Real Estate Blog LA

My Lender::Current Rates::4.884%/30 yr fixed...Still low!!

2010-03-20T21:34:00Z

Conforming Rates (up to $417,000) Rate APR Change 5 Year Fixed: 3.375% 3.470% Unchanged 7 Year Fixed: 3.750% 3.885% ↓ 0.125% 10 Year Fixed: 4.250% 4.376% ↓ 0.125% 30 Year Fixed: 4.750% 4.884% Unchanged Jumbo Rates ($417,001 to 729,750) Rate APR Change 5 Year Fixed: 3.750% 3.854% Unchanged 30 Year Fixed: 4.750% 4.882% ↓ 0.125% Please let me know how I can assist you in all your Real Estate needs. Visit my website to search the MLS like an agent: www.LAexclusiveProperty.com Thomas Ray,M.S....(read more)

Current Rates:March 12 2010

2010-03-13T02:47:00Z

Conforming Rates (up to $417,000) Rate APR Change 5 Year Fixed: 3.375% 3.470% ↓ 0.125% 7 Year Fixed: 3.875% 3.984% ↓ 0.125% 10 Year Fixed: 4.375% 4.505% Unchanged 30 Year Fixed: 4.750% 4.884% Unchanged Jumbo Rates ($417,001 to 729,750) Rate APR Change 5 Year Fixed: 3.750% 3.854% Unchanged 30 Year Fixed: 4.875% 5.010% Unchanged Thomas Ray,MS,Realtor Cell:310-420-1149 www.LAexclusiveProperty.com...(read more)

Rates still below 5%

2010-03-13T02:40:00Z

Mortgage rates held below the 5 percent threshold, weeks before a government program that has been keeping rates low is scheduled to expire. The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 4.95 percent this week, down from 4.97 percent a week earlier. Rates dropped to a record low of 4.71 percent in December and have hovered around 5 percent since, kept down by a Federal Reserve campaign to stabilize the housing market by lowering mortgage rates. The central bank's $1.25 trillion program...(read more)

Ways to save on your Mortgage

2010-03-07T15:25:00Z

If you double up on the principal portion of your house payment every month, for example, you can cut 15 years off your 30-year mortgage and save half the interest you would otherwise have paid. Extra payments : Every time you make an extra principal payment you shorten your loan by a month and save a month's worth of interest. One extra full principal and interest payment a year will cut a 30-year loan to about 17 years, and adding the next month's principal payment to this month's total...(read more)

Homes prices will drop another 10 per cent...or will they?

2010-03-06T23:11:00Z

Median single family house prices nationwide are down by slightly more than 30 per cent from their early 2006 peak. Fusion IQ, the research group, estimates that excess inventories will push prices down by a further 10 per cent . (So, if you are writing an offer, write at lease 10% under asking). This is a critical issue because home equity was for years the largest asset on the balance sheet of the average American family. The sheer number of empty homes overhanging the residential property market...(read more)

Jumbo Rates Drop

2010-03-05T00:30:00Z

The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate jumbos dropped to 5.79%, a nearly five-year low , according to rate tracker Informa Research Services of Calabasas. It edged up to 5.88% on Tuesday, still very attractive by historical standards. The average is down from well above 7% in late 2008. Rates are even lower on so-called hybrid adjustable mortgages, on which the rate is fixed for, say, five years and then adjusts annually. Banks are also relaxing slightly some of their requirements for jumbo...(read more)

(New Law):Buyers:Please get a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) from your lender...for your protection

2010-03-01T19:20:00Z

*At the bottom of this post is a Sample GFE in PDF . If you plan to take out a mortgage or refinance any time soon, you might want to hear this blunt message from federal officials: Don't fly blind. When you're shopping among competing lenders for the best loan terms and fees, make sure you know which quotes come with a guarantee and which do not. Depending upon how loan officers provide their quotes upfront -- on an informal "work sheet" that carries no federal consumer protections...(read more)

Current Interest Rates from my Preferred Lenders

2010-02-27T21:54:00Z

Current Rates Conforming Rates (up to $417,000) Rate APR Change 5 Year Fixed: 3.500% 3.599% Unchanged 7 Year Fixed: 4.000% 4.112% ↑ 0.250% 10 Year Fixed: 4.375% 4.505% Unchanged 30 Year Fixed: 4.750% 4.884% Unchanged Jumbo Rates ($417,001 to 729,750) Rate APR Change 5 Year Fixed: 3.750% 3.854% ↓ 0.125% 30 Year Fixed: 4.875% 5.010% Unchanged Please let me know if I can put you in touch with one of my preferred Lenders who I have worked with successfully for many years. Search the MLS for...(read more)

Economic Activity for the week

2010-02-27T19:16:00Z

This morning's GDP revision for the 4th quarter came in a little higher or stronger than last month's previous estimate of 5.7%. Today's release showed a 5.9% rate of growth, meaning economic activity was stronger than many had thought . This headline number is bad news for bonds and mortgage rates because a strengthening economy raises inflation concerns and make bonds less appealing to investors. However, a relatively important inflation reading within the data was revised lower than...(read more)

Loan Products are still abundant...even for Self-Employed!!

2010-02-25T00:26:00Z

Here is a list of the LOAN programs that are still available. Even if you are Self Employed!! - Stated Income Verified Assets- UP TO 60% LTV (Self Employed Only) - Verification Of Employment ONLY (VOE - NO INCOME, NO 4506T) - UP TO 80% LTV (Wage Earner or Salary Only) - Conventional A Paper Loans - UP TO 125% LTV - Conventional and FHA High Balance Loans - UP TO $729,500 - Jumbo Loans - Up To $3million - FHA - 580 Minimum FICO Score - FHA 203K - VA - 100% LTV - USDA - 100% LTV - No money down! -...(read more)

Art Lofts::Twelve Brand New Condos!

2010-02-24T17:46:00Z

Urban living in West Hollywood, walk to Sunset strip and the Grove/Farmer’s market. 2 bed+Loft+2.5 bath town homes ranging from 1872-2191 square feet. From a private entrance you walk into this dramatic two story space suffused with light from large windows, there are private balconies, metal railings, panoramic views and intimate levels of purist design. This is the blank canvas for the passionate at heart! Attention to detail and luxury craftsmanship throughout make these homes exceptional;...(read more)

More U.S. Homeowners Expected to Remodel in 2010

2010-02-24T01:54:00Z

After a year of steady declines in home remodeling, the Spring 2010 U.S. Remodeling Sentiment Report reveals a 13% increase in the number of homeowners who say they will remodel in the next 12 months. This increase follows a 5% increase in last year’s Spring 2009 report. The continuing upward swing in remodeling sentiment indicates that 2010 will show a strong increase in remodeling activity. The Spring 2010 Sentiment Report, a survey of 5,000 homeowners in the U.S. who are considering remodeling,...(read more)

Repeat Buyers Need to Act Fast to Capitalize on Expanded Tax Credit

2010-02-24T01:48:00Z

By now it is well documented that today’s affordable housing prices, historically low interest rates and federal home buyer tax credit have combined to create one of the most attractive first-time buyer markets in recent memory. What many Americans might not realize is that a recent expansion of the buyer tax credit has created an equally desirable opportunity for existing homeowners. This past November, Congress elected to expand the home buyer tax credit to repeat buyers after seeing the...(read more)

FHA to Provide Early Relief to Struggling Homeowners

2010-02-24T01:39:00Z

Homeowners with FHA-insured mortgage loans who are experiencing financial hardship are now eligible for loss mitigation assistance before they fall behind on their mortgage payments. Previously, these homeowners were not eligible for such assistance until after they had missed payments. The Helping Families Save Their Home Act of 2009 signed into law by President Obama expanded FHA’s authority to use its loss mitigation tools to assist FHA borrowers avoid foreclosure to include those facing...(read more)

Jumping into the Housing Market?..consider this:

2010-02-24T01:32:00Z

If you have a good job and good credit, the next few months might be a good time to go house hunting. Fence-sitters take the risk that Congress may let a rich tax credit expire, and that interest rates may rise. Buyers and sellers should consider the following factors as they consider jumping into the housing market. -Mortgage rates are blissfully low, and that may not last. Rates are low in part because the Federal Reserve has been buying up about $3 trillion in mortgage-backed securities and mortgage...(read more)