Scotsman Guide - April 2012 Residential Edition

From the editor

BY JENNIFER E. GARRET T, EDITOR

Although SCOTSMAN GUIDE hAs been compiling the top originAtors r Ankings for the pAst three yeArs, this wAs my first yeAr heAding up the project.

of course, i knew it wAs A big undertAking, but i hAd no ideA how big until the submissions stArted coming in this pAst jAn. 4.

and they kept coming in. right up until 11: 12 p.m. pST on Jan. 31, in fact — a full 48 minutes before our final cutoff. Since that time, we have been busy compiling, analyzing, checking and re-checking every number that came through the system. In the end, more than 800

originators entered their data to see where they stood among the highest-producing originators in the country. Starting on page 20, you can see the top originators from across the U.S. ranked by dollar volume, loans closed, Federal Housing administration volume and more.

Christopher Vincent Hussain of WeFit2U Inc. earned the No. 1 spot on our

2011 Top Dollar Volume list by closing $253,709,948 in loans this past year. It’s his first year atop the list, and he shares his thoughts on the market and what it takes to be a top originator on page 16.

To give you an idea of exactly how much money $253 million is, I pulled up a few other numbers to compare. That loan volume is more than:

• The New York Yankees 2011 payroll, Major League Baseball’s largest: $202,689,028

• 2011 box office gross of “pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”: $241,071,802

• The 2012 budget for the city of Evanston, Ill.: $250 million • Super Bowl champion New York Giants 2011 payroll: $126.3 million • albert pujols’ 10-year contract with the Los angeles angels: $240 million • advertising revenue for the 2010 Super Bowl: $205.2 million • The wedding of prince William and Kate Middleton: $31.69 million (or £ 20 million)

• The 2011 gross domestic product of Micronesia: $238,100,000

although Hussain’s total volume production was quite impressive, even more impressive was the total volume put forth by the more than 800 entrants to this year’s rankings: They closed more than $38 billion in loans. In this month’s BackSpace on page 74, we further break down the numbers from this year and previous years.

Whether you closed $1 million or $100 million, the efforts of originators across the country to keep the struggling housing market moving forward is vital to the U.S. economy — and even more vital to the homeowners and homebuyers behind the loans. Keep up the good work.

jenniferg@scotsmanguide.com

NEXT MONTH

… in May’s Scotsman Guide

Find the answer to the following questions: • Will distressed properties dominate the market this year?

• Can Ohio discover the secret to a housing turnaround?

• How do you know if your clients are who they claim to be?

• What factors make for the best appraisal management company?

… and much more.

In the Past Month

housing starts increase

WaSHINGTON, D.C. — New home construction in the U.S. increased 1.5 percent this past January over December, according to the Commerce Department.

Housing starts increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 699,000, compared with an upwardly revised figure for December of 689,000.

The rate of privately owned housing starts in the month was 9. 9 percent more than January 2011, when there were 568,000 housing starts posted in the month.

Next;release

Housing starts: April 17

Tracking home sales and prices

WaSHINGTON, D.C. — pending U.S. home sales increased 2 percent this past January, according to the National association of realtors (Nar).

The pending Home Sales Index reached 97 with a climb that was twice the rate economists had expected. The index this past January was 8 percent higher than January 2011, when the index stood at 89.8.

Existing U.S. home sales also increased this past January and unsold inventories declined, Nar reports. Sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops increased 4. 3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4. 57 million in the month.

U.S. home prices fell a modest 0.1 percent this past fourth quarter compared to the third, according to the Federal Housing Finance agency. Home prices were down 2.4 percent from fourth-quarter 2010, the agency said.

Next;release

Existing-home sales: April 19 FHFa house-price index: April 24 pending home sales: April 26

Foreclosure-related sales at 24 percent
in fourth quarter

IrVINE, Calif. — This past fourth quarter, 24 percent of all U.S. home sales involved distressed properties in some stage of foreclosure, according to realty Trac.

The percentage of home sales involving preforeclosure or a bank-owned home in the quarter was an increase over the 20 percent from the previous quarter, but slightly down from the 26 percent from fourth-quarter 2010.

For the year, 907,138 homes in distress were sold, down 2 percent from 2010, the company said. On average, 23 percent of homes sold in the year involved homes that were foreclosure-related.

The average sale involving distressed properties went for $164,944 this past fourth quarter, down 5 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, but little changed from the third quarter.

cFpB to post prototype mortgage statement

WaSHINGTON, D.C. — The director of the U.S. Consumer Financial protection Bureau (CFpB) said the agency will issue a prototype mortgage statement as a guideline for lenders.

Director richard Cordray said the mortgage statement should include how much principal is owed to the lender, an up-to-date interest rate and a projected date concerning when the interest rate could change.

It also should include information about late payment fees and contact information — a phone number and an e-mail address — for the borrower to contact the company handling the mortgage.

The agency will post a sample mortgage statement on its website, Cordray said.

“The CFpB cannot address all of the problems in the servicing industry in one fell swoop. But we are already making important adjustments that will protect consumers more effectively,” Cordray wrote.