Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates didn't have a chance today. Borrowing costs started moving higher early in the session and never looked back. As the day progressed, agency MBS prices fell further and lenders were forced to reprice for the worse. Par 30-year fixed 4.25% quotes are still on the board, but closing costs are at least 15bps higher (+0.15% of loan amount). That's really a best case scenario though. If you're a passenger on the float boat, your closing costs probably increased by about 0.25% today. 4.375% is almost the new par. But 4.25% is definitely still do-able for very well-qualified borrowers (no loan level price adjustments). Now 4.125%, that might be tough. That quote is costing perfect borrowers about 2pts. The culprit of this event? Well. We can't factor out a religious holiday: Rosh Hashanah...(read more)

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

MBS prices are officially 8 ticks below lender loan pricing marks. REPRICES FOR THE WORSE HAVE BEEN REPORTED The earlier you received your rate sheet...the more likely you are to see a reprice for the worse in your inbox....(read more)

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has weighed in on the proposed framework for conservatorship and receivership operations for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks set forward by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). In a letter to FHFA General Counsel Alfred M. Pollard, Esq ., MBA President and CEO John A. Courson and Chairman-Elect Michael D. Berman said their concerns about the framework are threefold: it is "overly theoretical;" it is unclear what the trigger would be for placing the entities into receivership, and third, the goals of any receivership are unclear. FHFA was established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), replacing three other agencies with various responsibilities for regulating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (the Enterprises)...(read more)

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Interested in owning a second home, but can?t afford it? You may want to consider a fractional interest property instead. Check out this NEW Field Guide to find out more on this exciting prospect.
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NAR members have access to a wealth of information relating to the real estate industry from our website, Realtor.org. Now we are providing members with alternate resources to assist in their success. Various academic institutions and independent organizations around the U.S. have established research centers to study real estate-related issues and trends. These resources include state and local association library/research sources, as well as Internet sites. This Updated Field Guide includes contact information for many of these research centers.
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Web design has evolved dramatically since the Internet was founded. Is your association Web site W3 or ADA compliant? Do you use XML? Are your navigation menus logical and easy to use? Is the writing acceptable for the web? Would a blog or twitter feed work on your site? Consult the articles and helpful tips in this Updated Field Guide to assist in the redesign of your association's web site for the 21st century.
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This may all be old-hat to you but for many people it's a completely new world and if you can make it a little more comprehensible they will look to you for advice and hopefully a new home
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A home is a major investment This is why we want to make sure that everything goes smoothly during the purchasing process It is likely to encounter issues during the course of the transaction This is due to the number of processes we have to deal with This is why real estate agents are necessary They can make the entire process a lot easier We do not have to deal with the paper works because our agent is going to take care of that for us We can also turn to an agent if we wish to sell our home Sellers agents will help us sell our home for the best value
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But not only do agents need to be aware of bogus clients but the rise in unemployment and homelessness in some parts of the country has seen an increase in the numbers of squatters moving into empty properties
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