From the category archives:

Interest Rates

Economy

Mortgage Interest Rates: Where Are They Heading?

by Peter Giardini | September 22, 2009

I was listening to a financial talk show on the radio the other day; the host was going nuts over an upcoming Treasury auction where over $140 Billion in 2, 5, and 7 year notes were going to be auctioned. This would represent the most auctioned at one time ever, and would be on top of $60+ Billion in notes auctioned the week before.

This got me to thinking about how much debt was out there and ultimately where current mortgage rates were and what direction they were headed in.  Here is what I found… 

The State of Debt

In my search I ran across this very sobering set of statistics about who holds the most US debt… take a look at the data, and if you’re not concerned about where interest rates and inflation are heading, then you must be asleep.

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Commercial Real Estate

Is This the Bottom for Commercial Real Estate Prices?

by Ted Karsch | June 23, 2009

Even the most bearish economist is predicting that commercial real estate prices will fall up to 40 percent from peak to trough. However, the data released yesterday from Moody’s Investor Service shows that in April commercial property prices plummeted a record 8.6 percent. According to Moody’s data, commercial property prices fell a total of [...]

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Economy

Mortgage Interest Deduction in Jeopardy

by Steve Heideman | March 2, 2009

The  mortgage interest deduction, which has long been an untouchable pillar of the tax code for homeowners, is on the chopping block in President Obama’s 2010 budget proposal. The President wants to reform our healthcare system here in America and is proposing the mortgage interest deduction be capped at 28%. This would affect homeowners making [...]

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Economy

Real Estate Down Payment: Gone in 60 Seconds?

by Meghan Busch | February 8, 2009

So, a few weeks back I wrote a post “How Far Down Can My Savings Go For a Down Payment” discussing just how much first-time home buyers need to have in the bank for a down payment. And I received a few great comments. One in particular asked, “What happened to 15 – 20% equity…?”
This got [...]

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Economy

Are we Moving Further and Further from those 4.5% Mortgage Rates we’ve Been Hearing About?

by Steve Heideman | February 2, 2009

Consumer confidence reached an all-time low and 100,000 Americans were issued layoff notices last week, each playing a role in the mortgage market’s relative worsening.
For the third consecutive week, mortgage rates rose and average loan fees increased, too.
Amid all of the negative economic news, however, there were two bright spots worth identifying and discussing. They [...]

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Economy

Outsized Economic Stimulus Packages can Cause Long Term Harm to Mortgage Rates

by Steve Heideman | January 20, 2009

After a strong start Monday and Tuesday, mortgage markets suffered alongside stock markets in the latter half of last week, leaving mortgage rates higher on the week overall.  Market losses were especially steep Friday and mortgage rates headed into the long weekend on a strong uptick.  Regardless, the reasons that mortgage rates rose last week [...]

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Commercial Real Estate

Buy an Apartment Building With a Tool Chest of Knowledge

by Ted Karsch | December 31, 2008

When people first decide to buy an apartment building it is common for them to make a few easily preventable mistakes. The most common error that I see new investors make is not having what I like to refer to as the “investor tool chest”.
For example, if you wanted to build a house you would [...]

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Financing Real Estate

For Real Estate Investors, Finding Good Loans Is Tougher Than Finding Good Deals

by Steve Heideman | December 29, 2008

With home prices falling across most parts of the country, investors in real estate are finding good value in certain rental properties. Unfortunately, they’re also finding it harder to get approved for a home loan.
After getting stung by defaults, conforming mortgage standards for non-owner occupied home loans tightened dramatically last quarter.
One major change was the [...]

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Economy

Mortgage Rates, The Economy and You

by Steve Heideman | November 17, 2008

In Frank Sinatra’s famous tune “That’s Life”, he penned the lyrics: “That’s life, that’s what all the people say. You’re riding high in April, Shot down in May” I am going to change them to “You’re riding high at 4:36pm on Tuesday, Shot down at 3pm Thursday” Lame intro–I know–but my point is made. The [...]

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Credit

BREAKING: Fed Rescues AIG with $85 Billion Loan (bailout) for 80% Ownership Stake

by Joshua Dorkin | September 16, 2008

The snowball that is the US and Global Financial Crisis continued to get larger Tuesday as American International Group (AIG), the nation’s largest insurer came close to collapse. Over the weekend, the Fed failed to provide a $40 Billion bridge loan that the company’s leadership had been pressing for, but late Monday night, the [...]

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Commentary

Who is Better for the Real Estate Market: McCain or Obama?

by Joshua Dorkin | August 28, 2008

Do you think that John McCain or Barack Obama has better policies for the real estate market?
I’m curious about how folks see the 2 major party presidential handling the real estate marketplace and I’m interested in starting a discussion taking into account, tax policy, monetary policy, and other factors. I don’t want to hear [...]

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Economy

A Storm Cloud Named Bernanke: The Real Estate Skies Have Just Darkened

by Charles Feldman | July 16, 2008

There he sat, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, telling lawmakers in Washington what most of the rest of us have known or at least guessed at long ago.
It was as if a dark storm cloud churned by wind and ignited by electricity had somehow broke into the room and sat down on [...]

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Financing Real Estate

Mortgages That Attract Homebuyers

by Troy Schuricht | May 29, 2008

Do great rates and great service fail to impress you? Well you are not alone. We are in a time where you need to find out who can create value with their services and ideas. And what I mean by value is, attracting customers. A good number of investors plan [...]

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Blogs

If An Economy Crashed In The Woods And No One Cared, Would It Make A Sound?

by Richard Warren | March 31, 2008

Could you imagine driving by a bad car wreck without looking? Could you imagine other drivers whizzing by without gawking at the carnage? Neither can I. Yet, that is exactly what seems to be happening with the economy. Sure, everyone knows about the foreclosure mess and mortgage crisis because the news outlets feast on these [...]

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Economy

Consumers Worried; Home Prices Down; Trillions in Losses; Any Good News? Well…

by Charles Feldman | March 26, 2008

How about some good news for a change about real estate, mortgages, credit, jobs, consumer confidence, Wall Street stability, the future of civilization as we know it?
Sorry, not gonna get it here.
Evidence is evidence and though some may like to engage in wishful thinking, the evidence is not good at all.
Goldman Sachs is actually [...]

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