Blog

27
Nov
By Jim Hasek
Market Outlook, ,

S&P Case-Shiller: September Home Prices Gain Across U.S.

Home prices increased across the S&P Case Shiller 20-City Home Price Index in September. According to the 20-City Home Price Index, Year-over year home price gains increased to 5.50 percent from August's reading of 5.10 percent. 17 cities posted higher year-over0year price gains in September as compared to August. Western cities led price gains with San Francisco, California reclaiming its lead with a year-over-year gain of 11.20 percent in September. Denver, Colorado followed with a year-over-year gain of 10.90 percent and Portland, Oregon achieved the third highest year-over-year home price gain of 10.10 percent. Phoenix, Arizona had the longest consecutive…
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25
Nov
By Jim Hasek
Home Buyer Tips, ,

Goodbye, Junk! 5 Tips for Reducing the Amount of ‘Stuff’ You Need to Move to Your New Home

Are you in the process of buying a new home? Then now is the perfect time to finally go through all the clutter and make some tough decisions about what needs to move with you and what needs to go away. There is no point in waiting until after a move to go through the junk lying around, as tempting as it may be, so here are five ways to decide what should find a new home before a move. Start With A Trip To The Dump Before starting your move, grab some garbage bags and do a sweep of…
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24
Nov
By Jim Hasek
Market Outlook, ,

Existing Home Sales Fall More Than Expected

Sales of previously owned homes reached 5.36 million sales on a seasonally adjusted annual basis and fell by 3.40 percent in October according to the National Association of Realtors®. Rising home prices and a shortage of available homes strained housing markets. Concerns over potentially higher mortgage rates may have sidelined home buyers as concerns over an anticipated rate hike by the Federal Reserve persisted. Many analysts expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates at its December meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, which oversees the Fed's monetary policy. Raising the target federal funds rate would cause consumer interest rates…
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23
Nov
By Jim Hasek
Market Outlook, ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – November 23, 2015

Last week's economic events included reports the National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index, Housing Starts and the release of minutes for the most recent meeting of the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee. The details: NAHB: Builder Confidence in Housing Markets Dips The National Association of Home Builders reported that builder confidence dropped to a reading of 62 as compared to October's revised reading of 65. Any NAHB reading above 50 indicates that more builders are positive about market conditions than not. NAHB's assessment of housing market conditions is based on readings for three aspects of current and future…
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20
Nov
By Jim Hasek
Mortgage Tips,

What Factors Affect Mortgage Payments?

As you can see in the video below, the amount of the down payment the size of the mortgage loan, the interest rate the length of the repayment term and payment schedule will all affect the size of your mortgage payment. In bullets: Down payment Loan size Interest rate - fixed or adjustable Repayment term - how long Payment schedule - how often all affect the size of your payment.
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19
Nov
By Jim Hasek
Home Mortgage Tips, ,

A Step-by-Step Guide to Refinancing a Traditional Mortgage to a FHA Mortgage

Refinancing a mortgage can provide a homeowner with many benefits, and many are interested in refinancing their traditional mortgage into an FHA mortgage to take advantage of low interest rates. Depending on the specific circumstances, this step may lower the monthly payment, reduce interest charges, adjust the loan term so that it is more beneficial for achieving financial goals and more. Those who are interested in refinancing in an FHA mortgage may consider these steps. Understand the Rules and Requirements There are specific rules in place regarding refinancing under the FHA program. For example, the loan amount may be up…
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