Sales Are Up!

In May 2010, Retail Sales at non-store retailers (a category that includes Amazon and eBay) topped $29 billion, which is up 16 percent from May 2009. Clearly, Americans are doing an increasing amount of shopping online.  And we’re paying our bills online, too.

But how well are we protecting our identities?

In this 5-minute piece from NBC’s The Today Show, you’ll learn the basics of online fraud and methods to minimize the likelihood of identity theft.  Furthermore, the tips go beyond the basic “choose a challenging password”.  For example, you’ll hear about:

• Why you shouldn’t pay bills from a coffee shop
• Who might be hiding behind an unprotected public wifi network
• The dangers of storing credit card numbers with an online retailer

And, although, the interviewee goes (in my opinion) way over the top with respect to spyware and anti-phishing prevention, the point being made is a good one — you can’t be too careful with your online financials and common sense goes a long way.

All Expenses Vary from City to City

It’s not only the real estate markets that differ from town to town — the Cost of Living does, too.

Insurance costs, tax bills and just plain, day-to-day living will dent a household budget differently depending on where that household is.  It can be a nerve-wracking fact for families moving from Iowa across state borders.

As an aid for the budget-aware, Bankrate.com keeps a Cost of Living Comparison Calculator on its website.  The calculator asks 3 questions: (1) Where do you live now, (2) To where you are moving, and (3) What is your salary.  It then spits out a detailed, 58-item cost comparison list between the two cities.

Some of the key costs compared are:

• Everyday groceries
• Energy bills
• Routine healthcare
• Home ownership
• Clothes
• Sporting goods

The Cost of Living Comparison Calculator is thorough, with data culled from the ACCRA. You’ll be surprised at how granular the list can get. On the ACCRA website, you can buy a similar report for $5.

On the Bankrate.com site, the data is free.

Face it, these days money is cheap!  On Wealth With Mortgage, I spend a lot of time talking about what mortgage rates are doing.  Too often other large pieces to the financial puzzle are overlooked.  Recently, I came across an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal.  The article was discussing the tightening of student loans and the opportunities of consolidating them.

With the recent tightening of credit guidelines, the government has opened up some opportunities to get some super cheap money in the coming months.  According to sources, after July 1st, the interest rate on these consolidation loans is expected to drop at least 3% to at least 3.25%!  Do I have your attention yet?  Talk about saving some money!!

If you’re interested in seeing if you qualify for these lower rates, you can visit the Federal Direct Consolidation Loans website.

I hope this advice saves you some money!  If you come across opportunities like this, please pass them on!  Together we’re smarter.

That’s right!  Starting April 5th, Money Smart Week begins.  Money Smart Week is a week long event focused on educating consumers on how to more effectively manage their money.  We like to say teaching consumers how to keep more of what they make!

At Four Legacies Mortgage, we’re huge advocates of financial literacy.  This is why we have decided to sponsor this exciting week of financial education.  As always, we’ll be offering a jam packed week of free classes/seminars and we hope you can make it to one!   Here is our personal schedule of activities for next week:

Monday, April 7^th at 7pm-8pm – Improving Your Credit Score – With everything that credit score influences now its more important than ever to understand how it is calculated and how you can take control of it. We promise to teach you how to improve inaccurate records, manage your debt so your credit score is at its peak and lead you to save thousands of dollars in unnecessary interest over your lifetime.

Tuesday, April 8^th at 4:30-5:30pm –How to Get Debt Free and Stay Debt Free Forever – With a national savings rate of -2% we think its more important than ever to know how to be debt free. We promise to show you how to pay off debt quickly and put you on track for an abundant life that you deserve.

Thursday, April 10^th at 7pm-8pm –Building Wealth Through Real Estate – Whether you’re a  seasoned homeowner or looking to buy your first home it is extremely important to own real estate right. We will show you how to let your money work for you and build wealth over time through the ownership of real estate.

Friday, April 11th at 4:30pm-5:30pm – How to Plan and Pay for College – With the average college education cost being $50,000 its more important now than ever to plan for college expenses.  Whether there is a need 18 years from now or right around the corner – we will show you strategies that will fund your child’s education.

If you can’t make our activities, there are still a long list of activities to get involved in.  Please get in touch with me if you’ve got anything I can help you out with!

All of our free classes are held at 939 Office Park Rd. in West Des Moines, Iowa.  If you’d like to come out, we’d love to have you.  Please RSVP if you’re planning on coming out.  We love to have a seat warmed up for you and a beverage ready for your arrival.

We hope to see you soon!

So, you (like everyone else) want to know what mortgage rates are going to do this week.  I’m here to help.

Have you ever asked a loan officer if they know what the mortgage market is doing and they respond with:

“Well, if I only had a crystal ball.. I’d be able to forecast exactly what they’ll do…”

The bad news is, they have no idea what they’re doing.  It’s a horrible line that just says “I’m not familiar with the factors that effect mortgage rates, but I can quote you a stellar rate right now!”   The good news is, you’ve found someone that does get it.  If you want to capitalize on the best mortgage rates with the best terms, you need to work with someone who can tell you what effects rates and when they will change.

Seriously, you need to stop rate shopping and start advice shopping. It will save you thousands more.

Here’s this week’s WealthWithMortgage economic calendar (still struggling on photo quality…I’m a mortgage guy, not a graphics guy.)

If you want to see market updates (and random rants) as they come available, please ‘Follow Me’ on Twitter! 

Oh, and I can help you if you’re considering buying or refinancing a home and are shopping advice – the phone’s always on (515-991-7102). 

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’d know that rates have increased as much as 1/2% since Monday.  If you haven’t been following me on Twitter, today – you might consider starting. The bus of low mortgage rates has left the station and it’ll be a while before it returns.

To understand why rates have been climbing this week, you first have to understand what mortgage rates are based on.  Mortgage rates directly correlate with value of mortgage backed securities (MBS).  Rates are NOT based on the 10 Year T-Note, stock market, or the fed funds rate (FFR).  These common misconceptions are due to the lack of visibility of MBS.  In order to receive live bond quotes, you have to pay to subscribe to a service (and it’s not cheap).

Ok, now for the specifics on WHY rates have increased (so much) this week.  When you buy a bond (like a mortgage backed security), you buy it and it will have a pre-determined amount paid over time.   If inflation is creeping up, that pre-determined payout is going worth less to the owner of that bond in the future.  Make sense?  When investors see inflation as a concern, they sell off their mortgage bonds and put their money elsewhere. 

The higher the value of a mortgage backed security, the lower an interest rate will be on a mortgage.  If the value falls, rates increase.  As I had mentioned, some individuals in my industry give advice to follow the 10-Year T-Note the same way I follow mortgage bonds.  I’m not one to laugh at other’s expense (actually, I sort of do), but take a look at what happened today (especially if you were watching the 10-Year T-Note):

 A loss of 103 basis points for MBS is a big one.  Rates worsened between 1/4% and 1/2% just Thursday.  If you or your loan originator were following the 10-Year T-Note, you missed the bus… and you will be spending thousands of dollars more over the life of your loan because of some bad advice.

Are you and your loan officer watching the right indicators?  Do you know when the best time to lock is? Is someone managing your mortgage?  Are you receiving top notch advice? Does your lender have access to live, real time, mortgage bond quotes?

If you answer no to any of these questions, we should chat. I love this stuff, seriously.  I look like a kid at a candy store when I’m watching bond quotes… It’s sick, it’s sad and you should take advantage of it.

First off, sorry for the short ‘vacation’.  I’ve been out and sick with the flu for the past week, still recovering as we speak.

Back to tax rebates – as you’ve probably heard, many American’s will be getting a check in the coming months.  Here are the details:

• Married couples will get as much as $1,200.
• Singles will get $600.
• Filers with children under 17 get $300 per child extra.
• Married couples must make at least $17,500, but no more than $150,000 to qualify for the rebates.
• Singles must make at least $87,500, but no more than $75,000.
• Seniors and disabled veterans also qualify using their social security benefits and disability income.
• You must file a 2007 tax return to qualify for the refund check.
• You must have a valid social security number to qualify.

If you’d like to figure out how much you should expect for your rebate, check out Kiplinger’s free calculator.

If you need a copy of the tax form to file (even if it’s simply for the purpose of getting the refund) here it is.

Tax season is here.  Keep in mind that your tax refund checks are sent after your taxes are filed.  As always, if you need more about filing taxes – I can recommend a CPA to assist you.

 Together we’re smarter.  Sometimes, instead of plagiarizing great posts… I’d rather just direct you to them.  Here is this week’s finds:

• How Mortgage Rates Went From (Relative) Riches to Rags in 30 Days by Dan Green @ The Mortgage Reports  – This really offers a great explanation of the events that have taken place in the past month that have slowly shaped the mortgage market.  One thing I must point out, Dan’s not the only one that has been predicting mortgage rates would increase!
• Quote of the Day: Kedrosky on Project Lifeline by Alex Stenback @ Behind The Mortgage – Always count on Alex to pick-up on great one liners from big names.  Opinions differ on the governments actions. I think it will help less than some anticipate… but It’s good to see an effort.
• Twitter’s Set Up- What’s Next? by Lani Anglin-Rosales @ Agent Genius – As a fellow twitter(er) I found this post extremely helpful.  I had no idea how to use this new social media tool for anything more than just posting a quick update.  Pretty handy stuff I’ll tell ya!
• Urgent Facebook Warning by Lani Anglin-Rosales @ Agent Genius – I’ve heard about Facebook publishing your every move.. I thought the feature had been disconnected.  (apparently it hasn’t been disconnected).  If you want to protect your web surfing (credit cards, website address, banking info) you should go follow this quick tutorial to avoid huge headaches in the future!

If you found something incredible.. quit hording it and share it already you punk.  Post them in the comments.

You may have already heard, but it’s done – Bush has signed the Economic Stimulus Bill.  The Bill will provide tax rebates between $300-$1,200.  The bill also included some changes for the lending industry.

As the bill has been passed, the loan limits for conventional loans and FHA loans will be increased once they are re-assessed.  I’ve been shared a website to find the new FHA limits as they’ve been released, that is posted below.  I will keep you in the loop as things move forward with the new loan limits with conventional loans.  For Iowans, these changes MOST LIKELY will not effect our loan limits since we haven’t seen the run up in values of our homes.  I will share a link as soon as it becomes available with conventional loan limits. 

Just a quick side note, I currently have access to professionally calculated estimates of the new limits.  However, I cannot share it on this blog since it is copy written information from another source only available to it’s members.  I would however answer questions on limits one on one if you’d like to e-mail me or shoot me a question from the questionnaire section on the right side of the page.  Eventually, these limits will be made public once they are reviewed and modified.  I’ll let you know when that happens.

The FHA limit’s website is: FHA Mortgage Limits

Sorry about the last minute reminder about this event.. but I promise – it’s worth your time!

The Big Dream Gathering is an event that is for the dreamers out there.  We’ve all got big dreams.  Some of us act on them, some of us bottle them up and never let them happen.   The Big Dream Gathering is an event where people can come freely, write down their dreams and post them for the world to see!  The process is totally anonymous and a super positive environment. 

When?  Friday, February 8th from 6pm to 9pm.
Where? Lutheran Church of Hope
            925 Jordan Creek Dr.
            West Des Moines, IA
Why?   Because it’s sure to be an awesome time with a ton of positive thinkers.
Who?   Anyone!
Cost?   Totally free!  You won’t be sold a CD package as you leave either.  Trust me, it’s worth your time.. the price is right.

One thing I must address (because it’s been asked numerous times), you don’t have to be a member of the church (i’m not).  This is an event totally open to the public, regardless of your religious beliefs.  I really don’t care what your faith is, as long as you have some. 

I hope to see you there!  If you’d like to hear more about the BDG or see some photos from the last event, check out www.bigdreamgathering.com!