How to Get a Conventional Mortgage as a US Expat
If you currently live and work in a foreign country but are a US citizen, you can still qualify for a conventional mortgage under conforming (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) guidelines. However, the requirements are more complex. These “expat loans” require a manual underwrite, involving additional paperwork and stricter guidelines. Not all banks or mortgage […]
Thank You for 2024 and a Perfect Example of The Fed’s Impact on Mortgage Rates
Thank you everyone who sent your clients, colleagues, friends, and family to me this year! I feel very fortunate to have business in a year that was a challenging market for a lot of folks. Year over year my volume increased 25% and transactions increased by 45% (though 2023 was my worst year since 2019…)! […]
Thanksgiving Costs, Mortgage Rates, November Jobs Report
Happy Holidays! The cost of the Thanksgiving meal for 10 declined again this year but remains 19% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019. (how am I supposed to get the free turkey at WinCo if I don’t spend $125?) While most items saw price declines, stuffing, whipping cream, rolls, and cranberries became more expensive. Regionally, […]
Mortgage Rates, Single Family Rents, Homes Sales, and Mortgage Applications
Mortgage Rates moved mostly sideways this week as the price of Mortgaged Backed Securities continued to oscillate in the range between 100.50 and 101.0 – a trend we have seen since late October. Rates are down approximately 0.5% from this time last year. Rents – The Core Logic Rental Index rose 2% year over year […]
FEMA, Mortgage Rates & Applications, Inflation, Fed Cut?
National Flood Insurance Underwater? Back in 1965 after growing tired of helping flooded folks with disaster relief the Government decided to provide national flood insurance in the wake of “Billion Dollar Betsy” hammering the Louisiana coastline. Private insurers have never really shown much interest in covering flood damage as it is simply too expensive. In […]
Fed Rate Cut, Mortgage Rates, CoreLogic Home Values
Mortgages Rates improved this week as the price of Mortgaged Backed Securities regained approximately 1/3 of their losses in October. In the run up to the election, as investor became increasingly confident about results, the price of Mortgaged Backed Securities dropped dramatically as folks moved their money into the stock market anticipating stock gains, and […]
New FTC Rule ‘Click to Cancel’, Rate Movement, Home and Rent Value
Ever have trouble cancelling a subscription? After federal regulators received 70 complaints per day about subscriptions the Federal Trade Commission released a final rule called ‘click to cancel’ which says online subscriptions should require the same number of clicks to end as they do to sign up and in-person signups should have an option to […]
Nobel Prize for Economics, Single Family Rents, Retail Sales
Nobel Prize for Economics – the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences to Acemoglu, Robinson, and MIT Economist Simon Johnson for their research on “how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.” They argue that institutions that protect individual freedom, property rights, enforce rule of law, educate their populations, […]
Union Strikes and the Taft-Hartley Act, Mortgage Rate and Inflation Updates
Labor – there have been various nationwide union strikes recently including Starbucks, Autoworkers, Longshoremen and just now Boeing who announced 17,000 layoffs after the 33,000 Union machinists were on strike since Sept. 14. One term that was discussed in the Longshoremen strike was the Taft-Hartley Act and that the president should invoke the act. This […]
Fed Moves Lower and Mortgage Rates do What? Sept Jobs Report and Home Value Updates
Rates – the Fed drops their Fed Funds rate by 0.5% and Mortgage Rates go up? We saw the long-anticipated Fed Funds rate cut on the 18th during their September meeting. The Fed foreshadowed this drop and the market was well prepared for it. There is a relationship between the Fed Funds rate and Mortgage […]