Bob's Blog

Helping Past Clients With A Forensic Mortgage Audit

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:41:19 -0600

I know that both Realtors and Loan Officers have past clients who are either behind on their mortgage or are upside down on their home. Many are looking for help and guidance from their real estate professional. Here is one answer.

My mortgage practice has evolved to include a consulting service for distressed homeowners. I offer a free phone consultation to help people understand which option is the right choice for them and the costs associated with that choice.

Their options may include loan modification, forbearance, a short sale, or even a deed in lieu agreement. The problem is that lenders are simply not modifying loans in any meaningful way because there really is no incentive to do so.

If they are in an ARM, I may suggest a "forensic mortgage audit" to see if the closing documents and deed of trust contain violations of Federal or State law. You may not realize that as many as 80% of all ARMs originated since 2001 contain violations of the many State and Federal anti Predatory Lending laws. If errors are found, a homeowner will have a significantly better chance of negotiating a favorable modification agreement or forbearance on their own without spending thousands on a "loan modification" company.

A successful forensic mortgage audit will force the lenders' hand. When facing their options: modification, foreclosure, litigation, or stiff federal fines and penalties, many lenders will choose Loan Modification as their most financially sensible option.

If they choose legal action against the lender, their attorney will be able to stop any foreclosure proceedings immediately and they can often remain in the home without making payments until the case is resolved.

There are several provisions in the new housing rescue bill signed into law recently that may help by refinancing based on the current value and without credit qualifying. If the homeowners are 62 or older, I have used a reverse mortgage several times to keep people in their homes. Again, without credit qualifying.

The difficulty for most distressed home owners is in understanding which of the confusing programs is the best choice and that is where I can help.

If your clients are interested in this free, no obligation service, I will need them to make a phone appointment. The calls generally last 30-45 minutes and can often be scheduled at a time convenient to them.

The information I will need includes:

•1) The current loan type, balance, payment, and interest rate

•2) I will need to know who the lender is

•3) I will need to know if they have received a Notice of Default

•4) I will need to know their current income

I have a "white paper" on the forensic mortgage audit process and would be happy to share it with you by email. The audits work and we are in fact keeping people in their homes.

Take care and God Bless. We will find a way out of this mess.

First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:55:01 -0500

One of the most exciting new provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 is the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. The credit is designed to encourage first-time homebuyers to go ahead and make the leap to purchase their first homes. Combine this tax credit with the fact that home prices are at historical lows, and indeed it is an ideal time for many first-time homebuyers to purchase homes.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

The credit is available for homes purchased between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009
The credit amounts to 10% of the purchase price of the home not to exceed $7,500
A first-time homebuyer is defined as someone who has not owned a home in the last three years
Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit
The tax credit works like an interest free loan and must be repaid over a 15 year period

How does a tax credit work?
A tax credit is a special provision that reduces income tax liability on a dollar for dollar basis. When filing a tax return, you must include income items, deduction items and the number of exemptions, among other things, to figure your total tax liability. If your total tax liability ends up being $7,500, and you qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit, this credit would be applied and would wipe out all of the tax due. If your employer had already deducted the $7,500 from your pay checks throughout the year, you would receive a tax refund of $7,500.

Does the credit have to be repaid?
Yes, the credit does have to be repaid, so it is really more like an interest free loan. Homebuyers will be required to repay the credit to the government, without interest, over 15 years or when they sell the house, if there is sufficient capital gain from the sale. For example, a homebuyer claiming a $7,500 credit would repay the credit at $500 per year. The home owner does not have to begin making repayments on the credit until two years after the credit is claimed. So if the tax credit is claimed on the 2008 tax return, a $500 payment is not due until the 2010 tax return is filed. If the home owner sold the home, then the remaining credit amount would be due from the profit on the home sale. If there was insufficient profit, then the remaining credit payback would be forgiven.

Can A Loan Officer help with Short Sales?

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:41:46 -0500

How can a Loan Officer involved in the Loss Mitigation business help a real estate investor and Realtor make money?

Actually, in several ways.

•1) We can help you stop wasting time chasing deals that will never close

•2) We can help you identify those deals that lenders will accept as a short sale

•3) We can help you determine the best price a lender will accept for a property

•4) We can help you get financing in this market

Here is the issue:

There are literally tens of thousands of homes that have already been foreclosed on, are about to be foreclosed, or the current owner is late on their mortgage payments and is heading into foreclosure. It really is tragic for the home owners but it is going to happen for most and it will happen regardless of any Government bail out package of Wall Street. Many industry analysts report that nearly $1,000,000,000,000 (yes, that is one Trillion Dollars) in adjustable rate mortgages will reset in 2009 and 2010.

Given the credit crisis we are in, only Pollyanna herself expects those payments will drop. The tsunami of foreclosures has not gotten here yet.

Sad as it is, the real estate market is what it is and we have to move on. If you are a real estate investor, or Realtor working with a client who is looking to buy a home for their family there are incredible bargains in every market in this country.

Here is the problem:

Most lender's Loss Mitigation departments are stupid. Their REO lists have exploded and they are adding more foreclosures every single day. The kids they have hired to "negotiate" short sales are overwhelmed, very poorly trained, and as hourly employees could really care less if the transaction closes or not.

If you are an investor, Realtor or God forbid, a home owner trying to move a transaction through this maze, I wish you luck. As a result, most people trying to negotiate a short sale fail miserably. Most of my investor clients report that they have invested hundreds of hours in getting these transactions to the table and they take months if they ever do close.

Here is the solution:

In addition to my mortgage practice, I have associated with a group of attorneys who practice exclusively in the loss mitigation area. The attorneys have proven their skills in negotiating short sales if that is in the client's interest. They have closed an incredible 86% of the short sales and 92% of the loan modification cases they have accepted in the last 6 months. I believe the reason they have been so successful is that they are reviewing both the closing documents and note for "actionable" errors and omissions and are escalating the negotiations from the lenders Loss Mitigation department to the Legal department. They also use a "prequalification" process to determine who they can help and what the cost of their services will be as every case is certainly different.

I have written a "white paper" on the loan modification and/or Short Sale process explaining what they are and how they can help you and your clients. If you would like a copy, either email me at bgammache@verizon.net or through AR and I will get it right out to you.

Bob Gammache CMPS

Short Sales. Would an attorney based negotiating team help?

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:23:42 -0500

Short Sales

Short sales have become a large and growing part of the real estate market today. Short sales are defined as a transaction where the seller and their lender accept a purchase contract for less than the amount owed on a property.

Short sales can prevent a costly foreclosure from a lender's and owner's perspective and from an investor's perspective, short sales may allow you to acquire a distressed property significantly below market value.

Short sales. even when beneficial to all parties, are notoriously difficult to negotiate unfortunately, given their complex nature and many homeowners and investors and their Realtors "give up" when the lender becomes difficult to deal with.

As a result, and as a part of my loan modification services, the attorney group I work with are offering to negotiate with the lender to bring short sales to a successful close and in a timely manner.

If you are a homeowner trying to negotiate a short sale of your home, you absolutely need legal representation to avoid a deficiency judgment after the sale.

If you are an investor trying to buy a property in a short sale, our attorneys can help you and the seller negotiate with the lender to actually get the transaction closed. While our attorneys represent the seller, they are working in the interest of getting the transaction done and can be very helpful in negotiating a win-win situation for all parties.

If you are a Realtor representing a homeowner, bringing in a skilled negotiating team of attorneys into the mix will often be the difference between closing quickly or simply adding one more foreclosed property to your local inventory.

Short Sales 101 is a FAQ that I wrote from the homeowners perspective that may be useful to you or your clients.

Short Sales 101 Financial hardships are often unforeseeable events. Thousands of people are in this situation. You are not alone.

But for now, take a long deep breath, and read the following information to learn more about our services. We can help save your home and possibly avoid foreclosure. Once you apply, our professional staff of specialists will evaluate your hardship and current financial situation. A representative will contact you immediately. You will rest easier knowing you have a team of professionals on your side through these hard times.

What is a short sale? A short sale is an agreement with a lender allowing for the sale of a property to a third party for less than the amount owed on the mortgage. Under this agreement, the lender accepts less than the amount owed and releases the borrower from the mortgage, thereby preventing foreclosure.. (This would include all excise tax, closing costs, agent commissions, etc.)

Why would my Mortgage Company want to allow a Short Sale to help me? That is a simple answer, the short sale can save your mortgage company thousands of dollars. The average savings for the companies range from $10,000 - $60,000. Good reason for lender to do a short sale.

When should I start my Short Sale? When you realize you can no longer afford the mortgage and cannot sell the property for what you owe on it. The quicker you start, the more chance you have.

How long does it take for you to complete a short sale once we fill out the paperwork? The typical time frame to complete a short sale is three months. If we are in a time crunch with a foreclosure sale date approaching, a rush will be put on the file.

What is a Deed in Lieu? A Deed in Lieu is when the property is deeded back to the lender with the approval of the borrower prior to foreclosure. This can have a huge impact on one's credit.

What is a Deed? A legal document conveying title to a real property.

What is Loss Mitigation? Loss Mitigation is a process to avoid foreclosure. Lenders use loss mitigation to contact and help borrowers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.

What is a Loan Modification? A mortgage modification is an option that allows a borrowers to refinance and/or extend the term of the mortgage loan and reduce the monthly payments.

What is a Forbearance Plan? A forbearance plan is an option where the lender arranges a revised repayment plan. This could include a temporary reduction or suspension of monthly loan payments.

How long is a Short Sale process? Each case is completely different depending on circumstances and the mortgage company, but usually a short sale process can take between 2-5 months. There must be an end buyer to the property to be completed.

How does a short sale and foreclosure report on my credit? Foreclosures can show up as a FORECLOSURE. This could report for as long as seven years. Foreclosures will usually have to be disclosed on any new loan applications in the future. A short sale usually reports as a SETTLED DEBT. This could have less impact on your credit, but please consult a credit company for more information.

What liabilities could result from doing a short sale? A lender could possibly 1099 you for the difference in what you sell your property for and what was owed on the property. What this means, the IRS could consider this taxable income. Another result could be the lender requiring a portion of the difference to be paid back in form of an unsecured note. All of this is up in the air until these items are negotiated. That's were we step in to help you. We want to have the lender consider the debt SETTLED.

What liabilities could result from getting foreclosed on? Unlike a short sale, a foreclosure is usually sold at auction. This usually means there is a wider gap in the difference that you owe and what the house actually sales for. What does this mean to you, a higher potential tax liability. Furthermore, the bank may come after you for a Deficiency Judgment. If a short sale is accomplished compared to a foreclosure, there are no guarantees, a successful short sale should eliminate a deficiency judgment, minimize your tax liability, and keep the foreclosure off your credit. President Bush signed law H.R. 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 to help relieve borrowers from getting 1099 and their losses. Losing your house is enough. "On December 20 President Bush signed into law H.R. 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. H.R. 3648 will provide relief from that kind of tax bite in certain specified situations. Beginning January 1, 2007 and lasting until January 1, 2010, certain discharges of mortgage indebtedness on a principal residence will be excluded from a taxpayer's gross income. As always, though, certain restrictions apply. For more information on deficiency judgments and the tax liability you may face based on your current situation, submit your information to one of our analysts for a free consultation, and as always consult your attorney/tax advisor."

What is a Deficiency Judgment? A Deficiency Judgment is the usual result from a lender selling a house at foreclosure auction. The judgement is usually the differenct between the amount that was owed on the house (including any fees, taxes, etc..) and the amount the recieve from selling the home.

Why is the process take so long? The lenders are overwhelmed with borrowers in this same situation. Lenders are processing thousands of files each day. Thats why its exttremely difficult to actually work with the lenders if you do not know the process. It can often take 8-12 phones calls everyday for weeks just to get a return phone call from your lender's loss mitigation deparment. We even sometimes sit on hold for one to two hours.Luckily, with many lenders, we have ongoing relationships that allow us to negotiate multiple transactions with the same phone call.

How are non-owner occupied properties affected when short selling them? For short sale negotiations, non-owner occupied properties are handled in the same way as owner occupied properties.

Can the listing real estate agent be the purchaser on a short sale? Usually, that is not a very good idea. We like to keep and maintain arms length relationships in short sale transactions. We do not buy your home or have any reason to buy your home. Our goal is to help you avoid foreclosure by selling your home.

Must there be a hardship to do a short sale? Not necessarily, but having a hardship will have a better chance of doing a short sale.

Why are photos needed for the home? Your lender relies on us to provide them information. They have know knowledge of any of the homes disrepair without photographs. The old say "A picture is worth a thousand words" is needed here. Photos of repairs needed, such as roof and pool repairs should always be taken. Photograph every little deficiency in the entire home to paint a picture for the lender.

Can I short sale multiple properties? Yes, but we will still need the short sale packages completely filled out for each property. However, the supporting documentation such as the hardship letter, financial statement, bank statements can just be reproduced for each package.

Can I short sale on commercial and Multi-Family Properties? Yes, same packages must be filled out too.

Can multi-million dollar homes be sold by short sales too? Yes.

How much attention does my short sale file receive? We usually touch each file transaction almost every business day, we are here to help you get relief quickly.

Can I call for updates on my short sale transaction? Yes, but remember, the more calls to our office the less time we are working on your file. This is not a one week solution. Limited calls will also allow our specialist to focus their time and effort on your transaction. Once the complete package is received, it will be assigned to a specialist who will call you with updates.

Email me at bgammache@verizon.net for more information or call Bob Gammache, CMPS at (888) 648-1714

Loan Modification. What it is and how it may help you and your clients

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:50:01 -0500

Loan Modification. What it is and how it may help you.

Loan modification may be an alternative for home owners facing foreclosure in the difficult 2008 housing and credit market. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misinformation about the both the loan modification process and the reasons you may want to consider a loan modification if you are having financial difficulty.

I have been a professional mortgage broker since 1991. To assist those who I am unable to help with a refinance during this difficult credit market, I have associated with an attorney based firm offering loan modification help to homeowners trying to save their home. Nationwide Home Relief, LLC. is committed to assisting homeowners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments. This team of Loan Modification specialists will represent your best interests. They negotiate with your lender in an effort to stop foreclosure and find a long term solution to your problem.

A loan modification is an agreement that is negotiated with your lender that changes the terms of your current loan. Lenders can be willing to negotiate when you are facing financial difficulties and can not find other financing alternatives. You must be able to show your lender why it would be in their best interest to agree to a modification. A lender may be willing to reduce the interest rate, monthly payment or change other terms. It is important to understand that a loan modification is not reported to the credit agencies and will not have an adverse impact on your credit scores.

You may consider loan modification if you:

Can not refinance

Have an adjustable rate mortgage

Are behind on your mortgage

Your mortgage payments are too high

Have a hardship

Are self employed

Have no equity in your home or are "upside down"

If your lender refuses to accept partial payments

If you are in or about to go into foreclosure

What should you do when you get behind on your mortgage?

Do not ignore this issue. A sheriff may evict you from your home. This is a serious matter and is extremely time sensitive.

Stay in your home. A vacant home is harder to qualify for help. This is your home, stay there.

What is the Foreclosure Time Frame?

Usually 90 days past due will trigger the mortgage lender to issue a Notice of Default. Once the NOD is issued, the lender will hire an attorney and begin the Foreclosure process with the court system. This is were the attorney's fees start piling up and getting really expensive. The foreclosure process has a very strict procedure, which is different in each state. If no foreclosure prevention action is taken, eventually the house will be sold at a public auction.

What are your options?

You have several options to help stop or prevent foreclosure. Every option is different and has certain requirements to get approved by your mortgage lender. We will advise you of your best option based on your individual circumstances. You will have to qualify for an option and the lender has to agree to specific terms.

Different loan modification options include:

Reinstatement Plan

The Reinstatement is basically the total amount that is past due including late fees and attorney costs. Paying the past due balances will get your mortgage caught up immediately. There might be a huge amount of past-due fees which could include back payments, late fees and legal expenses. Reinstatement might be accomplished if you can promise a lump-sum to bring your payments to a current status by a specific date.

Repayment Plan

A common way to bring a loan current is the repayment plan. Many lenders will require that up to 50% of the past due balance is to be paid. While this sounds great, in many cases this is just not possible. After all, if you had 50% of the past due balance, you probably would not be that far behind. You will still need to collect all the documentation but will ask that your lender work with you on obtaining a reasonable amount of money from you to bring your loan current.

Loan Modification/Loan Restructuring

Many people will find themselves using a Loan Modification Plan to stop foreclosure. If you can currently make your regular payment, but you cannot catch up with the past-due amount, you may negotiate with your lender to roll any past-due amounts, including interest and escrow, into the unpaid principal balance.

If you are unable to make payments at this rate, you will need to negotiate with your lender to extend your loan for a longer period of time, modifying the loan amount to a more affordable level. You may be successful at lowering the interest rate, giving you a lower monthly payment which you can afford. If your rate has adjusted, you may be able to have the rate adjusted back to the lower rate.

Loan Forbearance

Loan Forbearance is designed to give people time to gather their assets. During Loan Forbearance, the mortgage company allows you to delay or reduce payments for a short period. This delay does come with a commitment and understanding that another option will be used after the short period to bring your mortgage to a current status. This could delay and even terminate the legal action taken by your lender.

Partial Claim

Partial Claim only applies to clients with current FHA loans. Your mortgage company might agree to help you with a one-time payment, which would come from the FHA Insurance Fund.

Qualifications needed for this help may include:

Must be at least 4 months delinquent, but no more than 12 months

Able to begin making full payments again

Resolution of past hardship

May or may not be in Foreclosure

The mortgagor has the ability of long-term financial stability to support the mortgage debt or make the payment

If the home owner cannot bring the loan current through a forbearance of loan modification

Property is primary residence

HUD will require a signed promissory note. HUD will then place a lien on your property which is interest-free and will allow you to bring your loan current. However, the balance of this loan will be due when you pay off the loan or sell your home or leave the property.

Terms for Partial Claim:

Interest-free Note.

No monthly or periodic payments

Note due when the mortgage is paid off or when the home owner sells the property

No repayment penalty

A refund can be applied for the mortgage insurance premium when the note is paid in full

Note payable to HUD

Partial payments can be made by cashiers check or certified funds

Finally, The Partial Claim may be combined with alternate plans. Even special forbearance may be combined to be more flexible for the home owner.

Pre-Foreclosure Sale

If you are willing to sell your home or currently have your house on the market, some lenders might agree to put your foreclosure on hold while you attempt to sell your home through traditional real estate methods. This will stop the foreclosure process and may allow you to sell your home and walk away with some money in your pocket, rather than losing it! In some occasions, the new investor may be willing to give you a lease option to buy.

Short Sale

For some home owners, selling their home and starting over is actually the relief that they need. Home owners might review their financial portfolio and realize that they obviously cannot afford their home anymore. Most home owners have finally realized this after a long period of time, then have tried to sell their home the original way and have had no success.

Due to recent and current market fluctuations and changes beyond your control, many home owners cannot sell their home for their current offering price. This is where a Short Sale comes in and allows you to sell your home at a discounted price.

Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure
A Deed-In-Lieu procedure allows the home owner to give the property voluntarily back to the lender. Often, the debt or deficiency is forgiven. A Deed-In-Lieu will not save your home, but may be used to avoid a long legal process of foreclosure and increase your chances of getting a loan in the future. Deed-In-Lieu will have a negative affect on your credit. However, it is often a better alternative to a foreclosure.

Loan modifications can be arranged for any type of home and it does not matter if the home is owner occupied or an investment property.

Can you try to negotiate with the lender on your own? Of course you can. Just as if you were being sued, you have the right to represent yourself in court. However, that is usually not the best idea.

Homeowners who are behind or in default are in no position to effectively negotiate with their lender. A professional mitigation team of attorneys will build a case which places the lender in an obligatory position. Statistically, a legal team will get you a much better deal than you can accomplish on your own.

It is very difficult to effectively negotiate with your lender when you are behind on your payment. We separate the emotions and turn this into a business decision for you and the lender.

Call me TODAY to see if a loan modification will help you save your home.

Bob Gammache, CMPS

(888) 648-1714

Nationwide Home Relief, LLC

105 Clearcreek Ct

Moneta, VA 24121

The Blood Bath in the Mortgage World Continues

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:07:37 -0500

Two weeks ago, the mortgage market lost both my employer, Carteret Mortgage and Homecomings Financial. Between the two mortgage companies, nearly 1500 more mortgage jobs are gone.

Carteret Mortgage grew to be the second largest mortgage brokerage in the US and at one time had nearly 2,000 loan officers. I had been there since 2002 and was a branch manager and a recruiter. It was a great ride while it lasted. I did make an extrordinary number of good friends while I was there however. It is really sad to watch a company go from closing 4 billion in mortgages in 2005 to bankrupt in 2008.

But, as they say, "When one door closes, another one will open"

I have accepted a position with TMC Lending as their Senior Branch Manager and will also be their National Recruiter

TMC Lending is an "out of the box" lender/broker licensed in all 50 states. Depending on an individuals level of experience and interest, we offer loan officers positions from a senior branch manager position to a part time position if you simply need a home for a loan from time to time.

One area in the company I want to develop are with the part time loan officer relationships. It is clear to me that there are many loan officers who have been forced to find other work and these positions will allow an individual with experience an opportunity to keep producing while not having to deal with quotas.

One of the things that I believe sets us apart from most others in the industry is that we have a very real focus on training for our loan officers and their Realtor partners. As you know, in this market, Mortgage Lending and Real Estate have never been more of a "knowledge business" than they are today. Our Mentorship Program and webinar based training will give you and your Realtor partners the tools you need to prosper and grow your business to the next level.

You may also want to know that TMC Lending is offering our loan officers the ability to create multiple streams of income with a very useful and affordable credit repair program and a loss mitigation/loan modification program that will beat any other product I have seen in the marketplace.

Please take a few minutes to visit www.tmcloans.net and www.freerealtortraining.com for more information.

If you have an interest, in growing your business with us, I will need a copy of your resume and a good time to chat by phone for a few minutes.

Free tools to monitor your website

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:47:58 -0500

Free tools to monitor your website

You can't just put your Realtor or Loan Officer website on the net with the right keywords and expect your traffic and ranking will remain constant. Because the web is an ever changing landscape, you have to keep track of your own site results and statistics. You may also want to know what is happening with your competition and other sites. Here are several useful tools I use to find out what exactly is happening on my own and other sites.

1. A tool which you can use to test your own website links or other websites for broken links:

http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html

2. With this tool you can check search engines for the number of back links to your URL i.e. other web pages linking to your site:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/backlinks

3. It can become important to know where the servers of your hosting company are physically located. Some search engines like Google have the ability to filter search results based on their physical location called geotargeting. This could be used to determine why your site is showing in only a certain country. This link can also be used to research the country location of a particular competitor's website:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/website-country

4. In order to track the location of the visitor or a customer to your website:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/geovisitors

5. In order to check the Yahoo! web ranking of your's or your competitor's website use :

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/webrank/

6. Here is a link to check the web ranking of a website using a Mac or Apple computer:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/pagerank-mac/

7. You need a Google AdSense account for using this. This link provides you with charts and reports which will help you analyze traffic, clicks, and results from your AdSense advertising

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/adsense-charts/

8. If you have an AdSense account, you can analyze your website address or another website address to see what Google ads will be displayed when the customer selects certain website names or keywords:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/adsense-sandbox/

9. This link will take you to a cooperative advertising network where you can join to display and

share your ads with other website owners:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/ad-network/

10. You can add Search Functionality on your website which uses Google. This works only if your site is listed in the Google Index.

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/search/

11. Here are some links to free website counters which you can use on your website to track your traffic and hits:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/counter

http://www.amazingcounters.com

http://www.cyber-counter.com/signup.php

http://www.statcounter.com/free_hit_counter.html

http://www.free-counters.net/

Bob Gammache has been originating mortgages since 1991 and is the author of a mortgage education website at www.nva-mortgage.com. Bob has also been instrumental in the release of the Real Estate Mastery 101 program teaching consumers, Realtors, and Loan Officers effective real estate investment strategies for the 2008 market

Article Writing Tips

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:23:38 -0500

Article Writing Tips

Writing articles isn't as hard as you may think. If you understand the rules of proper grammar, and you have a word processor or word processing software that includes a spell checker, writing articles becomes quite easy in fact. Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Don't make it harder than it really is. This is the first mistake that most new article writers make. Think about what you want to say, then just start writing. Don't worry about spelling or grammar, just write until you have said all that you wanted to say. Editing comes after the information is down on paper - or on your computer screen in a document.

2. Don't get stressed over your topic. You already know what it is that you want to market, it's You! Look at your real estate service from a customers point of view. Visit forums where your customers participate and find out what their questions are. Have you tried Yahoo Answers yet. Lots of questions in the real estate section. Loan Officers, there is a finance section too. Base your articles on those questions, answering the questions.

3. Don't make your articles too long or too short. Articles should be between 300 and 750 words, with the optimal length between 300 and 500 words. Use the word counter on your word processor, and don't go over or under these words.

4. Do not submit your article the minute you finish it. Put it away and come back to it later. Read it over and make sure that you have said what you wanted to say, and then have someone else read it. Ask for constructive criticism, and really pay attention to what your test reader has to say.

5. You are writing an article, not a sales letter. The article should inform and lead readers to your website. The selling is done at the website. Articles that are obvious sales letters lose the readers respect and damage your credibility.

6. Stay Focused. Make sure your article stays on track. If you find yourself writing away from what you originally intended your article to be about, make a note about the new article idea you have accidentally found, and get back on track with your original plan.

7. Finally, write like you talk. Write like you are talking to a close friend. Don't try to use words that you have to look up in the dictionary. Use your everyday language, and your personality will shine through. Allowing your true personality to shine through in your articles is the first step to building a relationship with your readers.

Bob Gammache has been originating mortgages since 1991 and is the author of a mortgage education website at www.nva-mortgage.com. Bob has also been instrumental in the development of the Internet Dream Machine, a turn key business opportunity useful to many Realtors and Loan Officers trying to survive the housing slump.

Types of Articles You Can Write

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:30:15 -0500

Types of Articles You Can Write

What type of article should you write? Were you even aware that there are different types? There are! In fact, there are five types of articles: the tips article, the story article, the personal experience article, the facts article, and the recommendation article. Let's take a look at each type.

The tips article is of course an article that provides the readers with tips on a particular subject, how to stage a home or the advantages of FHA loans. The tips may be numbered, or laid out with bullets, and the title should include the number of tips that will be covered, such as ten ways to stage your home os 5 advantages of FHA loans. I am sure you get the picture

The story article is exactly what it says. It is used to tell a story that is not necessarily the writers own personal experience. The story may be true or it may be fiction, but it will almost always be about somebody else. The trick is to keep the reader reading!

The personal experience article will be about you and an experience that you have had that relates to your niche market in some way. For instance, "How I got a investor financed" would most likely be a personal experience article.

The facts article is simply an article that informs, using proven facts for content. For instance, "What sells in this market" would be a facts article, because you have research to draw from to provide content and back that content up with proof.

Finally, there is the recommendation article. You must be very careful with a recommendation article. These are used to promote a product or service, but the content of the article must be informative in nature. For instance, if you are recommending an FHA loan, the article cannot be ‘salesy' in nature. It must inform. For example, you might discuss the problem of low credit scores, and use facts or your own personal experience to show that FHA loans accept lower credit scores than conventional loans do.

Many writers often combine different types of articles into one article. You can do this as long as you don't run over 750 words in length. The important thing is to choose the article that you need to convey your message and get readers to visit your website.

The Expert Use of Article Marketing in Internet Marketing Today

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:44:18 -0500

The Expert Use of Article Marketing in Internet Marketing Today

In the history of Internet Marketing, which is indeed still a short history, Article Marketing has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to market a Realtor or Mortgage Origination website at little or no cost. This still holds true today, and will most likely be true for many years to come.

Article Marketing is viral in nature. Once an article is written, and it is submitted to multiple article banks, it is then providing back links to your website or blog. From there other website owners may copy the article, with the authors information in tact, and publish it in their newsletters, blogs or on their websites. They may even use your article as part of a compilation for an informative ebook.

The important thing is that the article becomes viral, spreading far and wide. This accomplishes several things. As already mentioned, this provides you with back links to your website that helps with search engine optimization. Since your author's information, or resource box, is at the bottom of the article, this gives your website a great deal of exposure, and increased traffic.

Article Marketing accomplishes several other things that are vital in internet marketing today. First, writing and distributing articles helps to establish you as an expert on the topic you are writing about. Second, it helps to build a ‘relationship' with people who read your articles, which in turn builds trust.

Successful internet marketers typically write and distribute at least one article per week to the various article banks. They may use articles that they wrote for their newsletters as well for distribution, after the newsletter has gone out to subscribers. If the website owner does not write well, or doesn't have the time to write their own articles, they typically hire a ghost writer to create the articles for them.

The articles that are distributed by successful real estate people are informative and well written. They are not sales letters disguised as articles. They are informative vehicles that are used to get readers to visit their websites, providing helpful information, with the author's information at the bottom, including a link to the website.

Effective Article Distribution Strategies

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:36:58 -0500

Effective Article Distribution Strategies

There are lots of effective ways to get your real estate and mortgage related articles into circulation, and you would be wise to use them all. These methods include distributing articles to the article directories or repositories, sending your articles to your list of ezine publishers, using a blog to publish your articles, using other people's blogs to promote your articles, submitting your articles to private members sites, and submitting articles to forums that allow articles.

However, there are a few other ways that you can distribute your articles. Keep in mind that the purpose of the article is to get traffic to your website. With that in mind, many people forget to put their own articles on their own websites. Websites need content, you've written content - make sure that content makes it to your site. Remember, Google loves big sites!

Another way to distribute your articles is in the form of an ebook, which is essentially a PDF file, where you have compiled all the articles that you have written on a specific topic. The ebook should be free, and you can list it at various ebook directories around the Internet, and allow others to give your ebook away as well. Offer it free on your site, or post your offer on CraigsList. People love free information and you will be surprised at how many responses you get.

Use your articles as part of an email series or email course. Again, the series or course should be free. Simply set up an autoresponder for the series or course and put a sign up box on your website. This will not only help your article distribution, it will also help you build your email list.

Put all of your articles, in text format, in a folder, compress the folder, and upload it to your website. Now, on every single email you send out, include a signature file that lets people know that they can download this file, for free, and use the content as they see fit, as long as the content is not changed, and the authors information remains intact.

Articles can be used in many creative ways, if you think about it. Always be on the outlook for ways to distribute your articles to others, and don't let any opportunities pass you by.

7 Tips to get your Article picked up by an ezine and build traffic

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:04:39 -0500

7 Tips to get your Article picked up by an ezine and build traffic

These are small, simple tricks, but if you follow them closely, you will improve your article and increase the odds that an ezine editor will want to publish it:

Keep your article length between 600-800 words. Most ezine editors are looking for articles within specific ranges, so you really want to keep that in mind as you're writing. The frustrating truth is that you can write a masterpiece War and Peace length article, but no matter how great your article is it won't be used by an ezine editor if they have a 700 word limit. Put on your editing hat and scale your article down to a manageable length.
Make your article a stand alone article. Please, don't write articles that are continuations of other articles. For example: How To Stage Your Home, Part 1; How To Stage Your Home, Part 2, and on and on. Maybe the editor liked your Part 3 article but wasn't interested in the other parts. What then? An ezine editor knows that their readers will be wondering, "You've shown me Part 3-did I miss the other 2 parts? What's going on?" Having articles that say "Part 1", "Part 2", etc, decreases your chances of getting published in by an ezine.
Write ezine eye candy. "How To" articles, "Top 10" articles (or Top 5, or 7 or whatever), and "Helpful Tips" articles are ezine eye candy. All publishers love the types of articles that instruct, are straight to the point, and are easy to read (lists are easy to read).
Write about what your audience is interested in. If you were subscribing to the top ezine in your niche, what type of articles would you like to see in there? Write that type of article.
Create an attention grabbing title. Really spend some time on the title. It is your "hook" to interest your audience.
Proofread, proofread, and proofread yet again! Be sure that your article is grammatically correct with no spelling errors, you already knew this, but it helps to have a reminder. Sometimes we are in such a hurry to get our article submitted that we forget that it may be picked up by a publication that is sent out to 10,000 eagle-eyed ezine subscribers. So, you want to be very sure that you won't be embarrassed by (or that your article won't be ignored by ezine editors because of) typos, poor grammar, arguments that don't make sense, etc.
Write to educate, not to advertise. Do not make your article about your own business, website, products or real estate services (duh, right?). Quality publishers are looking for educational, well-written articles, so let's give them that!

What happens when your article gets picked up by an ezine?

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:54:47 -0500

What happens when your article gets picked up by an ezine?

Hopefully, you already know that having your article published on an article directory builds backlinks to your website and increases your exposure, but what are the advantages of getting picked up by a publisher who puts your article in an ezine?

Well, think about this:

You reach the in-boxes of a very specific target market. Most ezines are extremely specific in their topic and target market, so if your article is picked up for publication by an ezine you have the opportunity for your article to be emailed directly to people who are already interested in what you're writing about (now that's a plus!).

You can reach people you might not normally come into contact with.

People who read your article in an ezine did not have to do a search for your article topic in Google, they simply subscribed to a particular newsletter and then the newsletter containing your article showed up in their inbox. The reader did nothing to find your article other than subscribing to the newsletter.

They can bring a dramatic surge of immediate traffic. Publication in a major ezine can bring a surge of traffic over a few days. Of course every time your article is picked up by an ezine editor your resource box is included along with a link back to your website. It depends on how big the ezine editors list is (it could be 50 people, or it could be 50,000) as to how much traffic publication in an ezine can bring, but even if the ezine subscriber base is on the small side, it's still exposure to a highly targeted readership, and every little bit counts!

Your article gets spotlighted attention. Most ezines are limited in length, they don't publish hundreds of articles. Usually there are just a few articles in the ezine, so if your article is chosen to appear in an email newsletter you are pretty much getting the undivided attention of whoever is on that email list.

What exactly is going on with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:56:05 -0500

What exactly is going on with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Fannie Mae was created in 1938 as a government agency with a mission to buy mortgages from banks and issue bonds on the bond market using the pool of mortgages as collateral for the bonds. This process was designed to add liquidity to the mortgage marketplace and supply banks with extra funds that could be used to allow more Americans to buy and own homes. Fannie Mae became so successful and profitable that in 1968, the government decided to spin it off into a private, shareholder-owned company. In 1970, the government chartered Freddie Mac as another shareholder-owned company to provide some competition to Fannie Mae and further provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the housing market. Since then, the companies have grown so large that they own or guarantee roughly half of all mortgages in the United States.

Recently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been experiencing a crisis of confidence in the financial markets. The main fear right now is that Fannie and Freddie will be unable to continue to access short term funding that is required for them to continue their normal business operations. Financial institutions count on short term loans and lines of credit to engage in their business activities - please reference the article in this series entitled "What exactly is the problem today with banks, financial institutions and the financial markets?"

In other words, there is a fear that Fannie and Freddie will experience a "run" on their business similar to what happened with Bear Stearns in March 2008. With this in mind, the Fed and US Treasury Department are proposing that Congress officially give them the authority to step in and rescue Fannie and Freddie if they can no longer get funding from the open market. The main argument in favor of this strategy is that it would cause the market to relax and resume doing business with Fannie and Freddie as normal because of the unlimited express backing of the US government. If Fannie and Freddie have an unlimited line of credit with the government, doing business with them would be equivalent to doing business with the US government. They might never need to tap the government line of credit because its mere existence would inspire confidence among the other players who do business with them. It's kind of like a school boy who brings his daddy to the playground with him on every school day - no one would dare mess with him!

The main concern with this scenario is that it is not a sustainable long-term strategy to have US taxpayers support the risky business practices of for-profit companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Interestingly enough, Fannie and Freddie do not wish to be completely privatized. Their preferred status and ties to the government has resulted in record corporate profits when times are good and a taxpayer-funded safety net when times are bad. However, just because the companies engage in business that benefits the public doesn't mean that they deserve to be fully backed by taxpayers and the federal government. After all, many other businesses also benefit the public such as food service companies, energy companies, auto and transportation businesses, etc. It is not the mission of the government to rescue for-profit businesses when they run into financial problems.

With that in mind, many individuals and institutions have called for completely privatizing Fannie and Freddie and eliminating their ties to the government. Breaking up the companies and completely privatizing them may very well be a viable long-term solution and prevent a crisis of this magnitude from occurring in the future. Nevertheless, it is also important to prevent the current credit crisis from creating a full-scale meltdown of the US housing market and financial system - which is exactly what would happen if Fannie and Freddie were to blow up. The key is to weather the current crisis without sowing the seeds of the next one.

How long will the turmoil in the housing markets last?

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:37:56 -0500

How long will the turmoil in the housing markets last?

This is the first time in our country's history where home values have declined nationally without a corresponding large rise in unemployment. During the Great Depression, the unemployment rate was around 25% compared to approximately 5.5% today! Therefore, the challenges being faced today are different than the challenges that were faced in the 1930s.

Today, states like Michigan and Ohio have high rates of unemployment, and this is causing many people in those markets to default on their loans and go into foreclosure. Those markets will not likely rebound until the employment situation improves. On the other hand, states like Florida, Arizona and California have stronger employment. Home prices in those states have declined largely due to unsustainable speculation on the part of investors who over-extended themselves by betting that housing prices would always rise. Those markets have a large glut of investor-owned properties that are going through foreclosure. The downward pressure on housing values due to foreclosures will likely last in most markets across the country throughout 2009, and in some markets, perhaps even through 2010. This does not necessarily mean that home prices will decline for another 12-24 months. This simply means that home values are not likely to recover very quickly due to the downward pressure on home prices.

How long will the turmoil in the mortgage markets last?

The sub-prime market has virtually evaporated and lending guidelines have tightened significantly. Interest rates on jumbo mortgages and loans for borrowers with unique situations are considerably higher than loans for borrowers who have smaller mortgage balances, high credit scores, large down payments, and long, steady job histories. There are two factors necessary for lending guidelines to loosen back up:

Housing market recovery - lending guidelines are likely to remain very tight until housing prices at least find a bottom. This is because lenders, mortgage insurance companies and Wall Street investors don't want to assume the risk that homeowners will walk away from their mortgage if the home declines in value.
Clear rules and regulations - lenders and Wall Street investors today are very hesitant to be flexible in their guidelines as long as the rules of the game are still undefined. There is a very large fear in the marketplace among lenders that they will be faced with large legal liability if they extend loans to people who may not be able to afford the payments at some point in the future. On July 14, 2008, the Federal Reserve issued new guidelines that clarify the rules that lenders must follow when evaluating a borrower's ability to repay. This was the first time since the credit crisis began in July 2007 that lenders have clear guidance on the rules of the game. This should give lenders a larger comfort level in creating new loan programs and becoming more flexible in their guidelines. Obviously, "flexible" guidelines in the coming months will be defined differently than the reckless "flexible" of the past. Regulators are also considering new rules for Wall Street financial institutions and investors, and these rules should also help in jumpstarting the mortgage lending industry once again. Therefore, lending guidelines will likely become more flexible sometime in 2009. As a participant in the CMPS Institute, I have been very active in helping to shape some of the new rules by commenting on various government proposals and participating in dialogue with Congress, the Fed, HUD and other government agencies.

Mortgage Market Guide 8/25/08

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:30:46 -0500

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Bob Gammache, CMPS
Carteret Mortgage Corp
Office: 888-648-1714
Fax: 540-719-0701
Email: bgammache@verizon.net
Website: www.nva-mortgage.com

For the week of Aug 25, 2008 --- Vol. 6, Issue 35

Last Week in Review

"THE FIRST THING A HURDLER LEARNS...IS HOW TO FALL." Tonie Campbell, 1988 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 110m Hurdles. And that's a lesson Bonds and home loan rates have now learned, too. After finally leaping over a big technical hurdle called the 50-day Moving Average (a moving average is the average closing price of a financial instrument over a given time period) for the first time in weeks, Bonds and home loan rates then quickly plunged to some of their worst levels of the week.

So what happened? Bonds and home loan rates began the week facing a tough inflation hurdle, when the Producer Price Index (PPI) came in at the biggest year-over-year increase in 27 years. The Core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also came in at the biggest year-over-year increase since 1991. However, the recent drop in oil prices kept the topic of inflation from being too high a hurdle for Bonds and home loan rates, and they managed to leap above the 50-Day Moving Average to some of their best levels in weeks on Wednesday.

However, the quick rise in Bond prices pushed them into "overbought" territory, which pulled the reins back on their momentum. Combining this with Friday's news that the Korea Development Bank may be interested in acquiring Lehman Brothers - which added confidence to the financial sector, causing traders to move money from Bonds into Stocks - caused Bonds and home loan rates to stumble and end the week only slightly improved than where they began.

WONDERING IF YOUR BANK DEPOSITS ARE FULLY PROTECTED? CHECK OUT THIS WEEK'S MORTGAGE MARKET VIEW TO MAKE SURE YOU AREN'T FACING ANY UNEXPECTED HURDLES!

Forecast for the Week

And if any improvement is in store, Bonds and home loan rates will again have several big obstacles to face this week. Right off the bat, we will get a read on the housing market as the Existing Home Sales report will be released on Monday followed by the New Home Sales Report on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, the minutes of the Fed's latest meeting will be released, and it will be important to see if any comments about inflation will cause Bonds and home loan rates to trip up.

And more hurdles still will follow in the last half of the week. On Thursday, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Report will be released and on Friday we will get the details on the Fed's favorite gauge of inflation, the Core PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditure) data, from the Personal Income report. If either of these reports show inflation as a big barrier looming ahead, Bonds and home loan rates may not be able to regain any headway before the markets close early on Friday at 2:00 pm in advance of the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Remember when Bond prices move higher, home loan rates move lower...and vice versa. As you can see in the chart below, Bonds and home loan rates managed to stay above the 50-Day Moving Average line despite the losses they incurred. I will be watching to see if Bonds and home loan rates can surpass additional hurdles and regain some ground this week.

Chart: Fannie Mae 6.0%% Mortgage Bond (Friday Aug 22, 2008)

The Mortgage Market View...

The Low Down on FDIC Insurance

After last month's failure of California-based IndyMac Bank, many people have wondered how safe their accounts really are. While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) guarantees most bank deposits, here are some important details to remember.

What types of accounts are covered?

The FDIC protects checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposits (CDs), Christmas club accounts, and money-market savings accounts. However, Stocks, Bonds, and mutual fund shares...even those purchased through an FDIC bank...are not protected.

What are the limits of FDIC insurance?

Bank accounts that have less than $100,000 in them and certain retirement accounts (IRAs held in CDs and money market accounts) that have less than $250,000 are fully protected by the FDIC even if the bank fails. If you want to exceed these account limits, you can keep your deposits fully protected by:

Dividing your money among several different bank companies. Note that dividing your money among several different branches of the same bank does not guarantee full protection.
If you prefer to keep your money in the same bank company, you can still be fully protected if you divide your money among various "ownership categories". Ownership categories include a personal account in your name, a personal account in your spouse's name, a joint account co-owned by you and someone else, and a trust account that names someone other than you as a beneficiary.

What are some common ways customers end up with uncovered deposits?

If you purchase a CD through an investment broker, this CD will often be placed with a bank at which you already have an account. If the CD and your other accounts exceed the $100,000 limit, you may not be full protected. Before purchasing CD's through a broker, ask where they will be placed.

In addition, keep track of the interest your accounts earn so you don't exceed the limits this way.

What will happen if your bank fails?

In most cases, depositors can fully access their funds by the next business day. Typically, failed banks are closed on Fridays, and funds are available by the following Monday. People can also usually use their ATM cards and write checks over that weekend as well. And for customers whose accounts exceeded the FDIC limit, all hope is not lost. Though this amount has varied, they can generally expect to recover 70 cents on the dollar of their uncovered funds after the bank's assets are sold.

The good news is that the vast majority of US banks are secure, but the above information will help you stay fully protected.

For more information, visit www.fdic.gov.

The Week's Economic Indicator Calendar

Remember, as a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise.

Economic Calendar for the Week of August 25 - August 29

Date	ET	Economic Report	For	Estimate	Actual	Prior	Impact
Mon. August 25	10:00	Existing Home Sales	Jul	4.90M		4.86M	Moderate
Tue. August 26	10:00	Consumer Confidence	Aug	53.0		51.9	Moderate
Tue. August 26	10:00	New Home Sales	Jul	523K		530K	Moderate
Tue. August 26	02:00	FOMC Minutes	8/5				HIGH
Wed. August 27	08:30	Durable Goods Orders	Jul	0.1%		0.8%	Moderate
Thu. August 28	08:30	Jobless Claims (Initial)	8/23	NA		NA	Moderate
Thu. August 28	10:00	Gross Domestic Product (GDP)	Q2	2.7%		1.9%	Moderate
Thu. August 28	08:30	GDP Chain Deflator	Q2	NA		1.1%	HIGH
Fri. August 29	08:30	Personal Income	Jul	-0.1%		0.1%	Moderate
Fri. August 29	08:30	Personal Spending	Jul	0.3%		0.6%	Moderate
Fri. August 29	08:30	Personal Consumption Expenditures and Core PCE	YOY	NA		2.3%	HIGH
Fri. August 29	08:30	Personal Consumption Expenditures and Core PCE	Aug	NA		0.3%	HIGH
Fri. August 29	09:45	Chicago PMI	Aug	49.9		50.8	HIGH
Fri. August 29	10:00	Consumer Sentiment Index (UoM)	Aug	62.3		61.7	Moderate

The material contained in this newsletter has been prepared by an independent third-party provider. The content is provided for use by real estate, financial services and other professionals only and is not intended for consumer distribution. The material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Although the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, there is no guarantee it is not without errors.

As your trusted advisor, I am sending you this newsletter because I am committed to keeping you updated on the economic events that impact interest rates and how they may affect you.

In the unlikely event that you no longer wish to receive these valuable market updates, please USE THIS LINK or email: bgammache@verizon.net

If you prefer to send your removal request by mail the address is:
Bob Gammache, CMPS
Carteret Mortgage
105 Clearcreek Ct
Moneta,VA 24121

Mortgage Market Guide, LLC is the copyright owner or licensee of the content and/or information in this email, unless otherwise indicated. Mortgage Market Guide, LLC does not grant to you a license to any content, features or materials in this email. You may not distribute, download, or save a copy of any of the content or screens except as otherwise provided in our Terms and Conditions of Membership, for any purpose.

Mortgage Market Guide 8/17/08

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:38:30 -0500

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Provided to you Exclusively By Bob Gammache, CMPS

Bob Gammache, CMPS
Carteret Mortgage Corp
Office: 888-648-1714
Fax: 540-719-0701
Email: bgammache@verizon.net
Website: www.nva-mortgage.com

For the week of Aug 18, 2008 --- Vol. 6, Issue 34

Last Week in Review

"You can't put a limit on anything." Michael Phelps. And while swimmer Michael Phelps has had a record-setting week at the Beijing Olympics, Bonds and home loan rates have been battling some tough opponents at home.

Bonds began the week trading lower due to inflation fears after crude shipments from Georgia were halted amid the Russian bombardment of the country. However, some poor economic reports (remember, bad economic news is bad for Stocks and typically causes money to flow from Stocks into Bonds)...including poor earnings reports from Macy's and farm equipment maker Deere & Co....helped Bonds and home loan rates regain some of the early ground they had lost.

Bonds continued to rally in the latter part of the week despite the hotter than expected read on consumer inflation in the July Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. According to the index, consumer prices increased 5.6% over the last year, which is the biggest year-over-year increase since January 1991. However, Bonds shrugged off the bad inflation news and traded higher because this hot reading came during the time that oil prices spiked to $147 a barrel in the month of July. Since then, oil prices have dropped significantly and are now $113 a barrel, which left traders thinking that next month's CPI reading may be tamer. And Bonds and home loan rates continued their rally on Friday in response to some tame inflation news within the Empire State Index Report.

While inflation has been a tough opponent for Bonds and home loan rates, the technical factor known as the 25-day Moving Average (a moving average is the average closing price of a financial instrument over a given time) has been an even tougher opponent of late. Bonds and home loan rates have attempted to improve past this level several times over the last few weeks, finally succeeding on Friday to end the week nearly unchanged from where they began.

PUTTING A LIMIT ON OVER-CONSUMPTION IS AN IMPORTANT THING TO DO! CHECK OUT THIS WEEK'S MORTGAGE MARKET VIEW TO LEARN HOW GOING GREEN CAN MAKE A DIFFERNCE NOT JUST FOR THE WORLD, BUT FOR YOUR MORTGAGE, TOO!

Forecast for the Week

Tuesday is an especially important day to stay tuned to the markets as two reports...the wholesale inflation measuring Producer Price Index and the state of the housing market measuring Housing Starts and Building Permits Report...could impact the direction of Bonds and home loan rates.

Thursday is another important day to note as the Philadelphia Fed Report will be released. This monthly survey of manufacturing purchasing managers conducting business around the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware is one of the most-watched manufacturing reports. If manufacturing is stronger than expected in this area, Stocks could move higher at the expense of Bonds and Home Loan Rates.

Remember when Bond prices move higher, home loan rates move lower...and vice versa. As you can see in the chart below, Bonds and home loan rates were able to battle back and end the week near where they started. However, a new level of resistance at the 50-day Moving Average (seen as the solid Black Line) may have an affect on the direction of home loan rates. I will be watching to see whether Bonds and home loan rates can beat out their next opponent to reach even better levels.

Chart: Fannie Mae 6.0%% Mortgage Bond (Friday Aug 15, 2008)

The Mortgage Market View...

Green Mortgages Equal Larger Loans and Efficient Homes

Tired of heat and energy prices skyrocketing out of your budget? Now you can do something about it...and your mortgage can help!

Energy-efficient improvements, such as installing double-paned windows and additional ceiling insulation, can save you money every month, not to mention pay for themselves in the long run. But how do you come up with the cash to pay for those projects up front or to buy a slightly more expensive house that already has them? One way is with a "green mortgage."

What is a Green Mortgage?

Green mortgages actually come in a couple of different formats. Officially these loans are classified as either Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEMs) or Energy Improvement Mortgages (EIMs).

An Energy Efficient Mortgage essentially allows you to purchase a home that is already energy efficient - even if the price of that home is larger than you would normally qualify for under your debt-to-income ratio. Energy Improvement Mortgages, on the other hand, allow you to take out a larger loan to make energy efficient repairs and improvements to a house that is not currently rated as energy efficient.

The main benefit of both of these mortgages is that they help you to qualify for a larger loan amount and help make it possible for you to live in a better, more energy-efficient home. The basic principle behind this type of financing is that the money you save from the more efficient home will offset the larger mortgage payments.

Qualifying for a Green Mortgage

To qualify for a green mortgage, you typically need to have a Home Energy Rating conducted. This rating provides the lender with an Energy Savings Value, which is the estimated monthly energy savings and the value of the energy efficiency measures.

Depending on your unique circumstances, you may qualify for a conventional, FHA, or even a VA green mortgage. Each type of loan is designed to fit specific situations and, therefore, each loan has specific requirements that must be met.

You can learn more about the differences between conventional, FHA, and VA green mortgages at the Energy Star website. And for more details about green mortgages in general, visit the HUD website.

Whether you're looking to add energy-efficient improvements to your current home or want to purchase a new energy-efficient house, green mortgages offer benefits that are definitely worth looking into. Call today to discuss your options in more detail.

The Week's Economic Indicator Calendar

Remember, as a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise.

Economic Calendar for the Week of August 18 - August 22

Date	ET	Economic Report	For	Estimate	Actual	Prior	Impact
Tue. August 19	08:30	Building Permits	Jul	949K		1091K	Moderate
Tue. August 19	08:30	Core Producer Price Index (PPI)	Jul	0.2%		0.2%	Moderate
Tue. August 19	08:30	Producer Price Index (PPI)	Jul	0.5%		1.8%	Moderate
Tue. August 19	08:30	Housing Starts	Jul	963K		1066K	Moderate
Thu. August 21	08:30	Jobless Claims (Initial)	8/16	NA		450K	Moderate
Thu. August 21	10:00	Index of Leading Econ Ind (LEI)	Jul	-0.1%		-0.1%	Low
Thu. August 21	10:00	Philadelphia Fed Index	Aug	-14.1		-16.3	HIGH
Fri. August 22	10:30	Crude Inventories	8/16	NA		-316K	Moderate

As your trusted advisor, I am sending you this newsletter because I am committed to keeping you updated on the economic events that impact interest rates and how they may affect you.

In the unlikely event that you no longer wish to receive these valuable market updates, please USE THIS LINK or email: bgammache@verizon.net

If you prefer to send your removal request by mail the address is:
Bob Gammache, CMPS
Carteret Mortgage
105 Clearcreek Ct
Moneta,VA 24121

Low cost advanced website traffic tactics for Realtors and Loan Officers

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:14:31 -0500

Low cost advanced website traffic tactics for Realtors and Loan Officers

Advanced website traffic generating tactics might sound daunting at first, but if you make it low cost or even free then you have a win-win situation. Employ low cost advanced website traffic tactics and you're in for a huge online success. These simple to implement tips WILL drive traffic to you. My mortgage website had 2238 page views yesterday. Did yours?

What are these low cost advanced website traffic tactics anyway? Surprise yourself by finding out that some of these tactics you can practice without having to spend a cent!

1. Write an article in your area of expertise.

You write an article, mention your site, submit it to several e-zines and garner traffic from their visitors. It's as simple as that. Don't just stop at one article publisher - post your article anywhere possible! Who knows how many hits this low cost advanced website traffic tactic will bring!

2. Exchange links with related sites.

Never underestimate the power of link exchange. Google loves sites with lots of inbound links! This is a low cost advanced website traffic tactic that people often overlook. How to decide who to exchange links with? Easy: Who do you do business with? Exchanging links will help both of you.

3. Get involved in forums in addition to Active Rain.

Look for forums related to your business and website and make your presence known. Make online friends and let them know about your business. This is an advanced website traffic tactic that advertises subtly but works effectively. Good thing about this is it doesn't cost you anything at all! When you join a forum, you may create a "signature" that is posted every time you answer or post a question. A link to your website is in your "sig" isn't it?

4. Advanced website traffic needs advanced tools.

The web is rich with tools that create impressive results. Software worth exploring are those which take care of links and keywords. Once this is taken care of, the rest of this internet marketing job will be easy!

5. Power up with Meta Tags.

Meta tags are the food that search engines are looking for so it can include your site in their top results. Putting meta tags in your HTML code is an advanced website traffic tactic that must not be missed! Every page on your site MUST include Meta Tags for the Title, Description, and Keyword. Focus each page on only one keyword and include tags and you will have a winner! Low cost you ask? Oh yeah!

6. Submit to Real Estate Directories. But only to those related to Real Estate

Keep submitting your site to directories like there's no tomorrow! Just take a look at your website and see if it's directory-worthy. If it is not, re work your site and resubmit! Do not fall into the trap of submitting to other types of directories. You want all of your inbound links to be real estate related. If your page topics and inbount links are related, Google and others will quickly see you as a "trusted site"

The Best Internet Advertising for Loan Officers and Realtors is Free!

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:53:31 -0500

The Best Internet Advertising for Loan Officers and Realtors is Free!

Well Duh! Free internet classified advertising is one very important method for promoting your real estate services with thousands of free classified ads.

Most of these free classified ads web sites give you the power to market with features such as classified ad submitter forms. Features like this give free Internet advertising an extremely fast way of getting your services online and visible. It is accessible 24/7 allowing your potential customer access anytime, it's very effective and most of it comes free. No downloads. No sign-up fees. No hidden charges. No annual or monthly fees. No sales fees. It is absolutely free.

This marketing approach makes it easy for you to put free ads on several of the premier quality web sites whenever you want, for free. This kind of benefit you get from free internet advertising can do, to say the least, miracles for your business. Most of these free internet advertising sites give you 3 slots to advertise your service.

Free internet classified advertising is the best way to make your real estate services known to the millions of prospective consumers and make your web site start producing clients. I have more information on who they are on my Active Rain Blog post, Beyond CraigsList. The Next Chapter

Most web sites promoting free classified advertising have features like classified ads submitter - where you can get a enormous exposure with instant results and expand your sales over night, opt-in email lists - non spam bulk emailing program, guaranteed 100% legal. Opt-in email lists are created by people who have volunteered or ‘opted-in' their email addresses to these lists. These lists are very effective for creating personalized email to prospective clients.

Free internet classified advertising provides a great technique for building traffic. People constantly search the free classified ads for specific services or products. Free internet advertising target clients inclined to buying a particular kind of service in mind.

Write an article about something you do well. Post classified ads offering the information for free and watch the traffic and leads come rolling in!

Mortgage Market Guide 8/10/08

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:18:48 -0500

If you can't see the newsletter, or would like to view it online, use this link

If you have received this newsletter indirectly and would like to be added to our weekly distribution list, use this link

Provided to you Exclusively By Bob Gammache, CMPS

Bob Gammache, CMPS
Carteret Mortgage Corp
Office: 888-648-1714
Fax: 540-719-0701
Email: bgammache@verizon.net
Website: www.nva-mortgage.com

For the week of Aug 11, 2008 --- Vol. 6, Issue 33

Last Week in Review

"PERSEVERANCE IS A GREAT ELEMENT OF SUCCESS." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Despite strong opposing forces in the early part of the week, Bonds and home loan rates persevered like the greatest Olympian athletes, and were able to end the week in a similar position to where they began.

Remembering that inflation is the arch-enemy of Bonds and home loan rates, bad news on the inflation front caused Bonds and home loan rates to worsen Monday as the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index indicated that inflation climbed 0.8% in June, the highest monthly jump in 27 years. Not a huge surprise, given how energy and commodity prices soared in June.

Despite these inflationary pressures, the Fed announced on Tuesday that they have decided to keep the Fed Funds Rate at 2%, and released a statement that hinted they may not raise the Fed Funds Rate in the near future. Why did the Fed do this? The Fed is trying to balance a slowing economy and the threat of inflation, and while raising rates could help fight inflation, it could also slow the economy even more than it is now. The Fed is hoping that keeping the Fed Funds Rate unchanged will help boost the economy, without fanning the fires of inflation. Since this decision kept the fears of inflation strong, Bonds and home loan rates worsened as a result.

However, Bonds and home loan rates persevered and managed to rally like champions later in the week on the heels of several reports. Causing money to flow from Stocks over to Bonds were a far worse than expected Initial Jobless Claims report and Wal-Mart's announcement that sales are expected to slow in August. Since inflation remains one of the strongest opponents for Bonds and home loan rates, I will continue to monitor this closely.

THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE IS ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING EXPERIENCES OF LIFE. CHECK OUT THIS WEEK'S MORTGAGE MARKET VIEW FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT CAN HELP YOU PERSEVERE AND MAKE GOOD DECISIONS DURING A VERY CHALLENGING TIME.

Forecast for the Week

This week, several reports will show us whether or not inflation is getting hotter. Thursday's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report will show us inflation at the consumer level - that is, how much more expensive goods and services are for consumers this month over last month. If CPI shows that inflation is growing, Bonds and home loan rates may reverse course and worsen quickly.

But before the inflation news hit the wires, another market mover will likely be Wednesday's Retail Sales Report, which will show us the total receipts of retail stores. Changes in these numbers are closely followed as a timely indicator of broad consumer spending patterns. This month's report may show us if spending that had been aided by the Economic Stimulus Package has started to wane. Remember: A strong Retail Sales Report would be good for the Stock market - which stands to reason, as it would indicate continued consumer confidence and dollars being poured into the economy. But a strong Retail Sales Report would be bad news for Bonds and home loan rates, as money that pours over into an improving Stock market would be coming out of Bonds, and would in turn cause home loan rates to worsen.

Remember when Bond prices move higher, home loan rates move lower...and vice versa. As you can see in the chart below, Bonds ended the week on a positive note, but are now facing a "ceiling of resistance" overhead that might shut down any further improvement. Like an Olympian faced with a barrier, Bonds will need a boost to break through a tough ceiling that has halted advances on five occasions in the past few weeks. The nature of the reports will determine whether Bonds and home loan rates can make more improvements, or reverse from the overhead ceiling and worsen.

Chart: Fannie Mae 6.0%% Mortgage Bond (Friday Aug 08, 2008)

The Mortgage Market View...

Avoiding Scams During the Loss of a Loved One

The loss of a loved one is never an easy experience for a family, and people are often understandably distracted and overwhelmed with things to take care of. Unfortunately, scam artists often use the obituaries in the newspaper as a way to target potential victims.

Here are some tips to help you or your loved ones avoid scams during times of loss:

Protect Your Home: If funeral service dates and locations are listed in the newspaper obituary, scam artists will be able to tell when you will be away from home. And with friends and relatives visiting to pay their respects, neighbors may assume someone entering your house has permission to do so. To be safe, either ask a friend or neighbor to house sit while you're away, or let your neighbors know your plans so they can look out for suspicious visitors.

Know Who's Calling: If you have caller ID on your home phone, make good use of it and don't answer calls from unknown numbers. This will help you avoid calls from companies or individuals who are running cons. Remember: Any companies or people who pressure you during difficult times probably aren't looking out for your best interests.

Be Mindful of What You Pay: As you are going through papers, pay all bills that you know are legitimate like the mortgage, utilities, credit cards, and car payments. Do not pay anything from unknown parties or companies, including invoices, investment opportunities, calls for orders placed, or calls for money owed.

Get a Second Opinion: Sorting through paperwork can be overwhelming during times of loss. Consider asking a friend, family member, or even a trusted professional like an accountant or attorney to review any invoices or claims before you send a payment.

If you ever have any mortgage or financial questions regarding an estate, please let me know how I can help you.

The Week's Economic Indicator Calendar

Remember, as a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise.

Economic Calendar for the Week of August 11 - August 15

Date	ET	Economic Report	For	Estimate	Actual	Prior	Impact
Tue. August 12	08:30	Balance of Trade	Jun	-$61.9B		-$59.8B	Moderate
Wed. August 13	08:30	Retail Sales	Jul	0.5%		0.1%	HIGH
Wed. August 13	08:30	Retail Sales ex-auto	Jul	0.6%		0.8%	HIGH
Wed. August 13	10:30	Crude Inventories	8/09	NA		1614K	Moderate
Thu. August 14	08:30	Jobless Claims (Initial)	8/09	NA		455K	Moderate
Thu. August 14	08:30	Core Consumer Price Index (CPI)	Jul	0.2%		0.3%	HIGH
Thu. August 14	08:30	Consumer Price Index (CPI)	Jul	0.4%		1.1%	HIGH
Fri. August 15	08:15	Empire State Index	Aug	-5.0		-4.9	Moderate
Fri. August 15	09:15	Capacity Utilization	Jul	79.8%		79.9%	Moderate
Fri. August 15	09:15	Industrial Production	Jul	0.0%		0.5%	Moderate
Fri. August 15	10:00	Consumer Sentiment Index (UoM)	Aug	62.0		61.2	Moderate

As your trusted advisor, I am sending you this newsletter because I am committed to keeping you updated on the economic events that impact interest rates and how they may affect you.

In the unlikely event that you no longer wish to receive these valuable market updates, please USE THIS LINK or email: bgammache@verizon.net

If you prefer to send your removal request by mail the address is:
Bob Gammache, CMPS
Carteret Mortgage
105 Clearcreek Ct
Moneta,VA 24121

Writing the Article Resource Box Effectively

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:31:59 -0500

Writing the Article Resource Box Effectively

The internet is the information superhighway, this phrase has been used so may time it should be nominated for the Internet Cliché Award. People who go online are subdivided into groups, but usually, they are searching information. Whether for gaming, business, fun or anything else the internet provides us with information that has proved to be very beneficial.

Through recent years many people have learned the secrets of Search Engine Optimization. More and more are seeing the effects articles can have on traffic to their sites. Some have even created sites devoted entirely to providing articles that could be read by their website visitors and have links that could lead to many sites that are related to the topics and subjects of the articles.

For example, the sites may feature many articles about a different topics. As a website visitor reads the articles they have searched for, they can find at the end of the article a resource box that can be clicked on to link them to the site that has submitted the article. Of course the article should be related to your website. Let's say if your article is about buying a first home, the resource box should link to your page discussing your services for first time home buyers. Your resource box does not need to be directed to your main page. A link from an article about first time home buying to a page about first time home buying will greatly enhance the "reputation" and ranking on the search engines.

A resource box is usually found at the end of an article. They contain the name of the author, a brief description of the author, and a link. If a reader finds your article useful, they will want to find out where the article came from to read more. The resource box will be their link to go to your page and do some more reading or research on the subject they are interested in.

But, like the article itself, the resource box must also be eye-catching to capture the interest of the reader. While the resource box encompasses only a small space, providing the right keywords and content for your resource box will provide more incentive for the reader to go to your site.

Now we know what resource boxes are, what are the benefits of having a good resource box? Mainly it's driving targeted traffic to your page. When you get people to click on your resource box, you generate traffic that can be counted upon as potential customers.

So what would be a good content for your resource box? Basically it is keywords, learning about the proper keywords that people are searching for, relative to your article content. There are many tools you can find in the internet that can help you in determine what keywords to use.

Resource boxes can also use all the creativity they can get. You only get a small space for your resource box so you better make the most of it. Try to catch the attention of your reader with resource box content that can make them want more information. Unlike TV ads, you don't have visual aids to drive your point home. But you do have the power of imagination of your reader. With the right content, you can make them think and respond.

Build your credibility with your article content so that more people will want to visit your site and see what you have to offer. Make the people click your resource box by providing resource box content that makes a lasting impression. You only get one chance to wow them and hundreds of chances to repulse them.

Never underestimate the power of the resource box. It may be small in size but it will provide a significant aid in driving traffic to your site. A boring resource box will never get a job done. Be fun and creative but at the same time show that you have a great deal to offer.

A Review of a New Real Estate Investor Training Website

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:05:41 -0500

A Review of a New Real Estate Investor Training Website

I know my stuff. I am a highly trained mortgage professional who has been originating mortgages since 1991. I am one of only a handful of individuals in the country to have earned the Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist designation. For years, my mortgage practice has been focused on real estate investors. I am an active real estate investor myself. I talk to real estate investors all day, every day. Helping people invest in real estate is not just what I do, it really is who I am. If I see an opportunity to learn more about investing in real estate, I am all over it. I know my stuff.

At least that's what I thought. I recently took an opportunity to participate in a brand new training program designed specifically for real estate investors and I was, frankly, blown away.

The quality of the training was simply exceptional. The program is taught by two highly experienced Realtors and the training has timely, topical content useful for a beginning real estate investor up to and including this old geezer! Training is presented in a live, interactive webinar format and the trainers are happy to stop their presentation and answer a question or go back over anything you don't quite follow. For $197, I feel like training of this quality is just an incredible bargain.

They are training 12 hours per week in a live webinar format. But since each session is recorded, you can always review the material later in their "back office". Subjects covered include:

•1) How to make a killing with Real Estate with ZERO RISK and NO MONEY DOWN!

•2) How to create instant equity in properties that have little to no equity... even if they have Negative Equity

•3) How to accurately research properties to find their True Value (You don't want to get this wrong)

•4) What EXACTLY the lender needs to see on the HUD-1 Statement (If you don't send them a "PERFECT" HUD-1, your deal will die fast!

•5) How to negotiate short sales with loss mitigators and have them eating out of your hands!

•6) How to get the lender to SEND YOU A CERTIFIED CHECK for any money that may be in the escrow account

•7) How to get the homeowner to write a "KICK BUT" hardship letter that can influence the lenders decision

•8) How to tie up the property and keep other investors from Stealin' the Deal (which happens often in competitive markets)

•9) How to run a Profitable rental property business

•10) Where to find the best deals and how to earn the seller's trust and actually cut them in on the deal... This one secret alone could be worth millions!

•11) How to tell IMMEDIATELY from the front yard if the property is a good deal or not

•12) The Secret Niche to getting properties that are tied up in bankruptcy

•13) The complete pre-foreclosure process, from Lis Pendens to the foreclosure sale at the courthouse and how to buy in all stages

•14) Which liens are "foreclosable" and how to handle each one of them

•15) Different loan products (FHA, etc) and why each one will DRASTICALLY AFFECT your deal and how it's structured

•16) How to negotiate forbearance agreements and workout plans

•17) How handle the "REALTOR VS. INVESTOR" challenge the right way

•18) A complete "BEHIND THE SCENES" look into the loss mitigation department! ...Things loss mitigators will NEVER TELL YOU (We paid good money to get them to tell us!)

As you can see, there is literally something for everyone in this training program.

The Real Estate Mastery program teaches the "Nuts and Bolts" not only on how to execute the perfect Short Sale, but also how to buy, fix and "flip" houses, how to run a profitable rental property business and a lot more.

Regardless if you are a beginning Real Estate investor or you have accumulated a portfolio of homes, there is a great deal to learn from this educational program. The material is covered completely and in an understandable format. Am I a fan? Absolutely, A raving fan! For more information about the Real Estate Mastery 101 training course, simply follow this link. You will be glad you did!

Mortgage Market Guide 8/3/08

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:10:30 -0500

If you can't see the newsletter, or would like to view it online, use this link

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Provided to you Exclusively By Bob Gammache, CMPS

Bob Gammache, CMPS
Carteret Mortgage Corp
Office: 888-648-1714
Fax: 540-719-0701
Email: bgammache@verizon.net
Website: www.nva-mortgage.com

For the week of Aug 04, 2008 --- Vol. 6, Issue 32

Last Week in Review

"EVERY DAY YOU MAY MAKE PROGRESS." Winston Churchill. And after recent weeks of progressing in a worsening direction, Bonds and home loan rates finally managed to make some progress in the right direction last week, with home loan rates improving by .125% from where they began.

The biggest newsmaker occurred when President Bush signed into law HR 3221, the "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008," which is a sweeping $300 Billion rescue plan to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure, and to boost confidence in the sluggish housing market. This bill is several hundred pages long, and there have already been hundreds of articles, summaries, and analyses of the bill from the media, many with conflicting and inconsistent data. Rest assured I am deciphering how this law may impact or benefit you, and in the meantime, read the article below for a few notable items from the legislation.

Now remember, negative economic news typically causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, and several items had that very effect last week, which helped Bonds and home loan rates progress toward improvement. Weak economic data out of Europe, sour comments from Fed President Gary Stern stating that "headwinds to the economy haven't diminished and are possibly getting worse, setting the stage for a lengthy period of weakness like that seen in the early 1990s", and a worse than expected Gross Domestic Product Report - which is the broadest measure of activity in our economy - all worked to give Bonds a boost.

But there was some positive economic news...like lower oil prices and a better than expected Consumer Confidence Report, which helped money flow back into Stocks from Bonds. That stopped Bonds and home loan rates from making any bigger improvements. In addition, while Friday's Jobs Report was better than the expected loss of 75,000 jobs, it still showed that 51,000 jobs were lost in July and that the unemployment rate sits at its highest level in four years. As a result of these negative details, the better than expected Jobs Report didn't cause Bonds and home loan rates to worsen as much as they could have.

HELPING HOMEOWNERS AND HOMEBUYERS IN TODAY'S MARKET IS CERTAINLY PROGRESS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION! CHECK OUT THIS WEEK'S MORTGAGE MARKET VIEW FOR A FEW INTERESTING PROVISIONS WITHIN THE NEWLY SIGNED HOUSING AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT.

Forecast for the Week

Several news items this week could determine whether Bonds and home loan rates continue to make any improving progress. And the main event will be the Fed's Rate Decision and Policy Statement, due for release on Tuesday afternoon at 2:15pm ET, following their regularly-scheduled meeting. While it is widely believed that the Fed will keep the Fed Funds Rate at 2%, there is speculation that the Fed will hike rates later this year to help fight inflation. A hike in the Fed Funds Rate could actually be good news for Bonds and home loan rates, as it should serve to fight inflation, so I will be reading the statement closely for any hints in direction it may give us.

And with good timing for the Fed's discussions, their favorite gauge of inflation will be released on Monday, via the Core PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditure) Report. Core PCE essentially measures price changes in goods and services targeted toward and consumed by individuals, and the Fed does watch this report closely as a key measure of inflation. Last month's PCE showed a core reading of 2.1%, which is just a whisker higher than the range the Fed likes to see - so this month's data will definitely be under scrutiny.

Remember when Bond prices move higher, home loan rates move lower...and vice versa. And since inflation is the arch enemy of Bonds, it will be important to see what the week's news says about inflation. A jump higher in the Core PCE or a Fed Policy Statement that doesn't contain a strong stance against inflation could prevent Bonds and home loan rates from making further improvements.

Chart: Fannie Mae 6.0%% Mortgage Bond (Friday Aug 01, 2008)

The Mortgage Market View...

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act

This week, President Bush signed the "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008" into law. This $300 Billion rescue plan is aimed at helping struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure, as well as boost confidence in the housing market. Although the bill is several hundred pages long and contains a number of far-reaching provisions, here are a few of the major provisions in the legislation that impact homeowners and homebuyers:

1. Tax credits. First-time homebuyers who purchase their primary residence on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009 are eligible for up to $7,500 in tax credit, provided they haven't owned a home in the last three years and fit certain income parameters. The credit is generous, but it is actually an interest free loan, paid back over 15 years at $500 per year when taxes are filed.

Special note: Some types of seller-paid down payment assistance programs are being eliminated as of October 1st as well - so purchasing a home before then may gain you a double benefit of tax credits AND seller-paid down payment assistance while it is still available.

2. Larger loans at lower rates. There have recently been provisions in place that have allowed loans larger than $417,000 to qualify for better financing rates than normally would be available for "jumbo" loan amounts of that size, thanks to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Although these provisions were set to expire, they are being extended...however, the top end of the loan size that will be allowed under these programs will be dropping down from $729,750 to $625,500 as of January 1, 2009.

3. FHA Hope for Homeowners. This provision is designed to help homeowners who are "upside down" on their mortgages--that is, they owe more on their house than they can sell it for in today's market. Essentially, this plan allows homeowners who meet the requirements and are upside down to refinance their mortgage to a new 30-year Fixed FHA mortgage. There are a number of qualifying details that must be met and requirements to be agreed to -- including agreeing to split the equity in your home with the government in the future. Still, if you're upside down on your mortgage and struggling in today's economy, this is an option worth exploring in more detail.

These are just a few of the provisions that may benefit you, and there are a number of other items that impact the housing and mortgage industry as whole. But the bottom line is, home prices are extremely reasonable right now, home loan rates are low, and new incentives are in place that may help make the decision to buy even more appealing than before. If you're in the market for a new home or need to make some changes with your current mortgage...there's never been a better time to act. Just get in touch so we can start the planning process together.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the new legislation and how it may impact you, please call or email to schedule a time to talk.

The Week's Economic Indicator Calendar

Remember, as a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise.

Economic Calendar for the Week of August 04 - August 08

Date	ET	Economic Report	For	Estimate	Actual	Prior	Impact
Mon. August 04	08:30	Personal Income	Jun	-0.1%		1.9%	Moderate
Mon. August 04	08:30	Personal Spending	Jun	0.5%		0.8%	Moderate
Mon. August 04	08:30	Personal Consumption Expenditures and Core PCE	Jun	NA		0.1%	HIGH
Mon. August 04	08:30	Personal Consumption Expenditures and Core PCE	YOY	NA		2.1%	HIGH
Tue. August 05	02:15	FOMC Meeting					HIGH
Tue. August 05	10:00	ISM Services Index	Jul	48.0		48.2	Moderate
Wed. August 06	10:30	Crude Inventories	8/02	NA		-81K	Moderate
Thu. August 07	08:30	Jobless Claims (Initial)	8/02	NA		448K	Moderate

As your trusted advisor, I am sending you this newsletter because I am committed to keeping you updated on the economic events that impact interest rates and how they may affect you.

Marketing your website through articles

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:20:05 -0500

Articles Are The Quickest Way To Your Client's Mind

One great way of promoting your website and service can be achieved for free. As an additional bonus, this "free" method can boost your site's traffic, doubling and even tripling your income.

Articles. They are one of the easiest and fastest ways to promote your website in order to generate traffic and increase your earnings.

So how the heck does this work?

Write articles relating to your website and submit them to "free content" submission sites. Easy to do, takes little time and can increase your website traffic, sales and of course, your income.

So how can article writing boost traffic and income?

The article on the free content site contains a link to your own website. Readers, after reading your articles, may choose to pay you an unexpected visit. Having them on the free content sites is also making these articles available to other webmasters who may wish to publish that article on their site as well.

If they do, your article will include the link back to your website. And anyone who reads the article on that free content site can still click on the link to visit your website.

As the list of your published articles grow larger, and more and more of them are appearing on different websites, the total number of links to your site increases also. Major search engines are placing a lot of significance on incoming links to websites so they can determine the importance of a certain site.

The more incoming links the website has, the more importance search engines attaches to it. This will then increase your website's placement in the search results.

If your site is promoting your service, the links that your articles have achieved will mean more potential customers for you. Even if visitors only browse through, you never know if they might be in need your services in the future.

Search engines do not just index the websites, they also index published articles. They also index any article that is written about your own website's topic. So once someone searches for that same topic, the list of results will have your site included or may even show the articles that you have written.

And to think, little effort on your part was used to bring them to your website. Just your published articles and the search engines.

It is no wonder why many webmasters are suddenly reviving their old writing styles and taking time to write more articles about their site than doing other types of promotion.

Getting their site seen is easier if they have articles increasing their links and traffic and making it accessible for visitors searching the internet. Since so many people are now searching online, having your site on the search engines through your articles is one way of letting them know about you and your business.

The good thing with articles is that you can write about anything that people would want to know about and not just the topic of your website. This can be achieved in the lightest professional manner, with a little not-so-obvious sales pitch added.

If you think about it, only a few minutes of your time is spent on writing one article and submitting to free content site. In the shortest span of time also, those are distributed to more sites than you can think of. Even before you know what is happening, you are getting more visitors than you previously had.

If you think you are wasting your time writing these articles, fast forward to the time when you will see them printed and wide-spread on the internet. Not to mention the sudden attention and interest that people are giving your website and your products or services.

Try writing some articles and you will be assured of the sudden surge in site traffic, link popularity and interest. Before you know it, you will be doubling and even tripling your earnings.

Nothing like getting benefits for something you got for free.

Bob Gammache maintains a mortgage information site at www.nva-mortgage.com and also offers internet marketing training and a substantial business opportunity through The Internet Dream Machine

The week in review and upcoming economic reports 6/23

Bob Gammache, CMPS (Carteret Mortgage) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:26:35 -0500

If you can't see the newsletter, or would like to view it online, use this link

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Provided to you Exclusively By Bob Gammache, CMPS

Bob Gammache, CMPS
Carteret Mortgage Corp
Office: 888-648-1714
Fax: 540-719-0701
Email: bgammache@verizon.net
Website: www.nva-mortgage.com

For the week of Jun 23, 2008 --- Vol. 6, Issue 26

Last Week in Review

"VERY NICE. IT'S A LITTLE GREASY...BUT VERY NICE. CRUMBLE SOME CRACKERS INTO IT SHELL, THAT WILL HELP TO ABSORB THE GREASE..." Peter Falk's line from the 1979 classic movie "The In-Laws" is good advice about soup...but doesn't help us much when it comes to absorbing the high price of oil, a greasy topic that continues to permeate financial headlines.

And last week was no exception, with oil prices continuing to march ever higher, despite an announcement early last week by OPEC member Saudi Arabia that they will increase oil production in the near future. They are concerned that the high price of oil will lead to lower demand and a turn toward alternative energy sources. And Friday's news didn't help, with a strike at a Chevron plant in war-torn Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producing nation. Additionally, Israel conducted a military operation for preparedness in case of a potential strike against Iran's nuclear plants - which all served to push oil prices higher still. High oil prices are inflationary - so if the march higher in oil prices continues, both the Stock and Bond markets will suffer...and even crumbled crackers won't help sop up the mess.

But Bonds did manage to find some improvement last week, helping home loan rates get better by about .125%. Negative economic news, including soft housing numbers, weakness from the manufacturing sector and more write-downs announced by financial giant Citigroup all played a hand - causing money to flow out of Stocks and over into Bonds, which helped prices improve.

WANT TO HELP YOUR CAR'S MAINTENANCE BUDGET IMPROVE? YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO LEARN HOW MUCH YOU CAN SAVE...READ THIS WEEK'S MORTGAGE MARKET VIEW!

Forecast for the Week

The coming week is chock full of economic reports that will likely have a big influence on the financial markets. We start off on Tuesday with a report on Consumer Confidence, and also the beginning of Fed meetings which will culminate in a Rate Decision and Policy Statement on Wednesday afternoon at 2:15pm ET. It is widely believed that the Fed will keep the Fed Funds Rate at 2%...but what will be most interesting is the wording of their carefully crafted Policy Statement. If it gives hints of their intent to hike rates in the near future to help fight inflation, it could actually be good news for Bonds and home loan rates.

A look at sales numbers in the new and existing housing markets will come Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday will wrap up the week with a bang as the Fed's favorite gauge of inflation, the Core PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditure) data will be released. Since this will be following the Fed's announcement on Wednesday - will the Fed look smart if they've held rates steady, or perhaps come under criticism if the inflation numbers are super-heated? Could be a greasy few days for the Fed, so stay tuned.

Remember that when Bond pricing moves higher, home loan rates move lower - and then take a look at the chart below. You can see how in recent days, Bonds have moved higher, but are now battling an overhead "ceiling" of technical resistance. If Bonds and home loan rates are to improve in the near future, it will take some very Bond-friendly news to help crash through the ceiling that has stopped progress in its tracks for the time being.

Chart: Fannie Mae 6.0%% Mortgage Bond (Friday Jun 20, 2008)

The Mortgage Market View...

TIME FOR A CHANGE...OR NOT?

The rising cost of crude oil has everyone talking about gas prices at the pump... but what about the actual oil in your engine? Are you spending too much on oil by changing it too often?

Most of us probably think a car's oil needs to be changed every 3,000 miles. But that's an old mechanics tale these days. Did you know that many car manuals now actually recommend changing the oil every 5,000, 7,500 or even 10,000 miles? That means you may be changing your oil twice or even three times as often as you need to! In fact, a recent study in California indicated that 73 percent of Californians change their oil more frequently than recommended by the manufacturers.

So how often should you change your oil?

The fact is, oil changes should be determined by what, how, and where you drive. If you have a newer car with little or no engine wear, you can probably go 7,500 miles between oil changes. And even if you have a slightly older car, but drive under ideal conditions such as predominantly highway, you can go a similar distance before changing.

Of course, many of us actually don't drive under "ideal" conditions...if you make many short trips, endure lots of stop-and-go traffic, drive on gravel or dusty roads - then you might need to change your oil more frequently. So how do you know - and take advantage of saving money by only changing oil when it's really needed?

Technology to the rescue

There are a few ways you can actually eliminate the guesswork. If you have a newer car, it may have a built-in sensor that estimates oil life based on engine running time, miles driven, outside temperature, coolant temperature and other operating conditions. When the indicator light comes on, it's time to change the oil. It's that simple.

Another idea is to purchase an oil monitoring sensor, such as the IntelliStick. These sensors are used in place of your car's original dipstick and provide you with real-time, accurate information about the true condition of your oil. Better still, these sensors often have a transponder built into them so you can quickly and easily check the condition of your oil at any time using a cell phone, PDA or computer with Bluetooth connectivity...now that's really going high tech.

Bottom line - dollars spent on oil changes add up fast. Especially with the increasing price of oil, it pays to be smart, check the manufacturer's recommendations...and not let too-frequent oil changes cost you!

The Week's Economic Indicator Calendar

Remember, as a general rule, weaker than expected economic data is good for rates, while positive data causes rates to rise.

Economic Calendar for the Week of June 23 - June 27

Date	ET	Economic Report	For	Estimate	Actual	Prior	Impact
Tue. June 24	10:00	Consumer Confidence	Jun	57.0		57.2	Moderate
Wed. June 25	08:30	Durable Goods Orders	May	0.0%		-0.5%	Moderate
Wed. June 25	10:00	New Home Sales	May	510K		526K	Moderate
Wed. June 25	10:30	Crude Inventories	6/21	NA		-1242K	Moderate
Wed. June 25	02:00	FOMC Meeting					HIGH
Thu. June 26	10:00	Existing Home Sales	May	4.96M		4.89M	Moderate
Thu. June 26	08:30	Jobless Claims (Initial)	6/21	375K		381K	Moderate
Thu. June 26	08:30	Gross Domestic Product (GDP)	Q1	1.0%		0.9%	Moderate
Thu. June 26	08:30	Chain Deflator	Q1	2.6%		2.6%	Moderate
Fri. June 27	08:30	Personal Income	May	0.4%		0.2%	Moderate
Fri. June 27	08:30	Personal Spending	May	0.7%		0.2%	Moderate
Fri. June 27	08:30	Personal Consumption Expenditures and Core PCE	May	0.2%		0.1%	HIGH
Fri. June 27	08:30	Personal Consumption Expenditures and Core PCE	YOY	NA		2.1%	HIGH

As your trusted advisor, I am sending you this newsletter because I am committed to keeping you updated on the economic events that impact interest rates and how they may affect you.

In the unlikely event that you no longer wish to receive these valuable market updates, please USE THIS LINK or email: bgammache@verizon.net

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Bob Gammache, CMPS
Carteret Mortgage
105 Clearcreek Ct
Moneta,VA 24121