Or at least I thought so. Am I missing something? Why would anyone pay points on their mortgage? A couple days ago, a friend asked me to fax some papers for her. She is divorced and finally refinancing into a mortgage of her own. The house is hers and this is only right. She has been making the payments since the divorce alone. These pages were to lock in a rate. Typical, I think this is …

More: continued here

‘Things Will Be Fine in 2009′ February 29th, 2008 It’s been my contention for several months now that the number of homes sold in metro Phoenix in 2008 will be a bit better than 2007 but still very low. However, 2009 will be in the range of a normal year as far as number of homes sold. At least that’s my guess. And as I talk to people it appears that that is becoming the conventional wisdom. That view is spectacularly summarized in this quote from Kieran Quinn, “Things will be fine in 2009.

More: continued here

Fixed mortgage rates increased for the third week in a row, with the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate now 6.41 percent. According to Bankrate.com ’s weekly national survey of large lenders, the average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.4 discount and origination points.

More: continued here

One month ago today, our site-of-the-day was You Walk Away Dot Com. Today, there is a front page NYTimes article about — anyone? anyone? — You Walk Away.com: “Then in January he learned about a new company in San Diego called You Walk Away that does just what its name says. For $995, it helps people walk away from their homes, ceding them to the banks in foreclosure… You Walk Away is a small sign of broad changes in the way many Americans look at housing. In an era in which new types

More: continued here

It is just another Friday in Febuary — cold, more snow, and no sign of sunlight. It has been a brutal winter with many places setting records for snowfall amounts, cold temperatures, and consecutive days without seeing the sun. I’m getting quite anxious to see some warmer temperatures and to get all of this snow off the ground. In addition, the snow and the shoveling that goes along with it has claimed another victim this week. At some point a few days ago, I was out shoveling our walkway so I

More: continued here

Negotiating the terms of your loan can be as important as negotiating the sales price of your new investment property. Interest rates and closing cost a huge part of cash flow and return on investment, with the proper due diligent and negotiations, investors can be rewarded on every real estate transaction. What can actually be negotiated? Closing costs and interest rates are probably the first thing investors try to negotiate, but there are others like, time, appraisal and title, volume disc

More: continued here

See that guy running, the guy in the green sweater? He just heard rates are plunging. He has been on the fence. No more. He is headed to call his lender. As of late rates have been somewhat tied to the stock market. Money running from stocks goes to fixed instruments, helping the mortgage rate. So two factors, negative to part of our life, help the mortgage part of the economy nationally. Those are lower dollar bringing in foreign (Europe and Canada Mostly) lower rates helping marginal buyer

More: continued here

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for a third straight week, hitting the highest level in more than three months. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.

More: continued here

Treasury chief cool to ‘big interventions’ Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson turned up the heat on borrowers and lenders who might be expecting a blanket government bailout from the current downturn in housing prices.

More: continued here

You Walk Away. This is a company that for $995, will help people cede their houses to the bank in foreclosure: You Walk Away is a small sign of broad changes in the way many Americans look at housing. In an era in which new types of loans allowed many home buyers to move in with little or no down payment, and to cash out any equity by refinancing, the meaning of homeownership and foreclosure have changed, economists and housing experts say. Last year the median down payment on home purchases

More: continued here