Shamun 's Blog

Be Eco-Friendly at home and at work

VARinsic, Incorporated — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:45:13 -0500

Help save the earth! Learn how to use Virtualization to help your company contribute.

These are facts! The polar ice caps are melting. The Earth's global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 C (1.33 ± 0.32 F) during the 100 years ending in 2005. According to a preliminary estimate by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The United States emitted 16.3% more Green house gas in 2005 than it did in 1990.

Humans have an impact on the emissions of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, ultimately affecting our planet. We each need to chip in and do our part to help.

So how can you help? It's easy, and will make you look good in the process by utilizing consolidation and virtualization technologies to help you save the Earth and save money! By consolidating your current infrastructure to faster processors and more RAM we can reduce the number of systems in your environment. When this consolidation is combined with utilizing virtualization in the design we can increase the utilization percentage of each system. In turn you will use less power, cooling, and space while reducing your licensing costs at the same time.

Virtualization
Virtualization technologies are helping to optimize resources of small businesses all the way to the larger datacenters. By implementing virtualization technologies we can help your company improve your total cost of ownership by significantly increasing the utilization of systems and assets and gain better control of the overall infrastructure. This helps to reduce overall costs while also providing a shared infrastructure that leverages common tools for systems management. Virtualization also increases the agility and resiliency of the overall environment.

By deploying virtual servers and storage securely across a shared hardware environment, we can reduce and contain infrastructure sprawl--leading to lower and more simplified management costs through common management platforms and tools.

It can be complex to understand the right virtualization technology to deploy in your environment. Should it be at the chip level, the operating system, the application, the network or storage level (Disk, Volume)? Varinsic can help you determine and deploy the right virtualization solution for your business that will reduce costs and complexity.

Why Varinsic, Inc?
We are a dynamic Value Added Reseller offering customers an agnostic approach to solve complex business problems by integrating technology solutions. Our technical team offers consulting expertise in the areas of IT infrastructure architectures and systems integration to help businesses architect, implement, and manage their distributed network-computing environments. We'll help you choose specific technology products that will meet your business and financial requirements.

Shamun Mahmud, MBA, VSP
Business Solutions Consultant
Varinsic, Inc.
103 Centennial Street, Suite H
La Plata, Maryland 20646

Phone:   240.523.2703
Cell:    703.887.2214
Fax:     703.991.0801
shamun.mahmud@varinsic.com

http://varinsic.com/SaveTheEarth/index.html

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Sat, 02 May 2009 11:51:25 -0500

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited
2 Holly Lane
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1779
(800) 460 - 1921

We are one of the few National Financial Institutions that specialize in helping businesses find, qualify for, and, finance a dwelling of their own. Often the loan process is performed with little to no money down, even with less than perfect credit, or other qualifying problems. We actually perform residential Loan Modifications to completion. Ask us about our fast-track commercial mortgages!

April 21, 2009

More Evidence

Do you want more evidence of a bottoming of the economy? Apparently, Bernanke has seen it. The Federal Reserve Chair referred to the latest data on home sales, home building and consumer spending as evidence that the economy is improving. "A leveling out of economic activity is the first step toward recovery," Bernanke said in prepared remarks. We would like you to look in a different place. Lately the price of gold has lost its luster. What does that mean?

There are two things that can make gold prices soar. One is the threat of inflation. The other is economic or political crisis. Both factors have been at work during the past year. Twice gold has risen near the $1,000 per ounce mark. First it was last year during the rise of oil prices. Then it was early this year as the economic crisis worsened. Though gold prices are a long way from the $400 they were five years ago, they have dropped more than ten percent over the past few weeks. Though there is a threat of long-term inflation because of stimulus spending by the government, there is no current threat of inflation. And the markets seemed to be signaling an end to the economic crisis on the horizon. We must emphasize, this does not mean the economy is recovering. But you have to reach a bottom before you can turn up. Does that mean rates will not go lower? Could be...

The Markets. Rates turned back down this week. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending April 23, 30-year fixed rates averaged 4.82%, down from 4.87% the week before. The average for 15-year fell to 4.48%. Adjustables were mixed with the average for one-year adjustables increasing to 4.91% and five-year adjustables falling to 4.88%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 5.88%. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist stated "The housing industry is starting to exhibit some positive signs, albeit scarce and too early to tell how permanent. In its April 15th regional economic report, the Federal Reserve reported that better-than-expected buyer traffic led to a scattered pickup in home sales in a number of its Districts over the 6-week period ending on April 6th. Factors such as homebuyer tax credits, low rates, and more affordable prices were cited as leading to more potential buyers. This may have added to the rise in homebuilder confidence in April, which rose to the highest level in six months, according to the National Association of Home Builders."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated April 17, 2009

	Daily Value	Monthly Value
	April 16	March
6-month Treasury Security	0.33%	0.43%
1-year Treasury Security	0.54%	0.64%
3-year Treasury Security	1.27%	1.31%
5-year Treasury Security	1.79%	1.82%
10-year Treasury Security	2.86%	2.82%
12-month LIBOR		2.124% (March)
12-month MTA		1.439% (March)
11th District Cost of Funds		2.003% (Feb)
Prime Rate		3.25% (Dec)

The Bank of Mom & Dad has gotten busier since no-down-payment mortgages have practically disappeared. "In the last six months, I've dealt with more parents than I ever have," said Jay Seville, an associate with Re/Max Allegiance in Arlington. "They're part of the financing now, either with the down payment or a secondary loan." FHA loans allow gifts for the entire down payment and closing costs, while conventional loans can be more restrictive. Some families are avoiding the required paperwork by turning over the money months before the home purchase, so it can be considered the buyers' own. Both financial advisors and real estate practitioners who have experience with these kinds of family loans seek to make sure that everyone understands the terms of the loan. They advise that the terms be written down for future reference in the event of memory disputes or legal conflicts. "There are two types of pain in life: the pain of discipline and the pain of regret," said Nicholas Yrizarry, founder of a wealth management group in suburban Washington DC. "In the case of family matters, one must have discipline upfront . . . rather than having pain of regret later." Source: Washington Post

Banks are quickly accepting bids and writing contracts for foreclosed homes, but buyers are complaining that settlements are taking too long. Real estate pros say purchasing a bank-owned property is different than dealing with a regular home owner, considering that banks have to check claims on the property and problems can arise at closing. Plus, in some states, banks also need court approval of the foreclosure. Although banks are swamped by the record number of foreclosures, the bank-owned homes will have to be sold to help stabilize residential prices and boost the housing market. Source: Washington Post

The $8,000 first-time home buyer mortgage tax credit, which is part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is a great boon. But, it doesn't help people who don't have money for a down payment and closing costs. Now some states are contemplating offering an $8,000 loan to home buyers before they close on the condition that they repay the loans as soon as they get their federal tax credits. The idea has been adopted in Missouri, which advances the money to those who take out first mortgages offered through the state's housing finance authority. The New York State Builders Association is lobbying the State of New York Mortgage Agency to adopt a similar strategy. "A lot of states are trying to get through the technical aspects of this," says Gregory Brown, an assistant vice president for government affairs at the National Association of Home Builders. "I feel very confident they'll find a way to make it work." Meanwhile, some home builders are taking matters into their own hands, offering programs that purchase the tax credit from borrowers prior to closing. Source: The New York Times

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.
To reduce client costs, our sales operations are now a 'virtual' office. If we are not available when you contact us, please leave a message. We shall refer you to a full-time consultant. Our legal team now performs Loan Modifications

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:30:23 -0600

December 2, 2008

It Finally Happened

Our readers were probably getting tired of us harping about rates on mortgages. We kept explaining why mortgages did not go down despite the fact that market rates had dropped significantly. We also kept explaining how important rates are with regard to the housing and ultimately the economic recovery. Obviously, the Federal Reserve Board agreed with this assessment as they forced rates down significantly throughout this year. But lowering short-term rates was not enough.

This week, the government’s decision to support the credit markets by spending hundreds of billions of dollars to purchase mortgage-backed securities and support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did the trick (see news section for more information). Rates on mortgages instantly moved down significantly, narrowing the spread between mortgages and Treasuries. Where they will settle is anyone’s guess, but for now we have a situation that could boost the housing markets instantly. Lower rates help housing by making ownership more affordable. As a matter of fact, coupled with lower housing prices, housing should be more affordable now than at any time in the past several years. This will attract more investors and first-time buyers into the markets. And it could start a cycle in which the markets gain even more confidence in purchasing mortgages because housing prices stop falling and the rate of defaults slow down. Perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves, but for now, these lower rates are very good news and anyone who has been thinking about buying or obtaining a lower rate on their loan should act accordingly.

The Markets. Rates fell again this week and these numbers may not reflect the full extent of the drop the markets experienced. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending November 26, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.97%, down from 6.04% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed rose slightly to 5.74%. Adjustables fell as well with the average for one-year adjustables decreasing to 5.18% and five-year adjustables falling slightly to 5.86%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.10%. "Rates fell for the fourth consecutive week as signs the overall economy is flagging lowered most rates market-wide," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "And economic growth in the third quarter was revised downward this week, led by the first decline in consumer spending since the fourth quarter of 1991 and the largest drop since the second quarter of 1980. However, declining house prices and low rates have raised housing affordability in September to the highest level since February of this year, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR)."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated November 28, 2008

	Daily Value	Monthly Value
	Nov 26	October
6-month Treasury Security	0.48%	1.23%
1-year Treasury Security	0.93%	1.42%
3-year Treasury Security	1.38%	1.86%
5-year Treasury Security	2.01%	2.73%
10-year Treasury Security	2.99%	3.81%
12-month LIBOR–WSJ		3.824% (Oct)
12-month MTA		2.256% (Oct)
11th District Cost of Funds		2.769% (Sept)
Prime Rate		4.00% (Oct)

Rates on mortgages fell sharply last week after the administration announced that it will pump another $800 billion into credit markets to free up frozen consumer and mortgage lending. That number dwarfed previous government actions aimed at bolstering the mortgage lending market. "The feds agreed to spend a half a trillion dollars to buy up mortgage backed securities and another $100 billion to fund lending for Fannie and Freddie; we’re not talking chump change anymore," said Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, a publisher of mortgage information. Rates averaged 5.77% for the day on a 30-year, fixed rate loan, down from 6.06% Monday of last week, according to Gumbinger. They fell as far as 0.75 percentage points during the day, according to Orawin Velz, Associate Vice President for Economic Forecasting at the Mortgage Bankers Association. That could save a typical homebuyer more than $90 a month on a $200,000 mortgage. "The government action was geared to bringing rates down," said Velz, "and it did." Most mortgages are sold to investors in so-called secondary markets but with foreclosure rates so high and expensive write downs of mortgage-backed securities so common over the past several months, investors had fled the mortgage market. Instead of buying mortgage bonds, they’ve been snapping up Treasury’s which have a lower risk. That showed up in the falling yields of Treasury bonds and the greater difference between Treasury yields and mortgages. Normally, rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages are only slightly higher than yields on 10-year Treasury bonds, about 1.5 percentage points. That difference compensates mortgage investors for taking on extra risk. Lately, however, because investors have perceived, quite reasonably, that risks of mortgage-backed securities were far greater than previously supposed, they demanded greater reward for investing in them. Source: CNN/Money

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released digitized flood insurance rate maps of more areas of the country. The maps were initially rolled out in some areas in 2003. This fall, they have been distributed in 100 communities in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin. By 2010, about 92 percent of the U.S. population and 65 percent of the land will be covered by the maps, FEMA says. Home owners in affected areas should check the new maps, which revise flood zones significantly. Some home owners who never needed flood insurance will need to buy it. Other homes will no longer be in flood zones, relieving their owners of the obligation to buy the insurance. "In the past, we did not have as precise information and so, with the digital products, in some areas the special flood-hazard area has gotten smaller. In other areas it has grown," says Roy Wright, deputy director of the risk analysis division for FEMA. Source: USA Today

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited
2 Holly Lane
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1779
(800) 460 - 1921

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:26:28 -0600

November 11, 2008

Happy Veterans Day

This has been a very tough year for many Americans. When we look at our plight and what has happened this year–let us not forget about those who are making more significant sacrifices for our country. Not only those who are serving right now, but also those who have served in the past. Certainly this Veteran’s Day is a time for us to reflect upon their sacrifices and put our difficulties in perspective. We are still the most prosperous country in the world. That does not mean that we don’t have issues right now. We are in the midst of a recession exacerbated by a fiscal crisis that is spreading around the world.

The loss of 240,000 jobs last month is just a reflection of how severe things are right now. As we wrote last week, the government is doing plenty to help us in many ways. And we expect Congress to get together in a special session now that the election is over and consider additional stimulus aimed at the housing industry. The wild card? Interest rates. Our first story in the news section highlights the possible effects of lower rates on the housing market and thus the economy. The Federal Reserve Board is doing its part in lowering rates, but the markets have failed to respond. Every move by the government to back mortgages will help bring rates in line. Even increased borrowing by the government to fund the huge deficit may not cause rates to rise based upon the fact that inflation pressures have decreased significantly. There are some analysts that have even uttered the "deflation" word. What a difference in perspective since the record high oil prices of just a few months ago.

The Markets. Rates retraced over one half of their increase from the week before. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending November 6, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.20%, down sharply from 6.46% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed fell significantly as well to 5.88%. Adjustables went down with the average for one-year adjustables decreasing to 5.25% and five-year adjustables falling to 6.19%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.24%. "Rates fell this week amid new indications of a pullback in consumer spending and a weaker jobs market," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "The economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the third quarter, led by the first decline in consumer spending since the fourth quarter of 1991. In September alone, consumer spending fell by the most since June 2004. More recently, job layoffs more than doubled in October compared to September on a year-over-year basis."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated November 7, 2008

	Daily Value	Monthly Value
	Nov 6	October
6-month Treasury Security	0.83%	1.23%
1-year Treasury Security	1.17%	1.42%
3-year Treasury Security	1.63%	1.86%
5-year Treasury Security	2.46%	2.73%
10-year Treasury Security	3.75%	3.81%
12-month LIBOR–WSJ		3.824% (Oct)
12-month MTA		2.256% (Oct)
11th District Cost of Funds		2.769% (Sept)
Prime Rate		4.00% (Oct)

The National Association of Realtors has stepped up its challenge to lawmakers encouraging them to take new, decisive actions to address the continuing problems in the housing industry, as well as the ongoing economic crisis. The NAR has provided an economic analysis demonstrating that a reduction, or a buydown, of interest rates by just 1 percentage point could result in up to 840,000 additional home sales and reduce the inventory of homes by as much as 20 percent. Inventories currently at 9.9 months’ supply would decrease to approximately a 7.5 month supply. “These changes would help stabilize home values and the housing industry,” Gaylord says. Home price stabilization would bring clarity to the valuations of mortgage-backed securities, removing uncertainty in the financial markets and positively affecting the overall U.S. economy, Gaylord says. A recent consumer survey conducted by NAR member Realogy Corp. reinforces the importance of housing in a broader economic turnaround. The survey found that nine out of 10 home owners believe that owning a home is still the best long-term investment they can make, but nearly one-third of those surveyed said they were putting plans to buy a new or existing home on hold because of the current economic environment. Source: National Association of Realtors

A series of tax credits for wind, solar, geothermal, tidal energy and others was among the tenets of the October congressional financial rescue legislation. The law increased the investment credit for solar from $2,000 to $7,500 for a buyer who spends $25,000 to install solar panels on his roof. In states like California, Connecticut, and New Jersey, where the cost of power is considerable, the pretax compound rate of return on a typical home solar system will be greater than 15 percent per year, says Andy Black, CEO of OnGrid Solar, an industry research firm. Home builders, including some of the biggest, such as Centex, Lennar, Pulte Homes, and Woodside Homes, are seeing advantages to including solar. All are developing successful communities where all of the homes have solar panels capable of making most if not all power. Source: BusinessWeek

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited
2 Holly Lane
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1779
(800) 460 - 1921

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:24:13 -0500

October 28, 2008

Predictions

First of all, we would like to make it abundantly clear that predicting any markets, including stocks, bonds or oil is a very risky business. If anyone could predict any market with accuracy, they would be doing something else for a living. That is why we have to be careful in "couching" speculation in an economic commentary. Last week we noted that rates were up sharply in the aftermath of the moves by the government to fix the economic crisis. We also noted that the economic news was very negative and that this news would put downward pressure on rates. Sure enough, rates came back down very quickly in the past week. Will they continue to drop or bounce back? We don’t know, but we do think lower rates are essential for a housing and economic recovery affected by a credit crisis. Lower rates translate into fewer foreclosures and defaults, especially when considering the fact that adjustable rate loans will not adjust quite so much. And certainly, lower rates make purchasing homes more affordable.

If one is hoping that rates will continue to come down, one would also hope that the economic news is even worse in the near future. That is kind of paradoxical–hoping for news of a bad economy which hurts housing. But lower rates could be one of the ultimate fixes for the overall situation and unlike other fixes, the solution does not cost the government anything. As a matter of fact it saves the government money, especially with a rising deficit. We have some big economic numbers coming, including the snapshot of the economy for the third quarter and employment figures for the month of October, which is the first statistic for the fourth quarter. The markets have already been figuring on bad news for these stats. However, there are degrees of "bad." If the numbers come out worse than expected, we may very well see rates stay down or move down further. The big question? The election results a week from today. Without changing anything substantively, elections can have a short-term bearing on the markets. More on that next week.

The Markets. Fixed rates fell back sharply after the surge of last week . Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending October 23, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.04%, down from 6.46% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed fell significantly as well to 5.72%. Adjustables were mixed with the average for one-year adjustables increasing slightly to 5.23% and five-year adjustables falling to 6.06%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.33%. "Long-term rates fell this week amid news of tame inflation and a weaker housing market," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Consumer prices were unchanged in September and core prices, which exclude food and energy products, rose by only 0.1 percentage point, all below the market consensus. On a year-over-year basis growth in core consumer prices remained at a 2.5 percent clip. New construction on one-family homes fell 12 percent in September to an annual rate of 544,000 homes, the lowest since February 1982. One-unit housing starts are now 70 percent below its peak set in January 2006, according to the Department of Commerce." Note the more positive information on existing sales in the news section.

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated October 24, 2008

	Daily Value	Monthly Value
	Oct. 23	September
6-month Treasury Security	1.51%	1.64%
1-year Treasury Security	1.61%	1.91%
3-year Treasury Security	1.76%	2.32%
5-year Treasury Security	2.57%	2.88%
10-year Treasury Security	3.63%	3.69%
12-month LIBOR–WSJ		3.337% (Sept)
12-month MTA		2.479% (Sept)
11th District Cost of Funds		2.693% (Aug)
Prime Rate		4.50% (Oct)

Note: Did you know that FHA and conforming loan amounts are scheduled to go down in many areas of the country starting January 1? Talk to us if you are interested in purchasing a home or obtaining a lower rate on your existing loan. Time may be of the essence.

The federal government, which has been criticized for not doing enough for Main Street while coming to the immediate aid of banks, is working on a new plan to help troubled homeowners. The plan was discussed last Thursday at a Senate Banking Committee hearing that probed the federal response to the credit crisis. Lawmakers repeatedly urged Treasury to act with dispatch and draw up clear guidelines to ensure that banks that receive taxpayer funding begin lending again and do all they can to prevent foreclosures. Sheila Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., told the Senate Banking Committee that her agency and the Treasury Department are working closely to find ways to prevent avoidable foreclosures. The plan would use the Treasury Secretary’s new authority under the Emergency Stimulus Act to provide guarantees to lenders and companies that service home loans. "Loan guarantees could be used as an incentive for servicers to modify loans," Bair said. "Specifically the government could establish standards for loan modifications and provide guarantees for loans meeting those standards." That way, she said, "unaffordable loans could be converted into loans that are sustainable over the long term." Bair said one way loan guarantees can be used to prod loan servicers to modify more loans is for Uncle Sam to guarantee that the government would compensate servicers for losses in cases of re-default - that is, when a borrower receives a modified loan but then ends up becoming delinquent on the new loan. Source: CNN/Money

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million units in September from a level of 4.91 million in August. Home sales are 1.4 percent higher than the 5.11 million-unit pace in September 2007. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said more markets are seeing year-over-year gains. “The sales turnaround which began in California several months ago is broadening now to Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Rhode Island,” he says. .” NAR President Richard F. Gaylord says low home prices and low rates have helped attract buyers. “This is the first time since November 2005 that home sales have been above year-ago levels,” Gaylord says. “Credit tightened at the end of September, but the improvement demonstrates that buyers who’ve been on the sidelines want to get into the market to make a long-term investment in their future.” Yun says there may still be market disruptions. “The credit markets are not settled yet, although the mortgage market stabilized with the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," Yun says. Total housing inve ntory at the end of September fell 1.6 percent to 4.27 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.9-month supply at the current sales pace. This is down from a 10.6-month supply in August and marks two consecutive monthly declines since inventories peaked in July. Source: National Association of Realtors

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited
2 Holly Lane
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1779
(800) 460 - 1921

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:03:14 -0500

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

June 17, 2008

Oil Prices-Do We Have a Bubble?

The price of a barrel of oil has increased from $20 to over $130 in six years. Is the price about the collapse? Of course, the economists don't agree. Some say prices are just following fundamentals because of world-wide growth. But we have heard similar arguments before. In the late 1970s silver soared because of "scarcity." And prices collapsed. In the late 1990s, technology stocks soared and it was argued that new technologies would change the "fundamentals" of price-to-earnings ratios. And prices collapsed. A few years ago, the price of real estate was soaring and it was argued that we would run out of homes or places to build them. Right now home prices are retreating from these highs. Will oil follow the same pattern? There is certainly the possibility. However, if there is a collapse, don't expect oil to return to $20 per barrel just as we don't expect home prices to return to where they were eight years ago. The fundamentals still show increased demand for oil as real estate will be supported by population growth.

What is likely to happen is a series of corrections will occur in the long-run, from increased production to more fuel efficient cars to alternative fuel sources. These will not happen overnight-but the wheels are already turning on changes in behavior. Indeed, both consumers and the government are changing their behavior in this regard. For now, higher oil prices are keeping inflation higher than the Federal Reserve Board would like and this in turn is causing interest rates to rise. While higher rates are helping get potential home buyers off the fence in the short-run and this likely is partially responsible for the recent increases in home sales, lower rates would help the real estate markets more significantly in the long-run.

The Markets. Fixed rates soared to their highest level in eight months last week with the adjustables again rising more moderately. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending June 12, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.32% up from 6.09% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed rose to 5.93%. The average for one-year adjustables increased slightly to 5.09% and five-year adjustables rose to 5.70%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.74%. "Rates jumped this week after a number of Federal Reserve officials expressed concern over a threat of inflation," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "This led some market participants to believe that the Fed will raise rates more aggressively over the year than previously thought. Meanwhile, news reports on the housing market were mixed. Serious delinquencies for both prime and subprime conventional mortgages nearly doubled between first quarter of 2007 and 2008, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. However, the household debt service and homeowner financial obligation ratios improved over the same period. Moreover, pending home sales for April unexpectedly rose by 6.3 percent and mortgage applications for both home purchases and refinancing were also up last week."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated June 13, 2008

	Daily Value	Monthly Value
	June 12	May
6-month Treasury Security	2.28%	1.86%
1-year Treasury Security	2.62%	2.05%
3-year Treasury Security	3.35%	2.69%
5-year Treasury Security	3.68%	3.14%
10-year Treasury Security	4.23%	3.88%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ		3.027% (May)
12-month MTA		3.290% (May)
11th District Cost of Funds		3.111% (April)
Prime Rate		5.00% (April)

U.S. Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, is pushing a proposal to raise the ceiling on VA loan amounts to $730,000. Meanwhile, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate veterans' affairs committee, has proposed a bill that would lower the equity requirement for a veteran to refinance a mortgage with a VA loan from 10 percent down to 5 percent; and Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) wants the maximum for VA-backed loans for refinancing to be at least $417,000. The lack of competitiveness of VA-guaranteed loans has resulted in their nationwide decline from a recent peak of nearly 500,000 in 2003 to just 133,000 last year, Filner says. Although the government's mortgage program for military veterans continues to be hampered by a $417,000 loan limit, it is still making a comeback, according to the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs' loan guaranty service. In May alone, the volume of loans backed by the VA was up more than 50% over that of a year earlier, Judith Caden told the Mortgage Bankers Association's Government Housing and Loan Production Conference in Washington. But despite the resurgence in activity, the agency is unable to help veterans who are looking to the VA as a way out of their subprime loans. Because of what Ms. Caden called "a glitch" in the law, VA borrowers who want to refinance must have a 10% equity stake in their properties and cannot borrow more than $144,000. Sources: Stars and Stripes and National Mortgage News

Who doesn't want their own little slice of paradise? With the real estate market moving slow, some buyers may be looking more seriously at vacation timeshares. Here's some advice for potential buyers, according to certified financial planner John Gin. The purchase price is only part of the equation. What will it cost to maintain the property? What are the property taxes? How much will it cost you to travel to that destination? Find out if there's potential to generate rental income during parts of the year when you don't use your property. You need to investigate and possibly be willing to set up rental arrangements. Does the home have potential as a place you'd want to retire? Retirement can have a big impact on your investment decision, and give you more leeway in terms of your options. The most important factor is to know this is a location you are comfortable spending most or all of your time when retirement comes. Weigh your options and read over all documents carefully before signing anything that commits you to a purchase. A financial adviser may be able to help identify a plan to buying a timeshare or vacation property. Source: The Times-Picayune

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Interactive Financial Division
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.
To reduce client costs, we are now a 'virtual' office. If we are not available when you contact us, please leave a message. We shall contact you at our earliest opportunity.

Commercial Capital Ltd - Interactive Financial Div | 2 Holly Lane betterloansNOW, LLC | Stafford | VA | 22556 | US

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:03:53 -0500

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

May 20, 2008

The Argument For Higher Rates

Several economists are now arguing that rates are heading higher for the rest of the year. Indeed, the 10-year Treasury has risen pretty steadily for the past month or so. Why could rates be headed higher? For one thing, rising oil prices and other inflationary pressures typically translate into higher rates. The higher budget deficit also means that the Federal government will be borrowing significantly which also puts upward pressure on rates. Finally, the economic news in the past few weeks has been a bit stronger than expected. The markets may be thinking that we may actually avoid a recession.

Some are even predicting that the Federal Reserve Board may raise short-term rates by the end of the year. We are not so sure. There are several scenarios that could cause this upward pressure on rates to ease. For example, what if the speculative bubble on oil prices bursts? What if we are just at the beginning of the slowdown, instead of coming out of it? On the other hand, if rates are heading upward it means that the buying opportunity in this housing market could require quick action. Right now we have lower home prices and very low rates. There is always a chance that one of these factors could be removed and those who did not purchase in 2008 may regret their lack of action.

The Markets. Rates were down slightly in the past week, which is interesting because long-term Treasuries rose. Is this evidence that the secondary market for mortgages is getting stronger? The fact that adjustables fell even more may lend evidence to this argument. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending May 15, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.01% down from 6.05% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed was unchanged at 5.60%. The average for one-year adjustables fell to 5.18% and five-year adjustables fell to 5.57%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.15%. "Recent remarks by Federal Reserve (Fed) officials, which partly bolstered optimism that financial markets will recover later this year, helped mortgages ease up a little this week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Fed Chairman Bernanke indicated in a speech on May 13th that the Fed stands ready to continue to add liquidity to the markets. On the same day, San Francisco Fed bank president Janet Yellen added that she anticipates inflation will slow as commodity prices level off in the second half of the year. Despite the bleak housing market, there was positive news on the overall state of the economy. Also, the consumer price index for April rose less than expected, allaying some market concerns of inflation taking hold."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated May 16, 2008

	Daily Value	Monthly Value
	May 15	April
6-month Treasury Security	1.90%	1.58%
1-year Treasury Security	2.08%	1.74%
3-year Treasury Security	2.70%	2.23%
5-year Treasury Security	3.10%	2.84%
10-year Treasury Security	3.83%	3.68%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ		2.802% (April)
12-month MTA		3.528% (April)
11th District Cost of Funds		3.280% (March)
Prime Rate		5.00% (April)

Key lawmakers spent last week trying to broker a deal on a bill that would allow the government to insure up to $300 billion of home loans and overhaul oversight of key players in the mortgage industry. By the end of the week, they had come closer together but had not hammered out a final compromise. "We believe we have an agreement in concept," said a spokesman for Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the lead Republican on the Senate Banking Committee. "We're currently in the process of seeing whether we can translate that agreement in concept into language." At issue is a bill that would allow at-risk borrowers with hybrid adjustable rate mortgages to refinance into fixed-rate mortgages. The new loans would be insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and be available to homeowners if their lenders agree to write down loan balances below the appraised value of their homes. Source: CNN/Money

Home owners are still optimistic about their home's value, despite falling home prices all around them, according to a survey of homeowner confidence conducted by Harris Interactive for Zillow.com According to the survey, 72 percent of home owners believe their home's value has increased or stayed the same in the past year. The reality is 75 percent of U.S. homes actually decreased in value from the same period a year ago, according to Zillow. In fact, in the first quarter home values dropped 7.7 percent year-over-year, which was the largest year-over-year decline in more than a decade, Zillow points out. But home owners could be growing more realistic. Since the confidence survey was first conducted last December, home owners show signs they are moving closer to reality as 5 percent more respondents in the first quarter said they think their home value has decreased in the past year compared to those surveyed in the fourth quarter of 2007. Source: Zillow.com

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Interactive Financial Division
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC wishes our deepest condolences to the victims of The Station Fire. We are a firm supporter of stationfamilyfund.org.
All rights reserved.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Commercial Capital Ltd - Interactive Financial Div | 2 Holly Lane betterloansNOW, LLC | Stafford | VA | 22556 | US

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:32:08 -0500

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

May 13, 2008

Consumers Still Spending?

The "good" news for the economy is that consumers are still spending. Personal debt rose $15.3 billion in March. While the markets seem to have taken this as good news, we are not so sure. First, the fact that consumers have been borrowing too much money is what has helped contribute to the present financial crisis. Second, are consumers borrowing to pay for record high gas prices and to pay for other debts they can't keep up with? Sometimes good news in the short run can mean bad news in the long run. Eventually consumers will have to pay for this debt.

On the bright side, the House passed a housing bill last week. While there is some controversy-the Administration is opposed to at least one part of the bill and the Senate version varies significantly-there are provisions that will no doubt help the housing market. And the fact that the government is committed to support the housing market is good news for all of us. For more details on this legislation, see the news section.

The Markets. Rates were fairly stable again in the past week. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending May 8, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.05% down slightly from 6.06% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed rose slightly to 5.60%. The average for one-year adjustables was unchanged at 5.29% and five-year adjustables fell to 5.67%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.21%. "Despite a weak housing market, rates remained almost unchanged this week based on better-than-expected economic data releases that indicated the economy still has some staying power," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Job losses lessened in April and conditions in both the manufacturing and service industry outperformed market forecasts. Worker productivity also rose in the first quarter as increases in labor costs diminished. The housing market is still struggling amid falling house prices and stricter lending standards. Coupled with higher delinquency and foreclosure rates, a smaller share of families own their homes this year. The national homeownership rate held at 67.8 percent in the first quarter of 2008, down from its recent peak of 69.0 percent in the third quarter of 2006 and was the lowest rate since 67.6 percent in the second quarter of 2002, according to the Census Bureau."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated May 9, 2008

	Daily Value	Monthly Value
	May 8	April
6-month Treasury Security	1.74%	1.58%
1-year Treasury Security	1.91%	1.74%
3-year Treasury Security	2.47%	2.23%
5-year Treasury Security	2.99%	2.84%
10-year Treasury Security	3.79%	3.68%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ		2.802% (April)
12-month MTA		3.528% (April)
11th District Cost of Funds		3.280% (March)
Prime Rate		5.00% (April)

Home builders are cutting back on square footage and offering fewer amenities to keep the costs down. "We are dealing with realities of the market. Prices have come down somewhat, and some houses are smaller," says Don Knutson, senior regional president for the mid-Atlantic division of Beazer Homes. "I think square-footage reduction has been about 5 percent between 2007 and 2008." A 2007 national survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders found that 42 percent preferred a bigger house with fewer amenities, compared with 58 percent who said they would prefer a smaller house with "high-quality products and amenities." That represented a change from 2000, when 51 percent wanted a bigger home with fewer amenities. "I would say generally people are realizing bigger is not always better if they can get a smaller home that is affordable," says Knutson. Source: The Washington Post

Interest in purchasing a foreclosed home is rising rapidly, according to a survey conducted in April by Harris Interactive for Trulia.com, a real estate Web site. Here's what the survey revealed about buyers who tend to be interested in buying a foreclosure: About 60 percent of single/never-married adults are more likely to be at least somewhat interested in purchasing a foreclosure; About 50 percent of men are likely to be at least somewhat interested compared with 51 percent of women; Younger adults, ages 18 to 34, are the more likely than other age groups to consider buying a foreclosure with 69 percent expressing interest; Only 32 percent of adults 55 and older are interested in buying foreclosures. Source: Trulia.com

The House of Representatives has passed a Federal Housing Administration refinancing bill by a 266-154 vote, and attention now turns to the Senate Banking Committee, which is expected to mark up a similar foreclosure prevention measure soon. It is estimated that the House-passed bill (H.R. 3221) could refinance up to 500,000 borrowers with "underwater" mortgages into FHA-insured loans. But the bill provides little incentive for investors/servicers to participate, because the principal amount of the loan must be written down to 85% of the current appraised value and the noteholder does not share in any upside if property values increase. H.R. 3221 is a legislative package that also includes two other bills the House passed last year - an FHA modernization bill and a government-sponsored enterprise bill to strengthen supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The House also passed and sent to the Senate a housing tax bill that contains a $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and $10 billion in revenue bonds that can be used to refinance subprime borrowers. Source: National Mortgage News

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Interactive Financial Division
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC wishes our deepest condolences to the victims of The Station Fire. We are a firm supporter of stationfamilyfund.org.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Weekly Commercial Finance update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:47:55 -0500

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

May 6, 2008

An Easy Call

Two weeks ago we wrote...." But in this case the Fed may decide that lowering rates one more time could actually hurt. Yes, the Fed faces a tough decision-and no move or a smaller rate cut could be the result." Well, we could not have been more on-target with this theory. Obviously the Federal Reserve Board opted for a smaller rate cut and the notes released after the meeting this past week indicated that this may indeed be the last cut for some time. Why is the Fed about to end its rate-cutting campaign?

There are several possible explanations. For one, short term rates are so low there is not much room for more on the downside. If something bad happens, the Fed needs more ammunition in reserve. Secondly, higher oil and food prices make higher inflation as much a concern as a slower economy. Finally, the Fed may feel that the worst news is behind us. Though the economic news released in the past week was weak at best, the bottom line is that economic growth was positive. This is better than a recession. On the other hand, preliminary readings are subject to significant revisions.

The Markets. Rates were fairly stable in the past week. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending May 1, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.06% up from 6.03% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed fell to 5.59%. The average for one-year adjustables was unchanged at 5.29% and five-year adjustables rose to 5.73%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.16%. "This week saw little change in rates on mixed news of higher inflation and a weaker housing market," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Additionally, in its most recent policy committee statement on April 30, the Federal Reserve (Fed) indicated it expects inflation to moderate in coming quarters but uncertainty about the outlook for inflation remains high. However, the Fed did note that financial markets remain under considerable stress and tight credit conditions, along with the deepening housing contraction, are likely to weigh on economic growth."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated May 2, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
May 1	March
6-month Treasury Security	1.73%	1.51%
1-year Treasury Security	1.94%	1.54%
3-year Treasury Security	2.53%	1.80%
5-year Treasury Security	3.06%	2.48%
10-year Treasury Security	3.78%	3.51%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	2.802% (April)
12-month MTA	3.528% (April)
11th District Cost of Funds	3.280% (March)
Prime Rate	5.00% (April)

Falling prices are good news for home buyers, making it increasingly likely that they will be able to find a property at a price that is significantly lower than it would have been two years ago and probably less than the house would have brought just a few months ago. Real-estate data company Zillow.com estimates that the median value for all homes in the 12 months ending March 31 fell 25 percent in the Las Vegas metro area, 19 percent in Miami and Orlando, and 16 percent in Phoenix. They declined lesser amounts in most other areas. In the metro areas of Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C., Dallas and Houston, prices are rising - but very modestly. There's a "return to normalcy" in the relationship between home prices and incomes, says Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp. In an analysis of 330 metro areas in the fourth quarter of 2007, National City and Global Insight, an economic research firm, found that home prices were overvalued in relation to household income and other factors in 21 metro areas, down from a peak of 58 metro areas in the second quarter of 2006. Source: The Wall Street Journalcolor, but decorate with big, fluffy colorful towels; Hang some framed art. Source: The Washington Post

It's getting harder for renters to find an affordable place to live with rents rising and availability falling. The median asking rate for rentals has jumped 14 percent, from $591 a month during the fourth quarter of 2003 to $673 a month in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Vacancy rates are down from last year, and average rent is projected to rise 5.3 percent in 2008, up from a 3.1 percent increase in 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors. "We've seen demand for rental housing go up," says Mark Obrinsky, chief economist at the National Multi Housing Council. "The ownership side is retrenching, and we're seeing the demand going to the rental side. There's a lot of hesitancy to buy. Others can't get (financing), so they're remaining renters longer." Source: Rentometer and USA Today

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Interactive Financial Division
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC wishes our deepest condolences to the victims of The Station Fire. We are a firm supporter of stationfamilyfund.org

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Commercial Capital Ltd - Interactive Financial Div | 2 Holly Lane betterloansNOW, LLC | Stafford | VA | 22556 | US

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:57:41 -0500

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

April 22 2008

Fed Faces A Tough Decision

We are rapidly approaching some very important economic news. Next week we have the release of the first quarter economic numbers (GDP) and employment report for April. This happens while the Federal Reserve Board will be meeting and deciding whether to lower rates one more time. This time the Fed faces a very tough decision. Why? The price of oil hit $115 per barrel on April 16th. The incredible run-up in the price of oil causes a slow down in consumer spending that hurts the economy, but it also fuels inflation. Prices were up significantly on the wholesale level last month and these higher prices are likely to be felt beyond the gas pump.

If the Fed lowers rates, the dollar loses even more value and this causes oil prices to go up even more since most oil is imported. So the Fed lowering rates can not only increase the threat of inflation, it could wind up slowing the economy even more. Conventional wisdom says that lowering rates stimulates the economy. But in this case, the Fed may decide that lowering rates one more time could actually hurt. Yes, the Fed faces a tough decision-and no move or a smaller rate cut could be the result.

The Markets. Rates were stable again this week with fixed rates virtually the same and adjustables lower. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending April 17, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.88% the same as the week before. The average for 15-year fixed fell slightly to 5.40%. The average for one-year adjustables decreased to 5.10% and five-year adjustables fell to 5.48%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.17%. "Interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages held relatively steady for a second week, while ARM rates continued to decline amid market speculation that the Federal Reserve (Fed) may cut rates again at its upcoming Committee meeting," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "March's housing starts were the lowest since March 1991 and consumer sentiment in April fell to a 26-year low while homebuilder confidence remains near record lows. Currently, the federal funds future contracts suggest nearly a 100-percent probability that the Fed will cut rates at the end of this month.

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated April 18, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
April 17	March
6-month Treasury Security	1.58%	1.51%
1-year Treasury Security	1.77%	1.54%
3-year Treasury Security	2.31%	1.80%
5-year Treasury Security	2.90%	2.48%
10-year Treasury Security	3.75%	3.51%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	2.512% (Mar)
12-month MTA	3.794% (Mar)
11th District Cost of Funds	3.560% (Feb)
Prime Rate	5.25% (March)

The fast-growing areas in the United States are in the Sunbelt, with Texas leading the way, according to data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau. Dallas-Fort Worth added more than 162,000 residents between July 2006 and July 2007, more than any other metro area. Three other Texas cities - Houston, Austin, and San Antonio - also were in the top 10. Experts credit much of the growth in the South to strong local economies and housing prices that are among the most affordable in the United States. A report earlier this month by Global Insight found that housing prices in the Dallas area were undervalued by as much as 30 percent. Other areas experiencing growth included the New Orleans area, which is recovering from Hurricane Katrina and grew by 4 percent or nearly 40,000 people. During the same survey last year, the population of New Orleans dropped by nearly 290,000 people. Meanwhile, Detroit lost more than three times as many people as any other metro area - its population declined more than 27,300. Other areas losing more than 5,000 people were Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Ga., Youngstown, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y. Source: Associated Press

A survey of almost 500 real estate agents commissioned by JELD-WEN Windows & Doors indicates the increasing importance of curb appeal in selling a home. According to the Real Estate Agent Community Trends survey, 82 percent of practitioners polled said buyers unimpressed with a home's exterior will not want to look inside. The results also found that 90 percent of respondents said a sale depends on first impressions of the front entry, while 91 percent said the home's exterior is just as important as what is inside. Additionally, 75 percent of those surveyed said natural light is important; while the appearance of windows and doors and the presence of energy-efficient products were mentioned by 71 percent and 63 percent, respectively. Universal design features are gaining in popularity as well, according to 65 percent of agents. Source: BuildingOnline

There are "some good signs" that the severe downturn in U.S. housing markets might be approaching an end, says James Lockhart, director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. "It's going to take a while, but we're starting to see some bottoms," Lockhart says. "It may take another six months or so, but hopefully we'll start pulling out of it." But, Lockhart says, the idea of freezing mortgage rates would be a mistake to recovery. "You'd really cause market dislocation. ... I think we're going to have to let the market work," Lockhart told CNBC television in response. "Interest rates have come down dramatically, and people are going to be able to refinance." Source: Reuters News

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Apex Lending Incorporated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC offers our deepest condolences to the victims of The Station Fire. We are a supporter of stationfamilyfund.org. Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Apex Lending - Commercial Capital | 2 Holly Lane betterloansNOW, LLC | Stafford | VA | 22556 | US

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:21:52 -0500

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

April 15 2008

Congress To The Rescue?

The housing "rescue" bill flew through the Senate, similar legislation is taking shape in the House, all three Presidential candidates have presented their plans and the Administration has their own opinion. The good news is that there will be some sort of lift on the way for the housing market. There are still several hurdles to overcome, but it appears that proposals such as tax credits for buying foreclosed properties are a good bet. The bad news is that we don't know if they will work. There are actually dangers if the government goes too far. What are these dangers?

A few weeks ago we cited a lack of confidence in the markets with regard to mortgage securities. This has caused rates on mortgages to be higher than they typically would be, especially when compared to Treasuries bonds and notes issued by the government. The spread has "widened" because of risk of default of mortgages has gone up. But what about the risk that the government will change the rules for mortgages that are already in existence? While more favorable terms would help consumers, they hurt the owners of those mortgages and they are less likely to be buyers in the future. This risk is part of the reason the Administration opposes some components of the rescue bill. Yet, their solution to use the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) as the vehicle to refinance consumers in trouble also has risks. What if the government has to bail out the FHA program? Bottom line-the rescue efforts are welcome, but there are risks and we hope Congress and the President do not go too far. Election years can make for poor economic decisions.

The Markets. Rates were very stable again this week with fixed rates the same and adjustables slightly lower. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending April 10, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.88% the same the week before. The average for 15-year fixed was unchanged to 5.42%. The average for one-year adjustables decreased slightly to 5.18% and five-year adjustables fell to 5.56%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.22%. "Once again, rates held relatively steady this week amid release of subdued economic data," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "For example, pending existing home sales hit the lowest value since its introduction in January 2001, presaging additional weakness in single-family home sales over the upcoming months. Further, the economy lost 80,000 jobs in March, more than the market had anticipated, and the prior two months were revised downward as well."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated April 11, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
April 10	March
6-month Treasury Security	1.49%	1.51%
1-year Treasury Security	1.61%	1.54%
3-year Treasury Security	2.02%	1.80%
5-year Treasury Security	2.66%	2.48%
10-year Treasury Security	3.55%	3.51%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	2.512% (Mar)
12-month MTA	3.794% (Mar)
11th District Cost of Funds	3.560% (Feb)
Prime Rate	5.25% (March)

Helping the kids buy a first home is a time-honored tradition that has become even more significant as home prices rise and incomes flatten. For parents with the means, cash is clean and easy. An individual can give $12,000 a year to a recipient without having to pay a tax on the gift. Therefore, a couple could give an adult child and the child's spouse a total of $48,000 in one year. To keep things simple,the gift is best given well in advance of the mortgage application. Cosigning or otherwise jointly investing in the property can work for parents of more limited means or those who want to be paid back. The biggest risk is that the offspring will be unable to meet their obligations and it will affect the parent's credit rating. Parents who can't afford to help financially may be able to provide experience and even some sweat equity to help the kids make a smart housing choice. Source: Market Watch

The number of consumers who say they plan to buy a home in the next six months rose slightly this month to 3.3 percent from 2.9 percent, despite an overall drop in consumer confidence. According to a survey by the Conference Board, a private research group, consumer confidence fell 11.9 points to 64.5, marking a downturn in sentiment to levels usually seen only during recessions. Consumer expectations about the future plunged to their lowest point since 1973, when a recession was followed by painful inflation. Consumers expect inflation to reach 6.1 percent in the next year, the highest rate since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when gasoline prices surged. "We've been seeing a gradual trend upward since the end of last year, and it's following in line with oil, gas and food prices," said Lynn Franco, who oversees the Conference Board survey. Source: The Wall Street Journal

As April 15 tax day approaches, here is a reminder for home buyers with mortgage insurance. Home owners with adjusted gross incomes of $100,000 or less can deduct the full cost of their government or private mortgage insurance premiums on their 2007 federal returns. Families with incomes between $100,000 and $109,000 are eligible for a reduced deduction. This is a new tax break that Congress has approved through 2010. "On average, this year's tax break could be worth $350 per taxpayer - an annual deduction that qualified home owners can take each year through 2010," says Kevin Schneider, president of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA). Source: MICA

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Apex Lending Incorporated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC offers our condolences to the victims of The Station Fire. We are a firm supporter of stationfamilyfund.org.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Apex Lending - Commercial Capital | 2 Holly Lane betterloansNOW, LLC | Stafford | VA | 22556 | US

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:44:07 -0500

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

April 8 2008

The Number is 232,000

That is the number of jobs the economy has lost in the first three months of this year. For the past two years up to six months ago, we have been asking how in the world the economy stayed strong with the real estate market so weak. If the real estate market is indeed a large part of the economy, it did not make sense. Well, now we know the answer. The economy can't withstand such pressure. Coupled with soaring gas prices, the economy has been felled by a 1-2 punch. Even Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke uttered the "recession-word" in front of Congress this week. What does this mean?

It means that the Federal Reserve Board will be pressured to lower rates at least one more time. While this may not translate into lower rates on mortgages immediately, it will lower the foreclosure rates because adjustable rate mortgages that were scheduled to rise this year may not go up very far, if they go up at all. Also, Congress is under extreme pressure to finish a housing rescue bill very quickly that will include tax breaks, refinance programs and more. (Did anyone say "election year"?) It is amazing that some in Congress were questioning the interest deduction for mortgages a year ago. If some of these new tax breaks become permanent, real estate will become even a better investment in the long-run.

The Markets. Rates were mixed again this week with fixed rates slightly higher and adjustables lower. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending April 3, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.88% up from 5.85% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed rose to 5.42%. The average for one-year adjustables decreased to 5.19% and five-year adjustables fell to 5.59%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.17%. "While prime, conforming rates still remain at historically low levels, long-term rates did drift slightly upwards this week on signs that the economy may have a little more strength than what financial markets forecasted," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "For instance, consumer spending in the fourth quarter of 2007 was revised upwards in the final estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). More recently, February's personal income growth was the strongest since July 2007, and the ISM manufacturing index rose unexpectedly in March. Strong economic growth can lead to an up-tick in inflation fears, which tends to place upward pressure on mortgage rates; however, fears of economic recession, too, are putting pressure on the markets." Of course, this analysis was released by Freddie Mac one day before the weak employment report was released by the Labor Department.

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated April 4, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
April 3	February
6-month Treasury Security	1.56%	2.10%
1-year Treasury Security	1.68%	2.05%
3-year Treasury Security	2.08%	2.19%
5-year Treasury Security	2.75%	2.78%
10-year Treasury Security	3.61%	3.74%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	2.512% (Mar)
12-month MTA	3.794% (Mar)
11th District Cost of Funds	3.560% (Feb)
Prime Rate	5.25% (March)

Senate Democrats and Republicans, under election-year pressure to do more about the mortgage crisis, worked around the clock last week to draft a bipartisan housing bill that has been fast-tracked for a debate and vote. Provisions in the proposed bill include improvements in the FHA lending program, help for troubled borrowers trying to refinance, tax credits for buying troubled properties, a new property tax deduction and more. There are changes exptected to the proposals before the final legislation is passed. We will update you as the bill progresses. Source: CNN/Money

Ben Anderson, a real estate auctioneer and member of the National Auctioneers Association, predicts auctions may make up as much as 15 percent to 20 percent of all real estate sales given nationwide foreclosure rates. Traditionally, auctions represent just 8 percent to 10 percent of such sales. Tips for buying at auction: Conduct due diligence in advance of the auction. Inspect the property. Review any available documentation, such as previous inspections, appraisals, and seller disclosure statements; Review the title search. The seller's representative usually requests this at the time of the listing.; Arrange for financing. Clarify with the lender the qualifications and the amount available for a loan; Know the market. Check comparable properties and what they have sold for, and analyze nearby listings; Review the terms and conditions of the auction. Before auction day get a copy of the purchase agreement and the auctioneer's terms and conditions. Read and understand them. Source: Denver Post

Even after a buyer is found and the papers are signed, there's no guarantee that the deal will close, say real estate practitioners. "The risks are with the property or the buyer's credit, income, or down payment," says Kent Cochrum, president of Kingsland Financial Services in Wheaton, IL. Even pre-approval is no guarantee these days. Something as small as missing a bill payment shortly before closing can derail a loan. Sellers shouldn't stop marketing a home just because they accept a purchase contract, says Cindy Banks, an associate with Re/Max Cornerstone in West Chicago. She keeps records of buyers interested in a property and continues to show that property in many instances. "You've got to track the leads in case [the buyer's financing] crashes and burns," she says. Source: Chicago Tribune

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Ltd Division of: Apex Lending Incorporated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC offers our condolences to the victims of The Station Fire. We are a firm supporter of stationfamilyfund.org.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Apex Lending - Commercial Capital | 2 Holly Lane betterloansNOW, LLC | Stafford | VA | 22556 | US

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:01:04 -0500

April 1, 2008

The Markets Have It All Wrong-Again!

Just because these are "markets" does not mean that they are right all the time. Obviously, when the markets priced subprime mortgages very close to the price of prime mortgages, they were wrong. We can remember twenty years ago when those with bad credit paid 18% or more for their loans. During the real estate boom, those with bad credit were paying as little as 1.0% more than those with good credit. Imagine lending to someone with a poor credit history at 6.0%. Well, we all know what happened. Apparently the markets did not correctly assess the risk. So now what do they have wrong?

The markets have priced the high default rates into mortgages, increasing the spreads between Treasuries and mortgage instruments. The problem with that? New mortgages are being originated under completely different guidelines. Larger downpayments are being required. And better credit standards are in place. In other words, with the lower home values of today and the tighter lending restrictions, the mortgages that are being originated today have a much lower risk of default. But the markets are pricing these loans as if they are being originated during the boom period of two years ago. The markets have it wrong. We predict that when default rates for new mortgages originated today are measured sometime in the future and they are performing better, the spread between real interest rates will narrow. Therefore, mortgages will get cheaper. This is especially true of jumbo mortgages and adjustable rate mortgages which are really being priced high by the markets. How long will that take? Well, that is one question we can't answer.

The Markets. Fixed rates were mixed in the past week as adjustables rose due to pressures in the secondary markets. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending March 27, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.85% down from 5.87% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed rose to 5.34%, but had fallen more steeply than 30-year fixed the week before. The average for one-year adjustables increased to 5.24% and five-year adjustables rose to 5.67%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.16%. "Long-term rates were mixed, but relatively unchanged in the past week as the latest economic indicators came in much as expected," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "For instance, the index of leading indicators continued to fall for the fifth straight month while consumer confidence reached a 5-year low. On the housing front, house prices keep declining across the nation. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index was the most recent to document the drop in prices, reporting a decline of 2.3 percent from December to January in its 10-City Composite Index and a cumulative decline of 11.4 percent from January a year ago. Lower prices improve affordability and the National Association of Realtors reported that its home affordability index was at the highest level in nearly five years, contributing to a pickup in existing home sales in February."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated March 28, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
March 27	February
6-month Treasury Security	1.49%	2.10%
1-year Treasury Security	1.57%	2.05%
3-year Treasury Security	1.88%	2.19%
5-year Treasury Security	2.61%	2.78%
10-year Treasury Security	3.56%	3.74%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	3.814% (Feb)
12-month MTA	4.075% (Feb)
11th District Cost of Funds	3.970% (Jan)
Prime Rate	5.25% (March)

Before a home owner curses the troubled housing market, he or she should take solace in the U.S. tax code, which makes buying a home a good deal for almost everyone. Here's why: Interest deductions, including in some cases mortgage insurance premiums, reduce home owners' tax liability by reducing income. The deduction includes interest paid on both a first and a second home. Interest on home equity loans is also deductible - whether the borrower uses the money to remodel the kitchen or to take a vacation to Disney World. Profits from selling a house are potentially a huge windfall. When a home owner sells a primary residence, any profit on the sale of the property is tax free up to $250,000 for single home owners and $500,000 for married home owners filing. Any profit above that is nearly always a long-term capital gain taxed at 15 percent - less if the seller's tax rate is less than 20 percent. Home owners can itemize. That opens up opportunities to deduct a host of other items that wouldn't be deductible if the taxpayer took the standard deduction. Source: The Boston Globe

If a house doesn't sell, owners should consider renting - and hiring a real estate professional to manage the property, experts say. Renting out a house rather than leaving it vacant is almost always a better option, says Eileen Landau, an associate with Realty Executives in Naperville, Ill. She tells her clients to plan to rent the property for several years, get some income and "get on with your lives." Some are afraid they'll lose a tax-free sale. But sellers only have to live in a home for two of the last five years to claim the capital-gains exclusion, so even if that is an issue, sellers have three years to rent, Landau adds. Once a home is rented, any fix-up costs are tax deductible, points out Rob Massey of Rentals.com. An empty house is hard to insure and it's a target for vandals. "A vacant house goes downhill fast," says Karen Rhodes, an associate with Happy Home Realty in Chattanooga, Tenn. Source: United Feature Syndicate

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Apex Lending Incorporated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC offers our condolences to the victims of The Station Fire.
We are a firm supporter of stationfamilyfund.org/.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:20:24 -0500

March 25, 2008

Powerful Medicine

It is obvious that the Federal Reserve Board has pulled out all the stops in dealing with the present credit crisis. In the face of a declining dollar and soaring oil prices, the Fed moved to lower rates again-significantly. It has now moved rates down six times in the past six months, cutting short-term rates by more than 50 percent overall. The Fed has also made hundreds of billions of dollars available so that banks and other financial institutions have access to capital. The Fed is not only trying to lower rates, but restore faith in the financial system. Our guess is that lower rates will help-but more action will be needed.

There is not much else the Fed can do but expect the government to continue to sponsor programs to help, especially in an election year. There is talk of expanding the Federal Housing Administration's refinance program aimed at those who are behind in their payments due to resets of adjustable rate mortgages. Speaking of adjustable rate mortgages, holders of adjustables will benefit the most from the lower short-term rates. Many have not been able to refinance because of lower home values or tighter guidelines by lenders. These adjustables are less likely to adjust upward in the near future and if they adjusted upward last year, they may very well come down at the time of their next adjustment. That could lead to less foreclosures and every little bit of market strength will help the recovery.

The Markets. Rates fell in the past week, especially fixed rates. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending March 20, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.87% down from 6.13% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed fell steeply to 5.27%. The average for one-year adjustables increased slightly to 5.15% and five-year adjustables fell slightly to 5.56%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.16%. "Rates fell this week as various actions were taken to improve market liquidity," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "In addition, the inflation report from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reflected weaker price increases than consensus expectations. Unchanged in February both including and excluding food and energy costs, it is the first time the core CPI did not report a monthly increase since November 2006. Meanwhile, retail sales fell by 0.6 percent in February, contrary to the consensus forecast of a 0.2 percent increase, signaling that the condition of the economy might be weaker than previously thought. Slowing consumer spending and weak employment conditions are among the concerns behind the Fed's decision to lower the target federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage points in the most recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated March 22, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
March 20	February
6-month Treasury Security	1.33%	2.10%
1-year Treasury Security	1.71%	2.05%
3-year Treasury Security	1.84%	2.19%
5-year Treasury Security	2.36%	2.78%
10-year Treasury Security	3.34%	3.74%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	3.814% (Feb)
12-month MTA	4.075% (Feb)
11th District Cost of Funds	3.970% (Jan)
Prime Rate	5.25% (March)

Lease-to-own agreements can help sell a hard-to-sell property during a sluggish housing market. Here's how they work. A seller agrees to rent a property to an interested buyer for a set period of time, usually one to three years. At the end of the lease, the buyer has the option to purchase the home at a preset price. A portion of the monthly rent paid during the lease is usually counted toward the down payment. To cover that, the seller charges a rent increment or monthly premium of $200 to $300 compared to comparable rentals. Many owners also charge an option fee for taking the property off the market, usually 1 percent to 2 percent of the sale price. This may be applied toward the purchase. Sellers have no guarantee that renters will buy at the end of the term, but if they don't, they keep the option fee and the amount of the rent that would have gone toward the down payment. Source: Orlando Sentinel

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., is proposing to provide up to $300 billion in Federal Housing Administration guarantees to refinance at-risk or delinquent homeowners into affordable FHA-insured mortgages. According to an outline of the bill Rep. Frank is circulating for input, investors would be required to write down the principal to 85% of the appraised value of the property and extinguish all existing liens. In addition, the borrower would have to make six timely mortgage payments before the restructured loan could qualify for an FHA guarantee. The FHA housing stabilization bill could refinance 1 million to 2 million borrowers, and the existing lender/mortgage holders will receive a cash payment and have no further credit exposure, according to the committee. Only mortgages originated between Jan. 1, 2005 and July 1, 2007 are eligible for the refinancing relief. And the government will retain a second lien on the new FHA loan to reduce the cost to the government and avoid inappropriate enrichment to the borrower. Source: National Mortgage News

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited Apex Lending Incorprated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC offers our deepest condolences to the families of The Station Fire.
We are a firm supporter of stationfamilyfund.org. Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:55:31 -0500

March 11, 2008

Why Now?

If the real estate market has been suffering for close to two years, the questions revolve around..why now? Why are real estate prices falling so precipitously and why has job growth fallen into negative territory? Here is a memory test. Remember, the first year of the real estate slump? Sales were slow-but home prices were holding up quite nicely. This was because seller and builder concessions were not priced into the statistics. Now things are catching up. As a matter of fact, expect that prices will stay stagnant in the first stages of real estate recovery as well.

Job growth is also a lagging statistic. We have been losing jobs in the mortgage and real estate industries throughout the past eighteen months. But it takes months for these losses as well as losses in home equity to reach the general economy. Now the trickle down affect is upon us and it looks as though we will have net job losses as well as negative economic growth for the first quarter of the year. It looks as though another rate decrease from the Federal Reserve Board is a lock as well. The next question will be-will long-term rates come down in reaction to the next Fed move? Greenspan called it a conundrum when long-term rates did not rise significantly after the Fed raised rates over a two-year period. Will we see another conundrum on the way down? We do not see long-term rates moving down as far as short-rates have-but there is still room for some movement in this regard.

The Markets. Rates fell in the past week and these numbers were reported before the negative jobs report was released on Friday. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending March 6, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.03% down from 6.24% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed fell to 5.47%. The average for one-year adjustables decreased to 4.94% and five-year adjustables fell to 5.34%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.14%. "Weak economic reports that indicated declines in the job market, slowing in manufacturing and low consumer confidence drove bond yields lower this week and mortgages followed," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. Interest rates for 30-year mortgages are now at the same levels as they were two weeks ago, erasing last week's upward jump. Meanwhile, the housing market continues to take a toll on the rest of the economy. Residential fixed investment shaved 1.25 percentage points off economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2007. More recently, the median sales price of new homes fell 15.1 percent in January, representing the largest annual drop on record. Residential construction fell 19.7 percent over the twelve-months ending January 2008, the largest decline since March 2007."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated March 7, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
March 6	February
6-month Treasury Security	1.61%	2.10%
1-year Treasury Security	1.59%	2.05%
3-year Treasury Security	1.77%	2.19%
5-year Treasury Security	2.50%	2.78%
10-year Treasury Security	3.62%	3.74%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	3.814% (Feb)
12-month MTA	4.075% (Feb)
11th District Cost of Funds	3.970% (Jan)
Prime Rate	6.00% (Jan, 2008)

The size of loans that can be guaranteed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae was raised last week by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. The new, higher loan limits will stay in effect through the end of the year, allowing the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), to buy much higher-priced mortgages in some areas of the country. Also today, the size of the loans that the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) can insure was raised by Housing and Urban Development (HUD).Both moves will lower borrowing costs for buyers of higher priced homes, and aim to boost flagging real estate markets. Previously, Fannie and Freddie could only insure mortgages of up to $417,000, called conforming loans. The new loan limits for Fannie and Freddie vary by area based on local median home prices and go as high as $793,750 in Honolulu. Loan limits for FHA-insured loans were even lower; no more than $362,790. Now mortgages of up to $729,750 will qualify for FHA insurance. "Families in high-cost states have been priced out of FHA-backed loans," HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson said in a speech before the Las Vegas Association of Realtors. "This has created a vacuum, filled by exotic subprime loans." Source: Associated Press

It may be the best time to buy a house in more than four years. According to a new report, home prices have dropped so quickly and so far that valuations - the difference between what a home should cost and its actual price - are the lowest they've been since 2004. The Cleveland-based bank National City Corp. together with financial analysis firm Global Insight, revealed Tuesday that more than 88% of the 330 housing markets surveyed showed price declines and improved affordability during the last three months of 2007. "Housing valuations are almost back to long-term norms," said National City's chief economist, Richard DeKaser. He called current affordability "the best in the past four years." But DeKaser cautioned that home prices could fall even further. "This isn't to say home price declines are over," he said. "We could move below historic norms. By the end of 2008, housing markets could be broadly under-valued." Source: CNN/Money

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Apex Lending Incorporated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC is a firm supporter of locksoflove.org

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:23:31 -0600

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

March 4, 2008

What Were The Markets Thinking?

It must be pretty bad if we start referring to the "markets" as breathing, living organisms. But often we wonder whether the markets have a thought process or if they are like reptiles, reacting to their environment. Last Tuesday the markets witnessed oil prices hitting another record. Producer prices surged as inflation again reared its ugly head. Consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in over five years. And December home prices plunged to cap off the worst year on record. Sounds like a disaster, right?

Well, the stock market went up that day. How could the stock market go up with all that bad news? Did the markets know something that we did not? Is recovery around the corner? Well, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's testimony before Congress did not give any indication that the market reaction was on target. Though he did cite the threat of inflation, he also indicated that we are a long-way from being inflicted with 1970's-style stagflation. According to the Fed Chief, the primary risk is a slow economy. Bernanke also indicated that the Fed is ready to take additional action. By the end of the week, the markets must have listened, because the stock market tanked and rates came down significantly. Now the markets are pretty sure March 18th we will see another decrease in rates from the Fed.

The Markets. Rates rose sharply the past week, however, these numbers were reported before the market rally brought rates down significantly towards the end of the week after Bernanke's testimony before Congress. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending February 28, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.24% up from 6.04% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed rose to 5.72%. The average for one-year adjustables increased to 5.11% and five-year adjustables rose to 5.43%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.18%. "Long-term fixed rates trended up for a third week, bringing rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages back to their levels of last November," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Refinancing activities, which had surged to a 12-month high in January, according to Freddie Mac's monthly refi share report, are likely to ebb following this recent rise in rates."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated February 29, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
Feb. 28	January
6-month Treasury Security	1.95%	2.84%
1-year Treasury Security	1.92%	2.71%
3-year Treasury Security	2.10%	2.51%
5-year Treasury Security	2.73%	2.98%
10-year Treasury Security	3.71%	3.74%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	3.509% (Jan )
12-month MTA	4.326% (Jan)
11th District Cost of Funds	4.072% (Dec)
Prime Rate	6.00% (Jan, 2008)

During the housing boom, updating a kitchen with high end materials like cherry wood cabinets and a Viking stove was a sure bet to boost a home's value. Homeowners often recovered about 80% of the cost when the house was later sold. But with so much more inventory on the market for buyers to choose from, they just aren't as impressed with the bells and whistles. Now most upscale renovations are returning less than 70% of their cost, according to a recent survey from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). "Pay-back for high-end projects has declined over the past few years," said Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects (AIA). "People planning to sell shouldn't over-improve," he said. "They won't get the money out if they sell in the next two or three years." NAR's survey revealed that returns on investment for a wide range of high-end interior redecorations dropped in 2007. An upscale bathroom renovation cost an average of $50,590, nationally, but only added $34,588 to house value - a 68.4% return. In 2006, a high-end bath renovation returned 77.4% of its cost. Adding a brand new bath didn't pay off as well either, earning just a 69% return in 2007, compared with 72.8% in 2006. High-end kitchen remodels held up better, adding value equal to 74.1% of the cost, compared with 75.9% in 2006. Source: CNN/Money

The National Association of Realtors testified Thursday in Congress that the Veterans Home Loan Guaranty Program should continue to be a valuable asset in helping the nation's veterans achieve homeownership in a way that is safe, fair, and affordable. NAR cited a 2004 study that found 82 percent of first-time homebuyers through the VA program could not qualify for a conventional loan. The report also found that 61 percent of those borrowers could not meet the downpayment or debt-to-income ratios required to qualify for an FHA loan. NAR urged the House Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs to reform the Veterans Home Loan Guaranty Program so it can better serve many more veterans. NAR asked the subcommittee to make various program enhancements to give military families the opportunity to become home owners. These enhancements include increasing the VA loan limits in high cost areas to 150 percent of conforming loan limits, easing the refinancing requirements and restrictions for veterans, especially those that have fallen victim to risky subprime loans and offering permanent authorization for the guarantee of adjustable-rate mortgages and hybrid ARMs. Source: National Association of Realtors

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Apex Lending Incorprated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC wishes our deepest sympathy to families effected by childhood cancer.
We are a firm supporter of locksoflove.org.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:04:36 -0600

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

February 26, 2008

Inflation Watch

If the economy is slow, why would long-term rates be rising? There answer is found in one word: Inflation. As oil went past the $100 mark again, the government released a consumer inflation report which showed inflation had averaged 4.3% over the past 12 months and the core inflation rate which excludes food and energy had posted its largest one-month jump in 19 months. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Board was busy revising their forecast which called for no recession but a slower economic growth of below 2.0% for the year while raising their outlook for inflation. Even though the minutes of the past Fed meeting stated that they stood ready to decrease rates again, if there is indeed no recession and inflation continues to rear its ugly head, the markets do not feel that the Fed will be able to do much. Many times in the past year we have warned of the word "Stagflation" which describes a slow economy and high inflation. Ordinarily, inflation should die down when the economy slows.

There is one other explanation for rising long-term rates. And it is good news. The markets may feel that the crisis in the credit markets is close to coming to an end. Many investors have put their funds into Treasuries in a "flight to safety" and money will be moved to other "riskier" investments as the crisis lessens. Why is that good news? The secondary market for mortgages would be one place that benefits from this trend-including jumbo rates and adjustables. Will inflation slow and the credit crisis end? These are questions to be answered in the coming months.

The Markets. Fixed rates rose the past week. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending February 21, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.04% up from 5.72% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed rose to 5.64%. The average for one-year adjustables decreased to 4.98% and five-year adjustables rose to 5.37%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.22%. "After trending up in the past two weeks, long-term fixed rates are back up to nearly where they were at the beginning of the year. In contrast, average rates on adjustables are about 0.5 percentage points below levels of the first week of this year," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "As the spread between long-term fixed-rates and adjustable-rates widens, it's possible we could see a slight increase in the popularity of adjustable-rate mortgages. In Wednesday's release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's most recent meeting, the Federal Reserve reduced its forecast of economic growth for this year to a rate of 1.3 to 2.0 percent, down from the 1.8 to 2.5 percent forecast from last October. The sluggish housing market and tight credit conditions were among the factors contributing to lowered projections. Indeed, although January's housing starts showed an increase from December's level, the gains were from multifamily properties. Single-family construction in January fell to the lowest level since January 1991 and especially weak were single-family housing starts in the West, which experienced the slowest pace of construction since the beginning of the series in 1959."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated February 22, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
Feb. 21	January
6-month Treasury Security	2.10%	2.84%
1-year Treasury Security	2.05%	2.71%
3-year Treasury Security	2.23%	2.51%
5-year Treasury Security	2.80%	2.98%
10-year Treasury Security	3.77%	3.74%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	3.509% (Jan )
12-month MTA	4.326% (Jan)
11th District Cost of Funds	4.072% (Dec)
Prime Rate	6.00% (Jan, 2008)

Choice summer vacation rentals are going fast all over the country, up 10 percent or more over last year, property managers say. Demand is particularly high in the most expensive resorts like Aspen, Colo,. and Malibu, Calif. In Amagansett on Long Island's east end, rentals are 50 percent filled, a month before the usual March rental season, says Rick Hoffman, regional vice president at Corcoran Group. Demand for rentals on Cape Cod, Mass., is running 30 percent ahead of last year, but rates are flat, says Bett McCarthy, vice president of Kinlin Grover, which manages about 2,000 summer properties. Housing experts say the health of this market is surprising considering the sagging economy. But Justin Halloran, vice president of U.S. operations for HomeAway, a classified Web site for private home rentals, is among those who say people are choosing rentals they can drive to as opposed to more exotic, and expensive, vacations. Source: The New York Times

Despite continuing turmoil in the housing and financial markets, a U.S. recession is not imminent, partly because the housing downturn is "nearly over," according to The Conference Board. Housing will likely reduce growth by about 0.4% this year, the board said, but housing affordability is improving and recent interest rate cuts and home price declines should improve it further. Meanwhile, demographic trends favor housing, and the rise in households is outpacing the rise in permits. "All of this adds up to good structural demand for housing if the credit markets and lending institutions can ease the credit flow," the Conference Board said. Indeed, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), after a private meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, said the central bank chief anticipates signs of a rebound in the housing market by the end of 2008. Sources: Investor's Business Daily and National Mortgage News

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited Apex Lending Incorporated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

We are a firm supporter of locksoflove.org.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Weekly Commercial Finance Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:46:30 -0600

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

February 12, 2008

Some Good News

With the markets still in turmoil and economists now debating about whether a recession is coming or it has already arrived, it is always nice to have some good news to balance things out. The good news? Congress has acted quickly to bolster the economy, passing tax rebates and a temporary increase in conforming and FHA loan limits in high cost areas (see Industry News). The latter move will amount to a major rate decrease for many Americans who will respond by refinancing and perhaps purchasing homes. Keep in mind that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA still have to tell us what the loan limits will be in each area, but it is clear that higher priced areas such as California, Boston, New York and Washington, DC will be affected.

Other good news includes the fact that oil prices have retreated to $90 per barrel. Higher oil prices definitely have contributed to the economic slowdown and lower oil prices may be on the horizon if the economy continues to slide. There is also a study released by Yale University economist, Robert Shiller. This study (story also in Industry News) indicates that home prices are still appreciating ahead of long-term averages despite the recent slump. Yes, the economic news has been negative especially in the past few weeks. But help is on the way and real estate still holds up as a solid long-term investment.

The Markets. Rates were fairly stable in the past week with rates falling slightly except 5-year rates which fell more steeply. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending February 7, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.67%, down from 5.68% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed fell to 5.15%. The average for one-year adjustables decreased to 5.03% and five-year adjustables fell more sharply to 5.21% from 5.32% the week before. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.28%. "Long-term rates were little changed this week, largely in sync with the movements in the Treasury bond yields during the same time," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Additionally, economic news released in the past week showed that the economy continues to be weak. Non-farm payroll employment fell by 17,000 jobs in December, the first month of job loss since August 2003 while the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing business activity index showed a contraction in this sector last month, the first since March 2003 and the lowest index level since October 2001."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated February 8, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
Feb. 7	January
6-month Treasury Security	2.13%	2.84%
1-year Treasury Security	2.08%	2.71%
3-year Treasury Security	2.21%	2.51%
5-year Treasury Security	2.79%	2.98%
10-year Treasury Security	3.74%	3.74%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	3.509% (Jan )
12-month MTA	4.326% (Jan)
11th District Cost of Funds	4.072% (Dec)
Prime Rate	6.00% (Jan, 2008)

Yale University economist Robert J. Shiller recently calculated the long-term trend in U.S. housing prices. His conclusion: Since 1890, housing prices have risen 0.4 percent per year after inflation. Had the calculations begun in 1960, the result would have risen to 0.8 percent per year, he says. Ending the calculations at 2000, before the housing bubble would have reduced the estimate of growth from 1960 through 2000 to 0.2 percent. Shiller concluded that despite the housing slump, home prices are still above their long-term trend. Source: Business Week

The biggest winners in the economic rescue plan that passed the U.S. Congress on Thursday and awaits President Bush's signature are middle- to upper-income Americans who can refinance their more expensive homes at cheaper rates. The package temporarily raises the maximum size of mortgages that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase and market as securities from $417,000 to as high as $729,750 in expensive parts of the country like New York City and California. It makes a similar change for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, which insures loans to borrowers with weak credit. Right now, borrowers in expensive areas are "really stuck between a rock and a hard place," says Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wachovia Corp. Raising the caps, he says, will result in a refinancing boom for those properties. "We're more likely to see an immediate improvement at the upper end than we are at the lower end" of the housing market, he says. Source: The Associated Press

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited -Apex Lending Incorporated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC offers our deepest condolences to families with children with cancer. We are a firm supporter of locksoflove.org.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Weekly Economic Indicators

VARinsic, Incorporated — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:01:16 -0600

February 5, 2008

Super Tuesday

This economic commentary is being published of all days on Super Tuesday. By the end of the day we may know who one or both of the Presidential candidates will be. This is the same day that either New York or Boston will be hosting Super Bowl parades-making it a real "Super Tuesday." We will boldly make a prediction. Whatever two candidates arise from the fray, they will claim that they have the plan to rescue the economy and the real estate foreclosure issue. But is this reality? Of course, not. The Federal Reserve Board has moved rates down 1.25% in less than two weeks. Finally they are acknowledging the severity of the problem. As we have said all along, this move will do more to help the markets than anything else. Adjustables will not adjust upward as much and rates are more affordable to finance real estate in general.

But lower rates do not solve all issues. We still have record high oil prices and the threat of inflation. If the slower economy does not bring oil prices and the threat of inflation down, the Fed may have applied all the medicine it has. We have a huge budget deficit and proposed economic packages will cause the deficit to rise even more. This will cause government to borrow even more money and could cause upward pressure on rates in the long-term. This is why we favor solutions such as lower rates and higher loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These solutions do not cost money. Actually, lower rates can save the government money because of the massive spending on our debt. But don't expect that the politicians will take our advice. After all, it is an election year.

The Markets. The latest move by the Fed did not help push rates lower again as the markets had already anticipated this move. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending January 31, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.68%, up from 5.48% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed rose to 5.17%. The average for one-year adjustables increased to 5.05% and five-year adjustables rose to 5.32%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.34%. "Mortgages ended their four-week descent this week, with average rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed rates coming up by about 0.2 percentage points," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist." This increase completely erased the previous week's decline. The movement in fixed rates was broadly consistent with the movements of Treasury bonds over the week. Reinforcing the Fed's resolution to thwart a recession, the Federal Open Market Committee announced another cut in the target federal funds rate by half of a percentage point in their most recent scheduled meeting. This came on the heels of the Fed's rate cut of three-quarters of a percentage point the previous week, and the shaping-up of a fiscal package by Congress and the White House. This cut was in line with market expectations."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated February 1, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
Jan. 31	December
6-month Treasury Security	1.96%	3.34%
1-year Treasury Security	2.11%	3.16%
3-year Treasury Security	2.27%	3.13%
5-year Treasury Security	2.82%	3.49%
10-year Treasury Security	3.67%	4.10%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	4.431% (Dec)
12-month MTA	4.522% (Dec)
11th District Cost of Funds	4.072% (Dec)
Prime Rate	6.00% (Jan, 2008)

Homeowners having trouble paying their mortgages usually don't ask for help until it's too late, according to a survey conducted by Roper for Freddie Mac. The study found that 58 percent of delinquent homeowners don't know that lenders may offer ways to help them keep their homes and 56 percent don't realize that free counseling is available. Only about 50 percent knew that a missed payment could be added to their loan balance or that a mortgage term can be extended, the survey found. "When we go into a house that's been foreclosed to clean it out, we find stacks and stacks of letters from the servicer that have never been opened," says Robin Stout Migala, senior manager of Freddie Mac's loss mitigation team. "Many think the servicers just want to take the house back, which, of course, is not true." Common forms of mortgage help can bail out four out of five borrowers, but one out of five homeowners who get assistance defaults anyway, Freddie Mac says. Source: USA Today

The House, in a 383-35 vote, has passed an economic package that temporarily increases the loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration. The bill (H.R. 5140) raises the loan limits to 125% of median area home prices in high-cost areas, with a $729,750 cap, and it is expected to increase home sales and help stabilize real estate markets. Raising the loan limits for Fannie and Freddie could generate 300,000 additional home sales, reduce the inventory of unsold homes, strengthen home prices, and help 210,000 families avoid foreclosure, according to the National Association of Realtors. "Simply lifting the loan limit will have an immediate impact on lessening foreclosures," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told reporters. Preliminary estimates also indicate that raising the FHA loan limit could generate 200,000 to 250,000 additional home sales and 500,000 refinancings. It would also reduce foreclosures, the association said, but NAR economists have not completed that analysis. The Senate is expected to pass its own bill shortly. Source: National Mortgage News

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited - Apex Lending Incorporated
2 Holly Lane
Dept: betterloansNOW, LLC
Stafford, VA. 22556
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

We are one of the few National Financial Institutions that specialize in helping businesses find, qualify for, and, finance a dwelling of their own. Often the loan process is performed with little to no money down, even with less than perfect credit, or other qualifying problems. Ask us about our fast-track commercial mortgage refinances!

betterloansNOW, LLC wishes our deepest condolences to children with cancer.
We are a donator to locksoflove.org.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Weekly Economic Indicators

VARinsic, Incorporated — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 23:17:24 -0600

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

January 22, 2008

What Took The Economy So Long?.

For well over a year we have been putting out the scenario that the slowdown in the real estate markets would spill over to the economy as a whole. This in turn would cause rates to go down. Month-after-month we reported on an economy that was surprisingly strong. If the real estate industry is such a large part of our economy, how could the slowdown not affect the total economy?

The answer lies with the problem. We got in this mess because American consumers leveraged to the hilt. They bought more than they could afford and in such a frenzy that caused housing prices to rise. And when they rose, the consumers bought even more. Even when real estate prices started falling and equity melted away, they still spent. Foreclosures skyrocketed-but we still spent. Well, the holiday season came and went and it is obvious to most observers that the retail reports and reports from the Federal Reserve Board's "Beige Book" are indicating that consumers are finally starting to slow down. We still have fiscal stimulus in the form of a major war, but this should be offset shortly as state and local governments are forced to curtail spending as tax receipts on lower property values start to dwindle.

Cries are rising for the Fed to continue to lower rates aggressively and they may do so even before they meet at the end of January if turmoil continues in the markets. Plans are forming to bolster the economy via government programs. Now we will see the benefits of lower rates. Refinances are soaring and even oil prices have ticked down. ARM adjustments should be less burdensome with adjustments based upon indices that are falling. If the bad economic news continues-there may be good news in store for the real estate markets.

The Markets. Rates moved down significantly again in the past week and are now a full percent lower than their high of six months ago. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending January 17, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.69%, down from 5.87% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed fell to 5.21%. The average for one-year adjustables decreased to 5.26% and five-year adjustables fell to 5.40%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.23%. "The latest retail sales report indicated that shoppers scaled back spending in December, as retail sales declined by 0.4 percent from November's level," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Particularly weak were sales of building materials, garden equipment and supply stores, which fell by 2.9 percent from the previous month. The declines aggravated concerns about the well being of the economy and exerted downward pressure on mortgage rates. Mortgage rates moved down across loan products for the third consecutive week. Average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) and 15-year FRMs are at their lowest since July 2005. The results from this week's survey mark the first time in seven years that the average rate on the 15-year FRM is lower than the average rate on 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)."

Mortgages
Updated January 18, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
January 17	December
6-month Treasury Security	3.01%	3.34%
1-year Treasury Security	2.81%	3.26%
3-year Treasury Security	2.46%	3.13%
5-year Treasury Security	2.90%	3.49%
10-year Treasury Security	3.66%	4.10%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ	4.431% (Dec)
12-month MTA	4.522% (Dec)
11th District Cost of Funds	4.172% (Nov)
Prime Rate	7.25% (Dec 2007)

Due to home owners trying to rent homes they can't sell, rentals are abundant and prices are at bargain levels in areas hit hard by foreclosures. Some home owners forced out by foreclosure are finding rental deals that are at "discounts of 50 percent to 70 percent off what they were paying on their mortgages," says Brenda F. Gerdes, who owns Management Specialists Inc. in Port St. Lucie, Fla. There are 760,000 vacant condos and homes for sale nationwide beyond what the market could normally carry, in addition to a surplus of 350,000 vacant rental properties, according to Ron Witten, a Dallas-based housing analyst. Declining employment and other signs of a possible recession don't bode well for landlords, since people who lose their jobs will resist paying higher rents or will move in with friends or family. Many displaced home owners forced out by foreclosures also are doubling up, says Mark Obrinsky, chief economist at the National Multi-Housing Council. "Shadow inventory is coming out and competing against us for rentals," says Richard Campo, chief executive of Camden Property Trust, a Houston-based real-estate company that owns 70,000 apartments. That is weakening landlords' pricing power, he says, because home owners are less concerned about getting full market value. Source: The Wall Street Journal

The number of adjustable-rate mortgages issued by lenders declined in 2007 as loan delinquencies and economic problems took their toll on interest rate discounts, according to Freddie Mac's annual ARM survey. As of October 2007, the government-sponsored loan buyer said, ARMs made up 17 percent of loan applications, their lowest level since June 2003. Over the past year, delinquency rates on ARMs surpassed those of fixed rate mortgages, according to Freddie's chief economist Frank Nothaft. Rates hit 3.1 percent in September, as opposed to the 0.8 percent delinquency rate of prime fixed-rate loans. Many of those ARMs had low introductory teaser rates that reset to payments that homeowners could no longer afford. And as teaser rates rose, the loans became less attractive to potential borrowers. "A year ago, the initial-rate discount on the popular 3/1 and 5/1 hybrid products was about 1.8 percentage points. In our latest survey, the rate discount had virtually disappeared on these products," said Nothaft in a statement. According to Freddie Mac, hybrid ARMs that contain an initial fixed-rate period of five years remain popular with families who intend to maintain their mortgage for five years or less. Five year hybrid ARM rates run about 0.1 percent below those of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. "As ARMs became more expensive relative to fixed-rate loans during the closing months of 2007, the ARM share of lending declined," he said. Source: Freddie Mac

Shamun Mahmud
Commercial Capital Limited -
Interactive Financial Corporation 3250 W. Big Beaver Rd
Suite 300
Troy, MI. 48084
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

betterloansNOW, LLC wishes our deepest condolences to Sean Taylor's family. We are a firm supporter of the Sean Taylor Foundation.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Commercial Capital - Interactive Financial Corp | 3250 W. Big Beaver Road Suite 300 | Troy | MI | 48084 | US

Weekly Economic Indicators

VARinsic, Incorporated — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:15:57 -0600

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

January 15, 2008

The "R" Word ..

Well, it finally happened. The markets are now convinced that the slowdown which started in the real estate market and spread to the credit markets has caused the economy to stop expanding. Just a few weeks ago, the debate was whether the Federal Reserve would lower rates again. Most doubted it because of unexpected strength in the economy. Now the debate centers around when we will slip into a recession and how fast will the Fed lower rates. Some say a quarter of a percent. Most say a one-half of a percent. Some are even saying that the Fed will step in and act before their next scheduled meeting at the end of the month.

What caused this change? Two things. A poor employment report for the month of December. Also, preliminary reports that retail sales were not strong over the Holidays. If both of these hold up-the employment report is not reversed in early February and the final retail sales numbers are weak-expect the Fed to take action. Even Congress is getting into the act by debating ways they could stimulate the economy through tax cuts and other incentives. The recent statement by the Fed Chair, Bill Bernanke, underscored the concern: "On the whole, despite improvements in some areas, the financial situation remains fragile, and many funding markets remain impaired," Bernanke said. "We stand ready to take substantive additional action as needed to support growth and to provide adequate insurance against downside risks."

We continue to stress that lower rates are a medicine sorely needed to shore up the real estate markets and keep the economy afloat. So far the government has applied band aids instead of strong medicine. Now it appears a healthy dose may be on its way. In the meantime, rates are at their lowest levels in a long time and many are already taking advantage by refinancing.

The Markets. Rates moved down significantly again in the past week to their lowest levels in more than two years. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending January 10, 30-year fixed rates averaged 5.87%, down from 6.07% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed fell to 5.42%. The average for one-year adjustables decreased to 5.37% and five-year adjustables fell to 5.63%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.21%. "The latest employment report showed that the economy added 18,000 jobs in December, the smallest gain since August 2003, and the unemployment rate jumped to a two-year high of 5 percent. In addition, the Institute for Supply Management's index of non-manufacturing business activity showed that the service sector had the slowest expansion in nine months during December," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "The National Association of Realtors also indicated a drop in its pending home sales index for November, signaling a possible slowdown in December sales. These weak economic reports renewed concerns about economic conditions in the near future. As a result, rates came down across the board, with 30-year fixed rates at their lowest level in more than two years. Because average rates have come down more than a quarter of a percentage point in the past two weeks, there has been a pickup in refinance activity as borrowers take advantage of the lower rates. For the first week of 2008, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported an increase in the refinance share of mortgage applications and the pace of overall applications, both at the highest levels in four weeks."

Mortgages
Updated January 11, 2008

Daily Value	Monthly Value
	January 10	December
6-month Treasury Security	3.21%	3.34%
1-year Treasury Security	3.04%	3.26%
3-year Treasury Security	2.74%	3.13%
5-year Treasury Security	3.16%	3.49%
10-year Treasury Security	3.91%	4.10%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ		4.431% (Dec)
12-month MTA		4.522% (Dec)
11th District Cost of Funds		4.172% (Nov)
Prime Rate		7.25% (Dec 2007)

An analysis of the real estate market in the Baltimore area shows that even in a slow market some houses sell quickly - for the same reasons they do in a booming market. In November, when the average time on the market was 105 days, 13 percent of the 1,892 homes that sold in Baltimore and five surrounding counties had contracts in two weeks or less, according to data from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. Those 251 homes went from listing to selling in an average of seven days. They were typically older, three-bedroom, two-bath houses that sold at an average of $304,355 - about $4,000 under the overall average sale price. An analysis shows that fast sellers in a slow market have three common denominators: They're priced better than comparable listings, they show like model homes and they have a full force of marketing, including enticing Internet photos, behind them. Source: The Baltimore Sun

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Tuesday January 8th the administration was exploring what would be a significant expansion of the program to help at-risk mortgage holders. Paulson, in an interview on CNBC, said the administration was involved in discussions with the mortgage industry to expand a current program to freeze adjustable-rate mortgages for five years to include borrowers of loans at prime rates. Currently, the rate freeze only covers a much smaller segment of adjustable rate loans, those made to subprime borrowers. Those are borrowers with weak credit histories. "One thing we will consider with the HOPE NOW alliance is ... maybe expanding this beyond subprime borrowers to other borrowers," Paulson said in the CNBC interview. Paulson did not provide any details on when this expansion might go forward. The HOPE NOW alliance is a coalition of mortgage industry companies which are seeking to reach at-risk borrowers to help them avoid foreclosures. The administration last month unveiled its most significant move to date to deal with the mortgage crisis when it brokered an agreement with the mortgage industry to freeze rates on certain subprime mortgages for five years in an effort to help homeowners in danger of losing their homes when their lower introductory rates reset to sharply higher levels in the coming two years. Paulson in the CNBC interview also called on Congress to quickly pass pending legislation that would reform the Federal Housing Administration, which he said would help 250,000 at-risk homeowners who have adjustable-rate subprime mortgages refinance to more affordable loans and another piece of legislation that would expand the availability of so-called "jumbo" mortgages, loans higher than $417,000. Source: Associated Press

Shamun Mahmud
Interactive Financial Corp -
Commercial Capital Limited
3250 W. Big Beaver Rd
Suite 300
Troy, MI. 48084
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

We are one of the few National Financial Institutions that specialize in helping businesses and individuals find, qualify for, and, finance a dwelling of their own. Often the loan process is performed with little to no money down, even with less than perfect credit, or other qualifying problems. Ask us about our fast-track commercial mortgages!

betterloansNOW, LLC wishes our deepest condolences to Sean Taylor's family. We are a firm supporter of the Sean Taylor Foundation.

Our niche includes Commercial and Investment Property Refinance.

Interactive Financial Corp - Commercial Capital | 3250 W. Big Beaver Road Suite 300 | Troy | MI | 48084 | US

Weekly Economic Report

VARinsic, Incorporated — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:54:52 -0600

Problems viewing this email? View Online

January 1, 2008

What Happened in 2007 ..

When we started 2007, many economists thought that the real estate recovery would start some time during the year. Obviously, that did not happen. Here is a sample of the views of major officials...

"It may be too soon to say that it is over. It may not be too soon to say that the worst is over," said former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in October of 2006. Indeed his successor Ben Bernanke said that he saw "encouraging" signs in housing reports the following month.

Why were the prognosticators so far off? Rising mortgage delinquencies led to a meltdown in the non-conforming side of the mortgage market. This cut off even more consumers from access to credit. The result was a snowball effect that worsened the housing slump.

Now some of the same economists are predicting that the recovery will start in 2008. Could they be wrong again? The answer is yes. However, with an economy that has remained strong and demographics continuing to favor population growth and increased demand, a recovery has to start sometime. There are many variables that could help us with this determination. Will rates continue to fall? Will the mortgage markets recover and access to credit ease? These are questions that lead us to speculate about 2008. The answer? There are bargains out there and there is no way of knowing when the market will turn.

The Markets, Rates moved up slightly in the past week. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending December 27, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.17%, up from 6.14% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed was unchanged at 5.79%. The average for one-year adjustables rose slightly to 5.53% and five-year adjustables stayed at 5.90%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.18%, virtually the same as where it is today."Stronger consumer spending and an increase in the core price deflator in November caused long-term bond yields to inch up over the end of last week and beginning of this week, with mortgage rates following," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Offsetting some of the increase, however, was a decline in November's index of leading economic indicators and a weak manufacturing report in Philadelphia for December. House prices continued to decline in October, falling nearly 16 percent (annualized), and represented the fifteenth consecutive monthly decline according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller® 20-city composite index. Seventeen of the twenty metropolitan areas displayed negative growth from October 2006. Falling house prices and tightened credit standards will likely slow consumer spending somewhat over the near term."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated December 28, 2007

Daily Value	Monthly Value
	Dec. 27	November
6-month Treasury Security	3.43%	3.58%
1-year Treasury Security	3.37%	3.50%
3-year Treasury Security	3.23%	3.35%
5-year Treasury Security	3.64%	3.67%
10-year Treasury Security	4.21%	4.15%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ		4.533% (Nov)
12-month MTA		4.662% (Nov)
11th District Cost of Funds		4.233% (Oct)
Prime Rate		7.25% (Dec 2007)

The fastest growing states are in the West and the South. Nevada regained the title of fastest-growing state with its population increasing by 2.9 percent to 2.6 million through July 2007. Nevada had held that title for 19 years in a row before being dethroned by Arizona last year. Arizona is the second-fastest-growing state according to the current estimate, with a population increase of 2.8 percent to 6.3 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's annual estimate of state population changes. Florida saw the sharpest fall off in population growth. Florida grew 1.07 percent, only slightly faster than the U.S. growth rate of 0.96 percent and the slowest growth rate in the state since 1990, making it the 19th fastest-growing state. The only two states in the country to lose population were Michigan and Rhode Island. Michigan lost 30,500 residents, a 0.3 percent decline. Source: Associated Press

U.S. women control or influence $7 trillion in consumer spending annually and make 85 percent of all purchase decisions, according to marketing experts. Single women accounted for 22 percent of all home purchases made between July 2005 and June 2006. What do women want when they are house hunting? Women respond best to a holistic approach when buying a house, says Richard Peterson, a psychiatrist who specializes in investment psychology. "They handle global impressions better" than men. Men's ability to make multifaceted decisions, on the other hand, is diminished when they have to rely on "more than three to four factors," imaging studies of the brain show, Peterson says. For example, when men shop - an activity that requires dealing with an array of facts and feelings - stress hormones increase and focus dwindles. Source: The Los Angeles Times

Shamun Mahmud
Interactive Financial Corporation
3250 W. Big Beaver Rd
Suite 300
Troy, MI. 48084
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
(703) 879 - 1778
(800) 460 - 1921

Weekly Economic Update

VARinsic, Incorporated — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:21:40 -0600

Having trouble viewing this e-mail? please use this link.

December 25, 2007

The Double Edged Sword..

The low value of the dollar represents good and bad news for the real estate markets. A weak dollar makes the price of our real estate a bargain to foreign investors. This means more and more real estate will be purchased. And increased demand is exactly what we need to move out of the real estate slump. On the other hand, a weak dollar also increases our competitiveness overseas. Exports are up and this is increasing the pace of manufacturing. Any part of the economy that is strong will help keep the Federal Reserve Board from continuing to lower rates. And that is bad for real estate in the short-run.

Indeed, the large increase in consumer spending tells us plenty. The consumer represents two-thirds of the economy and if the consumer keeps spending the economy stays strong-despite the slow real estate market. With inflation on the rise due to higher energy and food prices, this also weighs against future help from the Fed. Now where the consumer is getting this money to spend is another story. It certainly is not new-found home-equity.

The markets will be waiting with anticipation for the January jobs report and retail sales for the all-important Holiday season. So will the Fed. The real estate markets must be rooting for these numbers to be weak so that we get more help from the Fed. In other words, have a happy holiday season-but not too happy!

The Markets. Rates continued to move up for the second straight week. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending December 20, 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.14%, up from 6.11% the week before. The average for 15-year fixed increased slightly to 5.79%. The average for one-year adjustables rose slightly to 5.51% and five-year adjustables increased to 5.90%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.13%, virtually the same as where it is today. "Stronger-than-expected inflation reports and retail sales for November put upward pressure on long-term interest rates late last week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "However, ensuing data releases suggested further weakness in the housing market over November and December and allowed interest rates to drift back down. The net effect left mortgage rates little changed this week. Both the producer and consumer price indexes jumped for the month of November, implying inflation may still be a threat to the economy while retail sales increased twice as much as market forecasts, reflecting healthy consumer spending. At roughly the same time, single-family housing starts fell 5.4 percent in November to 829,000, the slowest pace since April 1991, and homebuilder confidence in December held for the third consecutive month at the lowest level since records began in January 1985."

Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Updated December 21, 2007

Daily Value	Monthly Value
	Dec. 20	November
6-month Treasury Security	3.26%	3.58%
1-year Treasury Security	3.20%	3.50%
3-year Treasury Security	3.09%	3.35%
5-year Treasury Security	3.45%	3.67%
10-year Treasury Security	4.04%	4.15%
12-month LIBOR-WSJ		4.533% (Nov)
12-month MTA		4.662% (Nov)
11th District Cost of Funds		4.233% (Oct)
Prime Rate		7.25% (Dec 2007)

Selling a home is a major decision for most households. Whether that decision is driven by the desire for a larger (or just different) home, a relocation due to a job change or personal situation, or plans to retire in a different community, selling one's home can be a major challenge. Fortunately, sellers can choose from many options when looking to successfully complete a home sale. Sellers can work with a real estate agent who will manage the entire transaction, or they can take on the entire selling and marketing responsibility themselves, without the assistance of an agent. In fact, most home sellers do work with a real estate professional. Results from the recently released 2007 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers indicate that among recent home sellers, 85 percent were assisted by a real estate agent. Most home sellers rely on referrals from a friend or family member or on their own experience with a particular agent when they look for a real estate professional to assist in their home sale. Among recent sellers, 41 percent reported that they found the agent they used in their home sale as a result of a referral, while 23 percent used the agent in a previous home sale or purchase transaction. Although there are a number of other ways that sellers can find an agent, they are far less common. The most important factor when choosing a real estate professional, cited by 38 percent of recent sellers, is the reputation of the agent. For an additional 20 percent of sellers, the agent's honesty and trustworthiness was the most important consideration. Both of these qualities are closely tied to the manner in which most sellers find an agent - through referrals or as a result of their own experience with a particular agent, both of which can serve to validate reputation and trustworthiness. Source: National Association of Realtors

President George W. Bush signed legislation into law on last week that will ease the tax burden for home owners who have had debt forgiven on a mortgage due to a foreclosure, short sale, or deed in lieu of foreclosure. The bill - Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act - has been supported by NAR since the 1990s. "The president offered a Christmas present to many people who have suffered the agony and humiliation of losing their home," said NAR President Dick Gaylord in a statement. "Today's bill will ensure that any debt forgiven on a mortgage secured for a principal residence will not be taxed. This is very significant legislation." The tax code used to require a lender who forgives debt to provide a Form 1099 to the IRS stating the amount the borrower had been forgiven. If the property was sold at foreclosure or was sold for less than what was borrowed, that difference was considered income and subject to the tax. Also, this week, the U.S. House passed a bill which has already passed the Senate. This bill includes the extension of mortgage insurance tax deductibility for the next three years. Source: Associated Press

Shamun Mahmud
Interactive Financial Division of
Equity Bank's Money Store
7058-A Columbia Pike            (Classic Suites)
Annandale, VA. 22003
shamun@betterloansNOW.com
              (703) 879 - 1778
              (800) 460 - 1921

We are one of the few National Financial Consultancies that specialize in helping individuals and businesses find, qualify for, and, finance a dwelling of their own. Often the loan process is performed with little to no money down, even with less than perfect credit, or other qualifying problems.