The New York Times announced today that a big reason for much of the recovery of the auto industry has been due to the aggressive nature the banks are taking to issuing auto loans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/business/28autos.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
Really. What an incredible idea. Make money available to consumers to refresh an industry.
No big government sponsored bailout programs, no TARP, no bull, just purchase money made available to move product - in this case - off the car lot.
I am in the process of refinancing my primary residence and it has taken more than four weeks and so many documented accountings of what I am and what I have that it is almost unbelievable. Not to mention two wasted FedEx packages with duplicated Truth in Housing Statements and duplicate Disclosure Document booklets weighing in at a total of 4 pounds of paper and counting.
Note: Trees beware - I am refinancing my home and you may soon die!
The crazy part is this is a refinance of my current mortgage - a mortgage I have been paying "perfectly" for more than 20 years with the same bank. Not a purchase loan or even the injection of a new lender into the process.
One month into the process - still no word and still no approval. My refinance is "parked" at the bank.
In contrast, three years ago I purchased and financed a new vehicle that was almost equal to one third of the amount of my current home mortgage and the total time from qualification to drive-off was less than 2 hours.
Go figure.
My expensive car habits aside, the payment on the vehicle is only $600 less per month than my current home mortgage payment. And yes, not one of those payments missed to date either.
And get this.
In retrospect, maybe what I needed was a loan modification and not a refinance. That's it stop paying, and then get some one's attention.
Anyone out there wondering when rewards will start being paid by the government for a loan paid on time or am I the only one?
Once again, from the New York Times article on the auto industry today:
"Nobody is suggesting an imminent return to the heady, reckless days of the housing boom, and any one of a number of factors — like the recent surge in oil and commodities prices — could set the (auto industry's)recovery off track. But the gradual expansion of credit in virtually every area except real estate is an important sign that the American economy is returning to health."
Except for real estate? Have we not been punished enough as an industry? Time for a refresh of the home mortgage industry?
I think so.
The housing market will improve right after the extremists of the banking industry quit penalizing individuals for the sake of proving something to the masses.
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