Apr 12, 2011 | Buying Real Estate, Legislation, News, Realtors
As the housing market begins to dig itself out of the trough caused by the bubble, new tough down payment requirements are hamstringing recovery momentum, especially among first time home buyers. Under the newly proposed Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) rule (meant to prevent another credit bubble in housing markets) only borrowers putting down 20 percent can get the best deals. To buy a median nationally priced home of $170,000, the borrower would have to come up with $34,000 in cash, which takes the average middle class family 14 years to save. Even repeat buyers will be restricted from getting the best deals as equity has eroded from their home which is normally used to purchase a new home.
Apr 7, 2011 | Legislation, Mortgage Lenders, News, Realtors
The Federal Reserve Board’s regulations governing loan originator compensation went into effect April 6 after a federal appeals court dissolved a stay suspending implementation of the rule.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order March 30 to stay the implementation of the Board’s loan originator compensation regulations. However, on April 5, the appeals court on Tuesday ruled National Association of Mortgage Brokers and (NAMB) the National Association of Independent Housing Professionals (NAIHP) had not “satisfied the stringent standards required for a stay pending appeal,” and dissolved its administrative stay of the rule.
The Associations filed a lawsuit March 9 against The Federal Reserve System seeking to restrain implementation of a section of the Fed’s loan originator compensation rule. On March 30, Judge Beryl Howell denied NAMB’s request although she found the rule could cause irreparable harm. NAMB then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which then issued the stay on March 31, preventing the rules from going into effect April 1. The Federal Court then dissolved the stay after both NAMB and the Federal Reserve filed replies.
The three-judge appeals court panel also denied an emergency motion to stay implementation of the rule pending appeal, and denied a motion for expedited relief that sought to fast-track the appeal process.
Read more about this on HousingWire.
Mar 16, 2011 | Interesting Stuff, News
Our office has received the 2010 All Star Award from Constant Contact®, Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than 400,000 small organizations worldwide. Our office is one of Constant Contact’s 2010 top performers and most prolific user of its tools, whether within Constant Contact’s email marketing, event marketing, social media marketing, or survey products – or a combination of all four.
Constant Contact looked at criteria including the following when selecting this year’s All Stars:
- Frequency of campaigns, events and surveys
- Open, bounce and click through rates
- Usage of social features
- Mailing list sign up tools
- Use of reporting tools
“We work hard to listen to our customers, and we use that feedback to create products and services designed to help them better engage with their customers and prospects,” said Gail Goodman, chairman, president and CEO of Constant Contact. “The Constant Contact All Star Awards are our way of recognizing our customers that have successfully used Constant Contact to market their companies. We have some of the most committed, passionate customers out there and we’re proud we can be a part of their continued success.”
About Constant Contact, Inc.
Constant Contact is revolutionizing the success formula for small organizations through affordable, easy-to-use Engagement Marketing™ tools that help create and grow customer relationships. More than 400,000 small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and member associations worldwide rely on Constant Contact as their engagement hub for starting and driving ongoing customer dialogs through email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online surveys. All Constant Contact products come with unrivaled know how, education and free coaching with a personal touch, including award-winning customer support.
Constant Contact and the Constant Contact Logo are registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All Constant Contact product names and other brand names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Mar 10, 2011 | Buying Real Estate, Interesting Stuff, Legislation, News, Realtors
In Massachus
etts an estate of homestead protects a homeowner’s primary residence from the claims of certain creditors. Prior to the change in the law the declaration of homestead protected the equity in the home for up to $500,000 of its equity in the event the home owner is sued. That is, if a homeowner is successfully sued in court, $500,000 of the home’s equity could not be touched by an attachment and or execution of sale by the judgment creditor. To acquire the homestead a homeowner would need to file a written declaration and record it with the county Registry of Deeds.
The Massachusetts Legislature has recently passed long awaited revisions to the Massachusetts Homestead Act. The revised law now provides automatic protection up to $125,000 on a homeowner’s primary residence, and a written homestead can also be filed to increase the protection up to $500.000. The act also provides homeowners additional protection: (more…)
Mar 7, 2011 | Buying Real Estate, Mortgage Lenders, News, Realtors
Turmoil in Libya and Middle East countries may send oil prices up and affect mortgage rates.
If investors fear that rising oil prices will derail an emerging recovery, they will remove their money from stocks and put it into safer bonds, especially government Treasuries. That will help lower mortgage rates. More bond purchases will push bond prices up and their yields, or their interest rates paid to bond owners, down. Mortgage rates would also decline, since they cannot be lower than government bond rates.
That’s exactly what’s been happening this week. Oil prices went over $100 a barrel, its highest price since September 2008. Mortgage rates have declined for three consecutive weeks, with the average rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declining from 5 percent to 4.84 percent last week.
Mar 3, 2011 | Buying Real Estate, Mortgage Lenders, News, Realtors
Long-term fixed rates decreased for the third consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.87 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 3, 2011, down from last week when it averaged 4.95 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.97 percent.
The 15-year FRM averaged 4.15 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.22 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.33 percent.
The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.72 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.8 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.11 percent. (more…)
