From my favorite lender, Jeremy House at The Vision Lending Group!
We are seeing some continued relief in the mortgage bond market and as a result interest rates are working themselves down. Since August 6th bonds have seen an increase of 181 basis points!! That has resulted in 30 year fixed rates declining approximately .5%. Much of this is due to several officials commenting positively on inflation and some easement in gas prices. The reduction in gas prices has started to relieve overall inflationary fears.
Strange as it may sound, the uncertainty of the overall health of Fannie and Freddie has also helped bond prices increase and mortgage interest rates decrease. What happened here is a good old “flight to quality.” When a company as large as Fannie or Freddie is flirting with trouble, its stock becomes a bit less attractive to traders. As a measure of security traders will shift their money over into the bond market to protect their investment. The same happens in reverse – if the bond market is struggling you will often see the stock market feed off of that as traders shift their capital over to stocks to reduce their losses in the bond market.
The talk at the latest Fed meeting included hints of a FFR hike in the distant future – yet another plus! It shows that our Fed is at least thinking about and is contemplating a solution to our “inflation situation.”
All of this and more is adding up to better – LOWER – mortgage interest rates.
In this episode of the Phoenix Real Estate Advisor I interview Ron Coats from Olympic Mortage. Ron discusses how first time buyers can ensure they are making the correct decisions about a mortgage.
He talks about the “most important things a first time buyer should know”, the “biggest mistake frist time buyers make”, how to “avoid making these mistakes” and more.
Buying a home, whether you’re a first time buyer or not can be tricky in this new economic time. What type of loan should you take? Who should you go with? What is the best loan program for you? These are all very important questions that I can help you answer. That’s one of the reasons I bring professionals blog posts and audio podcast interviews.
If after listening to this podcast you still have questions please do not hesitate to call or email me, I would be happy to help. As always I look forward to your comments on this podcast either directly to me or posted on the site. Click any of the links above or simply click the “podcast” link at the top of the page.
Now I have to say I never listened to much of their music but i did get a kick out of one song in piticular, The Cover of the Rolling Stone. Here’s what Wolfgang’s Vault had about the history of this band.
Recorded at New York’s Bottom Line club, the last of four shows by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show recorded in 1978 for the King Biscuit Flower Hour, this is a great example of how music and humor can indeed coexist. Most of the songs in the other shows are played during this end-cap performance, including a comical remake of “Rollin’ In My Sweet Baby’s Arms” and their own, “Get My Rocks Off.”
The band’s original compositions, “A Couple More Years” and “If Not You,” are placed alongside “Freakin’ At The Freaker’s Ball,” “I Got Stoned And I Missed It,” and “Cover Of The Rolling Stone”.
The original band disbanded, but Ray Sawyer has kept the Dr. Hook namesake alive and spearheads a version of the band that still tours on a regular basis.
Rik Elswit - guitar
Billy Francis - keyboards
Jance Garfat - bass
Dennis Locorriere - guitar, vocals
Ray Sawyer - guitar, vocals
John Wolters - drums
Recorded at New York’s Bottom Line club, the last of four shows by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show recorded in 1978 for the King Biscuit Flower Hour, this is a great example of how music and humor can indeed coexist. Most of the songs in the other shows are played during this end-cap performance, including a comical remake of “Rollin’ In My Sweet Baby’s Arms” and their own, “Get My Rocks Off.”
The band’s original compositions, “A Couple More Years” and “If Not You,” are placed alongside “Freakin’ At The Freaker’s Ball,” “I Got Stoned And I Missed It,” and “Cover Of The Rolling Stone,” all written by the band’s longtime associate, Shel Silverstein. They also deliver a comical medley of two ‘50s classics, “Earth Angel” and “For Your Love,” and close out with “Happy Trails,” the theme song from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show is a comedy-driven country-rock band that originated in Union City, New Jersey in 1968. Consisting of a core of members who were from the south but moved up to Jersey, they were booked into a club show weeks after forming without finalizing a name. When the club owner insisted on a name to advertise the show, one of the members suggested Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, which had been inspired by the traveling snake oil caravans of the Old West.
Singer/guitarist Ray Sawyer, who had been wearing an eye patch after a near-fatal 1967 car crash, was assumed by most fans to be Dr. Hook; in fact the band was jointly fronted by Sawyer, with his natural stage charisma and humor, and Dennis Locorriere, whose distinctive voice and musical talents were trademarks of the band’s greatest hits.
Dr. Hook was signed to Columbia Records and scored a hit out of the box in 1971 with a sappy love song called “Sylvia’s Mother.” That song did enough to get them on pop radio, which quickly embraced the band’s second album and hit single: “Cover Of The Rolling Stone.” The song tells the story of a frustrated rock musician whose only career goal seems to be getting his picture on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The single went to the Top 10 and propelled the band to have a series of future hit singles which lasted through the late-1970s.
The latest national numbers are out and the news is good if you’re selling a home. More people are searching for homes this July then last year in July. In some cases the numbers are UP considerably!
Here’s a few interesting facts-
-California took 6 of the top 10 MSA’s (Market Statistical Area)
-Florida had 7 of the top 25 MSA’s
-Phoenix-Mesa MSA was 21st and Tucson MSA was 48th
Now for a few details-
#1 Stockton-Lodi had a 140% increase in searches for homes
#2 Las Vegas had a 93% increase in searches for homes
#3 Riverside-San Bernadino had a 96% increase.
#11 Detroit had a 51% increase
#21 Phoenix had a 39% increase
If you would like all the results from this report please email me and I’ll send it to you!
I would take this to mean that more people are looking for homes this summer then last year which is good for all of us. Once we clean up some of the inventory we have we should see the home prices stabilize and possible start to rebound. In fact in some areas the prices have already made the switch.
Watch for my Phoenix market update podcast for information on specific markets here in Arizona or just give me a call. I would be happy to talk to you about specific area market changes here in Arizona.
Over the last few years the concept of “Staging a Home” has become very popular. Years ago we just called it getting a home ready to sell but nowadays this concept has been taken to new levels.
Ever wonder if staging a home helps you get more money for your help? How about the cost, does it pay for it’s self? Do professional stagers receive formal training?
Listen to The Phoenix Real Estate Audio podcast with Renee from Staged by Renee and you’ll learn about how staging can help generate more offers at a higher price. It’s easy to listen in, just click the “podcast” link at the top of this page and look for the Staging episode.
While you’re there look around, you’ll find other podcasts from people connected to the real estate industry like mortgage lenders, home inspectors, etc.
