John Meussner's Blog

I'm a snarky son of a....wonderful woman, my mother is a Saint.   But I can be snarky, difficult, stubborn, and sometimes mean (when I'm mean, it almost always comes from a place of humor that misses the mark).  But, when I go down that path, I try to consider what I'm adding to the world.To that...

The Fed has once again hiked the Fed funds rate, this time with a .25 hike announced today.  This brings the Fed rate to 5.5%, the highest level in 22 years, signaling tighter credit, more expensive borrowing, and more pressure on banking profitability as the Fed continues to wage war on inflatio...

5 Things Agents Can Do To Improve Communication Throughout a real estate transaction, there's a lot of communication by a lot of involved parties.  Buyer, seller, buyer's agent, seller's agent, buyer's agent's transaction coordinator, seller's agent's transaction coordinator, escrow, title, insur...

What Makes You Exceptional? This month, Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400 and I want to know what makes you exceptional?   It is estimated that in the United States alone, there are OVER 3 MILLION real estate agents, with over 1 million REALTORS.  While the number of US adults that are real es...

Support the Middle Class Borrower Protection Act of 2023 On June 23, 2023, H.R 3564, The Middle Class Borrower Protection Act of 2023, passed the US House of Representatives with bipartisan support.  But the work is NOT finished, and YOUR VOICE is needed to get this much needed legislation throug...

In today's tight-inventory real estate market, there's often a preference, either real or perceived, toward cash buyers.  "They're buying cash" is often used as a way to portray a buyer as some kind of powerhouse.  Sellers are often told that cash offers are better, because "it's cash!".  In real...

Ok, last blog about the recent changes to LLPAs (loan level pricing adjustments)- I hope.  But in the spirit of working to force FHFA to get it right, I'm finding it necessary to highlight the topic again.A LOT of people believe that the May 1 LLPA changes were cancelled, abandoned, or pulled bac...

FHFA DTI Adjustment Rescinded Last week I had the pleasure of speaking to ActiveRainers on Tuesday's call, and discussed recent changes to FHFA Loan Level Pricing Adjustments.  In that call, I discussed a change that was scheduled to take place in the coming months to pricing based on a borrower'...

EDIT - I've updated the registration links below - they should now allow you to register I was fortunate enough to join some fellow ActiveRainers this week and present some information on the recent Conventional loan LLPA changes.  Since yesterday, I've continued to see some misinformation circul...

Changes to pricing for conventional loans are in the news as the proposed changes are set to take place in May.  The reality is that these changes have already taken place, because they are effective for loans delivered to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac in May.  Loans closing in the next couple weeks ...