Housing Starts slipped in May, falling 2.1% to land at 1.474 million (annualized) units started, with Western markets providing the greatest drag during the month. Unsurprisingly, single-family starts slumped by 3.4%, but initiation of construction for 5-plus-unit multi-family dwellings helped pr
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06/26/2007
Home mortgage rates finally stopped rising this week after spending weeks on an upward path, as the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) eased back by five basis points (.05%) to 6.81%, a week after hitting its highest average rate in nearly a year. Hybrid ARMs with five-year fixed periods s
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06/25/2007
Mixed use properties are properties that have a business-related use in addition to their residential use. Some examples might be a day care facility, beauty or barber shop, store, and so on. These properties are acceptable for financing under the following conditions: The property must have only
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06/23/2007
How are you Marketing for new clients? Knowing trends and average response rates is important when deciding where to invest your marketing dollars. This morning, I read the recently published 2006 Direct Marketing Association report that indicates response rates to current marketing mediums. Here
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06/22/2007
The rise in mortgage interest rates appears to have stopped for at least the time being. From Tuesday to Friday, key Treasury yields declined by nine basis points, so the worst is over for now. It's not uncommon to see a period of reassessment after such a runup has occurred, and perhaps that's w
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06/21/2007
This seems to be the question of the day. Top professionals interviewed state that on average, 54% of their business comes from their professional referral sources.Are YOU Positioned To Win?Marketing to past clients, and staying in front of your referral sources seem to be the keys to the kingdom
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06/21/2007
The hard selloff in Treasuries which started last Thursday spilled over into this week, with the 10-year Treasury planting a final daily value of 5.26% on Tuesday. However, this seemed to be the height of the rout, and by Friday, that benchmark yield had settled back to 5.17%. For the moment, an
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06/20/2007
A Reason To Stay In Front Of Your Past Clients Staying in front of past clients is vital to a loan officer's and Realtors success. I'm always on the prowl for ideas and new ways to help you accomplish that objective. A common pitfall to avoid when marketing to your client base each month is send
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06/20/2007
Mortgage rates leapt higher again in the biggest one-week move up or down in two years, according to the nation's leading surveyor of mortgage prices. The 21-basis-point jump in the thirty year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) put the average rate at 6.86%, the highest average since July 2006. Five-one
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06/19/2007
How much stronger the second quarter will ultimately be won't be revealed until the end of July, and even that will be only a preliminary estimate. Some early forecasts point to present levels of growth near "potential" for the economy, somewhere around 3% GDP. In light of how little slack in res
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06/18/2007