Interest Rates

Rates Stay Low, BUT Will Costs Go Up?

September 22, 2011

We are enjoying extremely low interest rates, for sure. With the global economy, the national economy and unemployment where they are, no one is predicting a dramatic change in rates any time soon. BUT, on Monday, the Obama Administration floated out some interesting proposals they are considering through the Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance [...]

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Mortgage Rates: Impact of the Credit Rating Downgrade

August 8, 2011

We want to discuss the impact the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating will have on mortgage interest rates. In these times of uncertainty and volatility, no one knows for sure what will happen next. However, we want to talk about possible scenarios. Mortgage rates normally run parallel to the country’s Treasury bonds. If [...]

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Should You Be LOCKING Your Loans?

July 28, 2011

Should you lock in the interest rate on your mortgage? A couple of things to consider: 1. While I am confident that the Debt Ceiling Debate will be settled (whether it’s for six months or a year), my greater concern is the growing belief that the ratings agencies are looking at downgrading our government’s bonds from [...]

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A 14% Home Mortgage Rate?

July 25, 2011

We have written on the long term impact that the new mortgage guidelines known as ‘Qualified Residential Mortgage’ (QRM) will have on the cost of financing a home. However, it seems that these expenses are already beginning to creep into lending. The QRM guidelines are much more rigid than those used in the last year. Though [...]

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Oct 1 – Another Bad Day for Real Estate

July 14, 2011

One of the ways the federal government tried to “rescue” housing was to raise the Conforming Loan Limits – which is the maximum loan that can be sold to FannieMae, FreddieMac and GinnieMae (for FHA loans). By raising loan limits, liquidity was provided to mortgage lenders enabling them to lend at competitive rates in most [...]

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5 Real Estate Headlines You’ll See in the Next Six Months

July 6, 2011

Making predictions can be the ‘kiss-of-death’ for a blog. Even if we get four out of five correct (80%), there are those in the industry who will kill us on the one we got wrong. We believe strongly that when making a real estate decision for you and your family you must look forward and [...]

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