This Week's MA Charity Event - 05/31/11 10:13 PM

I have decided to once a week use my "Mortgage Buddy" blog as a platform to post information about a local charity event in Mass. As hopefully my posts begin to reach more and more referral partners and potential clients I think its important to use the "popularity" in a positive way. In other words use the Internet power of the mortgage buddy for good. It sounds a little cheesy but hopefully you get the point.
This week's post is for the AIDS Walk Boston on Sunday June 5th
1 in 300 Americans is Living with HIV

Event Information
Every … (1 comments)

Mortgage Buddy Rate Outlook for the Week Beginning May 30th - 05/30/11 09:58 PM
The Mortgage Buddy's rate outlook for the week.

Last week saw another round of soft economic data. It seems clear that the global economy is seeing a bit of a soft patch. The effects of the stimulus money is starting to fade out, Japan's earth quake economic shock waves are finally being felt, and the European debt crisis is starting to re-surface again. We are also running into the typical seasonal slow down in the stock market. The big fish usually "sell in May and go away". Many experts think this is just a soft patch and once we get … (2 comments)

Mortgage Buddy Market Update for Today - 05/25/11 10:44 AM
Today's Mortgage Buddy Market Update
This morning featured the release of some mixed housing data. Let's take a quick review of what was released and what it means.
7AM MBA Mortgage Application Report: By definition the Mortgage Bankers' Association compiles various mortgage loan indexes. The purchase applications index measures applications at mortgage lenders. This is a leading indicator for single-family home sales and housing construction.
Here is the information from the release
The volume of mortgage applications for home purchases rose 1.5 percent in the May 20 week, partially reversing the prior week's 3.2 percent decline. Purchase applications jumped 6.7 percent … (1 comments)

Today's Mortgage Buddy Update - 05/24/11 05:20 PM
Today's Mortgage Buddy Update
I wanted to borrower a couple of minutes of everyones' time and update you on some housing market data that was released today as well as some stock market news.
The Commerce Department said sales increased 7.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted 323,000 unit annual rate, the highest level since December, from a slightly upwardly revised 301,000-unit pace in March.

These numbers were a surprise over expectations and it showed an increase in every region over the last report but it was down 23% over last year. The silver lining in this report is that … (0 comments)

5 FHA Rules That Buyers & Sellers Need to Know About Flipped Properties - 05/24/11 04:14 PM
This is a fantastic blog post for anyone involved with FHA financed properties. Michael lays out his 5 FHA rules to make certain that your FHA financed property is flipped without running into road blocks.
Via Michael Deery (Citywide Financial Corp):
Buying and selling flipped properties can be a real pain in this market. For example, did you know that lenders require a 2nd appraisal on flipped properties where the seller is making more than 20% within 90 days and is selling to a FHA buyer, and the buyer is not allowed to pay for this 2nd appraisal? Last month over 26% of … (1 comments)

The Mortgage Buddy Rate Outlook for the Week Beginning May 23rd - 05/22/11 09:59 PM
Below is "The Morgage Buddy" rate outlook for the week. I don't have a crystal ball. I use economic data and market trends to hopefully give some educated insight into the potential dirction of the market and mortgage rates.
This week's mortgage market environment looks to interesting to say the least. We have been having a string of week economic data reports the past few weeks and it's showing in the bond market with increased buying and now the stock market is starting to pull back as well. There are numerous economic data points with the potential to weigh on mortgage rates.
… (1 comments)

The Mortgage Buddy's Week in Reivew - 05/21/11 02:02 PM

 
It was another roller coaster week in the stock market ending with a considerable sell off in Friday and increased market volatility. The market has been in a tight trading range the past few weeks with a S&P range of 1,320ish to 1,370 ish. There seems to be some major resistance around 1,350 and every time we get near there we sell off. If we break below 1,325 this week and hold there we could see a considerable pull back. I have been saying we are due for a correction or pull back for a couple of months now, … (1 comments)

Wild Day in the Stock Market - 05/17/11 10:20 PM

Today was a wild day in the stock market, especially for those who follow it closely on a daily basis. We started off negative and then really dipped in late morning and it looked as if the technical levels were going to break down. I sold some June expiration calls I had on the VIX and then bought some calls for Hewlett Packard and Intel at the lows for the day. This down turn is leading some to question whether this is just a minor correction or something more serious. We have already had many more down days in May … (4 comments)

"The Mortgage Buddy" Rate Outlook for the Week Beginning May 16th - 05/16/11 06:58 AM

Mortgage rates continue to remain under pressure last week falling the lowest levels of 2011. Fantastic timing for the Spring Real Estate Market. The overall market was down about .5% and some choppy trading and this week looks to bring some increased volatility to trading. We have had such a big run up in the market over the last 2 years that it seems we are finally running out of steam or at least slowing down in the face of some strong head winds.
Looking at the economic calendar for the week, there is a big chunk of housing related … (2 comments)

Monday is "D" Day...Debt Ceiling Monday/Financial Armageddon Is One Bad Choice Away - 05/13/11 08:10 PM

We have heard all this talk back and forth over the past couple of months about our debt issues. We are a country of credit cards and it doesn't stop at the mall. The US is maxed out on their credit limit and the United States is set to reach its $14.3 trillion debt limit on Monday, and will only be able to avoid default until Aug. 2, according to the U.S. Treasury.
This is big stuff everyone. We all turn on the news and talk about it over dinner and listen to the political posturing back and forth on the … (53 comments)

Sat Charity in MA Event All proceeds to benefit The Wish Project - 05/12/11 05:09 PM
I wanted to reach out to everyone and let them know about a charity event this weekend in Dracut MA.
This coming Saturday May 14th. there will be a charity ride to help raise money for the Wish Project. There are many families that need help with cribs for babies and matresses for parents. Registration will start at 9am.

The Wish Project Mission:
To help end homelessness by providing otherwise expensive home and baby items for free so that families moving out of shelters succeed the first time.  Recycling goods to make wishes come true means that kids have beds … (1 comments)

The Mortgage Buddy Mid Week Review - 05/11/11 06:04 PM
We are having a busy week of activity in the real estate industry, the stock markets, and the mortgage world.
Tomorrow Ben Bernake is going to be going in front of Congress with some new testimony. According to reports he is going to be discussing and recommending even more regulations on the banking industry. My hope is that this is not going effect the mortgage industry too bad, but I'm sure it can't be that positive.
Today we had a huge sell off in commodity prices across he board. Oil, silver, and gasoline prices where dramatically down on the day, leading … (2 comments)

"The Mortgage Buddy" Mortgage Rate Outlook for the Week Beginning May 9th - 05/08/11 05:31 PM
"The Mortgage Buddy" Mortgage Rate Outlook for the Week Beginning May 9th
Last week saw continued pressure downwards in the mortgage rate environment. The economic data points were dominated by the jobs report on Friday. We did see a nice increase in the number of jobs created in this great country, but the unemployment rate ticked back up because of more people re-entering the work force. These people are counted as unemployed and can skew the positive news. But it's a good sign when more people come into the job force, it usually means that they have a re-newed confidence that … (1 comments)

6 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website or Blog - 05/07/11 01:07 PM
This is a fantastic post by Rebekah Radice. This post covers the six most important ways to drive traffic to your website or blog. She goes into nice detail on these web traffic driving techniques in hopes to teach the reader how to improve their web presence and their business. This is a must read for anyone involved with online business.
Via Rebekah Radice Colorado Springs FHA,203k VA Mortgage Loan Pre-Approval Specialist (Benchmark Mortgage, Colorado Springs FHA, VA, Pre-Approval):
6 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website or Blog
As bloggers we know that there are massive amounts of ways to drive … (4 comments)

Monday Golf Charity Event for ALS Granite Links Golf Club - 05/07/11 12:53 PM

Just what is ALS? Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease, first described in 1869 by the noted French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. Although the cause of ALS is not completely understood, the last decade has brought a wealth of new scientific understanding about the disease that provides hope for the future. Lou Gehrig first brought national and international attention to the disease in 1939 when he abruptly retired from baseball after being diagnosed with ALS. At anytime in the US there are about 30,000 people usually between the ages of 40 and 70 being afflicted with this horrible … (1 comments)

MA Supreme Court Ruling To Change How Real Estate Transactions are Closed - 05/06/11 06:12 PM

Last week the MA Supreme Court released a long awaited ruling that makes it mandatory for real estate attorneys to play a more essential part in closing home real estate transactions.
This is an important ruling because it helps create another level of oversight in the real estate/mortgage process. According to local groups and business that really showed a lot of support for this ruling, it can provide the best oversight to date for real estate closings. Their position is that an attorney local to MA can provide better council then a random third party closing agent that just shows … (4 comments)

So We Have a Real Estate Market Double Dip...Now What??? - 05/05/11 09:30 PM
So We Have a Real Estate Market Double Dip...Now What???
Do we whine and moan a little bit? Does this give us reason to say "I Told You My Job Is Tough"? Do we find a political party or bank to blame? I guess it depends if you want some cheese with your whine or not.
Today Clear Capital released their monthly housing data report and yes everyone we have officially "double dipped". This is not as fun as double dipping into the ice cream but it can give you a brain freeze. The numbers officially dipped below the previous … (4 comments)

The Mortgage Buddy Economic Briefing for Today: Mortgage Rates Dropping - 05/04/11 04:24 PM
The Mortgage Buddy Economic Briefing for Today
Today we saw a break through some technical levels on the 10yr treasury helping to push the mortgage rates lower and some positive moves in the MBS market. ARM rates have dropped to their lowest point in 6 months and fixed rates have also dropped to multi week lows. MBS prices are up +3/32 (FNMA 30-yr 4.5 at 103.02), above 9:45 et pricing of -1/32.
Weaker than expected economic data today
10 AM    The ISM Services index declined to 52.8, well below the consensus forecast of 57.3 - The non-manufacturing ISM surveys nearly 400 firms … (0 comments)

Be Careful Following the Crowd and Buying Silver - 05/03/11 11:54 PM

I love spending my spare time following the stock markets of our great country. From the time I wake up until 6pm I'm watching CNBC. It's great for me because I can use the market data to make more educated decisions about when to lock in mortgage rates for my clients. I feel it gives me a little advantage over my fellow loan officers. I also love to day trade. Now by no means am I that person with 6 monitors going all over my office, nor do I stay up all night and trade the world markets but I … (4 comments)

Rate Outlook for the Week Beginning May 2nd - 05/02/11 10:52 AM
 

Today is a great day for Americans. We have proven our resiliency to track down evil and dispose of it. The world markets have responded with a positive open for the day but this week's economic focus for the US is going to be the unemployment report on Friday.
We have been seeing a nice trend over the past few months with the unemployment rates starting to creep back down slowly. The unfortunate part of this report is that hours worked did not edge up last month and we have seen an increase in continuing claims over the past few weeks. … (1 comments)

 
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John Saari "The Mortgage Buddy"

Worcester, MA

More about me…

Office Phone: (508) 740-7442

Cell Phone: (508) 740-7442

Email Me

I decided to start writing this blog to be an education resource to my referral partners and my clients. We live in a new world of mortgage lending in which we need to be up to date on the changing underwriting guidlines and mortgage products offered. It's through these updates that we will all be able to provide our clients with the customer service they derserve and expect. It's my belief that this industry insight is what will take our business to the next level. Education = Confidence


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