US Senate Passes $150 Billion Stimulus Package

February 11, 2008

It’s official. On Thursday, the Senate passed the proposed $150 billion stimulus package aimed to avoid a recession sparked by a mighty messy credit market.  The stimulus package includes tax rebates up to $1,200 for households with an additional $300 per child.  To qualify, individuals must make less than $75,000 and families must have incomes […]

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Big Dream Gathering Tonight!

February 8, 2008

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 […]

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Proposed Legislative Updates for Iowa

February 7, 2008

As always, the government is trying to modernize the laws that we abide by.  There are currently three bills that I’m watching proposed here in Iowa. House Bill 551 / Senate Bill 3107 : Agency Duty for Mortgage Brokers In summary, this is a bill that proposes Mortgage Brokers treat a relationship as an ‘agency […]

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Don’t Be Surprised That Rate Cuts = Higher Mortgage Rates

February 6, 2008

With frequent talk of cutting the Fed Funds Rate (FFR) going forward, I figure it’s a pretty good time to discuss the effects of a Fed Cut and the translation into mortgage rates.  Often, this is a very misunderstood subject, and rightfully so.  There just isn’t enough good information out there – period.  The media, […]

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Des Moines, Iowa – Real Esate Market Watch 1/28/08 – 2/3/08

February 5, 2008

Numbers are always extremely important to consider when buying, selling and financing a home.  Each week, I receive a weekly market watch update providing the breakdown of the activity from last week.  The report is provided by Heather Barglof at Peoples Company. As I continue to get them, I will continue to post them (with […]

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Taking Advantage of a Shotty Situation…

February 4, 2008

First off, I want to be clear – this website really makes me sick seeing it and in NO way do I endorse it. With that said, are you really surprised it exists?  I’m not.  www.YouWalkAway.com Here are a couple of my favorite takeaways, courtesy of www.YouWalkAway.com: Ask Yourself: Are you stressed out about your […]

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Des Moines Market Watch 1/21/08 – 1/27/2008

January 30, 2008

Numbers are always extremely important to consider when buying, selling and financing a home.  Each week, I recieve a weekly market watch update providing the breakdown of the activity from last week.  The report is provided by Heather Barglof at Peoples Company. As I continue to get them, I will continue to post them (with […]

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Better Know a Mortgage Term, Jumbo Loans Edition

January 29, 2008

I’ve spent days pondering how to make this as funny as Stephen Colbert’s hilarious segment ‘Better Know a District’.  Very quickly, I realized that his humor is in his interviewing… so I guess I’m out of luck in that respect. However, I do know that too often terminology is used in the mortgage industry (much […]

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Government Plans to Throw Mortgage Borrowers a Bone

January 28, 2008

 On Thursday of last week, President Bush announced the new Federal Stimulus Package.  In a market that sort of needs a bone thrown, government is trying to step in and do what they can.  The package includes mortgage reform targeted at pushing more liquidity into the real estate market.  In the spirit of being an […]

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Des Moines Market Watch 1/14/08 – 1/20/08

January 24, 2008

Numbers are extremely important to consider when buying, selling and financing a home. Imagine what it would be like if there was simply a national weather forecast. Crazy thought huh? (Especially since it was 6 below on my drive into work today) It is also tough to have a comprehensive national real estate market report […]

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