BOTH Stocks & Bonds Soar In November; Confusion or Goldilocks Economy
Tuesday, December 05
We saw something very unusual in November: both stocks and bonds had record months! This Reuters article – Average 60/40 portfolio has best month in November since 1991 – BofA – explains that investors with the “classic” 60% stocks/40% bonds portfolio saw their best month in 30 years. This pheno...
Why Do We HATE Each Other So Much? And Why Does It Matter For Housing?
Friday, December 01
America has not been this contentious or polarized since the Civil War – as most readers know. Many people blame social media for this polarization. The ability to post online without being face-to-face and the ability to post anonymously – seems to foster much more contentious and polarizing di...
Inflation Eases/Rates Up – WHY? Delayed Closings
Thursday, November 30
Inflation Eases/Rates Up – WHY? Delayed Closings; “Walls-In” Insurance for Condos; ADUs NOT Part of Square Footage A key inflation report, Personal Consumption Expenditures (the Fed’s “favorite”) was released today, and it showed that inflation continues to cool. But, despite that, rates went up...
What Makes the Commoditization Of Mortgages Terrifying?
Monday, November 27
Why Consumers Think Mortgages Are Like Corn, Oil, Soybeans & Copper; Why It Matters My cousin grows corn in South Dakota, and he currently gets $4.65 per bushel – the same price every other corn farmer can get. BUT – if he offers to be a “corn supplier for life” along with an annual financia...
Defying Predictions Of "Rate-Ageddon
Wednesday, November 22
Mortgage rates fell almost 3/4% since mid-October – while the 10 Year Treasury yield fell about 6/10%. We’ve seen rates fall before, so who cares? Some Analysts Were Predicting Double-Digit Rates! Well… it was only a month ago that both mainstream and social media channels were lit up with report...
DSCR Loans ONLY Use Rent To Qualify; Do NOT Need to Cash Flow
Monday, November 20
With a 25% down payment, almost anyone can get a DSCR mortgage – even if the property does NOT cash flow with rent. DSCR stands for Debt Service Coverage Ratio Loans – and most readers are aware of them now. BUT – there are two huge misconceptions that I will address below. DSCR loans use only t...