Loren's Blog

The big news this week will actually be packed into Tuesday, culminating with reports from the Fed meeting. Expectations are for a 50 or 75 basis point rate cut, and the accompanying statement will provide the Fed's latest views on the state of the economy and the financial system. The Consumer P...

Just bcurious for some feedback from the 'rainers..... For those agents who are working with "Home Buyers Scouting Report", how do you find the service? Do you get positive feedback from your clients? Does it help you "keep them in the fold"? Does it help you increase business? I'm thinking of pu...

During the first half of this week, Pending Home Sales on Tuesday will be the only economic data reporting. Import Prices and the Trade Balance will come out on Thursday. Friday will be the big day with PPI inflation data, Retail Sales, and Consumer Sentiment. The Producer Price Index (PPI) focus...

A 'throwaway' item in the local newspaper caught my eye this morning. Merriam-Webster, the company that publishes dictionaries, selected "bailout" as its 2008 Word of the Year. That probably was a good choice. According to the company, the word was selected because of the number of times it was l...

There have been a lot of comments on AR the past few weeks regarding looking at your 2009 Business Plan (I've written a few myself!). As we've all witnessed and experienced, particularly over the past several months, the economy is in constant flux-day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month-and the...

A lot of economic data will come out during this short week ahead. Existing Home Sales will be released today. The first revision to third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will come out on Tuesday. GDP is the broadest measure of economic growth. Wednesday will be a huge day with Durable Order...

Lawmakers under political pressure to "do something" to stimulate the economy and stop the slide in housing prices must act carefully and reject proposals that will do more harm than good. Among the bad ideas circulating are proposals for a new $22,000 home buyer tax credit, legislation overturni...

If you have clients planning on waiting out this housing downturn, intending to buy a home when the coast is clear, the first step for them is to start checking their credit reports now. There may be some surprises waiting. Credit card companies are reducing credit limits on some borrowers. And f...

A lot of inflation data will highlight the Economic Calendar next week. The important Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation report will come out on Wednesday. CPI looks at the price change for those finished goods which are sold to consumers. The Producer Price Index (PPI) will be released on Tues...

HUD today released their proposed changes to the HUD-1 settlement statement. If you haven't seen it, I've got a copy of the website page below to take a look at it.  http://www.namb.org/images/namb/GovernmentAffairs/RESPA/hud-1.pdf  The good news: easier for clients to read. The bad news......it ...