Rates
Rates have slid down this week, just a little off our 2014 highs, but mainly due to ISIS and not due to economic news.
The US bombing ISIS caused rates to go down this week, as EU and Middle East Money is brought into the US markets and protection, but this is temporary, as more and more countries come on board.
Not much news out of Russia this week.
But economic news was strong this week:
-Existing home sales 5.05M vs 5.20M close enough to be positive.
-Chicago PMI 57.9 vs est. of 58.0 up from last month and close enough to be positive.
-Richmond Fed indexed at 14 vs est. of 12, (anything above zero is good)
-New home sales, August, 504K vs est 430K. NICE
-July revised from 412K to 427K
-Durable good 0.7% vs est. of 0.7%, positive.
-Weekly jobless claims 293K vs est. of 300K, still below that magical 300K mark.
-2nd QTR GDP 4.6%, expected, but a HUGE number, very positive for economy!!!
So WOW, if we hadn’t bombed ISIS this week, we would of seen another week of interest rate increasing.
Also all eyes are on the Federal Reserve next month, as they will quit buying Mortgage Back Securities, and Mortgage Rates will finally not be subsidized by the Federal Government, and so floated on the open market.
Chances of hitting the 2014 lows, slim to none, lock them, and if you have clients sitting on the fence post, tell them for every $100,000 they borrow and the rate goes up .125, their payment increased by $8.00 OR their purchase power is reduced by $1500.00
Lock those loans!
Credit score
Lately I have had quite a few people coming into my office and stating that their Credit Score is say a 750, but when I pull their score it is a 680…. So what is up with that?
Well a lot of these online credit scores and a proprietary credit score calculation, i.e. when Credit Karma pulls your score, they based it off the Avantium Score Model.
Although there is nothing wrong with that model, it is not accepted in the Banking World.
Banks, all per Federal Requirements use the FICO calculation, which is the standard.
If you clients indicated they have a credit score, ask them if it is a FICO score or some other Score.
Also, remember there is 3 FICO scores, 1 from each of the bureaus. As an example, I had a client who had her Experian score which was a 675, so she thought she could buy a home.
But when we pulled her “tri-merged FICO” credit report, she had a 573/675/582.
Lenders go off the middle score, so her credit score is a 582
Reason for the differences, some Collections companies only report to 1 bureau, so in this case, her collections were all being reported to TransUnion and EquiFax and none to Experian.
We were still able to get he a loan, but she needs to pay off those collections 1st.
Also, don’t forget, we can now do FHA & VA loans down to 530 FICO scores!!!
Lead Generator
You Voice Message, here you have an opportunity to make a good impression on someone who is calling you.
Lately, some of the voice messages I have heard have been embarrassing:
1-Sounds like you are recording inside a jet engine.
2-Someone said they were out of town July 3rd through July 10th, and the day I left them a VM was last week.
3-You are away from your desk, yes it is a mobile phone, of course you are away from your desk.
4-It skips out or cuts out, “hello you have ……voi…mes.. of XXX, please leave your…..ame at the ….”
5-You don’t tell them what you do.
6-Your ring tone is music…I called a realtor and their ring tone was AC/DC Highway to Hell. Now I am a AC/DC fan, but professionally…really…Highway to Hell??
7-It is way too long…
8-Realtor had their kids record…cute..not professional
Here are some web site link which I found that might be helpful:
http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/03/08/make-a-positive-impression-with-your-personal-voicemail-greeting/
http://operationstech.about.com/od/informationtechnology/a/PhoneVMGreet.htm