Adzookie is a brand new advertising firm that has already drawn considerable interest and scorn for its first major marketing campaign. Adzookie will pay your mortgage if you let it paint your house to advertise the company and its social media links for at least three months, and up to one year. So far the company has received over 1,000 applications from struggling homeowners, and even one church, according to Adzookie CEO Romeo Mendoza. As homeowners are desperate to make payments, this idea makes sense. At least until Adzookie goes out of business next week.
As the job market slowly recovers (unemployment is currently hovering around 8%) mortgage brokers and homeowners looking to sell are realizing that the creation of more jobs isn’t exactly leading people to want to buy homes again. With that, the rate and prices for renting are rising to record highs, while the housing market is still barely above a flatline. Experts believe that mortgages are scaring new home buyers away from buying their first or second homes because the rates are suffocating. This is terrible news for people trying to sell their homes, but at least they can go back and read that part about renting being at an all-time high again.
But don’t feel bad for the people who can’t afford to buy a home or pay their existing mortgages, worry about the brokers who need to sign people into 30-year fixed loans. People who can actually qualify for a loan most likely already have a loan, so that leaves a thinning pool for new loans, which leaves the mortgage business in quite the pickle. Home sales are up from where they were one year ago, but industry experts believe that the housing market is still a long way away from recovery. So you should probably clear some ad space on your roof.
[news-links]
- Startup Adzookie will pay to make your neighbors loathe you. (Chicago Breaking Business)
- Mortgages are killing housing recovery, while rental prices rise with tenant overload. (CNBC)
- Mortgage applications are down 2%, while blood pressure is up 100%. (Bloomberg)
[/news-links]
[news-morenews]
- An employee for Lloyds Banking Group in the United Kingdom was fired from her job after she criticized the new CEO’s enormous salary on her Facebook status update. Responded the CEO, “Dislike.” (News.com.au)
- A new non-surgical cosmetic procedure known as Selphyl, or the “vampire face lift”, uses the patient’s blood to smooth out wrinkles. The process causes no bruising and lasts about 15 months, and your teenage kids are going to want it to impress Edward. (ABC News)
[/news-morenews]
[news-stats]
- While 53 banks and credit unions failed in the first quarter of 2010, only 37 failed in the first quarter of 2011. More specifically, 41 banks failed last year while 26 failed in the first three months this year. Only 3 banks failed in March. (Mortgage Daily)
- In 2010, Citi led all major banks with the most charge-off debt at 4.6%, while Bank of America (3.6%), JPM (3.4%), and Wells Fargo (2.3%) followed. US Bank performed the best with just 2.2% in charge-off debt. Citi also led in charge-off debt for the past decade, while US Bank was the best. (Mortgage Stats)
[/news-stats]