The Shotgun Blog
« July 1, 1916 - Remember Beaumont Hamel | Main | Union Bosses Finally Taking on Gag Laws »
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Obama's Sweetheart Mortgage Deal
The Washington Post today breaks news that Senator Obama was among those to get a sweetheart deal on their mortgage.
Basically, Obama's deal on the mortgage - a super-sized one - will save him about $110,000 versus comparable loans.
So, in summary, the story of Obama's house is this.
Senator Obama buys a super-expensive house together with a racketeer friend's wife. This isn't a coincidence - the move is coordinated to allow Obama to buy the house. That man seems to have been in a state of financial collapse at the time, so there's an open question as to where the money for that came from. Obama then buys a chunk of land from his wife, at a questionable price.
How is this not a major scandal?
Posted by Adam T. Yoshida on July 2, 2008 in International Politics | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515b5d69e200e5539ca08a8834
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Obama's Sweetheart Mortgage Deal:
Comments
It's NOT a major scandal because it's NOT about a Republican.
Posted by: Liz J | 2008-07-02 5:45:51 AM
Yoshida is working for ET now...?
WHO CARES !?
A republican (neocon) just throw the US economy and credibillity down the toilet. That might be why nobody cares Obama bought a huge house for his wife.
Posted by: Marc | 2008-07-02 7:46:42 AM
Yoshida is working for ET now...?
Posted by: Marc | 2-Jul-08 7:46:42 AM
He'd be happy to be working for anybody so don't be so hard on the guy. It's taken Second Lieutenant Yoshida a while to adjust to life outside of the XVIII Airborne Corps.
Posted by: The Stig | 2008-07-02 8:20:57 AM
You must be right.
Pardon me man.
Posted by: Marc | 2008-07-02 8:34:13 AM
Adam! Dude! You're the numbnuts who thought that the rumour that Obama is a secret Muslim was worth taking seriously. So maybe, just MAYBE your interpretation of this story is a bit off because your partisanship makes you BATSHIT CRAZY. But your idiotic ravings are kinda fun, so keep on ranting.
Why the people who run this joint let you continue to spew your infantile babble as an official poster here is perplexing. It's contributers like you that keep the WS from being a serious discussion site
Posted by: Fact Check | 2008-07-02 9:37:21 AM
The story was originally reported by ABC News and expanded upon today by the Washington Post. It seems highly unlikely that these two organizations are "partisan" and "BATSHIT CRAZY".
So let's see, the house in question is sold for $300,000 below the asking price and as a condition of the sale the lot beside it sells at market to the wife of an individual under indictment who has been a long time supporter and donator of significance. Obama admits that this was a “bone headed” move. The story has an additional question, the mortgage financing, supplied by an institution that that he had no previous with, offers him a “super, super jumbo” arrangement as much as thirty basis points below market average, saving him more than $110,000 over the life of the mortgage.
In summary, the deal in question is at least $300,000 below market and the mortgage is subsidized by an additional $110,000, providing him with more than $400,000 that is not available to members of the general public. All arranged by someone who has been found guilty of 16 of the 24 charges against him. He was convicted of mail and wire fraud, aiding and abetting bribery and of money laundering.
Yeah, Fact Check, you’re right. Adam is completely crazy for taking this story seriously. Even the most jaded political cynic would know that Obama’s hopeiness and changitude would prevent him from ever acting like a typical Chicago Democrat. Shame on you Adam.
Posted by: Brian Mallard | 2008-07-02 11:03:58 AM
This is part of Dummycrat rot. Liberal Democrats mix "compassion" with lining their pockets. Countrywide benefited a certain Democrat Senator who helped pass a bill to bail out deadbeat borrowers and deadbeat lenders such as, surprise, countrywide. This is a long standing corruption game among liberal Democrats. Guess who builds low income housing complexes? Lobbyists who financially support Democrats.
Posted by: Faramir | 2008-07-02 12:34:39 PM
Why the people who run this joint let you continue to spew your infantile babble as an official poster here is perplexing. It's contributers like you that keep the WS from being a serious discussion site
Posted by: Fact Check | 2-Jul-08 9:37:21 AM
I think it has something to do with one of the seniors here (Terry?) to claim that "Adam is the future of Conservatism in Canada" after he met him... Not sure what that makes the guy who posted that.
Either way, I am personally waiting on Adam to write a piece on how the Harperites should take Rogers to taks for the obscene pricing on the iPhone because he thinks it is unfair that Rogers charges so much while in his beloved home country the United States, AT&T charges so much less.
Oh, and Adam, did you update your PS3 to 2.40 yet? Does Patton play nicer now?
Posted by: Snowrunner | 2008-07-02 12:36:51 PM
This scandal is much bigger than the media is making it. The Wapo article doesn't begin to realize just how good a deal Obama got.
He got 5.625% on a loan for $1.32 million when the going rate for a loan no larger than $850k was 6%. Do you have any idea how good a deal that is? He made out like a bandit.
Posted by: Mike Volpe | 2008-07-03 8:38:21 AM
Here is how I wrote about this scandal and more...
http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2008/07/updated-summary-of-corruption-and.html
Posted by: Mike Volpe | 2008-07-03 8:40:02 AM
In addition to there being no fee to lock in the rate, there were also no origination fees or points on closing. Mike you are correct on the lock fee. To lock in the rate for this long would have required a fee of at least 2%. Origination fees would be 1.5%, at a minumum and points on closing for a loan of this size would have most likely been 30. All of this adds up to more than $50,000 up front off the cost of securing this mortgage. The $1,000 per month payment differential is worth an additional $161,000 when present valued at the mortgage rate secured. That means Obama received consideration of more than $200,000 on this transaction. Makes me wonder what the lender received as a quid pro quo.
Some have asserted that this is a business strategy to secure rich people's business. Maybe, but in my world I have yet to find any bank that would offer this deal to just any rich prospect, especially one that had no dealings or prior relationship with the lender. These deals are assessed on their merits. This was and is a high ratio, below cost, and highly subsidized loan that would not have been available to anybody other than someone of influence. If anybody other than Obama received this type of preferential treatment they would have been piloried in the press. On this blog the Obama defenders have not even attempted to justify the loan. They simply attack the individuals who bring it to our attention or attempt to hijack the topic.
Posted by: Brian Mallard | 2008-07-03 9:23:52 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.