Let's Find a Bright Spot.....Please! - 01/26/09 10:20 AM
I have truly been searching for something to hang our hat on moving forward but today did not do us any justice....at least from a recovery standpoint. You see with the economy in a recession and companies sales really falling by the way side we get the following; Sprint laying off 8k, Phillips laying off 6k, Caterpillar cutting 20k, McDonald's (this is McDonald's we are talking about here) is down 24% and Home Depot is eliminating 5k in jobs.Many are predicting more of the same through the spring. The key to an economic recovery is J.O.B.S. and individuals, couples and families … (0 comments)

So Much for Government Intervention - 01/21/09 04:43 PM
Well, what once was thought to be a good thing is now gone by the way side and actually sputtered some more. What am I talking about? Mortgage interest rates have gone from one extreme to the other. The morning of December 17th saw ALL TIME low mortgage rates for a period of about 60 minutes from that point till today it has been nothing but bad news for mortgage rates and all the time the U.S. government has been doing most of the buying. For instance on 12/17/08 the 4.5% MBS coupon (the bond that affects mortgage rates high price=low … (0 comments)

Will Things Get Worse? - 01/19/09 11:24 AM
The above questions is something that seems to be on everyone's mind lately. I recently (last week) received 4 phone calls from past clients facing some very serious decisions. Two of them had lost their job due to the current economic woes and the other two had seen their salaries cut by 40%! ALL had serious concerns on how they were going to keep their homes. These people weren't victims of financial mismanagement or irresponsible they have simply felt the wrath of today's economic reality.....things are bad and could get worse.Most economists are predicting 2009 to be a replica of 2008. … (0 comments)

Absolutely Unreal Times! - 01/14/09 02:17 PM
I thought I had seen it all but every time I feel things have ran there course another whirlwind hits us. I'm sure it's no surprise but December holiday sales were down 2.7% and excluding auto's were down 3.1% more than double the expectations by most economists of 1.3% and marked the first calendar year decline ever! The DOW is down over 200 points, treasuries are skyrocketing with yields in the low 2's and guess what our friendly and ever rate influencer (known as MBS) have traded "sideways" for 4 consecutive days which means stagnant mortgage rates.The primary problem we are … (0 comments)

The Mortgage Rate Myth - 01/12/09 10:17 AM
We all know that a small refinance boom is taking place and I cannot say enough how thankful I am to be swamped with business. However, I continue to get phone call after phone call with regards to the "media driven" 4.5% mortgage rates. First, let me say that mortgage rates are NOT at 4.5%! Second, today's environment is much different than the past. We now have "risk based pricing"; meaning depending on the borrowers risk (i.e. loan-to-value, credit score, type of home, and loan amount) will very much influence the rate at which the borrower can get.For instance; a person … (0 comments)

 

Shawn Von Talge

Columbia, MO

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Flat Branch Mortgage, Inc.

Address: 3610 Buttonwood Drive, Ste. 200, Columbia, MO, 65201

Office Phone: (573) 442-3850 x 205

Cell Phone: (573) 424-0162

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