Government shutdown may affect your financing
If you haven't heard, a partial government shutdown happened earlier today (midnight) and it may affect your financing if you are in the process of buying a home. Here is…
What comes next for our local housing market?
When viewed from a long term perspective, every real estate has peaks and valleys – some larger than others. Our local housing market experienced a tremendous peak in…
30 Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rates Steady Around 4.5%
At least for now, 30 year fixed mortgage interest rates seem content to hover around 4.5%. After having stayed below 4% for a year and a half (Nov 23, 2011 - June 20…
30-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rates Stabilizing Around 4.4%?
At least for now, mortgage interest rates seem to be stabilizing around 4.4%. These rates are an entire point higher than the all-time lows seen in late 2012 and in May…
Plan for Retirement by Purchasing an Rental Property
Purchasing a rental property can be an excellent way to plan for retirement, providing you with tax benefits in the short term and an income stream in the long term. Your…
Mortgage Interest Rates Continue to Fluctuate
Rates are down (4.31%) as compared to a few weeks ago (4.51%), even though they have climbed quite a bit from two months ago (3.59%). Bear in mind, that these sub-4.5%…
Putting rising interest rates in context
Several of you asked me to put yesterday's news (average rates increased by 0.5% in a week) in perspective. As you can see above, we are still working with ridiculously…
Mortgage interest rates just barely under 4%
Interest rates have increased from 3.35% to 3.98% over the past six weeks. A 30 year fixed mortgage interest rate below 4% is still fantastic (even below 5% is great) but…
Low Mortgage Interest Rates Create Unprecedented Opportunity for Home Buyers
Never before have home buyers been able to lock in such low mortgage interest rates, which sets up 2012/2013 home buyers to have ultra-low housing costs on into the…
Low Home Prices + Really Low Mortgage Interest Rates = Fantastic Monthly Payments
March 2008 Annualized Median Sales Price = $197,000 March 2013 Annualized Median Sales Price = $175,000 March 2008 Average 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate = 5.97%…
30 Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rates Drop....Again!
Today's rates are not the lowest ever (see Oct 2012 - Jan 2013, in yellow) but they are still amazing rates --- at an average of 3.41% per Freddie Mac's weekly survey…
Don’t Be a Bashful Buyer
My article below was published in the Shenandoah Valley Business Journal yesterday. Apparently, it was somewhat controversial, as I received some very passionate…