is, Man on a whole has a need to own a home and there is always a way to do and get what one wants and needs to make life for that individual better.
High risk Investing for some but no more of a risk then any investment with a high rate of return. Keep the industry moving forward. Creativity and Invention backed by Investors is the American way.

C. Rucker

Subprime Lending has fallen, Just $88 Billion In First Quarter

This news doesn't come as a shock to mortgage originatoers and other real estate professionals. This runaway train will have to crash and burn sooner or later. However, Mortgage rates have always varied over the years. Back in the eighties Fixed Rates Mortgages were as high as 18% or better. This did not stop people from buying homes. There was creative financing available mainly for those individuals who had the means and understanding to meet the demands of a variable rate product and program. The foreclosure rate was nothing like that of today. Profits! Lenders out for profits and all of those professionals that eat from the real estate chain have played a significant roll in the conditions of the market today. Home owners and buyers are not exempt.
There was a time when Mortgage Lenders and Brokers would not offer a Mortgage product to a borrower if it would ruin their lives when the loan closed. Today, a new Sheriff is in town. He is out for profits and he's still out there raking it in any and everywhere he can collect it.
One would think with all of the negative press regarding Mortgage Loans, borrowers would be more cautious and informed about the decision they make regarding the good ole Mortgage payment. It goes to show you that where there is a desireor a need, there is some one and something to meet that desire and need. Supply and Demand! Where there is a demand there is a supplier.
Life goes on and however one looks at a thing, the world still goes round and round in a constant motion. Time never stops and waits for anyone. Although there may be a huge decline in production, according to the(Quarterly Data Report), 50% decline in Subprime production compared to this time last year, man still has a need for a place to call home. The health and state of the market will change with time.
Those who find themselves in a state of shock will eventually move to a better place. We must move forward. I have to say, $88 billion is still pretty damn incredible. What a beautiful country.

C. Rucker

Lenders Continue To Tighten Up On Guidelines

Lenders continue to tighten up on guidelines and many Mortgage professionals are finding it harder and harder to earn a living. Home values have dropped in many markets and do to a soft market those home owners looking to refinance their properties are facing some serious challenges.
The value just isn't there in many places. Appraisers are not finding the values in properties that they were seeing just six months ago. Comps are hard to come by do to the fact that the sales of properties within an X mile radius are down, way down, which leaves an Appraiser with a slim list of comparable properties to make an informed and fair value assessment on a particular property. When this occurs some Appraisers tend to walk the line.
Values hikes! Some Appraiser will raise the value on properties in order to please a loan officer who is trying to provide the best service to his client. This also is a fine line. Many Mortgage professionals put a tremendous amount of pressure on Appraisers. They want the Appraiser to bend the line on true value. He's asked to go against his own ethics and guidelines, sometimes even threatened to bring in the value for the sake of earning a living. Appraisers are being asked to raise the appraised amount on a property so that the appraised value meets a lender requirements when it comes to the LTV in a mortgage transaction. Appraisers have a tough time finding loyal loan professional to keep them busy and earning a decent living.
Some Loan professional have been known to tell the Appraiser the exact value to which is needed to please a lenders underwriters. This is illegal!
Inflated Value on property Appraisal can cause some serious problems in the future for home owners, Mortgage Lenders,Investors, Buyers and many others. This causes a healthy market to turn into a market filled with negatives, such as foreclosures, slowing sales and struggling Real Estate professionals who really try to provide their clients with great service.
Many lenders who may have gone along with these inflated values in the past for the sake of the bottom line, making money, are giving property appraisal a second look,
a second opinion on the appraisals submitted to their house by mortgage brokers and the like.
Many of these submissions by mortgage brokers past the value requirement of many lenders with flying colors not too long ago. Today this is not the case. With lender practices being investigated, many have began to cover their hides by tightening up on their guidelines. They have now placed a second guard at the gate.
Loan professionals are feeling the effect of having loan submissions rejected more and more often.
There is no reason to point a finger at any one party. All are responsible for an unhealthy market as one entity can not exist without the other. Real Estate professionals on the whole need each other to survive. Lenders need Broker, Brokers need Loan Officers, Loan Officers need Real Estate Agents and many others who make the business for Real Estate what it is. People need to buy and sale real estate.
Every business, for the sake of meeting the bottom line, walks a fine line in one area or another to survive and to make profits. Business is business as it should be, but when the clientele is affected negatively, that line has to be made wider to better serve the customers who are just trying to live, as we all are, just trying to live our best life.

C Rucker

Real Estate Agents, Mortgage Reps, Escrow And Title Reps, Numbers Are Falling.

Where are all of our Real Estate professionals off too? Has everyone piled enough money away to take extended vacations? The number of professionals still successfully operating are falling daily. According to several local Real Estate agents, Mortgage reps,and Escrow officers, the number of successful Escrow transactions have dropped significantly and continue to head down a dark path for all Real Estate professionals. There are a few success stories in the industry but they are few and far between here and there with respect to area and location. Report confirm that in some markets, homes are selling, that is when they do sell, are selling for less then automobiles.
Things have definitely tighten up. When there is a drought in any profession, heads began to roll and the finger pointing begins. Those who were taking their cake and eating it too began to get wind of their own funk, according to many struggling Agents and Reps. The Pre-Madonna's in the industry pull their heads from where the sun doesn't shine to see the whole world and not just the little bubble of a world that they created do to a successful run. Those runners are coming to a very slow jog.
Mortgage consultants through out the industry are speaking out about their relationships with Real Estate Agents who would not give them the light of day to do business. In house, LO's, speak of Real Estate Agents no longer showing up at the local Real Estate offices for weeks at a time and those who do show up, do so to find out how to get the jump on some one elses idea.
Where are they? Vacation perhaps?
Those Agents who were struggling are goners, and those Agents who were doing great are falling below doing good enough to stay active in the field. A good Agent is a dream come true for a Seller or Buyer according to one local loan officer. Some agents are being accused of only knowing how to fill out a sales contract, but having no idea of what Real,Real estate Agents do to be successful in the business.
Listings are just not moving off of the market in the successful since of moving, that is from listing to sold, properties are sitting and the Sellers are asking tough questions to there representatives. "When? How much lower and longer?"
Real Estate Agents who represent Buyers are asking their mortgage professionals tough questions as well, "What do you mean you need more time? Why have we not secured this loan?" Transaction time allowances have been over extended and gone bad in many cases leaving all parties to the transaction in bitter chaos. "Escrow will not close this week," the Escrow officer say to the Real Estate Agent. This is becoming more and more common place.
It is in this, which leads us back to the questions at hand, Where have the Real Estate professionals gone off too?
The reality is,Some are holding steady where they are with their head to the ground. They have weathered a strom or two in their long careers. Some are on long vacations, some are on even longer vacations, they have left the business for now. They will return when things turn around. When all one has to do to stay active as an Agent is to pay dues, why not go into a more traditional roll? 9 to 5 isn't so bad when your getting your bills paid and your putting groceries on the table.
As with any industry, there are the ups and downs and as the old saying goes, "What Goes Up, Must Come Down." We all know that in order for a thing to come down, it must go up. So with that being said, no one can predict exactly when the Real Estate Markets and industry will turn around for the good of all Real Estate professionals and thoses who they represent, but the one thing that we all know is that it will turn around.
In parting and once again, I claim to be no expert or authority on or in the Real Estate Industry. I express that these views and opinions are just that "views and Opinions" of mine and others who live Real Estate day in a day out. "I do not speak for all".

CDR

Developers/Builders/Sellers, Crediting Back Buyers Thousands for Purchase, Is This Fraud?

An on going trend in the Mortgage Industry, which has truly been around for years is, Developers/Builders/Sellers, crediting back buyers thousands of dollars to purchase their properties. This Kickback, money given to a buyer, in this case, for completing a real estate transaction, is paid outside of the transaction leaving no paper trail for investigators to find. Is this considered to be fraudulent? If every cent in any Mortgage loan transaction is not recorded, You Bet Your Ass!
This is considered to be fraud and it raises several questions with respect to the transaction as a whole. By the way, a Kickback is an illegal practice as well but that is a whole new topic in and of itself.
The HUD, in any mortgage loan transaction must reflect every penny being transferred. If the record dose not reflect one red cent, then a Red Flag goes up. In depressed real estate markets, and often with FTHB (First Time Home Buyers), Sellers/Builders/Developers can get really creative on making their properties appealling.
An example of this is when they place their properties in the market to be sold. The properties are listed for X amount of dollars. For this example, we will say $500,000. The interested buyer has the property appraised and his appraiser, appraises the property at $530,000 give or take a few hundreds. The Developer/Builder/Seller has a strong desire to move the properties so, he sweetens the deal for the buyer and offers to give him/her the $30,000 if he/she applies for a loan $30,000 more than the selling price of the property. The buyer complies. Hey thirty grand is a lot of money toward decorating the new diggs. The deal is written at an inflated sales price of $530,000.
As a FTHB (first time home buyer) or for anyone looking to purchase this property, this added attraction would be hard to turn down. Most people would give this offer a whirl and make this home purchase.
Is this illegal? This would be consider as fraudulent. Why? The Fact of the matter would be that this property's original sales price is $500,000. The property would be financed at $530,000. This is miss-leading to the lender and it is a lie. It is a total misrepresentation of the value of the property.
For a Lender, the property was listed at X amount of dollars, purchase price, and the amount of the loan to which most if not all lenders will lend, is the exact amount of X. This property transfers at $500,000 in the eyes of a Lender and not a penny more or less.
However, this kind of agreement between Developer/Builder/Seller and Buyer, would not be written in a Purchase Contract. It could never be written anywhere, for it is considered an illegal practice.
Although, it is an on going practice and while some are being brought up on charges for conducting such practices, others are continuing to operate in such a fashion.
One of the obvious reasons for this is the fact that many Developers/Builders/Sellers, have lots of property to sell. Too much property on the books that need to be moved stops him from operating. As with any business, when working capital is tied up, production come to a hault.
Developers/Builders/Sellers, have to keep moving. The only way for him to continue to do what a he does is to have the finances available. Move the property buy any means necessary.
By no means am I claiming to be an expert or an authority on the practices of building, buying and selling Real Estate. I am only making an observation and sharing my opinion.

C Rucker