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Money Magazine’s Best Places To Live 2007

August 2, 2007

Money Magazine recently listed their 2007 Top 100 Places To Live with Middleton, WI topping the list. The full Top 10 list, in order: Middleton, WI Hanover, NH Louisville, CO Lake Mary, FL Claremont, CA Papillion, NE Milton, MA Chaska, MN Wallingford, PA Suwanee, GA How did Middleton get to number one?  The formula seems […]

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Why Bad News For Stocks Can Be Good News For Mortgage Rates

August 1, 2007

Money leaving the stock market helped mortgage rates move lower yesterday.  As the Dow swung from a 140-point gain to a 140-point loss in a matter of hours, dollars were looking for a place to “park”. Mortgage bonds were one beneficiary. When investors sell stocks in a portfolio, they don’t always want to keep the […]

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Why Alerting Your Mortgage Lender About Bad News In Advance Is Better Than Surprising Them

July 31, 2007

Having trouble paying your mortgage?  You aren’t alone.  According to RealtyTrac, 1 out of every 134 homes filed for foreclosure in the first half of 2007. More and more, though, mortgage companies are doing their best to work things out with delinquent homeowners. Loss of a job or a sudden medical emergency are just some […]

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Pros and Cons of Checkbook Control for Self Directed IRA’s

July 30, 2007

One of the things that I do in my business is help people buy real estate inside their IRA’s and 401(k)’s. There is an article on Producers web by Tom Anderson the President of Pensco Trust–one of the nation’s most trusted Self Directed IRA and 401(k) custodians. This article deals with a hot topic in […]

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Why You Should Approach Tomorrow’s Existing Home Sales Headlines With Some Skepticism

July 25, 2007

June’s Existing Home Sales reported weaker than expected and dropped from prior levels, according to the National Association of REALTORS. Because our country (A) loves to discuss real estate, and (B) loves statistical headlines, expect tomorrow’s newspapers to emblazon one (or both) of these data points on the front page: Home sales are down 3.8% from […]

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The Biggest Banks Are Eliminating The Most Prevalent Sub-Prime Loan

July 24, 2007

Mixed news from the sub-prime sector, depending on how you look at it. Many lenders discontinuing their short-term ARM products. Washington Mutual, Countrywide and Wells Fargo are among the sub-prime lenders no longer offering the 2/28 mortgage product. The “2/28” is a adjustable rate mortgage in which the interest rate remains fixed for two years, […]

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Why Medical Bills Are More Dangerous To Homeowners Than ARMs

July 20, 2007

If you own a home and somebody else depends on your income, consider that the leading cause of home foreclosures is not “adjustable rate mortgages”. As cited many times over (including by a Harvard law professor), the answer is medical bills. Even for the insured, medical expenses can dramatically impact a family’s finances and push […]

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Simple Steps To Keep Home Insurance Costs Down

July 19, 2007

As homeowners insurance premiums rise across the nation, Bankrate.com writes a helpful story on ways to keep your premiums down.  The tips may surprise you. Some of the highlights include: Don’t think a series of small claims is better than one big claim.  The smaller clains are more expensive to process for an insurer and may […]

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How Ben Bernanke’s Testimony To Congress Is Moving Mortgage Rates

July 18, 2007

Despite lower prices at the gas pump, the Consumer Price Index increased a little bit more than expected in June. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI rose 0.2% versus the 0.1% expected by economists CPI tries to answer the question “How expensive is everyday life?”.  Over the last 12 months, says the government, “life” […]

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Trade In Your Automobile For A Larger Home?

July 17, 2007

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the average American family spends $614 a month on automobiles.  This includes finance payments, gasoline, repairs, and insurance. Let’s relate that $614 per month to home buying. Based on a 6.500 percent, fully-amortizing mortgage payment, that same $614 yields an equivalent of $97,000 in additional home purchasing power. […]

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When Everyone Spends A Little Less, We All Save A Little More

July 13, 2007

Weakness in Retail Sales data this morning is causing a knee-jerk reaction in trading circles, edging mortgage rates lower this morning. Against expectations of a flat reading, retailers reported a 0.9% decrease in sales volume in June.  This is the largest reported drop in two years. As we’ve discussed before, though, when looking at data […]

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Do 500 People Speak For The Whole Country?

July 12, 2007

On the week, mortgage rates are slightly improved as traders keep a watchful eye on tomorrow’s Retail Sales report. Largely, markets want to know how Americans are using their disposable income.  Are they buying big-ticket items like automobiles?  Are they buying luxury items?  Are they buying appliances and home goods? Retail Sales is released at […]

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How The End Of Credit Score Piggybacking Could Damage Your Credit Rating

July 12, 2007

Credit “piggybacking” used to be a handy way to boost a person’s credit score in order to help them get a home loan approval.  Starting in September, it’s going the way of the Dodo bird. Piggybacking involves linking one person’s strong credit rating to another person’s weak credit rating. By adding the latter as an […]

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Before You Rush To Make Bi-Weekly Mortgage Payments…

July 11, 2007

Before paying down your mortgage balance with extra principal payments, be sure to plan carefully. The biggest risk in lending for banks is that you will suddenly stop paying your mortgage.  In that event, the banks hope that you owe them as little as possible against the value of the home. That way, your mortgage balance […]

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The Changing Opinion of How Rising Gas Prices Affects Consumers

July 10, 2007

Crude oil prices have been increasing lately and that tends to lead to higher gas prices at the pump. The heat map at right is courtesy of GasBuddy.com, a Web site that tracks gas prices on a national, state, county, city and hyper-local basis. According to GasBuddy.com, gasoline prices are beginning to rise after 7 […]

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How Revisions To Previously-Released Data Are Pushing Mortgage Rates Higher Today

July 6, 2007

On a stronger-than-expected jobs report and upward revisions to April and May’s figures, mortgage rates are moving higher this morning. Against an expectation of 120,000, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that 132,000 new jobs were created in June.  This not a huge deal in and of itself. It’s the revisions that are causing […]

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Three Reasons Why Mortgage Rates Are Higher This Morning

July 5, 2007

Mortgage markets are making like last night’s fireworks, exploding in the sky with a bang. There are three main factors pushing rates higher today: Bank of England raised their interest rates by 0.25% and foreshadowed future increases European Central Bank Chairman Jean-Claude Trichet said that inflation is “likely to rise again significantly towards the end […]

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The Oldest And Shortest Written Constitution Of Any Major Government Belongs To The U.S.

July 3, 2007

In honor of Independence Day, here are 13 little-known bits of trivia about the United States constitution, courtesy of constitutionfacts.com: The first constitution was not known as the Declaration of Independence.  It was called the Articles of Confederation. The U.S. Constitution has 4,400 words. It is the oldest and shortest written Constitution of any major […]

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The Week In Review (July 2, 2007) : What To Watch For

July 2, 2007

As expected, Ben Bernanke & Co. left the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at 5.250% last week but that didn’t stop markets from improving slightly overall. Markets were buoyed by a low reading on last Friday’s PCE index, the Fed’s favored inflation measure. Low inflation readings are good for mortgage rates so it’s no surprise that […]

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Which Way Will They Go? Inflation Up, Growth Down, Or Both?

June 28, 2007

The Federal Open Market Committee adjourns from a two-day meeting today and so this is a good time to remind yourself: The Fed does not control mortgage rates. Rather, the Fed sets the Federal Funds Rate. And the FFR is, in turn, used to determine Prime Rate. Prime Rate, in turn, is used to determine […]

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