On January 28, 2005 I turned lenderama into a blog. To my knowledge it was the first B2B blog in the mortgage, or even the real estate industry. My original goal was to talk to the 54 mortgage broker clients that I had cultivated over my years as a wholesale account executive. What actually happened changed my life.

Looking back, what has four years of involvement in social media done for me?

I was standing on the trade show floor of Inman Connect NYC earlier this month when a real estate agent walked up to me and exclaimed, “YOU’RE THE GUY!”. I told her I get that a lot. It’s funny, but also true. I’m going to brag a bit in this post. I hope you’ll see that I’m doing it to show you what’s possible by participating in social media. Here are some highlights

I was interviewed for Mortgage Technology Magazine. Then by RIS Media, and Inman News. Lenderama was featured in a story about real estate blogging in Investors Business Daily.

I was interviewed for the McGraw Hill published book, Realty Blogging. I was asked by the writers of that book to start blogging for them. I started teaching people how to blog all the way back in 2006.

Inman News asked me to start contributing to their blog. As did countless other sites.

I started meeting people from around the country. First online with bloggers like Dustin Luther, Dan Green, and Jim Duncan.

By 2007, I was meeting them in person. People like Teresa Boardman, Kristal Kraft and Jeff Turner. Awesome people. People that I call friends.

Because of Lenderama, Dave Savage and I talk on the phone.

I also met Jason Berman through Lenderama. He was the past president of CAMB and teamed up with me to create REBlogWorld.

Because of blogging, I met Andy Kaufman, who got me involved with helping him on RE BarCamp.

All of this has created momentum. In the last month, I’ve connected in person with Sherry Chris, CEO of Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate, and Dale Stinton, CEO of NAR. This weekend, Dave Jenks started following me on Twitter.

Virtually every close friendship I’ve developed in the last four years is related to social media, including my best friend, all of my business partners, and even the great lady I took to lunch for the first time today.

I started a new business with three awesome people. Ginger Wilcox, Kelley Koehler, and Mariana Wagner. All of us are examples of how using social media can expand your SOI, help you find new clients, or to forge great friendships.

Social Media had changed my life.

Last night, I struggled with the fact that I have more opportunities facing me than I have time for. I have to figure out how to pick and choose. Considering the economy as a whole, that’s a pretty damn cool problem to have.

Okay, yes. I’m bragging. I’m dropping names. It feels good. Four years ago, I was an average sales guy with 54 clients he wanted to reach. Today, I’m sort of a big deal. I’m meeting people at the top of the industry. But all of this came from social media tools that most of you can use to accomplish everything I have. If you haven’t adopted social media as a marketing platform yet, why the hell not?

By Jeanne Johnson of LandRecs.com

In order to stop foreclosures, it is inevitable that existing mortgages will be modified so borrowers can make their monthly payments.  In the past, when mortgages were modified, title policies were still in the picture, because intervening liens were a concern. For example, let’s say Sam Smith wanted to modify the terms of his loan by increasing the loan amount. You were the first mortgage lender. If you modified the loan, you had to worry about what that would do to your 1^st lien position. If there was a second mortgage or a tax lien on the property, changing the terms of your loan might bump you into second place.

Think about it. Titles on all of these troubled loans have already been insured. They won’t need to be insured again. I expect the new loan modification law will be written so that the modifications that will generally decrease the interest rate will be seen as an advantage to any secondary lien holders. Therefore, the modification should date back to the original loan, and no endorsements will be needed. So, there won’t be any need for a title review, or a modification of the title policy. Even if the laws are not  written to address the issue, doesn’t it make sense that the terms of the modification will certainly be better than the original loan, so no one in a secondary position can claim they have been damaged?

I think loan modifications are good for the consumer, and good for the economy, but I think they provide no role for title companies.

By Jeanne Johnson of LandRecs.com

Moody’s Economy.com estimates nearly 13.8 million of the 52 million U.S. homeowners, almost 27 percent, owe more than their homes are worth after many months of declining prices. So what does the Obama plan say and how will that affect title insurers?

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan anticipates slowing 7-9 million foreclosures. One part of the plan would be to refinance mortgages on primary residences insured by Freddie and Fannie whose values have sunk below the mortgage balance. The plan would make the lender responsible to lower interest rates so that a borrower’s monthly mortgage payment is no more than 38 percent of his income. The government would then pay to lower that even further, down to 31 percent of the borrower’s income for a period of five years. The rate would then progressively increase to the original respective loan rate. The program would not be available to real estate speculators, for second homes, investment properties or “flipped” houses.

Benefits For the Borrowers:

This would significantly reduce monthly payments. Under the plan, not only will the borrowers amortize their loans quicker, but they will also receive an incentive for making timely payments, receiving principal balance reductions up to $1,000 each year for 5 years for good credit habits.

Benefits For the Lenders/Servicers

·         Servicers could receive up-front fees of $1,000 for each eligible modification meeting guidelines

·         They would also receive “pay for success” fees — awarded so long as the borrower stays current on the loan — up to $1,000 each year for three years.

·         Another incentive offers mortgage holders $500 paid to servicers, and $1,500 to mortgage holders, if they modify at-risk loans before the borrower falls behind in  payments.

·         A $10 billion quasi-insurance plan will insure lenders against falling values on modified loans, linked with declines in the home price index, as an incentive for lenders not to jump the gun on foreclosures due to fear of the continuing drop in home values.

·         Clear guidelines and rules for loan modifications for all loans owned or guaranteed by the Feds, including Ginnie, Fannie, Freddie, FHA, VA, etc. would be established

Congress is also considering allowing bankruptcy judges to rewrite terms of mortgages so long as the homeowners commit to make payments and stay in their homes.

So what does that mean for a title insurer? My bet is the regulations will provide that mortgage modifications will not require any type of endorsement to existing loan policies, leaving title companies with either no role in the process, or simply that of a loan modification signing agent.

Source: White House Press Office