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Real Estate Chart of the Day
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I made a lot of mortgage charts in 2011, covering rates, costs, and new programs. Here is a collection of the best of them.
We can't predict the mortgage market's future, but we can have opinions. Here are some of them.
Are you the "spreadsheet type"? Do your own mortgage math within Microsoft Excel, Mac Numbers and/or Google Docs. Take these built-in formulas and just add mortgage rates.
Independent banks have stopped tightening the mortgage money spigot. The shift is good news for home buyers and anyone else who's watched underwriting standards get tough since last decade.
Let's look at what it means to "escrow" your taxes, how it hits your settlement statement's bottom-line, and how you can waive escrows on your loan without paying big fees.
Think you're paying too much in real estate taxes? You might be right. According to an industry trade group, more than 60 percent of U.S. homes are currently over-assessed as a result of falling home valuations and inaccurate county records.
Homeowners that let lenders collect and pay their real estate taxes and insurance bills tend to get lower rates and lower fees. Here's how escrows work, and how you can use them to your advantage.
The settlement statement Prepaid Items section confuses people. A "prepaid item" is exactly what its name implies -- a payment related to the mortgage, collected before the payment's actual due date.
The Witching Hour: In November, the 3:00 P.M. hour generated 26 percent of the total S&P 500 volume for the month; the last 30 minutes accounted for 17 percent. Markets are closing out the day in spastic fashion and mortgage rate shoppers often pay the price. When markets move towards...
Historically, mortgage markets are boring place for everyday Americans. I know this because every day I write the blog. Over the past few weeks, however, it's been anything but boring. There's been so much news that keeping up with it all has been a challenge. To help you sort through...
Like a fine movie with endless details, mortgage markets were dense last week and in need of a second (and third) look. Here's that extra look, in Brain Dump format. Follow me: Come to Twitter and get my mortgage market updates, wriitten several times daily. If you followed me, you'd...
"Can you run payments for me?" It's one of the most common questions that my home-buying clients ask me. They find a home in, say, Montgomery and want to know what their monthly mortgage payment look like. Some loan officers find it tedious to calculate mortgage payments, but I happen...
There's a scene in Awakenings when Dr. Sayer theorizes about Leonard's condition. He wonders if the trance-like paralysis is the result of an extreme tremor: If compulsions in the patient were somehow accelerated --- the hands, the shaking, the tics, the head bobbing, the quickening speech -- might they not...
Smart people sometimes feel less-then-smart when reviewing a mortgage settlement statement for the first time. It's not that the math is tough -- it's the lack of understanding about what you're looking at and what it all means. Mortgage Math isn't taught in school, after all. As a result, the...
First, a definition: (Home Equity) = (Value of Home) - (Amount Owed On Home) There are two ways that equity is created: The homeowner pays down the principal balance on the mortgage. The home's value increases because of appreciation But just because both methods increase the equity position in a...
The screenshot above is from Countrywide's Web site, taken a few minutes ago. Without context, it seems like a regular advertisement. Get a 12-month CD issued by Countrywide and backed by FDIC. Earn 5.65 percent. Sounds like a good deal. But, out of context, the ad does us no good....
Quick note to residents of non-Cook County residents in Chicagoland: your next tax bill is due June 1. The upcoming payment takes on added significance if you're in the middle of a refinance and you are planning to escrow, though. Heads up! Your cash required for closing may be significantly...
