Financing For Investors Just Got Easier! (Again..)

February 11, 2009

New Rules (Or Should We Say Old, Modified Rules…) Friday, Fannie Mae rolled-back one of its least popular mortgage guidelines updates of the last year. Starting March 1, 2009, real estate investors can once again own and finance up to 10 individual properties.  Before that warm-fuzzy feeling takes over, there is a catch. The Additions to […]

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Des Moines Iowa Real Estate Market Recap – Week of February 3rd, 2009

February 10, 2009

What’s The Real Estate Market Doing? Do you ever wonder how our real estate market is here in Des Moines? Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time listening to how rough things are in other cities around the country, but too often we don’t really consider what our real estate climate is like. I’m a […]

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Mortgage Market and Rate Forecast – Week of February 9th

February 8, 2009

Reports May Be Slow, But News Sure Isn’t! This week is a quiet one when it comes to scheduled economic reports being delivered, but there’s still plenty of news that could shake the markets, including updates on the Stimulus Plan still making its way through Congress. Mark-to-market talk has also been pretty heavy in the […]

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Mortgage Market and Rate Recap – Week of February 2nd

February 8, 2009

Unemployment Climbs On Friday, unemployment jumped to 7.6%.  What I found most interesting, was that the number of part-time workers increased dramatically as well.  I’m sure that many part-time workers would rather be full-time, but are simply taking what they can get. Added up, the number of underutilized workers now represent over 15% of the […]

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Looking For a Stable Housing Market? Look For Cities With Job Growth!

February 6, 2009

Unemployment is Rising Employment figures released this morning show that the economy has now lost 3.6 million jobs since December 2007, included close to half that in the last 3 months alone.  The Unemployment Rate is now 7.6% nationally. Fortunately jobs aren’t fading in every housing market equally. Some Parts of The Country Are Growing […]

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Today’s Rates Make Homes More Affordable!

February 5, 2009

Looking Back Take a look at this chart.  Comparing July’s conforming mortgage rates to today’s average rates, there’s a 1.5 percent difference in favor of homeowners. The Proof is in the Pudding Rate drops like that make big differences in a household budget and improving cash flow.  Look at these before-and-after payments, based on rates […]

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Home Buyers Are Out In Full Force, Do You Believe It?

February 4, 2009

Sales Are Increasing On Tuesday, The National Association of Realtors (NAR) published a report stating that Pending Home Sales ticked higher in December 2008.  For clarification’s sake, a “pending home sale” is a home under contract to sell, but not yet closed. NAR positions Pending Home Sales report as a predictor of future activity, suggesting […]

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Mortgage Market and Rate Forecast – Week of February 2nd, 2009

February 1, 2009

Is Inflation on the Rise? On Monday, we will get the details on the Fed’s favorite gauge of inflation, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index, it’s found within the Personal Income report. As I’d mentioned in the recap from last week, the Fed said they believe that “inflation pressures will remain subdued in coming […]

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Mortgage Market and Rate Recap – Week of January 26th

February 1, 2009

The Fed Keeps It’s Course Big news this week was that on Wednesday, the Fed decided to keep the Fed Funds Rate steady at the current 0 – .25% range, the lowest it’s ever been. They also indicated that “economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the Federal Funds Rate for some […]

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New Challenges Are Ahead for Homebuyers This Spring

January 29, 2009

When Selling a Home You Have Options When a homeowner sells their home and decide to buy a new one, there are 3 basic options for the residence: Sell it. Keep it. Rent it. Things Are Changing Unfortunately, no matter which path they choose, move-up homebuyers looking for a new conforming mortgage will find qualifying for […]

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