From the monthly archives: January 2009

Get 17% More, 40% Faster – Real Estate Staging

On January 30, 2009 By

Super Bowl Weekend traditionally marks the start of the Spring Buying Season in real estate. Anecdotally, real estate agents will tell you that buyer activity tends to tick higher at this time of the year.

Meanwhile, with mortgage rates still trolling near all-time lows and Congress debating a first-time homebuyer tax credit, [...]

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Q&A with Recent Web Visitors

On January 29, 2009 By

We have a few tools on our site that catalog recently asked questions.  Since search engines don’t always bring guests to the right page, here are a few answers to recent searches of our site:

Q:  Who qualifies for the mortgage relief from the federal reserve? Q:  how to remove my name from pre [...]

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Explaining the Fed – Plain English Version

On January 28, 2009 By

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged today. It remains within a target range of 0.000-0.250 percent.

In its press release, the FOMC reiterated most of the key points from its December 2008 statement, including:

The U.S. employment outlook continues to deteriorate Consumers and businesses [...]

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The Fed, Expectations, and Mortgage Rates

On January 28, 2009 By

The Federal Open Market Committee adjourns from its 2-day meeting today.

The monetary policy-setting group is expected leave the Fed Funds Rate within its current target range of 0.00-0.250 percent.

This is the lowest range for the Fed Funds Rate in history and, frankly, there isn”t much room left to go lower. Therefore, markets [...]

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Are these the signs of a housing recovery?

On January 27, 2009 By

Falling helped fuel home sales. Nationally, the median sales price — the point at which half of all homes sold for more and half sold for less — was $175,400, down $32,000 from last year.

However, the most important part of Decem

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Mortgage Markets In Review : January 26, 2008

On January 26, 2009 By

Mortgage markets deteriorated last week on the heels of weak economic data and uninspiring corporate earnings.

Mortgage rates rose for the second week in a row. They”re now measurably higher than the low point set 3 weeks ago.

For mortgage rate shoppers, though, last week”s most important stories weren”t necessarily last week”s most reported stories; [...]

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Move-Up Homebuyers Face New Lending Challenges This Spring

On January 23, 2009 By

When a homeowner sells his home and decides to buy a new one, there are 3 basic options for the residence — sell it, keep it, or rent it.

Unfortunately, no matter which path they choose, move-up homebuyers in need of a new conforming mortgage will find qualifying for a home loan to be more [...]

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Mortgage Rates? At a Bottom?

On January 22, 2009 By

Versus last week, 30-year fixed, conforming mortgage rates are up 0.16% on average nationwide. On a $200,000 home loan, this equates to a roughly $20 extra per month, or $7,055 over the life of a 30-year loan.

The Era of Low Rates may not be ov

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Home Values Interactive Chart

On January 21, 2009 By

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index is a popular measure of domestic , released monthly.

The index reports on the largest 20 U.S. markets, painting a broad picture of real estate values nationwide.

Despite the Case-Shiller Index”s two obvious [...]

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Mortgage Markets In Review : January 20, 2008

On January 20, 2009 By

After a strong start Monday and Tuesday, mortgage markets suffered alongside stock markets in the latter half of last week, leaving mortgage rates higher on the week overall.

Market losses were especially steep Friday and mortgage rates headed into the long weekend on a strong uptick.

Regardless, the reasons that mortgage rates rose last week [...]

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