Edina Realty “Expo 2014” One of the reasons Edina Realty’s annual meeting (called “Expo 2014”) is a “must-attend” for company agents is that it affords us rank-and-file a chance to hear what the brass thinks is in store for the upcoming year. So, what did Bob and Ron Peltier — Home Services of America CEO...Read More
FHA Rates — and Especially Fees(!) — Soar Higher Prospective borrowers obviously care about the face rate on their mortgage, but what they should really care about is what’s called the “A.P.R.,” or Annual Percentage Rate. It’s the latter number that captures the various fees that the lender is charging, and reflects the true cost...Read More
Halloween Scream? Not This Year After almost touching 5%(!) barely a month ago, interest rates on a 30-year mortgage for well-qualified borrowers have dropped almost a full point, to just above 4%. Jumbo loan rates are even lower. Chalk that up to 3 reasons: 1) the debt ceiling has been raised, however temporarily; 2) the...Read More
Three Reasons Once upon a time — like in 2009, in the aftermath of The 2008 Crash — jumbo or “non-conforming” loans were significantly more expensive than conforming loans (under $417k in most parts of the country). When conforming loans were going for 5.5%, jumbo’s were fetching 6.25% or 6.5% — assuming you could find a...Read More
Interest Rates: 3 Steps Forward, One Step Back? If you haven’t been following, mortgage interest rates have just had a HUGE upward jump. From a low of 3.25% this Spring, 30-year mortgage rates touched as high as 4.625% earlier this week before re-tracing some of that move. What happens next? Conventional wisdom is that rates...Read More
When Supply & Demand (Especially “Supply”) are Broken “The sale of a home actually represents two, discrete transactions. To a Seller, it represents a lump-sum payoff; to a Buyer, it represents a series of monthly payments.” –Floyd Norris; The New York Times To explain the dearth of homes for sale nationally as well as locally...Read More
