Loren's Blog

I'm SO excited.....1 week until all those awful election ads are OFF my TV. I'm not even sure I remember the "good old days" of just ads for items to buy!!! Can you imagine if we had to move homes & finance them the way folks are trying to get elected? But wait...some still do! I just had a clien...

Shall we take a quick look at the economic news that will drive mortgage rates this week? (I'd rather focus on that than the cold weather we're about to have!) The biggest bond rate event this week will be Wednesday's Fed meeting. Investors have priced in a half-point rate cut, and they are waiti...

As I'm sitting in front of my fireplace planning out another week....and hearing the weather report telling me to expect a 35-degree low for tomorrow morning, I'm starting to think about getting ready for winter. Not just the "last lawnmowing, cover the plants, get out the Christmas Lights" plann...

In the current economic situation, improving the relationship between loan officers and mortgage customers is critical to customer satisfaction, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study(SM) released this week. The study measures customer sati...

Good Sunny afternoon in Minnesota! While driving around the North St. Paul/Maplewood area, I was struck by how many 'clusters' of homes with For Sale signs were out there. Is that a new phenomenon in the past year or two? Is there so much 'pent-up demand' to sell that as soon as a neighbor puts a...

Real estate has been in the news just about every day as housing prices have "fallen". There are all kinds of opinions about what's going on and where this is all heading. But these opinions are just guesses and do not take every piece of the puzzle into consideration. History has shown us that t...

With the Federal governments re-emphasis on the FHA as a key vehicle for resuscitating the real estate market, now is a good time to review FHA in more detail. Let's start with some basics. First, the FHA insures loans that approved lenders make, it does not purchase them as Fannie and Freddie do...

If you want to get away at bargain rates, consider a repositioning cruise. Every fall, cruise lines need to move their ships across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to warmer waters for the winter cruise season. I've seeing some great rates on these sailings for departures from October through earl...

The following is part of an article which was featured in Newsday, and written by Patricia Kitchen. The subjest matter is worth repeating here....and of course, if you have any questions, or know someonw who might need guidance along these lines, PLEASE call or e-mail me! While the government's $...

The following data on tear-over-year home sales for Maplewood, MN. is courtesy of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. I hope it can help you as you gather data about home listing or selling!   Maplewood Ramsey County, MN                 2007             2008           Change            ...