Fed Day is Wednesday, Are You Locking in Your Rate?

September 22, 2009

FOMC Meetings Make a Big Impact on Market The Federal Open Market Committee starts a 2-day meeting today in Washington.  The scheduled get-together ends at 2:15 PM ET Wednesday after which the FOMC will issue a press release to the markets. Consider locking your mortgage in advance of the press release.  The FOMC meets 8 times […]

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Mortgage Market and Rate Forecast – Week of September 21st

September 21, 2009

Rates Could Rise or Fall In Large Numbers This week, the market moves on. Investors will watch several key releases including Existing Home Sales on Thursday, and Consumer Sentiment and New Homes Sales on Friday.  The most important event of the week by far, however, is the scheduled, 2-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.  The […]

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Mortgage Rates Respond to Positive & Negative News

September 21, 2009

Rates Finish Unchanged After Friday Afternoon Spike After improving in the two prior weeks, mortgage markets finished last week unchanged overall. Mortgage rates were down early in the week but managed to give up all of their gains late-Friday afternoon.  It’s the same volatility variety we’ve seen in most weeks this year. Markets moved on to both positive- […]

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New Construction Rates Show Housing Market is Recovering

September 18, 2009

One Down Month Doesn’t Spell Disaster Housing Starts on single-family homes took a step backwards last month, falling month-over-month for the first time since January. A “housing start” is new home on which construction has started. Don’t let the slowdown fool you, however — the housing market’s recovery is still very much underway. Sales volume is up in most cities […]

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Consider Taxation Before Using Your 401K For a Down Payment

September 15, 2009

401K Loans Can Be Easy to Get As downpayment requirements increase, anecdotally, home buyers are tapping 401(k) plans for extra cash. Classified as a “hardship withdrawal”, loans against your retirement funds can be cheap and simple. There’s no credit check or approval process There’s only a small set of paperwork Money can be available in as […]

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Mortgage Market and Rate Forecast – Week of September 14th

September 14, 2009

What Moves the Market? This week, data returns. In addition to the Consumer and Producer Price Indices — “Cost of Living reports” for households and businesses, respectively — markets will also digest a Retail Sales report, Housing Starts for August, and 3 speeches from members of the Federal Reserve. Each has the power to move markets. Furthermore, Wall […]

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Mortgage Rates Fell For the Second Straight Week

September 14, 2009

Friday Rates Jumped 8% in the Last 90 Minutes of Trading Mortgage markets improved last week, briefly touching their best levels in 3 months.  However, a rough Friday afternoon took away some of those gains. Mortgage rates touched their lowest levels of the week Friday morning before tacking on an eighth-percent or more over the […]

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Credit Scores Determine Your Mortgage Rate

September 11, 2009

What Makes Up Your Credit Score? Since 2007, mortgage lenders have clamped down in many areas of underwriting, but none more so than in the area of credit scoring. Minimum FICO levels are up 120 points or more and conforming mortgage lenders now levy large fees on borrowers whose scores are below 740. Keeping your credit scores high […]

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Most Foreclosures Are Concentrated In Just A Few States

September 10, 2009

Two States Account For Over 43% of U.S. Foreclosures Once again, the country’s foreclosures are concentrated in just a few states. As reported by foreclosure-tracking company RealtyTrac.com, more than 50 percent of the country’s foreclosure-related actions in August occurred in just four states: California : 25.76 percent Florida : 17.4 percent Michigan :  5.4 percent Nevada […]

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What is a Quitclaim Deed and When Do You Do It?

September 9, 2009

What is a Quitclaim Deed? By its most common definition, a quitclaim deed is a document by which one person passes legal and financial ownership of a home to another person. It’s also a way for an owner of a home to remove himself from the title to the property. Often misspelled as “quick claim deed” […]

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