The Other Shoe Drops
Posted On: May 28th, 2009 by James Posted In: Mortgage Rates
Holy Mackeral…. Wednesday of this week was the single worst day for mortgage interest rates that I have seen since I’ve been in business. We had about a .625% spike in rates. There were many reasons behind this swing, but the main thing was oversupply in the bond market. Since the Treasury is having to bail out so many things, they have begun to make massive bond issues, in the realm of 100 billion new debt added to the market place this week. This coupled with a whiff of inflation caused a mini-sell panic in the bond market. We went into a freefall. However yesterday as the downward trend continued, we got a bounce off the 200 day moving average, and now it looks like a huge rally. So while we may be getting some of that pricing back, its unclear if we will see the 4.75% 30 year fixed rate party come back. Buckle up for massive pricing volatility in coming weeks.
Feds Reverse Decision on $8000 Credit
Posted On: May 19th, 2009 by James Posted In: Government Actions
The underwriter at Mortgage Trust just posted this link on our company’s Intranet- Its an article from the Arizona Republic detailing how this new idea about making the Obama $8000 tax credit immediately available for down payments should NOT, and likely will not happen. I’m inclined to agree with this assessment. This credit should indeed be money in the bank, and not a new debt for first time homebuyers.
Get Tax Credit Sooner Than Now!
Posted On: May 12th, 2009 by James Posted In: Government Actions • Mortgage Programs • Portland Real Estate
I just read this blurb over the newswire and thought it merited a blogpost.
Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow homeowners to use the $8,000 tax credit as a downpayment. According to Donovan, the FHA’s approved lenders will be permitted to ‘monetize’ the tax credit through short-term bridge loans. This will allow eligible home buyers to access the funds immediately at the closing table.
I’m not certain exactly how this will be delivered, but it sounds very interesting. Although it also sounds potentially disastrous to create a slapdash government department for these “short term bridge loans”. But hey, I’m all about folks getting the very best deal with what is available! For a link to the full press release CLICK HERE
Financial Health: A Great Link!
Posted On: May 12th, 2009 by James Posted In: Financial Health
I just came across this really cool tool on CNN Money.com. It only takes about 3 minutes to plug in the information, and its a good barometer for where you are at. *Full disclosure* – My grade was a B+.
Get Your Tax Credit NOW
Posted On: May 6th, 2009 by James Posted In: Financial Health • Government Actions
I just received a very generous offer from my CPA here in Portland, Grant Folske. He has offered any of my clients a flat fee of $200 to file an amended 2008 tax return. If you’ve become a first time home buyer in 2009, and you were waiting to claim that purchase on next years return, you do NOT have to wait. You can file the amended return and get your hands on that $8000.00 ASAP.
Contact Grant Folske and his team:
www.rfacpas.com
(wk) 503-244-7016
My guess is that he will help you even if you aren’t my client.
