The economy has been uneasy these past few months and all the speculation has been a double dip recession with Europe’s debt problems, national unemployment, and a struggling stock market. Here is Jim Cramer’s opinion on The Today Show, he’s feeling a bit more optimistic. Hopefully he is right!

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/38201234#38201234

• 0 Comments

ksl.com – Harmons breaks ground on City Creek grocery store.

This is great news, check out the pictures. Downtown Salt lake city, UTAH is not going to look the same. I am really excited about what this means for us as a state..

• 0 Comments

Ultra-high-end homes are on the market for tens of millions in Door County, Wis., and other unexpected spots. What are they doing there?

Homes that cost $10 million or more are expected to boast certain luxuries, and the gated compound called the Brentwood has all the amenities a trophy home should: a three-tiered screening room, billiards hall equipped with wet bar, master bathroom with a fireside Jacuzzi and 10-spigot shower, guest homes, lushly wooded surroundings, tennis court and boat dock.

via Mansions in the Middle of Nowhere – Yahoo! Real Estate.

Check out these homes, I just love to look at these things. Can you believe people actually think they can afford this crap..

• 0 Comments

NEW YORK – Mortgage rates fell for the second straight week to the lowest point in five decades. But many people either dont qualify for new mortgages or have already taken advantage of the low rates this year.As a result, the housing market and the broader economy may not benefit much from the lower rates.The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 4.57 percent this week, mortgage company Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Thats down from the previous record low of 4.58 percent set last week.Its the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. The last time rates were lower was in the 1950s, when most long-term home loans lasted just 20 or 25 years.Rates have fallen over the past two months. Investors, concerned with the European debt crisis, have poured money into the safety of Treasury bonds. Treasury yields have fallen and so have mortgage rates, which tend to track yields on long-term Treasurys.However, low rates have yet to fuel home sales. The housing market has slowed since federal tax credits for homebuyers expired at the end of April. And the latest decline in mortgage rates is unlikely to boost the market.

via Mortgage rates drop to new low of 4.57 pct. – Yahoo! News.

Crazy, I can’t believe interest rates are this low! I am eating my own words, yes I was wrong. I thought for sure they couldn’t last this long. Now I am still under the impression, that it is not good as a whole for our economy to keep them to low, however for the average consumer this is great. Now obviously this doesn’t mean go out and by any old house. But, it does mean if you find a deal take advantage of it. Interest rates are at a all time low. What will Interest Rates do from here on into the future? Well apparently your guess is as good as mine. But. rest assured I will have my money on them going up soon.

• 0 Comments

It’s official — on July 2, a law was passed extending the closing date deadline for the Homebuyer Tax Credit Program. As a result, any buyer that signed a Purchase & Sale Agreement by April 30 has until September 30 to close. The real estate market continues to rally — and interest rates on mortgages are extraordinarily low. As always, my goal is to provide updates and information that will add value to your business. It’s always a pleasure to help. Sincerely, Aaron Butler aaron.butler@academy.cc
Weak Economic Growth Helps Mortgage Rates Highlights Average 30 yr fixed rate Stocks (Weekly) The Unemployment Rate fell to the lowest level since July 2009 The Core PCE inflation index rose at a tame 1.3% annual rate Consumer Confidence dropped to 53 from 63 last month The Fed’s Duke suggested that Fed MBS sales are a long way off This week: -0.05% Dow: 9,700 -400 Last week: -0.05% NASDAQ: 2,100 -100 After dropping to the lowest level in decades last week, mortgage rates fallen even further. Weak economic data from the US, Europe, and China caused investors to question the pace of the global economic recovery. Slower economic growth was positive for mortgage rates and negative for the stock market. Friday’s important Employment report reflected a slowly improving labor market. The economy lost -125K jobs in June, which was very close to expectations. The figures include a loss of -225K census workers who completed their temporary assignments. The private sector added 83K jobs. The Unemployment Rate fell to 9.5% from 9.7% in May, but this was due to 650K people leaving the labor force. The labor force consists of everyone in the US who either has a job or is looking for one, and the Unemployment Rate measures the percentage of the labor force without jobs. There was mixed news in the housing sector last week. May Pending Home Sales declined 30% from April, as many buyers rushed to sign contracts ahead of the April 30 deadline to qualify for the home buyer tax credit. On a more positive note, the “close-by” deadline for the home buyer tax credit has been extended to September 30. Although the tax credit is not available for new contracts signed after April 30, extremely low mortgage rates and high home affordability levels make conditions very favorable for home purchases.

• 0 Comments

ince the Fed’s Mortgage Backed Securities purchase program ended, the markets have seen much more volatile price swings. For potential buyers who are waiting to see if home prices come down a little more, that means the wait could well cost them more money in the long run.

Let’s look at an example to see why.

Say a homebuyer wants to buy a home that costs $300,000. But the buyer wants a better deal on the home, so she delays a transaction until the home is reduced by $10,000. If, in the meantime however, rates were to rise .75% to 6.00% and the buyer financed 90% of the purchase price, the amount of total payments over a 30-year term would be over $35,000 more than paying the $300,000 purchase price and locking in the 5.25% interest rate. In other words, the buyer would save $10,000 only to end up paying $35,000 more.

Now these prices and rates are just for the sake of example. ***But the point is that home prices are already very affordable…and rates are still at historic lows for now. So in the end, waiting for a home price to reduce may end up costing you much more than you expect if rates rise.

Happy 4^th of July!

• 0 Comments

13. Houses: You’re typically able to get better and more features for your dollar when you purchase an older home rather than building new. Older houses were often constructed on bigger corner lots, and you also get architectural variety in your neighborhood if the houses were built or remodeled in different eras.

via 21 Things You Should Never Buy New – Yahoo! Finance.

I am always looking for interesting things in the news. This was a great article I think a lot of people need to read. Because I work with consumers directly I am constantly being bombarded with financial questions. And it really comes down to simple management. If you want me to dumb down our current economic situation it is actually quite simple. Money mangement! How hard is it to not buy something you can’t afford? Is that hard to understand? When you buy a home, you buy a home that you are qualified to purchase. Based on your income, your income to debt ratio. Now what is your income to debt ratio. For example, if you make $2000 a month, and you have a car payment and a credit card payment that equal $1000 a month. That would put you at 50%. That is what lenders are looking for.

Our Govt. hasn’t quite learned this principle yet either. So I guess I can’t be to surprised that the majority of the country doesn’t either..

• 1 Comment

For those of you who want to be in an amazing area at an affordable price, this house is for you. Total it is about 2,800 sq feet which is big for the neighborhood and it also has a mother in law with a separate entrance and complete kitchen. There are 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms in this house that is situated on .20 acres fully fenced. Many new ugrades including paint, carpet, roof, etc. Home is close to freeways, shopping, and parks. Don’t miss out.

We need to sell this asap as the owners are relocating to another state! Address is 7292 S. 1540 E. in Cottonwood Heights.

• 0 Comments

Josh Mettle Blog – Josh Mettle.

This is a great article written by a good friend of mine Josh Mettle. He is one of the top producing Loan offiers in Salt Lake.. Great info..

Existing Home Sales dropped in May for the first time in 3 months but still managed to post its second-highest since November 2009, buoyed by the expiring federal tax credit program.

An “existing home” is a home that cannot be considered new construction; a resale of an existing home.  Existing Home Sales fell 2.2 percent in May.

The press is calling the drop in sales “unexpected” anddisappointing, but a deeper look at the data shows the news isn’t as bad as it first appears.

First, on a regional basis, sales were mostly solid. Only the Northeast region posted a loss. The West even managed a gain.

• Northeast : -18.3 percent
• Midwest : 0.0 percent
• South : +0.5 percent
• West : +4.9 percent

Second, the supply of homes for sale dropped to 8.3 in May and, because home prices are based on supply and demand, this is a positive for pricing.

By comparison, in 2008, the average existing home inventory was 10.4 months.

And, lastly, in May, first-time home buyers represented 46 percent of all buyers. The number was likely buoyed by the tax credit program but that doesn’t damper the fact that first-time buyers provide a support floor for the housing market.

First-time buyers in Salt Lake enable “existing owners” to move-up to bigger homes, which, in turn, trickles up to the mid-size and jumbo markets.

Analysts expected more from May’s numbers and that may explain why the reaction to the data is generally negative.  However, in many cities, home resales did just fine.

Tags: Existing Home Sales, Home Supply

• 0 Comments

ksl.com – Stocks slide after new home sales drop 33 percent.

Home prices slide due to the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit. Apprently it did inflate the number of homes selling over the last 6 months.

Interesting time, who would have thought? The big questions is, do you think they will bring the tax credit back now that they realize things are pulling back again?Some say they will, others say they should stop writing checks they can’t cash..

• 1 Comment