Post from Susan Gordon's Blog:
PLEASE EXPLAIN..................................
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I need help understanding the Market to Market problem.

If the banks are allowed to forgo the market to market accounting rule, that requires banks to value their mortgage-related assets at current market prices, what do they value you them at. Or is it the fact that they have to devalue their over all holdings by the amount of the write-downs taken on mortgage assets?

In other words, the banks would be doing much better on paper if the they did not have to adjust their books for the devalued home values of the mortgages they are holding? And does that include all mortgages or just the defaulted ones?

Thank you in advance for the explanation. I am just trying to understand all of this.

Reader Comments
  
What did you mean by this sentence
By Piritlel Oct 10th 2008 at 3:56 pm EDT (Updated Oct 10th 2008 at 3:56 pm EDT)
"what do they value you them at."

Can't answer until I know what you're driving at.

For now, assessors offices and banks are two different entities. Assessors aren't adjusting values for taxes (yet, that I know of); but if you were to put your house on the market, it would be valued according to homes surrounding your neighborhood, in your region (not the country). If people are in foreclosure, abandoning and you're sitting in the middle of a major crisis of people moving out, your home value is taking a hit, but don't sell it, or you're losing money, the market value will bounce back, so sit tight and decorate. Don't panic. If you don't know, go out and make friends with you neighbors and find out if they're looking at selling, or staying. Even if they're selling, stay put.

Banks are authorized to re-finance with terms and rates to assist, they aren't changing all homeowners mortgages because you may not have a ballooning payment, that others have suffered. It's not that banks are driving home values down, they don't do that, (existing mortgages are) the assessors control the values (with your investments to the property) and idiots that bought into homes they couldn't afford because they failed to read the fine print because banks didn't care, because they have your home as collateral. That's the problem and well, that's a start on an answer, not sure what your question is.
I do what they call "drive-by's" to figure out the value of homes by looking at the outside and documenting, correlating with assessors offices and it usually takes a 1/2 day to figure out. I was hired through banks when they foreclosed on homes.
So, for the idiot here (NOT YOU Sue!!) that wants to contact my ex-employer and smear me again, I worked at RE/Max and I WILL find the person here that smeared me with misquoting me. Investigation is on. :P

Libel is sweet justice.
Re: What did you mean by this sentence
By Sue Sue's Straight Talk Express Oct 11th 2008 at 1:36 pm EDT (Updated Oct 11th 2008 at 1:36 pm EDT)
What I am not understanding is why eliminating the Market to Market rule would help banks? And would that help homeowners too. I do not have an agenda with my question, just trying to understand (smile).
Re: What did you mean by this sentence
By Piritlel Oct 11th 2008 at 10:42 pm EDT (Updated Oct 11th 2008 at 10:42 pm EDT)
Yah know I don't know what the Market to Market Act or rule would be, I'd have to look it up. All I can say is, if McCain has his way, this is going to be a burden on taxes yet again. I wouldn't smile about that. (know what I mean?)

I'll have to look it up though, you got me curious up.