2006

Provided by Mortgage Track
Mercury News
Average Rates

May 19th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

Long term Mortgage Interest rates drifted higher this week!

This week, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.60% (with an average of 0.5 points) for the week ending May 18, 2006. This average is HIGHER from last week; which was at 6.58%.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.23% for the same week (with an average of 0.5 points). This average is slightly HIGHER from last week when it averaged 6.22%.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.62% for the same week (with an average of 0.7 points). This average is UNCHANGED from last week when the average was at 5.62%.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, explained “While financial markets try to decipher the spate of recently released economic reports, mortgage rates drifted s lightly higher,” “The current debate is between rising inflation and slower consumer spending. Until the market finds out which influence will be the strongest, mortgage rates should continue to fluctuate as they have the last couple of weeks.”

If you are thinking about refinancing those interest only, option arm or a short term hybrid arm, do it now get an fixed rate mortgage or a long term hybrid arm.

May 19th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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Avoiding FORECLOSURE!!

Research released by Realty track shows that there are 70% more foreclosures since last year.

Generally it takes a few months before this happens but there are events that happen that lead up to this ugly ending.

If you are a homeowner that has been late a few times with your mortgage, don’t worry; you will not loose your home that easily. Typically if you are late with a few payments, the lender will contact you and generally if you missed 3 or more payments, your lender will begin to move towards foreclosure. Once the process starts, the time it takes for you to be out on the street depends on each state, which could be from 3 to 10 months. The FHA loans require at least a 6-month period said Brian Montgomery, Assistant Secretary of Housing at the Department of Home and Urban Development (HUD).

To prevent foreclosure on your home, there are many things you can do. First, DO NOT buy-into a dangerous loan that you cannot afford. If you are falling behind on your mortgage payments and the lender contacts you, the worst thing you can do is ignore their phone calls. Take action by contacting them and letting them know your situation. If you have fallen ill or had a temporary loss of income, you will be amazed how many lenders want to work with you to keep you in that house because foreclosures are very expensive for lenders.

Depending on the lenders, they will either want to restructure the loan or stretch the loan to help you get out of trouble. Lenders would much rather receive their money for the loan then have to go through the process of foreclosure.

And finally if you are in a situation where you can refinance, do it now but don’t make the same mistake twice and get a loan that really fits your financial situation.

UPDATE Sept 17th 2007: Before making an important decision as a short sale or foreclosure you must read these other articles from the “Homeowner’s guide to preventing foreclosure”

May 18th, 2006 · Filed Under Foreclosure-Short Sale Information

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Mortgage Interest rates were mixed this week!

This week, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.58% (with an average of 0.5 points) for the week ending May 11, 2006. This average is slightly LOWER from last week; which was at 6.59%.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.22% for the same week (with an average of 0.5 points). This average is slightly HIGHER from last week when it averaged 6.21%.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.62% for the same week (with an average of 0.7 points). This average is LOWER from last week when the average was at 5.67%.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, explained “Less-than-expected job growth in April helped mortgage rates to level off this week. Even ARM rates were little affected by the Federal Reserve’s increase in the federal funds rate” “However, next week’s release of the April Consumer and Producer Price Indexes may lift mortgage rates higher if the figures show an acceleration in inflation.”

If you are thinking about refinancing those interest only, option arm or a short term hybrid arm, do it now get an fixed rate mortgage or a long term hybrid arm.

May 16th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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2006 Year of the Buyer!!!

Lets start with some facts from year 2005. Last year, we had a strong economy and we also enjoyed very low interest rates. Interest rates were the lowest in 2003, even though they have been creeping up each year gradually, the combination of low interest rates and strong economy fueled the housing boom; which seemed to have ended in 2005.

For 2006, seller’s need to keep in mind that the party is over. If you were holding onto your property in 2005, hoping to make more money in 2006, I got news for you: “You missed the boat.” But there are many things you can do still to enjoy the profits from the sale of your home like fixing up your home, replace that old carpet, repaint the house, etc, etc.

I hope my readers (sellers) don’t think that I am trying to put them into panic mode. I am just trying to make you understand that in most areas you cannot hope to sell you home for the same price you could have sold in the middle of 2005. Prices have dipped a little and they are taking longer to sell but we still have a healthy normal market, which is where we really needed to be. Last couple of years were not normal markets, it was mainly a seller’s market but it got out of control in some areas of the country where they saw too much appreciation for their own good.

I am NOT telling you that the market “bubble” is going to burst but it is definitely deflating and this my friends, will give buyers a very good chance to get a good deal on a home.

Purchasing a home is an excellent investment, the Government subsidizes it, we still have low interest rates and over all Real Estate is the best investment you can ever make in your life.

If your are currently thinking but have not yet decided to buy a home, you should know that by the end of the year interest rates will be close to 7%, therefore you need to be very well prepared and do your homework early.

If you are currently thinking bout selling your home, understand your local market and do the fix ups and repairs needed to entice homebuyers and remember that buyers don want to spend more money on a home after they bought it.

May 8th, 2006 · Filed Under Real Estate Information

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Buying a home: Getting started

First thing you should do is fix your credit. It might not be too late for you to start fixing your credit. If you know what to do and how to do it, you could enjoy offers of low interest rates for your mortgage if you have a high credit score. You can obtain your free credit history once a year from each one of the credit bureaus by visiting the only place that is legally authorized to give you a FREE credit report www.annualcreditreport.com. This report will only give you your credit history but if you are looking for you credit score, then you can visit www.equifax.com or www.experian.com or www.transunion.com.

You don’t need to pay anybody any money to fix your credit score, you can do it on your own and it is very easy. Once you have worked on your credit score, the next thing is to get pre-qualified for a loan amount. This step is very crucial because many buyers and homeowners are taken advantage of because they felt uncomfortable asking questions.

Some tips to follow when searching for a loan is to start early, shop around and ASK QUESTIONS. Ask your loan officer or agent to explain to you the pros and cons of each loan program he offers you so you understand it. If he does not want to take the time to do this, don’t trust him/her.

A loan officer or agent that is working with you to obtain a loan for you, should give you a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) with-in 3 days detailing all the costs you will be charged. If you don’t agree or some fees don’t make sense, question them. Loan officers and agents DO NOT work for charity and we deserve to be paid for the work we do but at the same time we have a duty of honesty to our clients. Be aware that there are people that will look at you and only see $$$ dollar signs.

If you decide to look for a better offer, use the GFE to guide you and compare other offers. You have to also understand that every offer will be a little different because interest rates fluctuate daily but you could compare most costs and the type loan program between lenders.

If you are looking for a Real Estate and/or Mortgage broker, try not to respond to solicitations. I am NOT saying all solicitors are predators but ALL predators solicite heavily.

Find someone you trust, with a good track record or a referral from a close friend or family. Once you start looking for a house DO NOT fall in love with the house you want to put in an offer. By not doing this, you can negotiate with your wallet and not your heart. If you negotiate with your heart, your wallet will suffer the consequences of buying too much house, obtaining a bad loan program just to buy the house, etc.

When you do your research ahead of time and you don’t involve your heart in the process, you will always come out on top when buying Real Estate.

May 8th, 2006 · Filed Under Real Estate Information

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Mortgage watch 5/5/2006

Provided by Mortgage Track
Mercury News
Average Rates

May 5th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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Gradual rise in fixed rate mortgage rates continued this week!

This week, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.59% (with an average of 0.6 points) for the week ending May 4, 2006. This average is slightly HIGGER from last week; which was at 6.58%.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.21% for the same week (with an average of 0.7 points). This average remained UNCHANGED from last week when it averaged 6.21%.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.67% for the same week (with an average of 0.8 points). This average went slightly LOWER from last week when the average was at 5.68%.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, explained “Mortgage rates have drifted upward for the sixth week running, which is consistent with Freddie Mac’s economic forecast” “We expect that mortgage rates will continue to trend upward over the coming year, but that upward trend will be modest at best” “Meanwhile, with gradually rising rates, refinance activity can be expected to shift. Fewer families will be refinancing, but of those who are, a larger percentage will be drawing some equity out of their homes, many to pay off previously existing home equity loans and lines of credit as those loans become more expensive.”

Attention everyone with an interest only, option arm or a short term hybrid arm, don’t wait until interest rates creep up more, refinance for a fixed rate mortgage or a long term hybrid arm and take advantage NOW of the slow rise on interest rates.

May 5th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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