Safe Harbor Scramble Drops Rates Mortgage lenders are anticipating as much as a full point increase in interest rates over the next month. What’s less clear: whether the transition will be smooth (weekly, incremental bumps of say, .25%) or a more abrupt re-pricing. I’ve certainly heard this from lenders before ” like, quarterly for the...Read More
Truer Words Were Never Spoken Written “Poor policy and incompetent leaders are creating massive systemic risks, and modern markets can concentrate and change their focus instantly ” for all the right reasons, for no apparent reason, or for some combination of the two.” (my emphasis) –Paul Singer, founder of the $17 billion hedge fund Elliott...Read More
“What, Somebody’s Going to Steal the Copper Again?” [Editor’s Note: before I lose all my Readers, I promise to switch to sunnier posts . . . next week.] Normally, when I need to re-schedule a confirmed showing, I make a point of calling the listing agent’s office to let them know. For one thing, it’s just...Read More
Sales Hyperbole “Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.” Is now “A GREAT TIME TO BUY A HOME?” Is it in fact, “THE BUYING OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME?” Search me. But I’ll say this: Realtors who are screaming those things (or statements like it) the loudest: a) don’t have a clue; and b)...Read More
Investors (and non-Cubans) Not Wanted When Cuba legalizes buying and selling homes by end of the year — as the government promised again this week — [observers] expect a cascade of changes: higher prices, mass relocation, property taxes and a flood of money from Cubans in the United States and around the world. –Damien Cave, “Cubans...Read More
Want two, inescapable signs that electronic signatures have arrived? Sign #1: The new, 2011 – 2012 standard Minnesota Purchase Agreement* now includes language stating that electronic signatures shall be acceptable for all residential real estate contracts and addenda (it’s buried in the fine print, just after the Integration Clause). Sign #2: The National Association of Realtors (“NAR”) is an...Read More
