warrior godfather

Chapter 15 The Big Bubble

"Buy a house?" Mark Baum asked puzzled.

He started the car, and the Ford Mustang's engine made a low roar and slowly accelerated.

"To be precise, it is to understand the real situation of the mortgage industry. Of course, if you really want to buy it, I will not stop it." Zhang Yu explained.

"I'd like to see what you want to do..." Mark Baum muttered in a low voice, stepped on the accelerator hard, the engine roared loudly, and the Ford Mustang roared away.

In less than half an hour, the two came to the Lasalle community on Roosevelt Avenue. Mark Baum parked the car and the two got off.

"Mr. Baum, let me remind you again. Now you are my friend and a lawyer. We are here to see the house, understand?" Zhang Yu said.

"Okay, I see." Mark Baum nodded impatiently.

Zhang Yu didn't care, and led the way, and the two walked to the sales office.

"Hello, we want to take a look at the house." Zhang Yu entered the hall, found a blond woman in uniform nearby, and walked straight over.

"Come with me, both of you. I'm Laura, a real estate agent." The blond woman showed a professional smile and stretched out her hand to seduce her.

After Zhang Yu and Mark Baum followed Laura to the sales office, they got on the sightseeing car.

"Are both of you going to buy a house?" Laura asked.

"No, he wants to buy it. I'll take a look with him." Zhang Yu pointed at Mark Baum.

Mark Baum nodded, without speaking, and looked around.

This residential area is a little deserted. Not only are there few pedestrians on the street, but there are not many private cars. The lawns in front of several houses are overgrown with weeds, which obviously have not been taken care of for a long time.

"...Do you have children? It is very close to Kress Private Middle School. Buying a house here is very convenient for your children to go to school. Laura enthusiastically introduced the house here, but Zhang Yu and Mark Baum didn't care much about it .

"I noticed that there don't seem to be many residents here, right?" Zhang Yu asked.

"It's true that many people have moved away, but it's nothing. The mortgage market is just in a small trough," Laura said lightly, and then pointed to a house in front of the left, where a man was mowing the lawn, "That house just When it was completed, I sold it for 25 US dollars. Two years later, it was raised to 33, and it was raised to 38 a year and a half ago. Last year, the couple bought it for 42. Now he is willing to sell it at the original price, although Not reconciled, but they'll sell it anyway... Hey, Jack!"

She waved to the man, who stopped what he was doing and responded with a smile.

"Why is he selling the house when prices are going up so well?" Mark Baum asked.

"Both of them are not working now," Laura said.

"So they are eager to make a move, right?" Zhang Yu said.

"Everyone in this area is eager to sell. Have you seen this house? The owner is even willing to sell at a lower price." Laura pointed to another house and said.

"Isn't there too many people rushing to sell their houses?" Mark Baum said with a frown.

"Who made the market fall back? But it's only temporary. The housing market will definitely not fall. Everyone is just a little flustered..." Laura complained, "Do you have a house you fancy?"

Just as Mark Baum was about to speak, Zhang Yu pulled his sleeve, and he changed his words and said:
"I need to go back and talk to my wife...do you have a mortgage broker you recommend? I don't have enough cash on hand."

Laura smiled:

"Of course, I know a few very reliable mortgage brokers."

Later, Laura took the two back to the sales office.

In the corner of the hall, there was a wine cabinet full of wine. A black man and a white man were drinking and chatting, already slightly drunk.

Laura walked over, introduced Zhang Yu and Mark Baum to them, touched the white man's bare chest muscles, threw a charming look, and left with a smile.

"It seems that she likes you very much." Zhang Yu said with a smile.

"Of course, this chick has made a lot of money from me." The white man looked lewdly at Laura who was leaving, and laughed.

After waiting for a while to see Laura walking away, Zhang Yu looked around, took out two thousand dollars from his bag, and handed them to the two:

"We are from an investment company. We are here today to learn about the housing loan industry. I hope you can answer truthfully."

The white man's eyes lit up, he put down his wine glass, took the dollar, and whistled:

"I love this green baby! No problem, you can ask whatever you want."

"How many loans can you get each month?" Zhang Yu asked.

"About sixty."

"What about four years ago?"

"Ten strokes? Or fifteen strokes?"

"I used to be just a bartender, but now I have my own boat," the black man interjected.

"Wow, that sounds great," Zhang Yu smiled, and then asked, "How many of these are adjustable-rate subprime loans?"

"Almost all of them," said the white man.

"That's right, it's about [-]%. In recent years, the interest rates on mortgages have been very high. We all rely on this to make money." The black man added.

They didn't notice that Mark Baum's face had darkened.

Adjustable interest rate subprime loan refers to repayment at a fixed interest rate at the initial stage, but from the time agreed in the contract, interest will be paid at a higher interest rate, which is a very risky loan method.

"Has the mortgage application been rejected?" Mark Baum couldn't help asking.

"Hahaha……"

The two of them laughed in unison, as if they had heard some very funny joke, and a little of the wine in the white man's glass was spilled because of his violent movements.

"How is it possible?" The white man shook his head and laughed, "If they get rejected, there will be a big problem with my job."

"Can you get a loan even if the lender has no money?" Mark Baum's eyes widened.

"Our company provides a loan product called 'NINJA loans'. No income or work is required. If you want, you can leave the column of income blank," the black man explained proudly. "The company doesn't care at all, these people just want A family, why can't we fulfill them?"

"Isn't your company going to check?" Mark Baum felt very unbelievable.

The white man smiled and jokingly said:
"If I take out a loan on Saturday, it's going to be bought by a big bank on Monday, you understand?"

Mark Baum opened his mouth slightly, stayed for a while, and then said:
"Can you wait a moment?"

He got up and pulled Zhang Yu aside, leaving two mortgage brokers to share the dollars in their hands.

Mark Baum turned around a few times on the spot, his expression was a little crazy, and he shouted in a low voice:
"I don't understand, is the mortgage market so bad? Why do they dare to say all this so frankly!"

"Obviously, this kind of operation is not a secret in the mortgage industry, but what everyone is doing. Would you hide whether you had bread or bacon for breakfast?" Zhang Yu said slowly.

Mark Baum shook his head helplessly, and he and Zhang Yu returned to the two of them.

"So everyone knows the risks of this kind of loan?" Mark Baum asked.

The black man showed a sarcastic smile on his face:

"My main clients are immigrants. They just want to have a house of their own. No matter what you ask them to sign, they dare to sign, don't ask questions, don't understand interest rates...they are a bunch of idiots."

"Is your client an immigrant too?" Mark Baum asked the white man instead.

"The immigrant's credit rating is too high for him," laughed the black man.

The white man showed a smug smile, shook the wine glass in his hand, and said:

"I only value returns. If I sign a good loan with a fixed interest rate, I can only get 2000 yuan, but a subprime loan with an adjustable interest rate, I can earn 1 yuan! Wu Niang doesn’t get a loan, I can’t drive a Mercedes at all, and their credit ratings are the worst, but they are all rich and can afford the down payment, and each of them bought more than one apartment.”

"Don't they know that subprime loans with adjustable interest rates require more repayments? After the preferential interest rate period is over, the monthly payment will double or triple!" Mark Baum was surprised.

The white man let out a big laugh:

"Dude, are you kidding? Those big-breasted and brainless girls don't know what an adjustable-rate loan is. They think adjustable-rate loans mean that they can choose the interest rate they pay each month."

"Fack!" Mark Baum leaned back, leaned on the back of the chair, and said in a low voice.

"What did you say?" the white man asked with a frown.

"He said that he is very grateful for the information you provided. We still have something to do, so we will leave first." Zhang Yu said with a smile, and pulled Mark Baum out of the hall.

Walking through the sales office, Mark Baum looked at a depressed residential area and growled:
"These guys are committing crimes! They're creating a bubble, and the U.S. real estate market will be brought down by such people!"

"Mr. Baum, do you agree with me now?" Zhang Yu said slowly.

Mark Baum glanced sideways at him:
"Perhaps these two liars are just exceptions."

"You can send someone to investigate all over the United States to see if the situation is the same as here. In Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Francisco, this scene is happening every day. Banks give out large loans to prostitutes and illegal immigrants. , Then package these loans into securities, put them on the financial market, and mark them with an "A" rating to attract hedge funds to buy, but in fact, these bonds are just worthless garbage!" Zhang Yu said.

Mark Baum kicked a can at his feet and cursed:

"Fack, son of a bitch!"

He walked towards the parking lot angrily, and Zhang Yu followed.

The two got into the Ford Mustang, Zhang Yu opened the document bag, took out a thick stack of documents from it, handed it to Mark Baum, and said:
"In the past two days, I have studied the housing price index in the United States since 1975. After removing the inflation factor, from 1975 to 2000, the annual growth rate of housing prices in the United States was only 1.4%, but since 2000, the annual growth rate of housing prices has been as high as 7%. !If you go back to the trend line, the price correction can be as large as 40%! Mr. Baum, you should understand that this abnormal trend represents a huge bubble!"

Mark Baum frowned and flipped through the documents in his hand, staring intently at the chart representing the US housing price index:
"I seem to have seen this picture before."

"Last year, Professor Robert Shiller gave a warning in "Irrational Exuberance". Unfortunately, no one took his words to heart." Zhang Yu said slowly.

　Please collect and recommend tickets~
　　


(End of this chapter)