Rates
Well another roller coaster ride for rates this week and looks like we will end the week with rates going down, just slightly after 2 days of them going up.
This week, all eyes were on unemployment and trying to guess what Friday’s numbers were going to be like.
ADP private payroll saw an increase of 175,000 and on Thursday, initial jobless claims came in at 331,000, both were pretty much in line with expectations.
So Friday, it was expected that the US jobs were to be around 185,000, but another miss, as jobs came in at 113,000, but was expected is last month jobs number, which was 74,000 to be bumped up to around 150,000. Well that didn’t happen, it was only bumped up to 75,000, miss and a swing, strike 2.
This is really causing some to blame it on the weather, but some are also scratching their heads, wondering if this is the best we can do.
Most other economic reports came in as expected, but with job numbers stalled, rates have rallied and stocks have tanked.
We are almost at some of our best levels of 2014, with last Friday was the best levels.
There has been some struggle for rate to rally about the 102.00 mark, which would be sweet, causing rates for conventional to tick into the low 4’s and govies might tick to the mid 3’s!!
I am on the fence post right now, thinking people should lock with these good rates, but if the economy continues to dip, we could see rates dip again, so rack me up as neutral.
Mortgage Debt Relief Act.
Congress still has not made any indications of extending the 2007 Mortgage Debt Relief Act, which for people who short sale or foreclosure will make them not potentially have to pay taxes on the forgiven deficiency.
But as of today, it is a now go, and I know some agent have told clients that they are positive Congress will pass the bill and retro it back to January 1st. Boy I wish I had that crystal ball! I don’t think I would gamble my license on that.
FHA and eSign
FHA last week released memo saying they will now accept eSign documents! This is GREAT, we try to do all of our docs eSign, and now that FHA is on board it will really make thing even easier.
HUD homes
I was reviewing the HUD Store web site on HUD owned homes and noticed something VERY interesting. There was ONLY 1, yep 1 HUD owned home for sale in Ada County and 5 in Canyon County!!!! It seem just like yesterday there were pages and pages! A very nice sign!
RD Changes.
RD is going to roll out a bunch of changes to the program in the coming months, with most of them taking affect September.
I will start covering most of these in upcoming blogs as the guidelines come out. But one interest new program will be a Construction to Perm loan for people who want to build in Rural Development Areas!!! Sound pretty cool!!!
Lead Generator
ListingBooster has been working AWESOME!! The Agents that have been using it have received quite a few leads from it.
What is ListingBooster, well it is:
-Sign rider that people text to in order to get a video presentation of your listing
-Dedicated web site with info and pictures of your listing
-Craigs list flyer to post on Craig’s List
-Branded and Non-Branded Tour to place in MLS and flyers
-Flyers that are easily printed
-Lead capturing tools
And all for the low, low price of $12.00 per year, YEP $1.00 per month!!!!
Link here for some GREAT info: http://www.listingbooster.com/presentation/listing/1868