Rates
Well blame it on the economy, that is the US economy.
Rates again this week rose, we will see exactly how much after the blood bath on Wall Street settles today, but right now, just today, we are looking at rates increasing by .25%, and by my calculations, this week we will see a .375% increase in rates.
Now don’t get me wrong, we are still at AWESOME rates, but not as good as the 1st of February when rates were at historic lows.
Let’s look at the numbers:
-Personal Income increased by 0.3% last month.
-February ISM manufacturing hit 52.9 vs est. of 53.00 good for economy, bad for us.
-ADP private payroll 212K new jobs on est. of 220K jobs, still very positive number.
-ISM non-manufacturing 56.9 vs est. 56.5 (above 50 is awesome)
-Initial jobless claims 295K, back under the magic 300K
-US jobs, 295,000 vs est. 240,000
-Unemployment 5.5% vs est. 5.6%
-Average hourly earnings +0.1%
So drilling down the numbers, it was all about jobs this week, and WOW did the job not disappoint. This puts our 3 month average at over 285,000 new jobs per month, and hourly wages rose again this month. Then with the fact that unemployment jobless claims continue to be under 300,000 is showing to investors that the US economy is starting to REALLY come alive.
Double edge sword for us in the Real Estate World:
1-More people are employed and their wages are increasing, so that means that more people can afford homes and they are feeling better about this situation so they are going to be looking for homes.
2-With all of these good numbers coming out, it means that the Federal Reserve will increase their Fed Funds rate, sooner rather than later, which means more people are going to invest in Stocks and Commodities rather than Bonds.
Less people invest in bonds, bond yields go up, and thus mortgage rates go up.
Also, although right now there is no risk of inflation, as these economic numbers improve; inflation becomes more and more of a risk.
What could cause rates to fall? GREAT question, and answer is not much right now, Russia invading Ukraine or the Baltic States would do it, or in 3 months Greece comes into question again, could cause rates to tick back down.
Moral of this story, lock them as soon as you can. And if you have clients who were sitting on the fence post OR were banking on a specific rate, those days are gone for now.
Also if you had clients who were qualified on lower rates, you will probably need to get them re-qualified.
Transaction Coordinator Fees
(I am not your broker and I am not a licensed Realtor)
It seems we are seeing more and more Transaction Coordinator fees on HUD-1 now, more than ever.
And it is causing some chaos, because some lenders are not allowing them, so I did some research over the last few weeks and here is what we found.
1-A Borrower is NOT allowed to pay for a Transaction fee on a FHA, VA or RD loan, i.e. all government loans. The government fees that these TC fees are not Reasonable and Customary fees.
IF you have charged a borrower this fee in the past on a Government Loan transaction, you probably want to get with your Broker and refund that fee back to the borrower, because if it gets audited, and this fee is found illegal, you will be paying quite a bit more to the borrower than just that fee.
2-A Borrower IS allowed to pay for a Transaction Fee on a Conventional loan, ONLY if it is originally disclosed on the Good Faith Estimate’s initial disclosure. BUT if it is found after, due to an error, and not an accidental error, then the Fee cannot be charged.
What is an accidental error, well if for some reason the Realtor does not charge for a TC fee, and then all of a sudden does, and then you might get away with it.
But if a Realtor typically does charge for a TC fee, and forgets to tell everyone, then there is no going back.
Also the IRS really wants to know about TC fees as well, and who is issuing the 1099 to the TC.
If the TC fee is on the HUD, and being paid out from the HUD, then someone needs to ensure that the TC is being 1099 for that income.
It seems that some TC are not being properly 1099 for TC fees, and that is a big IRS NO-NO.
Moral of this story, research.
Lead Generator
April 15th is just around the corner, have you contact all of your sales from last year, and asked them if they filed for the Homeowner’s exemption?
It is also a GREAT time to contact any of your clients who are over the age of 62 if they have filed or are qualified for the Idaho Circuit Breaker Exemption.
And while you are on the phone with them, asking them if they know anyone you can help.
Link to my web site with all the info: http://www.375loan.com/resources/new_home_owner_checklist/
Facebook Posts
Facebook is the “IT” for this year, and you need to be posting!
Now I see lots of people posting Listings, and although this is good, you need to add value to your readers. Posting listing is adding value to your sellers.
Some recommendations:
1-Post something you are knowledgeable about, and become an expert in posting that. If are a Veteran, post info about VA loan, VA housing, VA discounts. If you are a listing person, give tips on staging your home, and don’t give ALL your tips in 1 post, if you have 10 suggestions, post 3 on Monday and then tell them more will be coming on Wednesday!
2-Don’t post too many times per day, not only is it annoying, but Facebook is getting SMART and will start kicking out posts, so if you post 5x per day and 1 of them is your main message, FB may not send it out! Even though YOU see it on your timeline!
I recommend posting max 1x per day, I post 3x per week, 1 Friday, this Blog, 1x Monday, my new cool rate icon, and 1x on Wednesday, some sort of info.
Above is my rate post that I do each Monday, watch for it!
3-Fan Page, don’t have on, get one, don’t have enough Likes, get them.
How do you get likes:
1-Have a contest, send it out to all of your Personal Page Friends, for everyone that likes your FB page, they will be in a drawing for a $50 gift certificate.
2-Advertise in your signature line.
3-You can pay for likes
4-Have other people suggest that their friends and family “like” your page, and then when that person likes your page, have them post the original Friend or Family’s name, and have a contest for a $50 Gift card.