John's Blog

Your grandfather always said, "Real estate is about location."  Well, I am here to tell you, first, that it is about "timing in specific locations" and, second, why the timing for Central Texas is NOW. •(1)   Interest rates are at historical lows: Mortgage rates have been holding steady at histor...

The "PIIGS" are in Play...What do they have to do with interest rates? by John McClellan on May 10, 2010 The Feds program to buy mortgage backed securities was put into place in December of 2008 in an effort to stimulate home-buying and refinancing. By becoming the major purchaser of MBSs (mortga...

  Two predictions for future mortgage rate movement—is it time to “rip the band-aid” off? By, John McClellan I have been talking a great deal lately about the Fed’s exit from its program of buying mortgage-backed securities (MBS).  Over the last 13 months the Fed has spent more than one trillion ...

http://austinrealestatedaily.com/2010/01/21/sweeping-changes-from-hud-on-fha-loans...really  Today HUD announced some sweeping changes for FHA loans.  I use the descriptor sweeping because the media and even HUD are portraying these changes as sweeping.  Truth be told, most of these changes eithe...

  “incentive (in⋅cen⋅tive) any factor (financial or non-financial) that enables or motivates a particular course of action, or counts as a reason for preferring one choice to the alternatives”  Our world is founded and based upon incentives either to do something or not to do something.  Today’s ...

Close your eyes.  Relax.  Think back to a simpler time-a time before cell phones, before email, before PDAs and internet search engines.  Think back to a time when real estate agents had glamour-shot photographs on their business cards and online was not around. Now, ask yourself these questions:...

  Let's be honest!  USDA loans can't really save the market; however, they do have a place in today's mortgage market.  My office has been abuzz about USDA loans for the past couple of months-a program that has become, as of October 1, the only affordable zero-down loan program available (other ...

I have been getting numerous phone calls and emails today asking about the Fannie - Freddie take over and what it means to the everyday borrower. Yesterday Secretary Paulson announced that the FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) was taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.   In short the FHFA wi...

The end of seller-funded down payment assistance . . .and other things politicians forgot to tell you about the new housing billBy John McClellanWell, they finally did it! On Saturday, July 26, 2008,Congress finally got the photo op they were looking for: "Hey, look at us,your Congress at work. W...

Credit Scores - Important? More than ever! "What is the credit score?" That is one of the first questions I ask my Loan Officers when they bring a file for me to review. Why you ask? Because it is ALL about the credit scores, in fact it is all about the middle credit score of the three that most ...