Expert Advice from Amy & Kyle Bergquist at Keller Williams Legacy Partners
I read this article in the New York Times this morning and I’ve been thinking about it for a good part of the day. Short synopsis: not only were lower income home buyers sucked into adjustable rate mortgages and equity stripping, but so were higher income individuals. *gasp* A few examples were given where “real estate consultants” and a lawyer were able to re-negotiate their mortgage terms with their lenders. Either their loans were refinanced
Have you heard of the term “jingle mail?” It’s hipster lingo for someone mailing their house keys back to the bank and walking away from their home. A less amusing term is “ruthless default.” Calculated Risk has an interesting blog today that consolidates a few articles that cover a rising trend of people abandoning their mortgages and, subsequently, their homes. I saw an article last week that claimed that 10 to 15 million households may
I see articles about interest rates going down every time I scan the business news. Either the Federal Reserve just cut rates or Wall Street is demanding further cuts. Yet after briefly going down, mortgage rates are again on the rise. What gives? The key to this mystery is that mortgage rates are based on long-term interest rates (like the 10-year Treasury rate) rather than the short term rates that Federal Reserve influences. Short-term and
Here’s a lengthy, but interesting, NYT article about Countrywide and how they profited during the past few years; resulting in many of the mortgage industry challenges we’re currently seeing. Inside the Countrywide Lending Spree
Mortgage rates continue to be in the news and are weighing on the minds of some homebuyers. Earlier in the month we looked at the dollar impact of higher rates (http://www.amybergquist.com/blog/2007/06/14/rising-mortgage-interest-rates/). The final result was that the changes we’ve seen over the course of this year (6.25% to 6.75% on a 30 year fixed) have resulted in monthly payments increasing by about $33 for every $100,000 borrowed. Since that post, rates have stabilized and even