I don't know how many people saw this, but it looks like BofA may buy C'wide. Do you think it will good or bad for the business and do you think it will help the RE crisis?
It looks like a positive step to me. They already gave them 2 billion so I guess being as how they got their toes wet they might as well jump all the way in.
Wall St. liked it as their stock moved higher by 30-40% today.
Let's hear your opinions.
Don

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This deal won't close until the 3rd quarter.

Bank America stockholders are gonna get hosed.

There will be continued writedowns from all the major financial players like J.P. Morgan, UBS, and Merrill Lynch.

This sub-prime mess is far from over.

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If anyone one company and absorb the hit, it would be BOA. You have to remember BOA is probably thinking long term on this. They probably are getting all those mortgages and Countrywide for a bargain.

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Keith "Baby-Face" Lutz
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Great bargain, but what if those extras are full of more bad assets.
The value of paper can turn on a dime in this market.

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Six months ~ Bad
1 year ~ Good
5 years ~ Excellent investment

Real estate is a long term investment any way you slice it. Ask yourself what the long term outlook for real estate is and you will get closer to finding the right answer as to whether or not this is a good buy for BOA.

When do you buy? When things are at their high or when you think things are near their low? 3rd quarter of '08 sounds about right to me.

Do you think the real estate market will improve? If so, when? See the beginning of this post for my opinion.

If not, can you recommend a new career for those of us who are tech savvy?

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Ryan Ward, REALTOR® - Keller Williams Realty Consultants. (404) 630-3187
Atlanta Real Estate - My featured area is Alpharetta Real Estate and it is where I call home. Read my Atlanta Real Estate blog.

I completely agree with this!! It definitely is a long term investment for BofA at this point, and I think they know that it's not going to be a good thing in the beginning.

That being said, I don't believe that BofA will keep the retail side of CW (or at least, not all of that side); they are more-so in it for the servicing portfolio than anything else.

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Understandably, Countrywide's stock soared on the news yesterday. However, I was surprised last night to learn Bank of America's went up a point or so as well. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

BofA is a logical choice as they are less of a player on the mortgage side. I don't think a Wells Fargo/Countrywide merger would make a lot of sense as there is too much overlap in what they do.

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Carolyn Gjerde-Tu

Davis CA Real Estate
Granite Bay Real Estate Sacramento Real Estate

Wells Fargo is in the process of closing all of their wholesale offices across the country and only keeping retail.

They wouldn't want any part of CW

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Ryan Ward, REALTOR® - Keller Williams Realty Consultants. (404) 630-3187
Atlanta Real Estate - My featured area is Alpharetta Real Estate and it is where I call home. Read my Atlanta Real Estate blog.

This will be pretty interesting. I think alot of it depends on what the real estate market is like in 2008 . If alot of Countrywides loans go belly up it could be a huge loss for BOA over the next year.

Does anyone know if BOA is going have Countrywide keep its name so they own Countrywide but Countrywide will still have there own ads.

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Ki Gray - Austin Realtor

Working in Austin his site covers the Austin Real Estate market. If you are considering investing in Austin be sure to check out his Austin Real Estate Blog or look through some of the Austin Homes currently for sale.