mortgage sales and marketing: Effective December 13th, 2008 Conforming Loans Will Require Larger Down Payments....
- 10/21/08 04:05 AM
Thank you for choosing Premier Plus Financial Services. We look forward to helping you In an effort to limit risky borrower behavior, Fannie Mae announced a new round of mortgage guideline changes last week. Unlike previous its previous 20-plus updates that raised income requirements and minimum credit scores (among other changes), Fannie's latestguideline tweaks focus on the value of its underlying mortgage assets -- home equity. Effective December 13, 2008, Fannie Mae will require larger equity positions on some of its insured purchases and refinances. A few of the updates include: · Limiting primary residence, cash out refinances to 85% loan-to-value · Requiring 10% … (1 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: Looking Back and Looking Ahead....
- 10/20/08 05:23 PM
Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded both its largest one-day point gain andsecond-largest one-day point loss in history. Mortgage markets got whipsawed, too. From day to day, huge rate swings made mortgage rate shopping difficult. It wasn't uncommon for lenders to change pricing 3 times per day. When the week closed, though, rates were lower than at Market Open Monday, marking the first week of improvement in mortgage rates since early-September. Last week's constant mortgage rate movement had several causes: •· Retail Sales data was weaker than expected •· The Federal Reserve report showing a slowdown in all 12 regions •· New … (2 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: The Rising Cost of Down Payments....
- 10/17/08 08:27 AM
Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is a mortgage lender's insurance policy against highly-leveraged homeowners. It's typically required when homeowner equity is less than 20 percent at the time of closing. With PMI defaults up 40 percent over last year, private mortgage insurers are taking big losses. They're also taking outsized steps to prevent additional claims going forward and that is bad news for low-equity homeowners and home buyers. The first PMI change new, higher insurance rates. Like home insurers that adjust premiums after a worse-than-expected storm season, PMI insurers are raising mortgage insurance rates for all homeowners, regardless of credit history. The higher premiums are meant … (3 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: Nice Crystal Ball.....
- 10/16/08 04:03 AM
As the stock market dips then jumps then dips again, it's important to remember that markets are unpredictable and nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop the analysts from trying. An obvious example comes from May of this year. As the price of oil crossed $120 per barrel on its way to an all-time high of $147, a Goldman Sachs analyst was quoted as saying that $200 oil was "likely". It seemed like a logical conclusion at the time. Today, though, just five months after the prediction, the analyst's "likely" scenario looks downright laughable. Oil is off by more than 40 percent … (4 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: Look Out Placentia ARM Homeowners.....
- 10/15/08 04:01 AM
For many Placentia homeowners with soon-to-adjust adjustable rate mortgages, the recent banking turmoil worldwide may lead to budgetary pain. This is because most conforming ARMs made since 2003 are based on a borrowing cost called LIBOR and LIBOR is up an uncharacteristic 2 percent since September. LIBOR stands for London Interbank Offered Rate and is the rate at which banks lend money to each other. Historically, LIBOR has tracked the U.S. treasury market,plus a half-percent increase. This suggests that banks are only slightly less likely to default versus the U.S. government. Today, that spread is close to 4.5 percent. Since Lehman Brothers failed … (0 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: Looking Back and Looking Ahead....
- 10/14/08 05:46 AM
Throughout the feverish activity on Wall Street last week, mortgage bonds sold off with force, driving mortgage rates to their highest levels since July. It was the fourth straight week in which mortgage rates worsened. But, with the mortgage markets closed Monday, stock markets rallied to their largest one-day gain in history. The Dow Jones' gains are expected to push mortgage rates down Tuesday, but not nearly enough to recover last week's losses. The market-wide carnage was mostly the result of a fear that has not been completely removed from investor psychology. Until that fear is purged, therefore, expect mortgage rates … (0 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: How Falling Gas Prices May Stave Off Recession.....
- 10/10/08 04:20 AM
Given the stock market's recent performance, it's not surprising that gasoline's falling prices are garnering very little attention. That doesn't make it any less relevant, however. Since peaking in July, gas prices are off by 20 percent. Falling gas prices are an important positive for the U.S. economy because less money spent at the pump means that more money is saved per household for everyday items including food and other staples. In addition, consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the economy. Therefore, falling gas prices may lessen the impact of a fore-casted recession. Because we Americans are notoriously poor savers, the … (0 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: Pending Home Sales Shows Buyers Are Returning.......
- 10/09/08 04:00 AM
Buyers are returning to the housing market. Each month, The National Association of REALTORS® tracks homes under contract to sell, but whose closing has not yet happened. It calls them "pending sales" and publishes a monthly report to quantify them. The Pending Home Sales report is important because it's meant to predict future home sales activity. History shows that 80 percent of homes under contract will "close" within 60 days, and most of the rest will close within 120 days. If Pending Home Sales are up, it's believed, actual home sales will be up, too. In August, Pending Home Sales jumped … (1 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: Impact of The Fed's Rate Cut......
- 10/08/08 05:14 AM
The Federal Reserve made an "emergency rate cut" this morning, dropping the Fed Funds Rate by one half-percent to 1.500 percent. The move is meant to stimulate the U.S. economy. When the Federal Reserve changes the Fed Funds Rate, it often takes 9 months for the changes to work their way through the economy. On a broad scale, therefore, we won't know if the cut truly "worked" until Summer 2009. But, as it relates to Americans in general, the rate cut spurred two immediate changes. First, because Prime Rate is directly tied to the Fed Funds Rate, Prime Rate fell by 0.500 percent … (0 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: Some People Were Thrilled To Watch The Stock Market Fall Below 10,000....
- 10/07/08 10:33 AM
Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below the psychologically-important 10,000 level for the first time since 2004. Despite the milestone-marker breach, there was a large group of Americans with reason to cheer. As stocks sold off, mortgage markets rallied to the benefit of home buyers and mortgage rates shoppers everywhere. Conforming mortgages rates improved yesterday. Most interesting here is that rates improved for the same reason that the stock market fell. Because of lingering concerns about the worlds' economies, investors lost their collective appetite for risk Monday. In response, they sold their stock positions and parked the proceeds in … (0 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: The Market Will Turn!
- 10/06/08 07:50 AM
How can we help jump start this current market real estate market? The lenders need to loosen, not tighten up the noose on our guidelines! I know I know you might be thinking why in the world would they do that. Did they not get us into this situation because of extremely liberal underwriting guidelines? The answer is yes. Lenders allowed the availability of money to become so easily obtainable, that the only qualification was a beating heart. What I am suggesting is common sense underwriting. Read below my suggestions. 1. - Fannie/Freddie to permanently adopt the higher loan amounts … (2 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: WOW Your Customers
- 09/19/08 10:26 AM
Don't Over-Promise and Under-Deliver You've heard this before - "WOWing" customers is paramount to long-term success in your vocation. One thing you must understand about the concept is that you cannot "WOW" someone if you promise too much and deliver too little. "WOWs" can only be created by skimping on promises, and then pleasantly surprising your customers by delivering more than they expected.Why do so few businesses in the service profession form the strong ties, for example, that a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton Hotel achieves with each of its customers? Often times the reason is simple. In sales, we tend to place ourselves in problematic situations … (0 comments)
mortgage sales and marketing: How to create the perfect purchase transaction.
- 09/16/08 04:24 PM
Have you ever wondered what the Perfect Purchase Transaction would look like? Close your eyes and dream about it for a minute. Few inbound calls. Your cell phone never rings. Clients leave so ecstatic with your service that they hand you three names of people they know who are ready to sell their homes or want to buy in your area. You enjoy shorter workdays during the process because everything clicked. Okay, WAKE UP! The dream has ended Yet, that dream is possible. Although you work in an innately reactive business, it is possible to be proactive and stave off the … (3 comments)
Thank you for choosing Premier Plus Financial Services. We look forward to helping you In an effort to limit risky borrower behavior, Fannie Mae announced a new round of mortgage guideline changes last week. ;)
;)
