The Real Deal: End of a mortgage era

End of a mortgage era

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates in the 5 percent range? Minimum down payments below 5 percent? Jumbo-size home loans for high-cost markets at regular interest rates? Kiss them good-bye -- possibly sooner than you might guess.

Take a snapshot of today's mortgage market conditions and frame it. It's highly likely you'll never see anything like these favorable combinations of rates and terms again. That's the inescapable conclusion emerging from the Obama administration's "white paper" on optional remedies for the two ailing giants of housing finance -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- along with events already under way in the national economy.

Property Devastation: Don't Let It Mean Financial Devastation

One of the most important questions I should probably get from my clients at loan application would be, "How much homeowners insurance should I get on my home?".  I don't get this question.  As I read the article in my YOU Magazine this month, I wondered why. 

It's more than likely that there are other more pressing questions on my clients minds; interest rate, closing costs, what are closing costs, what amount do I need at closing, but how much insurance coverage is not even on their radar.  

This article is an excellent discussion of WHY it should be at the top of mind when getting your mortgage loan in order.  It's also a great discussion to spur on analysis of how well or how poorly insured we are on other important things: life, auto, disability, health, retirement home, etc.  


Enjoy this great article and click here if you would like to receive YOU Magazine for yourself each month:

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10 Common Errors Home Owners Make When Filing Taxes

By: G. M. Filisko
Published: January 25, 2011
Don’t rouse the IRS or pay more taxes than necessary—know the score on each home tax deduction and credit.  Here's 10 "sin's" that will rouse the IRS...

Sin #1: Deducting the wrong year for property taxes
You take a tax deduction for property taxes in the year you (or the holder of your escrow account) actually paid them. Some taxing authorities work a year behind—that is, you’re not billed for 2010 property taxes until 2011. But that’s irrelevant to the feds.
Enter on your federal forms whatever amount you actually paid in 2010, no matter what the date is on your tax bill. Dave Hampton, CPA, tax manager at the Cincinnati accounting firm of Burke & Schindler, has seen home owners confuse payments for different years and claim the incorrect amount.

FHA Loans vs. Conventional Loans: Which is better?

Conventional loans increasingly slipping away

If you want to know the difference between conventional mortgages and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) financing, the first item up for discussion is typically the cost of each loan.
For instance, the Wall Street Journal tells us that “conforming mortgages, or those that can be bought by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, commonly require higher down payments than FHA loans require. The catch to an FHA-insured loan is that you’ll pay more in fees.”

Later the Journal explains that “borrowers don’t face those costs on a conforming mortgage with 20% down.”
Well, sure, but how realistic is this comparison for most borrowers?

Ten Secrets to Savings: Write down your goals

Cheap is chic, frugality is in fashion, and Americans have sworn off their spending addiction. In a replay of 2010, their top resolution for 2011 is to save more money, according to the American Express Spending & Saving Tracker. But a funny thing happened on the way to the bank: Americans fell off the wagon. This year, consumers aim to save an average of $2,600, a far cry from their average goal of $14,000 in 2010. The reason: many of them didn't meet their ambitious savings target.

That doesn't surprise me. I've always believed that the trick to saving money is just that – a trick. You don't have to strike it rich on Wall Street, win the lottery or even earn a six-figure salary to build a comfortable savings cushion. You just have to play mental tricks on yourself to stay focused on spending less and keeping more cash.

Five Mortgage and Foreclosure Myths

Because of the rapidly changing rules in the mortgage world, call me for up to the minute lending guideline changes.  

Marty 

In a mortgage market that changes as quickly as this one, today’s fact is tomorrow’s fiction. For buyers, misinformation can be the difference between qualifying for a home loan or not.

Sellers and owners, knowledge is foreclosure-preventing, smart decision-making power! Without further ado, let’s correct some common mortgage misconceptions.

Home Loan Rates And What Affects Them

It's a Small World After All
Globalization's Impact on Home Loan Rates

Today we live in a global economy, an interconnected world where goods and capital move freely at lightning speed across countries. The widely accepted view is that globalization not only benefits all countries across the world but lends itself towards the betterment of the economy as a whole.
As we have seen, globalization can also have a negative impact with a domino effect in times of turmoil and unrest. This impact affects the financial markets both in the U.S. and abroad.
Flight to Safety
When there is political unrest, which was sparked recently in Egypt and has spread like wildfire throughout the Middle East, global investors get nervous. Often they shed their risky assets like Stocks and flee to the safe haven of the U.S. Dollar and U.S. Bond market.

Leprechauns give us a personal finance lesson!

Personal Finance Lessons From Leprechauns

Leprechauns are those small mystical creatures always stylishly attired in green garb and thinking of ways to hide their pot of gold. Or that is the impression I have gotten from Hollywood interpretations and my limited understanding of Irish lore. Apparently, leprechauns can also teach us a lot about personal finance and saving money.

5 Things You Should Know About Buying a Short Sale Home

Short sales are increasingly seen in the real estate market and some new home buyers may have questions regarding them. Basically if a homeowner has difficulty making mortgage payments, can’t refinance and wants to avoid foreclosure for missed payments they can try to convince their lender to sell the house for less than the mortgage is worth and take the loss. This is a “short sale” because it is short of the amount owed on the mortgage. The seller gets no money but they walk away with their credit relatively intact.The lender loses money but doesn’t have to undergo foreclosure proceedings. It’s not a win-win situation but for both sides it’s not as bad as it could be.

Procrastination Remedies

The Little Book of Procrastination Remedies

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Procrastination is one of those topics that, it seems, I can’t write enough about. There isn’t a person among us who doesn’t procrastinate, and that’s a fact of life.
It’s deep within us. We think we’re going to do something later, or read that classic novel later, or learn French later. But we always overestimate how much we can do later, and we overestimate the ability of our later selves to beat procrastination.
If our current self can’t beat procrastination, why will our future self do it?
I thought I should cover some of the best procrastination-beating strategies, in light of my recent book, focus. People seem to want ways to beat procrastination, so they can actually get down to focusing.
Here’s a quick guide.

Refinance Demand Dips as Mortgage Rates Reach 10-Month High

	Mortgage News Daily
Message from Marty:   If you have questions about refinancing your current mortgage, call me sooner than later because this is only one of dozens of articles I saw this week extolling news of things to come in the mortgage rate world.  Call me at 801-540-5108

Refinance Demand Dips as Mortgage Rates Reach 10-Month High

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 4th, 2011.
The MBA's loan application survey covers over 50% of all U.S. residential mortgage loan applications taken by mortgage bankers, commercial banks, and thrifts. The data gives economists a snapshot view of consumer demand for mortgage loans.