Posts by Norman

You Snooze…….You Lose…….

You Snooze…….You Lose…….

19th February 2010 | 1 Comment

Those Who Wait Will Pay Thousands More This Spring Waiting a few extra days or weeks to purchase a home this spring could cost buyers thousands of extra dollars as the office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) implements several changes for loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). Coming just weeks before the April 30 deadline for the Home Buyer Tax Credit and just days after the March 31 expiration of the Federal Reserve Board's mortgage backed securities purchase program (which has kept home loan rates artificially low for over a year), these FHA changes make it even
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Appraisals, Market Conditions & Greece…

Appraisals, Market Conditions & Greece…

16th February 2010 | 2 Comments

February 16, 2010 Mortgage Market Conditions Markets were closed yesterday in observance of President's Day. Today's market news was the manufacturing index which showed improved numbers from last month, increase in business activity and business leaders forcasting better economic conditions in the coming months. Stocks off to a good start precipitated by the report with the DOW up just over 100 points ( 10:00AM CST ). Mortgage bonds relatively flat and holding, providing some stability in mortgage rates for the time being. The recent trend of economic reports have been encouraging but for all the fluffy forecasts to come to
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New Job Report – How it affects Homes, Mortgages & You

New Job Report – How it affects Homes, Mortgages & You

5th February 2010 | 2 Comments

New Job Report – a Mixed Bag of Treats ( or Tricks) The Labor Department, today, released the latest government data for Non-farm payrolls ( employment data ) which revealed jobs losses of 20,000 for January. This was a surprise as the consensus expected a gain of 15,000 – 20,000 jobs. Surprisingly, the unemployment rate dipped to 9.7%. However, employment numbers for December were revised to 150,000 job losses as compared to initial reportings of 85,000. Furthermore the Business Survey threw in another revision that indicated an ADDITIONAL 900,000 job losses from March 2008 – March 2009 from what was
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Keeping Your Kids Healthy

Keeping Your Kids Healthy

21st January 2010 | Comments Off on Keeping Your Kids Healthy

http://www.healthyhoustonkids.com Hey school’s back in session. How do you keep your kids healthy? Click the link above and keep up to date. You don’t want your kids bringing back those school germs to you, Right! Read about it!
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FHA "FLIP" requirements change…

FHA "FLIP" requirements change…

21st January 2010 | 3 Comments

On Friday, January 15, 2010 HUD announced a temporary suspension of HUD’s policy of prohibiting FHA insured financing for properties owned by sellers for less than 90 days ( flips ). This change in policy has been implemented to aid in stabilization of home values and improve conditions in areas with high foreclosure activity. This change has been noted as temporary, beginning February 1, 2010 and is effective for one year, unless extended or withdrawn by HUD commissioner. Furthermore, it will have very strict conditions and guidelines for property eligibility to ensure that predatory practices are not allowed. The waiver
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"Making Home Affordable" plan – a failure…

"Making Home Affordable" plan – a failure…

8th January 2010 | 5 Comments

It is great to see the New York Times finally coming on board as they are recognizing that Obama’s “Making Home Affordable” plan has failed and could even be making the market worse! The fact is, that one needs to have the full cycle of the market and actually feel the full pain of the downs of the market before the market can correct itself. Therefore, the governmental interference is just prolonging the agony. As a result, many desperate homeowners have sent payments to banks in efforts to keep their homes from going into foreclosure – an act which some
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Mixed News as Bonds and Mortgage Rates Flip Flop

Mixed News as Bonds and Mortgage Rates Flip Flop

14th December 2009 | Comments Off on Mixed News as Bonds and Mortgage Rates Flip Flop

Jobs Report indicates improvement ___________________________________________ Last Friday’s Jobs Report indicated surprising results.  Instead of 125,000 job losses that were expected, the Labor Department reported only 11,000 jobs lost in November.  And if that were not enough, the Unemployment Rate improved to 10% – down from 10.2%.  It was also reported that the previous two months were revised to 159,000 fewer job losses than previously reported…strange, how the initial reports can be so skewed. Stocks were up sharply on the news, but have recently fallen back from comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.  The Fed Chief commented that inflation will remain
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