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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, horn4life said:

With prices in that range the elementary school won't be there long anyhow.

Indeed. Ultimately lost home affordability is the problem that’s destroying AISD, along with everything else good about Austin. 
 

 

1 hour ago, horn4life said:

So... what do you guys think the final sale price will be? 

$3.50

Edited by Bozo_Casanova
Posted
41 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Indeed. Ultimately lost home affordability is the problem that’s destroying AISD, along with everything else good about Austin. 

Funny thing is I came realy close to buying a house up behind Zilker back in 1999... 

Austin unfortunately is like any other cool place, not so cool people want to feel cool, and are willing to pay.  The wife and I nearly exclusively eat at local or locally created places here in town, and going to SoCo is how we still "feel" like we are part of Austin. Trying to keep the folks that actually made it cool in business.  Continental club and C-boys get a lot of our entertainment money, even though we are at like Oak Knoll and 183, because the music played there is still Austin at it's best. 

If they will sell me that place for list price, I promise I will support all the local businesses near my new Zilker house....  might even let the yard go to shit in honor of South Austin...

 

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Posted
On 11/4/2025 at 9:59 AM, Bozo_Casanova said:

Indeed. Ultimately lost home affordability is the problem that’s destroying AISD, along with everything else good about Austin. 

I had a good conversation with one of the leaders in the Austin Infill Coalition about this and there's plenty of interest on their side for building more affordable housing as long as they aren't sacrificing profit (and given this house in 78704, I think there's a good case to be made that higher value infill development is pretty risky at the moment).  

That said, I'm not sure how you put the genie back in the bottle otherwise.  There's good scholarship that suggest home values are more a product of income and asset inflation than tight supply.  

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Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

I had a good conversation with one of the leaders in the Austin Infill Coalition about this and there's plenty of interest on their side for building more affordable housing as long as they aren't sacrificing profit (and given this house in 78704, I think there's a good case to be made that higher value infill development is pretty risky at the moment). 

I guess. Frankly I’ve can’t think of a supply imbalance in history that has ever corrected without meeting the top of the market first. The Austin MSA is correcting in large part because of all the “luxury condos” that came on the market around the same time rates went up. My point is that we don’t need to pay developers to take risks, but to simply allow them to meet the market. 
 

8 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

That said, I'm not sure how you put the genie back in the bottle otherwise.  There's good scholarship that suggest home values are more a product of income and asset inflation than tight supply.  

Indeed two of the three important drivers of affordability erosion are income inequality and two decades of essentially free credit combined with federal tax stimulus for top earners. But, we can’t address that at the municipal level. We can only address the third major contributor, which is restrictions on housing construction in centralish Austin. 

Edited by Bozo_Casanova
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Posted
On 11/3/2025 at 9:24 AM, Catpfish said:

Just got the email blast from the agent.  The address is 2502 Barhill Dr.  The email is titled $2.6 million price drop and that best and final process in effect.

And just got another email blast that they are holding an open house on Saturday, so it looks like the multiple bid process (if it even happens) is taking longer than they thought

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Posted (edited)

With Robinhood having margin rates at 4.75% for 100k-1million dollar amounts, which is where I'd assume 90% of mortgage amounts to be in, is there any easy to explain math to determine if paying off through margin makes sense if risk of being margin called is low?  is it just comparing the interest charges against each other?

 

Edited by StassneyHorn
Posted
1 hour ago, UTPhil2006 said:

50 year mortgages sound like a terrible idea. I know 40 have been around but can't say I've ever done or or I think anyone in our company either. 

 

japan is the case study on 50 year loans 

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Posted
On 11/7/2025 at 11:51 AM, Catpfish said:

And just got another email blast that they are holding an open house on Saturday, so it looks like the multiple bid process (if it even happens) is taking longer than they thought

You wonder what level of desperation the owners actually have? Making this big a downward move during a period of obvious traditional weak pricing. 

19 hours ago, UTPhil2006 said:

50 year mortgages sound like a terrible idea. I know 40 have been around but can't say I've ever done or or I think anyone in our company either. 

But the low, low,l ow no money down payments.... (forever). Sure would suck to miss a couple payments in the 49th year...

18 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

japan is the case study on 50 year loans 

When you start needing 50 year loans, you also can't afford kids.  Which in helps opens a completely different can of economic worms.

Posted

Was talking to a pollster yesterday about this that has a line of discussion open to the admin. He’s not like an advisor, but they also listen to him if that makes sense…

Told him that the 50 was a bad idea and dumb and not particularly necessary. Basically my pitch was that we’d be a lot better off with 35 and under 1st time home buyers getting underwritten like a VA loan with 100% down, no MI and flexible dti guildelines. We chatted about that a little bit and he was in agreement (vet- so he understands VA loans) and said he’d pass that along the line to an appropriate person. Do I expect anything to come of that?  No. But at least I had a minor say in sending an idea up the food chain.  To be closer this was an actual conversation with him- this isn’t the comments section on a poll I was taking or something. 
I know they are listening to Ishbia and Habib and other guys I’ve had the opportunity to talk to at top producer summits and the like. They are getting people involved that know and care about housing, but this 50 year mortgage thing isn’t a thing that needs to happen or likely helps what they are trying to get to, in an attempt to move the needle on Millennial and zoomer homeownership. 

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Posted
On 11/5/2025 at 4:19 PM, LCHorn said:

I had a good conversation with one of the leaders in the Austin Infill Coalition about this and there's plenty of interest on their side for building more affordable housing as long as they aren't sacrificing profit (and given this house in 78704, I think there's a good case to be made that higher value infill development is pretty risky at the moment).  

That said, I'm not sure how you put the genie back in the bottle otherwise.  There's good scholarship that suggest home values are more a product of income and asset inflation than tight supply.  

I know folks in AIC, they are white knuckled right now. they will say yes to anything if it means a deal, but in reality they don't really care about affordability unless you're talking about buyer's being able to afford the prices the infill zip codes require. the lucky ones are on the sidelines, the ones that have to make a living building are getting their asses handed to them. some are successful still, others success is measured by shrinking down and surviving. that may sound like a cynical view or a critique of them, it's not. they have no ability to move the market and they are at the mercy of the worst real estate down turn in austin since 1986-1987.

problems like housing affordability have so many negative inputs, that it will take dozens of positive inputs to make a dent.

Posted
21 minutes ago, scramblyn said:

I know folks in AIC, they are white knuckled right now. they will say yes to anything if it means a deal, but in reality they don't really care about affordability unless you're talking about buyer's being able to afford the prices the infill zip codes require.

To be clear, I tend to favor organizing the marketplace (to the extent that’s possible) with profit seeking firms and providing them incentives to act in ways that fulfills community goals.  I’m happy with whatever mechanism gets us more pricing diversity in housing stock while supporting an expanding tax base to fund shared services.  If they get to make a lot of money in supporting that vision then it’s win-win.  
 

Also, on a somewhat lesser note, most of these guys are building high dollar houses but they are also small, independent businesses and there’s probably some economic merit to the money recycling into the local economy than being used to prop up DR Horton’s shareholders.  

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Posted (edited)
21 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

To be clear, I tend to favor organizing the marketplace (to the extent that’s possible) with profit seeking firms and providing them incentives to act in ways that fulfills community goals.  I’m happy with whatever mechanism gets us more pricing diversity in housing stock while supporting an expanding tax base to fund shared services.  If they get to make a lot of money in supporting that vision then it’s win-win.  
 

Also, on a somewhat lesser note, most of these guys are building high dollar houses but they are also small, independent businesses and there’s probably some economic merit to the money recycling into the local economy than being used to prop up DR Horton’s shareholders.  

I agree with you. and yes, AIC is a bunch of solo guys (and a couple of gals) that once upon a time learned how to build houses and now build $1.5M+ homes with some exceeding $3M. some of which are stunningly beautiful. others of which are grotesque (looking at you joseph bros (who are not in AIC i don't think)).

Edited by scramblyn
Posted
50 year mortgages sound like a terrible idea. I know 40 have been around but can't say I've ever done or or I think anyone in our company either. 

Curious. Let's say you did a $700k fixed rate loan of 4.5%. With the whacked amortization schedules of home loans, how much principle would you have paid off after 20 years?
Posted
Just now, Sbbruin said:


Curious. Let's say you did a $700k fixed rate loan of 4.5%. With the whacked amortization schedules of home loans, how much principle would you have paid off after 20 years?

$1 Bob! <fist pump, air high five, point to crowd>

Posted
24 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:


Curious. Let's say you did a $700k fixed rate loan of 4.5%. With the whacked amortization schedules of home loans, how much principle would you have paid off after 20 years?

https://www.calculator.net/amortization-calculator.html

you can put any term and rate you want in this.

 

40 year has paid 200K principal after 20 years given above rate

50 year 120K

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Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, Incredulity said:

https://www.calculator.net/amortization-calculator.html

you can put any term and rate you want in this.

 

40 year has paid 200K principal after 20 years given above rate

50 year 120K

I remember refi-ing to my now 15 year from my previous 30 year (which I had re-fid a couple of times with a small cash out once), but my wife was flabbergasted as to how little we had paid off over the first about 15 years.  I was like “welcome to home financing “

now I pay like 80% principle with every payment.

Edited by Sbbruin
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Posted
8 hours ago, Sbbruin said:


Curious. Let's say you did a $700k fixed rate loan of 4.5%. With the whacked amortization schedules of home loans, how much principle would you have paid off after 20 years?

It's gotta be $350...

Posted

Thoughts from the mortgage bros on portable mortgages?  I assume the rate would only apply to the balance you currently have on your existing mortgage, of course.  But what other unintended consequences might arise?

Posted
2 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Thoughts from the mortgage bros on portable mortgages?  I assume the rate would only apply to the balance you currently have on your existing mortgage, of course.  But what other unintended consequences might arise?

My presumption is there would be very little demand because they would have an upfront sticker price a good bit higher than a non-portable mortgage due to risk for investors on the secondary market.  

Posted

Huh interesting, Fannie Mae seems to be selectively leaking information to illegally collude with competition and move the mortgage rate. Love picking winners and losers

https://apnews.com/article/fannie-mae-freddie-mac-firing-pulte-data-a4f8c53df74fef83ec7fd07e3d524746

WASHINGTON (AP) — A confidant of Bill Pulte, the Trump administration’s top housing regulator, provided confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae to a principal competitor, alarming senior officials of the government-backed lending giant who warned it could expose the company to claims that it was colluding with a rival to fix mortgage rates.

Emails reviewed by The Associated Press show that Fannie Mae executives were unnerved about what one called the “very problematic” disclosure of data by Lauren Smith, the company’s head of marketing, who was acting on Pulte’s behalf.

“Lauren, the information that was provided to Freddie Mac in this email is a problem,” Malloy Evans, senior vice president of Fannie Mae’s single-family mortgage division, wrote in an Oct. 11 email. “That is confidential, competitive information.”

He also copied Fannie Mae’s CEO, Priscilla Almodovar, on the email, which bore the subject line: “As Per Director Pulte’s Ask.” Evans asked Fannie Mae’s top attorney “to weigh in on what, if any, steps we need to take legally to protect ourselves now.”

While Smith still holds her position, the senior Fannie Mae officials who called her conduct into question were all forced out of their jobs late last month, along with internal ethics watchdogs who were investigating Pulte and his allies.

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Posted
On 11/10/2025 at 6:06 AM, Wulaw Horn said:

Was talking to a pollster yesterday about this that has a line of discussion open to the admin. He’s not like an advisor, but they also listen to him if that makes sense…

Told him that the 50 was a bad idea and dumb and not particularly necessary. Basically my pitch was that we’d be a lot better off with 35 and under 1st time home buyers getting underwritten like a VA loan with 100% down, no MI and flexible dti guildelines. We chatted about that a little bit and he was in agreement (vet- so he understands VA loans) and said he’d pass that along the line to an appropriate person. Do I expect anything to come of that?  No. But at least I had a minor say in sending an idea up the food chain.  To be closer this was an actual conversation with him- this isn’t the comments section on a poll I was taking or something. 
I know they are listening to Ishbia and Habib and other guys I’ve had the opportunity to talk to at top producer summits and the like. They are getting people involved that know and care about housing, but this 50 year mortgage thing isn’t a thing that needs to happen or likely helps what they are trying to get to, in an attempt to move the needle on Millennial and zoomer homeownership. 

Bill Pulte is the stupidest motherfucker in an administration full of idiots.  There is ZERO reason for optimism until somebody that knows shit about fuck is running shit. 

We'd be better off with Tommy fucking Tuberville in that job. 

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Posted

Good news for home buyers incoming next year.  Rates headed down, and right now prices are dropping pretty quickly on developed lots which is going to translate to finished homes as well.  This is the worst new home market in at least five years in central Texas.  I haven’t seen price reductions like this in quite some time.  

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Posted
On 11/14/2025 at 6:44 PM, Gil Bang said:

Bill Pulte is the stupidest motherfucker in an administration full of idiots.  There is ZERO reason for optimism until somebody that knows shit about fuck is running shit. 

We'd be better off with Tommy fucking Tuberville in that job. 

There is literally nobody that you’d be happy with in this administration your politics make it impossible.  He’s got smart people like Barry Habib working on LLPA’s that the Biden admin fucked up to all shit by trying to make it a giveaway to shitty credit score borrowers who don’t buy conventional anyway while making it more expensive for people that have virtual no risk associated with their loans, and you have guys like Ishbia who only runs the largest and most successful lender in the world clearly on this speed dial and singing his praises and saying they are being super proactive and doing good stuff. I only look at this shit every day. But sure- I’d rather hear you opinion on it bc it’s designed to absolutely not be politically slanted to absurdity. 
I know rates are down some and they are doing some smart stuff tomorrow the spreads back to historical norms that got way out of whack over the last couple years. 
I bet 2026 is a banger. I’m planning on that being the case for me anyway. I’m up 20% in units and 25% in volume and finishing up a record year. It’s not the easiest market we’ve ever had or anything but it’s a damn not better than 23 and 24 were. Or even most of 2022 when it got ugly in a hurry. 

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Posted
15 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

There is literally nobody that you’d be happy with in this administration your politics make it impossible.  He’s got smart people like Barry Habib working on LLPA’s that the Biden admin fucked up to all shit by trying to make it a giveaway to shitty credit score borrowers who don’t buy conventional anyway while making it more expensive for people that have virtual no risk associated with their loans, and you have guys like Ishbia who only runs the largest and most successful lender in the world clearly on this speed dial and singing his praises and saying they are being super proactive and doing good stuff. I only look at this shit every day. But sure- I’d rather hear you opinion on it bc it’s designed to absolutely not be politically slanted to absurdity. 
I know rates are down some and they are doing some smart stuff tomorrow the spreads back to historical norms that got way out of whack over the last couple years. 
I bet 2026 is a banger. I’m planning on that being the case for me anyway. I’m up 20% in units and 25% in volume and finishing up a record year. It’s not the easiest market we’ve ever had or anything but it’s a damn not better than 23 and 24 were. Or even most of 2022 when it got ugly in a hurry. 

It's not politics to observe that Bill Pulte is unethical as shit.

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Wulaw Horn said:

There is literally nobody that you’d be happy with in this administration your politics make it impossible.  He’s got smart people like Barry Habib working on LLPA’s that the Biden admin fucked up to all shit by trying to make it a giveaway to shitty credit score borrowers who don’t buy conventional anyway while making it more expensive for people that have virtual no risk associated with their loans, and you have guys like Ishbia who only runs the largest and most successful lender in the world clearly on this speed dial and singing his praises and saying they are being super proactive and doing good stuff. I only look at this shit every day. But sure- I’d rather hear you opinion on it bc it’s designed to absolutely not be politically slanted to absurdity. 
I know rates are down some and they are doing some smart stuff tomorrow the spreads back to historical norms that got way out of whack over the last couple years. 
I bet 2026 is a banger. I’m planning on that being the case for me anyway. I’m up 20% in units and 25% in volume and finishing up a record year. It’s not the easiest market we’ve ever had or anything but it’s a damn not better than 23 and 24 were. Or even most of 2022 when it got ugly in a hurry. 

You can fuck right off.  Your politics infect your posts a hell of a lot more then my politics infect mine. 

I've been posting on these boards since austin 360.  Go find a post where I criticized previous GOP administrations for their housing policies.  The Trump administration is full of dumbfucks from top to bottom, and Pulte is exhibit "A".  That's a fucking fact.  He's a complete moron and a corrupt POS.  He'll be kicked to the fucking curb sooner rather than later. 

 

Edit:  And to add, your boy Habib is the mortgage version of Dr. Oz.  Just another quasi-celebrity that's famous for being famous, and that's good enough for this administration...which is headed by a "reality" TV star.  I fully expect "Snooki" from Jersey Shore to have a say in coastal policy sometime soon. 

Edited by Gil Bang
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Posted
2 hours ago, Hefeweizen said:

Good news for home buyers incoming next year.  Rates headed down, and right now prices are dropping pretty quickly on developed lots which is going to translate to finished homes as well.  This is the worst new home market in at least five years in central Texas.  I haven’t seen price reductions like this in quite some time.  

Lot prices are irrelevant if labor and material prices are through the roof.  

Posted
1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

It's not politics to observe that Bill Pulte is unethical as shit.

He said stupidist motherfucker not unethical as shit.  There’s a huge difference between the two and I wouldn’t have responded to unethical. 

I go to private events with top level analysts that have political connections across every admin. I worked lobbying during 23 and 24 for a damn good bill for consumers and talked to people in both parties about housing issues. I’ve heard 4 different people from different organizations (2 lender political analysts, 1 vendor and 1 lobbyist) be very happy with where housing is going. Is Pulte 100% responsible driving that bus?  No. I’m sure not. Was anyone anything but happy about the direction of where they are going this year?  Absolutely not. 
 

Posted (edited)
34 minutes ago, bluto said:

He’s just pissy over how shitty his 9-3 = cfp claim was

We don’t even know that yet. First- Texas has to make 9-3 (that was always a hypothetical) 2nd, that was predicated upon close game with Georgia. 3rd- it’s still on the table. 4th- said likely not certain. The week after I wrote that the predictors had us 75% in with 9-3. I said 64 or 70. It wasn’t wrong as the hypothetical though exercise it was meant to be. 
the reaction I had after game 1 was very very very very very wrong. That’s worthy of all the mockery and ridicule. 

Edited by Wulaw Horn
Posted
On 11/14/2025 at 6:55 AM, Captainant said:

Huh interesting, Fannie Mae seems to be selectively leaking information to illegally collude with competition and move the mortgage rate. Love picking winners and losers

https://apnews.com/article/fannie-mae-freddie-mac-firing-pulte-data-a4f8c53df74fef83ec7fd07e3d524746

WASHINGTON (AP) — A confidant of Bill Pulte, the Trump administration’s top housing regulator, provided confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae to a principal competitor, alarming senior officials of the government-backed lending giant who warned it could expose the company to claims that it was colluding with a rival to fix mortgage rates.

Emails reviewed by The Associated Press show that Fannie Mae executives were unnerved about what one called the “very problematic” disclosure of data by Lauren Smith, the company’s head of marketing, who was acting on Pulte’s behalf.

“Lauren, the information that was provided to Freddie Mac in this email is a problem,” Malloy Evans, senior vice president of Fannie Mae’s single-family mortgage division, wrote in an Oct. 11 email. “That is confidential, competitive information.”

He also copied Fannie Mae’s CEO, Priscilla Almodovar, on the email, which bore the subject line: “As Per Director Pulte’s Ask.” Evans asked Fannie Mae’s top attorney “to weigh in on what, if any, steps we need to take legally to protect ourselves now.”

While Smith still holds her position, the senior Fannie Mae officials who called her conduct into question were all forced out of their jobs late last month, along with internal ethics watchdogs who were investigating Pulte and his allies.

Are you of the opinion that Fannie and Freddy are Coke and Pepsi? Do you realize that the pricing spread between the 2 is like 3 or 4 bips and has been that way for decades at a time? And it takes about 50 bips (more or less) to move pricing 1/8 of a point to the end consumer of the mortgage? That spread differential if it loosed a little or tightened a little would be worth less than $1.00 a month to the consumer. 
 

Posted (edited)
On 11/14/2025 at 6:44 PM, Gil Bang said:

Bill Pulte is the stupidest motherfucker in an administration full of idiots.  There is ZERO reason for optimism until somebody that knows shit about fuck is running shit. 

We'd be better off with Tommy fucking Tuberville in that job. 

 

8 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

It's not politics to observe that Bill Pulte is unethical as shit.

 

6 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Are you of the opinion that Fannie and Freddy are Coke and Pepsi? Do you realize that the pricing spread between the 2 is like 3 or 4 bips and has been that way for decades at a time? And it takes about 50 bips (more or less) to move pricing 1/8 of a point to the end consumer of the mortgage? That spread differential if it loosed a little or tightened a little would be worth less than $1.00 a month to the consumer. 
 

All these statements are true.  Which one is mostly a rationalization?  In Pulte's defense, his father did build an impressive business.

But ultimately as I said accurately ovrr a year ago, tariffs will raise prices and hurt employment.  Which will make bringing down rates to the levels predicted by those who originate mortgages, likely nearly impossible.  My prediction was that we would be lucky to sniff 6.25% on the MMI, the third quarter of 2026.  I did say that if we destroy the job market, then rate cuts will necessary.

In other words it's not Pulte's fault, despite his lack of ethics..  

The strange thing is you would think the THe fed would be more likely to cut with bad jobs numbers, yes? administration would want to crank out the October jobs numbers, as with all the layoffs from large companies in that month, you might have some more ammo for a rate cut?  Instead (IMHO) the administration wants to avoid the bad number, for politics.  Could they produce the number? Certainly. But confirmation of October Jobs declining might be bad politically?  Or do would you contend the opposite? That October would show such robust job growth that it would hamsting the fed from cuts?  one is a much more likely scenario.

Edited by horn4life
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Posted
18 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I bet 2026 is a banger. I’m planning on that being the case for me anyway. I’m up 20% in units and 25% in volume and finishing up a record year. It’s not the easiest market we’ve ever had or anything but it’s a damn not better than 23 and 24 were. Or even most of 2022 when it got ugly in a hurry. 

sounds like you have "zero concerns going forward."

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Posted
On 10/21/2025 at 1:37 PM, UTPhil2006 said:

10 year down to 3.95 (.025 on the day) hitting 1+ year lows (Oct 3 2024). UWMs 90 bps refi program also still active for 10 more days which several of you have taken advantage of 

Took about a month but finally back below 4.0 on the 10 year (by an eyelash). Been relatively stagnant both up and down last month or so 

Posted

posted without comment

 

 

 

 

Realtor Christine Bish, who provided information about Adam Schiff's homes to FHFA Directtor Bill Pulte in April and is running for Congress in the 2026 primary elections.

 

 

A Realtor whose tip to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s federal regulator led to a criminal referral of California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff is now a witness in a grand jury investigation into the handling of the case.

Christine Bish — a former skip tracer who has worked in real estate in California’s Sacramento Valley for more than two decades — told Inman she sent documents she’s been gathering for several years about Schiff’s homes in Maryland and California to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in April.

 

FHFA Director Bill Pulte then sent a criminal referral letter to the Department of Justice in May, alleging that Schiff committed mortgage fraud when purchasing and refinancing a home he owns in Maryland by claiming it as his primary residence. But Schiff says he’s innocent and has yet to be charged.

Department of Justice prosecutors in Maryland who were assigned the case haven’t uncovered enough evidence to charge Schiff, NBC News reported last month, citing four anonymous sources familiar with the investigation.

Bish — a Republican who is in a strong position to win a seat in Congress next year on her fourth attempt — was summoned to testify before a grand jury in Maryland on Nov. 20. She assumed she would be asked about Schiff’s properties.

“I’m the author of the report that initiated the DOJ referral, and I’m the key witness,” Bish posted on X on Nov. 16. “I would know if this case was going nowhere. I’ll be in Maryland next week to lock down the key points. This isn’t fading away just because the political class wishes it would. It’s just getting started.”

But it turned out that investigators were more interested in Bish’s dealings with Pulte and Justice Department attorney Ed Martin — and people who claimed to be acting on their behalf, according to a subpoena of Bish obtained by NBC News.

Instead of testifying before a grand jury when she arrived at a federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, Bish “was pulled into a conference room” and questioned about her ties to Pulte and Martin, The New York Times reported.

The Department of Justice appears to be trying to identify “any administration officials or their subordinates or intermediaries who might have shared information about the inquiry into Mr. Schiff with people not formally involved in it,” the Times reported. “The concern is that such sharing could taint the investigation, which is already seen as weak and politically motivated, according to people familiar with the move.”

Bish acknowledged to Inman that she’s

been contacted by Scott Strauss, a former Justice Department prosecutor who now works at Freddie Mac, and Robert Bowes, a former Trump administration official and Fannie Mae executive.

But Bish took issue with an Associated Press report that Bowes asked her to “investigate” the mortgages of multiple people, saying she was only asked to “confirm” information that she was provided.

Bish told Inman she was asked to verify information that a national news outlet had gathered and was preparing to report, casting doubts on the propriety of mortgages taken out by a Trump administration official, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“I thought it was like a test, to find out if I was the real deal,” Bish said of the request.

She said she had “no clue who Todd Blanche was” but “went and verified what information they had” about his mortgages and found no fault with them.

ccording to MS Now, Blanche is helping oversee the probe of the investigation into Pulte and Martin’s methods, having reportedly “grown concerned about unforced errors in Justice Department investigations.”

In addition to Schiff, Pulte has sent criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, accusing three other Democrats of mortgage fraud — New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell.

Only James has been charged with mortgage fraud, and the case against her was dismissed on Monday by a judge who ruled that the prosecutor who indicted her, interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.

Bish told the Washington Post that she was grilled last week by a federal prosecutor, an FBI agent and an employee of the FHFA Inspector General — and told them that their focus on Pulte and Martin made them come across like the “Keystone Kops.”

A Department of Justice spokesperson told the Post that it “is united as one team to execute on our mission to follow the facts in every case, prosecute crime, and make America safe again.”

Chad Mizelle, former chief of staff for Attorney General Pam Bondi, said on X that the investigation is aimed at establishing the chain of custody of documents and figuring out “exactly who is talking to who [sic] so there are no surprises. DOJ isn’t investigating their own. They are getting ready to drop a bomb on Adam Schiff.”

The prosecutor looking into the allegations against Schiff, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Kelly Hayes, “has come under pressure to deliver an indictment like those that have already been filed against other Trump adversaries,” the Times reported.

Fannie Mae ethics unit purged

The FHFA, Pulte, Martin and Bowes have so far declined to comment on media reports on the investigation of the investigation.

But last month, Fannie Mae fired key members of its ethics and internal investigations unit, including Fannie Mae Chief Ethics Officer Suzanne Libby. The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 11 that the employees were looking into whether Pulte “had improperly obtained mortgage records of key Democratic officials.”

Several Fannie Mae executives who questioned the disclosure of confidential mortgage pricing data to rival Freddie Mac by an employee acting on Pulte’s behalf were also forced out, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 13, citing internal emails.

The Fannie Mae executives who were forced out over the disagreement included CEO Priscilla Almodovar, General Counsel Danielle McCoy, and Malloy Evans, the head of single-family mortgage, the AP reported.

When FHFA acting Inspector General John “Joe” Allen sent Fannie Mae’s internal investigation to the Department of Justice, he, too, was asked to resign, the Journal reported.

California Democratic Rep. Dave Min, a former SEC prosecutor who serves on the House Oversight Committee, asked Allen in September to open an investigation into whether Pulte violated any laws “by misappropriating and misusing non-public mortgage data” in sending the criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.

Bish’s 4th run for Congress

Bish, a real estate salesperson with Rocklin, California-based Intero Real Estate affiliate URealty Inc., said her interest in Schiff’s mortgages is connected to “opposition research” she conducted for her first run for Congress six years ago.

“This started an Erin Brockovich environmental story,” Bish said of the events that drew her to politics. “What happened was I had discovered that we had contaminated water, and my water district was suing the federal government because of the contaminated wells in my neighborhood.”

In Spring 2019, Bish was recovering from kidney cancer she blames on groundwater contamination.

Already frustrated by what she claims was inaction by her Congressional Representative, Doris Matsui, Bish said she became incensed when Matsui appeared on TV vowing to block Trump, then serving his first term, in any way she could.

“Had Doris Matsui simply sent me a form letter saying, ‘Thank you for contacting our office. We’re in contact with the EPA,’ I may have never run for office,” Bish said.

To her surprise, Bish defeated her Republican opponent in the March 2020 primary election, winning the right to challenge Matsui for her 6th Congressional District seat in the November general election.

That got her digging into Matsui’s California residency as a potential campaign issue.

“I have a history in doing skip tracing and locating people and locating assets and locating witnesses,” Bish said. “That’s what my unique skill set is.”

Matsui repaid $2,800 in back taxes on a $1.5 million Maryland home in 2009, which state officials said she erroneously claimed as her permanent residence, McClatchy reported at the time. Roll Call reported a similar tax issue with Schiff’s Maryland home in 2009.

Bish says the issue she has tried to raise is that “this is an election integrity case. You cannot claim your residence as Maryland and also claim your residence for voting and election purposes in California. The [alleged] mortgage fraud proves the election issues.”

CNN took a deep dive into the issue when Schiff was running for Senate in 2023, examining property records showing he claimed a Maryland property as his primary residence when he purchased it in 2003, and also when he refinanced the property in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

A spokesperson for Schiff told CNN at the time that he listed both his California and Maryland addresses as primary residences for loan purposes “because they are both occupied throughout the year and to distinguish them from a vacation property.”

CNN reported in 2023 that “multiple real estate law experts” told the publication that “ambiguous language of the law means Schiff is likely legally in the clear in regard to his taxes and mortgage.”

Schiff’s spokesperson told Inman in July that the lenders who provided the mortgages for both homes “were well aware of then-Representative Schiff’s Congressional service and of his intended year-round use of both homes, neither of which were vacation homes. He has always been completely transparent about this.”

A ‘pattern and practice of behavior’

ProPublica reported in August that three Trump Cabinet members have reported more than one home as a principal residence: Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin.

The story noted that real estate experts say claiming more than one home as a primary residence at the same time “is often legal and rarely prosecuted.”

Bish told Inman she was not familiar with those allegations, or with ProPublica. But she agreed that a person can have two primary residences.

“If they were in that property for 12 consecutive months, and on the 13th month they move somewhere else, the mortgage can still say that [it is their primary residence], and it’s still legal,” Bish said. “Where you would get into it is, did they make a change on their taxes?”

She’s adamant that Schiff’s case is different because he’s engaged in a “pattern and practice of behavior” over time “that makes it irrefutable.”

Bish said she sent information she’d gathered about Schiff’s properties to Congressional ethics committees in 2023 and 2024 and “they did nothing.”

“I’m assuming whatever interns they have there, or college staffers, looked at it and probably glossed over it because they don’t even understand their student loans,” Bish speculated.

Then Pulte began asking the public to send mortgage fraud tips to a dedicated email address, fraudtips@fhfa.gov. On April 30, Bish sent the FHFA a link to a Dropbox folder with the information she’d gathered on Schiff.

“I didn’t hear anything back,” she said. “I got an acknowledgement, ‘Thanks for sending it in; have a nice life.’ So I figured, well, okay, I did my part.”

On July 15, the New York Post was the first to report that Pulte had referred Schiff to the Department of Justice for suspected mortgage fraud, citing an anonymous Trump administration official.

Trump himself posted on Truth Social the same day that “Fannie Mae’s Financial Crimes Division have concluded that Adam Schiff has engaged in a sustained pattern of possible Mortgage Fraud.”

But it wasn’t until July 20, when Trump posted one of the documents that Bish had sent to Pulte on Truth Social, that she understood that her April 30 tip had gotten the ball rolling.

“I recognized the highlighting” on the document, Bish told Inman. “I did it on my Adobe program.”

Pulte’s criminal referral of Schiff to Bondi and Blanche is dated May 27.

“They got [Bish’s file on Schiff] on April 30, reviewed it, and saw the validity of the documents and the accusations — because they can check that stuff instantly, right?” Bish told Inman. “They saw what I put together was credible, and had that referral in 27 days.”

In Bish’s view, “I can tell you the one person that has done their job was director Pulte and FHFA.”

Planning for life in Washington DC

After finishing as the top Republican in the 2020 primary election in the 6th Congressional District, Bish was handily defeated in the general election with Matsui, the Democratic incumbent, winning 73 percent of the vote.

But Bish saw an opportunity to run again in 2022, when Matsui decided to run in the neighboring 7th Congressional District (which she continues to represent). This time, Bish didn’t make it out of the primary, attracting just 8 percent of the vote and finishing behind two other Republicans.

But Bish was back in 2024, winning the Republican nomination in the 6th Congressional District primary, and attracting 42 percent of the 287,000 votes cast in the general election. While she finished behind incumbent Democratic Rep. Ami Bera, who attracted 58 percent of the vote, the race positioned Bish well for her fourth run for Congress next year.

With California’s congressional districts being redrawn by Proposition 50 for the 2026 elections to give Democrats five more seats in Congress — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s answer to similar gerrymandering in Texas — Bish likes her odds.

Bera has jumped ship, abandoning the 6th Congressional District to run in the formerly Republican 3rd Congressional District, which has been redrawn to favor Democrats.

While Democratic-leaning voters still outnumber Republicans in the 6th Congressional District, Democrats have a smaller advantage in the district than they did in 2024 — and there’s no incumbent.

Because Bish beat the two other Republicans who have thrown their hats in the race in the 2024 primary, she’s confident she’ll be the party’s nominee in the November 2026 election.

If she wins, she has a plan for addressing the challenge of spending part of her time in Washington D.C., and the rest in California, where her children, grandchildren and constituents live.

“So my husband and I are ready to retire. But this is the mission that I’m on,” she said of her desire to serve in Congress. “So I’m thinking, I’m going to go find a mobile home park outside of D.C. I will rent a space and buy that giant fifth wheel RV that he and I would both like to have.”

“If I’m there for two years, I’m there for two years,” she said. “If I get reelected, and I’m there for another two, it might change.”

 

Posted
3 minutes ago, Mother mopar said:

Cliffs?

A California realtor running for Congress wants credit for referring a mortgage fraud inquiry to Fannie Mae.  
 

Also, the DOJ appears to think the case is weak sauce.  And Bill Pulte sucks.  

Posted

A couple of things I see conflated in all this stuff.

Most states offer some kind of tax break or advantage for a "homestead," that generally means your primary residence, that you spend most of your time in or intend to return to.  Broadly speaking, you cannot have two homesteads, certainly not within one state.  The ramifications of this are state law penalties, like you owe back whatever tax or other advantage you obtained by falsely claiming a second, or third, homestead.

That differs, at least in legal effect, from representations that might be made to a mortgage company or guarantor like FNMA or VA.  The definition of "principal residence" and "vacation home" and all that differs from state designations of homestead.  They may be similar, but they're not the same and not prescribed by law, but rather by the rules of the mortgage company or guarantor.  

The penalty for making false representations to a mortgage company/guarantor comes in potential criminal liability for mortgage or bank or wire fraud.  And possibly foreclosure.  

An incorrect or even fraudulent homestead designation is not mortgage fraud.  First of all, it's not a representation to a mortgage company, but rather to a state or state taxing entity.  Second, the definitional differences can be significant.  For example, you can have more than one "principal residence," but not more than one homestead, typically.

Homestead designations can be, perhaps, EVIDENCE of mortgage fraud.  That is, to the extent the definition of a homestead under state law is the same or overlaps that of "principal residence" or whatever representation you make to a mortgage company, your homestead claims may undercut or belie that or vice versa.

It seems the richie riches and political types commonly claim more than one homestead.  They deserve whatever penalties state law calls for.

But that isn't mortgage fraud.

Posted

There is probably a little fraud going on (I.e., the originating bank would get a hand slap for it) in that a member of Congress declares two homes purchased close to one another (or refinances those loans) as both primary residences, but it’s largely because the rules governing occupancy aren’t set up for a borrower who really does have two primary residences.  
 

Given the (lack of) money at stake, and the infrequency of abuse (even that word exaggerates the ethical conflict), none of this should invite a policy or regulatory solution.  

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