Meet Pamela DeMascole

The newest member of our management team

 

Growing up around family owned business Pam knew at an early age she wanted a career where she could share her many talents without limitations. Ten years ago she found real estate and has thrived in the fast paced and ever changing environment. Recently Pam accepted the challenge of growing a sales team and as it turns out she’s already pretty good at it!

 

One of the many local “Ludden Girls” as Bishop Ludden graduates often refer to themselves Pam has proudly carried on the traditions of community service and constant improvement in her everyday life. In her new role Pam is creating an atmosphere where success is fostered and expected. If you are interested in a career in Real Estate call Pam at 622-4100.

 

Loosened Mortgage Rule Advances After SEC Drops Objection

Loosened Mortgage Rule Advances After SEC Drops Objection

Rule Wouldn't Include Down-Payment Requirement

By

Alan Zibel and Andrew Ackerman   Biography

·  Alan Zibel·  @AlanZibel·  Alan.Zibel@wsj.com·  Biography ·  Andrew Ackerman·  @amacker·  andrew.ackerman@wsj.com·  ·  Andrew Ackerman ·  Biography June 10, 2014 9:07 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—A relaxed rule aimed at improving mortgage quality moved closer to approval after the Securities and Exchange Commission removed a key objection, according to officials familiar with the process.

The compromise approach is designed to assuage some regulators' concerns that the rule may not go far enough to prevent the type of lax underwriting that helped fuel the 2008 financial crisis, the officials said. The SEC won a concession in which U.S. policy makers are expected to agree to re-evaluate, and potentially adjust, the rule two years after its effective date and every five years after that.

The standard, expected to be made final in the coming months, is much looser than what was first floated in 2011, when policy makers said borrowers would have to put 20% down to get a loan or lenders would have to retain 5% of a loan's risk once it was packaged and sold to investors.

Under the revised approach, regulators wouldn't require a down payment and would include a broad exemption for banks and other issuers of mortgage-backed securities from having to retain a portion of the credit risk on their books.

Regulators have struggled to complete the rule in the face of concerns from the SEC, which objected to the loosened approach and said borrowers should be required to make some type of down payment to get a so-called qualified residential mortgage, said government officials close to the process.

That position put the SEC at odds with other regulators, who shared the housing industry's concerns that any down-payment requirement could crimp access to credit and impede the fragile housing recovery.

SEC Chairman Mary Jo White detailed her concerns about the rule, including the lack of a down payment, at a March 24 meeting at the Treasury Department with the heads of the other five agencies writing the rule, officials said. Ms. White's concerns were shared by the SEC's two Republican commissioners, Daniel Gallagher and Michael Piwowar, who wrote dissents to a version of the rule proposed last year.

Ms. White recently agreed to essentially adopt the revised mortgage rule without a down payment as long as regulators agree to re-evaluate the rule and ensure it is imposing restraint on the mortgage-backed securities market, these people said.

The move comes amid pressure from officials at other agencies, who argued a significant down-payment requirement could harm the fragile housing market, said people familiar with the matter. The Obama administration has begun trying to relax some of the postcrisis efforts to tighten mortgage-lending standards over concerns that the housing sector, traditionally an engine of economic recovery, is struggling to shift into higher gear. The overseer of mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently said the companies should make more credit available to homeowners, reversing previous directives to tighten credit.

The SEC's change of heart is the latest twist in a three-year battle over the 2010 Dodd-Frank mortgage rule, intended to improve the quality of loans by ensuring banks retain a stake in mortgages they make, package and sell to investors. Regulators have been struggling to define which types of high-quality loans would be exempt from the risk-retention requirement.

The original proposal three years ago sparked a backlash among housing-industry, affordable-housing and civil-rights groups, who banded together over shared concerns that a 20% down-payment requirement would end the dream of homeownership for many Americans.

Last year, regulators issued a new proposal with two options: Eliminate the down-payment requirement in favor of mortgage-lending rules written by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that required banks to verify a borrower's ability to repay a loan—or boost the downpayment requirement to 30%.

Most agencies, under pressure from lawmakers, the housing industry and consumer groups rallied around the first option. But the SEC remained the lone holdout, frustrating other government officials who had been working on the issue for years and had hoped the rules would be completed soon, according to people familiar with the process.

The agency's two Republican commissioners still are likely to vote against the final rule over concerns it won't impose enough discipline on Wall Street when packaging assets such as mortgages into securities.

Messrs. Gallagher and Piwowar also say it is inappropriate to adopt a rule essentially written by another agency—the CFPB—which isn't part of the mortgage-securities rule-making process. "We should not abdicate our responsibility to define [the mortgage standards] by surrendering the definition to the CFPB," Mr. Piwowar said in a statement.

Write to Alan Zibel at alan.zibel@wsj.com and Andrew Ackerman at andrew.ackerman@wsj.com

 

New Business Development Position Filled

 

 

Syracuse, NY (23 May, 2014) – John Arquette is pleased to announce Realtor-Associate Daniel Stazzone has accepted the position of Director of New Business Development effective immediately. Daniel who joined the firm in 2012 brings an extensive skill set to his new position. A 2007 graduate of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Daniel has been either establishing or leading programs ever since. As the Neighborhood Planner and Real Estate Administrator for locally based Home Headquarters, Inc. he worked both individually and collaboratively to develop neighborhood revitalization strategies and then market the new concept. The reenergized Hawley-Green and Near Westside neighborhoods are examples of his endeavors.

In his new role Daniel will be responsible for identifying potential acquisitions and locations for company growth. He will also lead the company’s ongoing mission to build relationships with enterprising agents currently affiliated with competing firms. He will continue to work from the Fayetteville office.

Our Focus Group from the Roof of Syracuse Media Group's Office in the Merchant Commons Building downtown.

JOHN ARQUETTE PROPERTIES, REALTORS® ANNOUNCES PROMOTION

FAYETTEVILLE, NY (24 MAR 14) - John & Elenore Arquette, Broker/Owners of John Arquette Properties announced the appointment of Pamela DeMascole to the position of Branch Manager at their office in the Town of Clay. Pamela has been a successful salesperson in the industry since 2004 and joined their firm last fall. She will be replacing Jennifer LaGraffe who is staying with the company and moving into a newly created position as Director of New Business Development. Jennifer will now focus her energy on agent recruiting and identifying potential acquisitions as well as opportunities in related industries.

The Arquette’s launched their company in January 2009 and have experienced tremendous growth. “Experienced agents are attracted to our extensive local marketing campaign and enjoy the lead generating technology and clerical support we provide” said Elenore Arquette.

John Arquette Properties, REALTORS® has offices in Clay, Fayetteville and Tully New York. Visit their website at www.johnarquette.comSee More

The Value of Newspaper Advertising

Congratulations to The Post-Standard! Scarborough is an independent research company that has ranked the Post-Standard #1 for a newspaper website.  Read the full story below.  Another reason why we choose to advertise in the Post-Standard.

By syracuse.com | The Post-Standard The Post-Standard
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on February 14, 2014 at 4:11 PM


Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse.com has been ranked the No. 1 newspaper website in the country by Scarborough research company.
    The ratings are based on market penetration, which is the percentage of adults in the market who visit the website in a seven-day period.
    Scarborough also ranked The Post-Standard the No. 4 newspaper in the country for readership penetration among Sunday newspapers.
    Syracuse Media Group President Tim Kennedy attributed the ranking to the quality and quantity of news and advertising on the site.
    "There are a lot of great news websites in the country, so it feels really good to be No. 1," he said.
Syracuse Media Group was formed last year to take over the operations of The Post-Standard and syracuse.com, with increased focus on digital media. Syracuse.com tallied 37.5 million page views in January, a record for the month.

Real estate poll: Seller's Market Could Be On The Way

 

New Yorkers' views of the housing market remained positive in the fourth quarter but stopped getting better, according to new polling from the Siena Research Institute.

 

The institute, based at Siena College near Albany, created its latest real estate sentiment scores based on phone interviews throughout the fourth quarter with 1,994 New Yorkers over age 18.

 

Here are some highlights:

• Improvement comes to an end: The institute's overall sentiment score had been steadily rising since reaching its low point several years ago. That climb stopped in the fourth quarter. The overall current score was 12, down 5.7 points from the third quarter. Any score over zero means New Yorkers had mostly positive feelings about the market.

 

• A seller's market on the horizon?: Buyers have held a perceived advantage over sellers for quite some time, according to Siena. But that appears to be changing. Scores measuring New Yorkers' thoughts on selling a home in the future were far higher than readings measuring their feelings on buying in the future.

 

• Upstate is feeling good: Upstate New Yorkers' current feelings on the housing market remained mostly positive, according to Siena. The region's overall current score was 15.3 in the fourth quarter. That's down 4.1 points from the third quarter but ahead of New York City's reading of 6.5. The overall current score for the New York suburbs was 17.6.

 

• Reason for continued optimism: Right now, 45 percent of New Yorkers say the condition of the housing market has improved over the past year and almost as many expect to see more improvement in the year ahead, said Don Levy, institute director. Only 25 percent believe things have gotten worse, and less than 20 percent expect conditions to weaken in the future. "Compared to where we've been, this is a very solid footing," Levy said in a news release.