Watch the video below from Brian and Frank. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. Would love to know your opinion. Thanks!

So let me ask you: Why would you wait for the housing market to improve before buying a house?

I understand there’s a lot of uncertainty out there. Job security is questionable, unemployment is high, and you’re not sure what it takes to get pre-approved for a home loan. It’s scary. But here’s the thing: Letting fear dictate your financial strategy for the future is a guaranteed way to pay too much for a house in the years to come.

Put fear aside for just a moment. Here are some facts:

• Interest rates are at or close to historic lows
• Prices for homes have plunged to the lowest levels we’ve seen in a generation
• Bank and government-owned property inventory is at an all-time high
• Rents are rising and rental inventory is shrinking (limited rental options!)

Shouldn’t you, rather than your landlord, be the one who benefits from owning a home? Right now is the “buy low” in the “buy low / sell high” cycle. Every day I help renters explore their purchasing power. You might be surprised just how qualified you are for home ownership.

If you’re curious simply contact me, or drop me a line and I’d be glad to have a no-obligation conversation about how you could own your own home.

Whatever the reason the remodeling itch has settled into your brain, before you bring in a contractor – or pick up a hammer – you should consider two important questions: How will you fund your project? And will it be worth it in the end?

A little research and credit self-assessment can answer both questions. In addition to pulling your credit report to see how likely you are to qualify for good loan terms, you should consider the potential resale value of the improvement, how it will improve your life and if it will enhance your enjoyment of your home.

Fortunately, it’s not difficult to evaluate the potential resale value. Kitchen and bathroom remodels, adding a deck, or finishing a basement or attic are all popular renovations because they upgrade the most-used rooms in the house or add living space.

In terms of resale value, here are some popular projects with high paybacks, according to Remodeling Magazine’s 2009-2010 Cost versus Value Report:

• Adding an attic bedroom – 83.1 percent
• Adding a wooden deck – 80.6 percent
• Minor kitchen remodel – 78.3 percent
• Major kitchen remodel – 72.1 percent
• Basement remodel – 75.4 percent
• Bathroom remodel – 71 percent

Keep in mind that smaller remodels, while costing less than major jobs, can still have a major impact on how your home looks and feels. For example, simply replacing that old front door with a steel version can cost around $1,000 but offers a return on investment of nearly 129 percent, according to the report.

Another factor to consider when weighing the value of any remodeling project is how it will affect your quality of life in terms of financial security. It’s important to be sure the cost of the project won’t be a financial burden that detracts from your enjoyment of the results.

To help understand your current credit status and how it might affect your remodeling loan terms, obtain a copy of your credit report. Websites like CreditReport.com can provide you with a credit report with your paid monitoring membership. Obtaining your credit report and monitoring your credit can help you identify any inaccuracies or errors that might lead to higher interest rates, and also catch and resolve potential fraud quickly. You’ll also find tips on the website for understanding your credit, and tools such as a credit score tracker to help you anticipate how certain financial decisions – like financing a remodel – might affect your credit.

Remodeling projects will likely remain popular as homeowners continue to stay put in a still-sluggish real estate market, experts agree. With some careful planning, budgeting, research and credit insight, you can ensure you reap the most financial and personal value for whatever renovation you decide to undertake.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Our firm does not endorse any vendor and disclaims responsibility for any product, promotion or content mentioned in this article.

Excerpts from the article:

By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud
Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Now is literally the best time in recorded history to buy a house in America…

Right now – today – U.S. real estate is the most affordable it’s ever been. Ever.

When I say “affordable,” I’m looking at three things: house prices, mortgage rates, and incomes. With the Affordability Index near 200, the median family has 200% of the income necessary to buy the median home (or more specifically, to qualify for a conventional loan on the median home).

Right now, as you know, house prices are sitting near new lows for this cycle, down by roughly one-third (depending on who’s counting). And right now, mortgage rates – after ticking above 5% earlier this year – are all the way down to 4.5% again, near all-time lows.

So it’s simple: With the worst house-price crash in American history, combined with the lowest mortgage rates in history, you can now afford more home than ever. Meanwhile, hope is gone. Everyone thinks housing is hopeless. That is when a bear market ends and a new bull market begins.

At a conference I attended last month, some speakers spoke woefully of the large supply of houses for sale. That will take care of itself in time. Others bemoaned the certainty of higher interest rates in the future, which would hurt housing. But they shouldn’t be so certain…

Twenty years ago, Japan faced a housing bust similar to ours. Japan’s government has cut interest rates to near zero and printed money. And long-term interest rates in Japan currently sit around 1%. Even rising interest rates won’t kill housing… In the 1970s, interest rates were rising, and house prices outperformed stock prices.

The story is simple: House prices have fallen more than ever… And mortgage rates are lower than ever. If you can buy a house now (and want one), go for it.

Now is the best time in American history to do it.

Good investing,

Steve
http://www.dailywealth.com

NEWS RELEASE 

For Press Inquiries:

Justine Saudan, Media Relations
4949 Meadows Road Suite 150
Lake Oswego, OR 97035

PACIFIC RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

PACIFIC RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE, is pleased to announce that Michael Eiden Sr. Mortgage Banker MLO-165229, has joined our Lake Oswego Branch. Michael’s passion lies in serving the needs of others and contributing to his community. A former United States Marine, Michael’s exceptional service skills have helped businesses and individuals with their financial goals for over 14 years. As a Mortgage Banker he has made it his mission to use his planning skills to help folks obtain a mortgage properly—whether it is through a refinance or purchase of a primary or investment real estate property.  Michael takes great pride in his work and is available to serve you. We are excited to have him as a part of our team! 

About Pacific Residential Mortgage (PRM)

In May of 2004, Pacific Residential Mortgage (PRM) opened a new kind of Mortgage Company. Made up of seasoned professionals, PRM’s rapid success is based on its decision to hire only top quality loan originators with a reputation for character, integrity and quality.

 As a broker and a banker, PRM offers the highest degree of flexibility to best meet the changing needs of all clients by providing a combination of the best products, the best service and the most competitive rates available. Dreams Approved Daily®

Traditionally, spring is the hottest season for real estate. Sales peak in April and May and stay strong in June and July. It’s a good season for families to move, between school terms and while the weather is warm. People have just received their tax refunds, which they can use to help finance a down payment. And the nice weather and beautiful flowers in spring and early summer make it a great time to show your home.

In fact, a full 60 percent of America’s moves take place in the summer. But closing a sale can take weeks, so it’s a good idea to list your home early in the season.

Traditionally, August brings a lag in sales, as people go away on vacation and start to think about the new school year. Then sales surge briefly in the fall before dropping in winter as buyers and sellers focus on the holidays. But by January, buyers are out again, and sales steadily increase into spring.

If you can’t sell in the peak season, consider listing your house in winter. It may sound counterintuitive, but you probably already have the house decorated and cleaned for holiday entertaining, so it shouldn’t be hard to get it in shape for showing. Moreover, you will have less competition and may get a better price. Another plus: buyers in winter are less likely to waste your time or draw out the closing. They may want to close before the New Year so they can claim the mortgage deduction on their tax return, which you could turn to your advantage in pressing for a quick deal.

But seasonal ups and downs of the market aren’t absolutes. They don’t affect home sales as much in temperate climates, like California and Florida, where people house-hunt year-round. And warmer weather in the Northeast and Midwest in November and early December can prolong real-estate seasons there. Where I am, here in the Northwest, it’s pretty moderate and runs with the Nation’s norm.

Of course, selling in the hot season isn’t the whole story. You should pay attention to your local housing market and try to list during a seller’s market, when there will be more competition among buyers for your home – which could mean a better price, a quicker closing and fewer conditions on the offer. There aren’t too many places in the country right now where it’s a sellers market. There is lots and lots of inventory and not a lot buyers. There is also talk of another dip in Real Estate values. Your local real estate agent will be able to tell you what the local housing market is like. Take a look at the chart below, if you need to sell, now may be the time to get ahead of any further corrections. This just happens to be on Portland, OR. Follow this link to find more cities. http://www.macromarkets.com/real-estate/sp_caseshiller.shtml

Be aware of the underlying factors that influence the local market. Recent layoffs could mean a glut of desperate sellers, possibly driving down the market price of your house. Alternatively, you may be in an area of the country where housing prices are going through the roof. You may not be in one of those areas, but if prices in your area are on the rise, it can create a rush of buyers who want to close a deal before the prices go higher. Anticipation of an increase in interest rates can have a similar impact on the urgency of buyers. The later is actually more likely to happen. Rates it appears, have bottomed out and we are likely NOT to see 4.0% on a 30 year fixed again. If they keep creeping up, look for these fence sitters to get off and get moving.

In Summary, consult with your local real esate professionals. They are going to know the trends of  your local market better than anyone. Besides, it doesn’t really matter what’s happening in Nevada, Florida, California or Michigan… what really matters is what’s happening right in your own neighborhood. Good luck and happy selling!

“This week there is a good chance that the Federal Reserve in the United States will announce that it is going to print some more money. The reason will be that the US economy has yet to find its legs and they feel a need to give some extra artificial support in order to buy time for the private sector to get back on its feet and spending again. That buying of time aspect is essentially all governments can do when they ease fiscal policy to help growth and all central banks can do when they cut interest rates or in this case take the extreme measure of printing money. In technical terms the operation is called quantitative easing and it does not actually involve any extra physical notes being printed. It goes like this.

The US government is running a very large deficit near US$1.3tn. In order to finance it they usually borrow the money from the public. That means that the $1.3tn more the government spends than it receives in tax revenue is voluntarily taken out of circulation by investors in exchange for promises that they will be repaid the money plus interest some years down the track. The net cash effect is zero. Quantitative easing involves the Federal Reserve buying some of the bonds issued to fund the federal deficit. But the money the Fed. uses to buy the bonds does not come from private sector bank accounts. They simply make a note in their accounts that they have an asset in the form of US government bonds while the government marks a liability in its balance sheet. So where does the money printing as it were come in?

Money that was going to flow from the private sector out of the system to the government does not do so. It stays put in other investments like shares and bank accounts. That effectively is the money which is printed – the stuff that does not leave. By staying in bank accounts etc. there is a net addition to funds circulating in the economy caused by the over-spending of the government – wages etc. Extra money sloshing around means extra downward pressure on interest rates which in theory will help the economy. In practice however a key thing happening in the United States which is keeping the economy weak is an unwillingness on the part of banks to lend more money exceeded in many cases it seems by the unwillingness of consumers and businesses to borrow it.

Therefore the low interest rates which will stay around for longer may not have much effect at all. It is not the price of money people are basing their borrowing decisions on at the moment but their confidence – which is lacking. But the extra money sloshing around does not all simply sit in banks. Some goes into other assets like property, shares, and commodities. People are wary of property understandably given what has happened. There are many feeling the sharemarket is looking over-stretched when one considers the immediate prospects for growth look poor.

That leaves other assets as potentially major beneficiaries of the Fed.s money printing exercise. We think these other assets likely to find favour are going to be predominantly found outside the United States. That means extra upward pressure on commodity prices by investors increasingly talking about a long term commodity price cycle in particular. It also means funds flowing into non-US sharemarkets and currencies and particularly those of fast growing developing economies.

This is what worries the likes of China, Brazil, and many other countries who see their currencies as likely to rise against the greenback. This is where the big relevance to us comes in. Extra funds seeking non-USD dollar investments with a potential bias toward commodity-type assets are quite likely to push the NZD above US 80 cents within the next few months. And as we discussed last week there is essentially nothing sensible the Reserve Bank will be able to do about that. And for those exporters who are going to be affected by a stronger NZD it pays to think about it in the following terms. The greenback is weakening because the US economy is struggling under the weight of truly massive bad debts.

Personally I prefer our combination of an overvalued currency and good Kiwi accounts to the appalling mess they are in which seems destined to get phenomenally worse in coming years as the Federal government one day starts to attack a debt situation rapidly becoming unsustainable. “

Zeus Has Unleashed the Cracken on MBS

I know, cheesy headline but c’mon. Look at the chart above. See that last big Red Bar on the right? That represents the price drop in the 4.5 FNMA Mortgage Coupon. Too technical? Just know that if a price of a bond goes down, the yield or interest rates that is passed on to borrowers is higher. So, the more and bigger the red bars you see, the worse rates get.

This is a significant argument that the FED MBS purchase program that was announced in Nov 2008 had a definite impact on mortgage rates. Most experts agree the FED intervention affected rates by over 1% If that’s true, then rates could be headed up over 6% in short order.  They spent $1.25 trillion on the program, affected the range by 1.75 (6.25% – 4.5%) and rates changed up to 5 times per during the program term Nov 2008 to March 2010.

Do You Know When to Lock Your Rate?

During the timeline outlined above, rates were on a nauseous roller coaster ride. The above chart is a snapshot of the market in real time. Most consumers don’t have access to this info, but a good loan officer does, at least they should. If you are out rate shopping in Oregon or Washington for a home loan, I am an active loan officer and if you have questions about rate volatility, when to lock or other mortgage related questions, give me a call or send me an email.

“Unleash The Cracken”! — Zeus

The Refinance Index decreased 1.3 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 6.8 percent from one week earlier. This is the highest Purchase Index since the week ending October 30, 2009. The unadjusted Purchase Index also increased 6.8 percent compared with the previous week and was 9.3 percent lower than the same week one year ago. While both conventional and government purchase indexes saw increases this week, the government purchase index and the government share of purchase applications are at their highest levels since October 2009. The government share of purchase applications is currently 47.2 percent. The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 2.2 percent.

The four week moving average is up 5.4 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 0.9 percent for the Refinance Index. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 63.2 percent of total applications from 65.0 percent the previous week. This is the lowest refinance share recorded in the survey since the week ending October 23, 2009. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.2 percent from 4.8 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The plain and simple? Looks like the market is turning to being driven by purchases. We know this because the refinance index failed to make much progress in the first quarter 2010, even as mortgage rates held below 5.00%.  It’s also entirely likely that the ‘fence sitters’ are getting nervous about rates rising coupled with the expiring home buyer tax credit are giving them the proverbial ‘kick-in-the-butt’ they so desperately need.