Delaware Mortgage Rates

Delaware Mortgage Rates

Doug MacGray’s Weekly Financial Update – Week of February 25, 2008

John Thomas February 25, 2008
FORECLOSURES OVERHYPED?:  The foreclosure figures used by much of the media come from RealtyTrac, a source that counts each filing in the foreclosure process. One house has to go through several steps in the process (each with its own “filing”), so counting each one as a separate foreclosure, as many in the media do, is inaccurate. HOME VALUES DECREASING?: In a one year period, home prices have decreased by about 4.5 percent.  However, since January 2000, the national average home price has risen by 80.45 percent, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices.  Declines from record highs should be put in perspective. However, according to Moody’s Economy.com, nearly 8.8 million homeowners, or 10.3% of the total, have mortgages that are higher than the value of their houses. A SLUMP IN HOUSING ACTIVITY: Housing starts were up overall in January of 2008, but all of the gains were in the multi-unit construction area. Single-family home construction actually dropped 5.2%. Even worse, building permits fell 3.0%, the lowest level since 1991, which doesn’t look good for the future of the housing sector. LEAVING YOUR ESTATE TO YOUR CHILDREN “IN EQUAL SHARES”: Four out of five people split what they have equally among their children, according to an article in this month’s Money Magazine. When I was drafting estate planning documents, I found the percentage even higher, but I always asked questions to make sure it was right for them. Here are some circumstances which could dictate that “equal shares” may not be right:

  • One of your children has an addiction, such as gambling, alcohol, drugs
  • One of your children got a full scholarship to college for whatever reason (grades, athletics, etc) but you paid for all four years of your other children’s tuition.
  • One of your children takes you into their home in your old age, while your other children live far away.
  • One of your children provides significant monetary assistance to you in your old age, while your other children are unable or unwilling to do so.
  • One of your children is smart, ambitious, and/or independent and sets out on their own at age 18, while another languishes at home living off of you well into their 20s (or even later).
    • Keep Reading...

    Doug MacGray’s Weekly Financial Update – Week of February 11, 2008

    John Thomas February 11, 2008
    SERVICE JOB LOSSES CAUSE MARKET LOSSES:   The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) non-manufacturing index dropped from 54.4 in December to 41.9 in January. Anything higher than 50 on that index shows expansion, and anything lower shows contraction. This is the lowest reading since October 2001. The markets were spooked by the ISM numbers and ended up giving back the gains of the past two weeks. WHAT WILL MOVE THE MARKETS THIS WEEK?:   Reports on retail sales and industrial production in January, along with earnings releases from some 45 companies in the S&P 500 will give investors clues on how corporate earnings are holding up during this period of economic weakness. STATES WITH THE MOST MILLIONAIRES: In three states at least 7% of the citizens are millionaires, New Jersey, Maryland, and Connecticut. There are five additional states with greater than 6% (Hawaii, Massachusetts, Virginia, Delaware, and Alaska). LOTS OF FINANCIAL SERVICES PROVIDERS: If all the financial information you receive makes your head spin, one of the reasons may be this:  There are approximately 30,000 firms in the U.S. that actively market financial services including 9,000 banks. I have a lot of competition. I bet a large percentage of those companies are located in the 8 states referenced above, as well as California, New York, and Florida. HOME PRICES:   According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the median price of a new home in December 2007 was $219,200, down from $244,700 in December 2006.

    MUTUAL FUNDS SHARE CLASSES: Keep Reading...

    Stimulus Package Passes Senate: What Now?

    John Thomas February 7, 2008

    With an 81 to 16 vote, the Senate passed an amended version of H.R. 5140, a $150 billion plan to jumpstart the economy with temporary tax breaks for consumers and businesses, extended benefits, and most importantly, two provisions designed to assist the housing market. According to CNN, the House is expected to consider and pass the amended bill as early as tonight, which could put the bill on the President’s desk as early as Friday.

    The bill temporarily increased the size of loans that may be purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, raising the current level of $417,000 to reportedly up to $730,000 in the highest cost regions of the housing markets. The bill also increases the size of loans the Federal Housing Administration could ensure. Once the bill is signed into law, the changes need to be implemented by the lenders themselves which will probably take at least 30 days. It is not clear what areas will be eligible for the increased loan limits. Once I find out what areas are eligible in Delaware, I will post it here and also post when those changes will be available for loans. So if you have a loan over $417,000 for conventional this is very exciting news! Keep Reading...

    Free First Time Home Buyer Seminar – February 23, 2008 at 10:00 AM

    John Thomas February 7, 2008

    There will be a Free First Time Home Buyer Seminar on Saturday, February 23, 2008, at 10:00 AM. The seminar will last about 2 hours and each participant will be able to receive a free copy of their tri-merge credit report. The seminar will cover all of the basics of buying a new home in Delaware. The seminar will cover Delaware FHA loans, Delaware VA loans, My Community loans, and First Time Home Buyer Loan Programs.  Each participant will receive a Free Audio CD on Credit Scoring, Credit Scoring Handbook, Homebuying Handbook, and an opportunity to meet with a mortgage planner to be pre-approved to buy a home at the seminar. Keep Reading...

    New Castle County, Delaware Sewer Bills are Due By the end of February

    John Thomas February 7, 2008

    New Castle County has sent out the sewer bills and the first thing you will notice is that they are considerably higher than they were last year. Why? Because New Castle County needs to pay for its inflated government jobs and its very liberal pension plan that we flip the bill for. Oh yeah, they also raised your property tax and will do so again next year. Way to go Chris Coons.

    New Castle County calculates your sewer charges based on water usage data provided by your water supplier. Four quarterly readings are compared – usually, those from the fourth quarter of 2006 and the first three-quarters of 2007. New Castle County uses the two-quarters of lowest consumption, adds them together and doubles this sum to create an annual billing consumption. Keep Reading...

    Prevent Costly Delaware Homeowner’s Insurance Claims

    John Thomas January 20, 2008

    Surprisingly, most homeowner’s insurance claims are not made because of fires, storms, or other news-worthy natural disasters. Instead, the culprit is almost always a small maintenance problem that is neglected or ignored until it grows into a large and costly repair.

    That is why preventative maintenance is one of the best investments that a Delaware Homeowner can make.  If you spend a little money now to look after a leaky toilet, which might take an hour or so, you could prevent serious and expensive damage to floors and walls, which might take days to clean up and repair. Keep Reading...

    Free Budgeting Seminar – February 6th at 6:30 PM

    John Thomas January 20, 2008

    There will be a Free Budgeting Seminar on February 6, 2008, from 6:30 PM till 8:00 PM at the Citizens Lending Group’s Office in Newark, Delaware.  The seminar will cover the basics of making a household budget, how to track daily, weekly, and yearly expenses, and how to use your budget as part of an overall financial plan. Each participant will receive a free Excel Budget Calculator.

    To register for the Seminar, please call 302-368-7132 Ext. 12 and ask for John Thomas.

    If you would like to apply for a Mortgage Loan, you can APPLY ONLINE HERE, you can call John Thomas at 302-703-0727. Keep Reading...

    Delaware Mortgage Loans – Market Update – January 16, 2008

    John Thomas January 16, 2008

    Delaware Mortgage Rate Update – January 16, 2008

    Bonds are trading worse today as traders take a profit. The reading on inflation was not good, so this gives the Feds a reason to only drop the Fed Funds rate 0.25% instead of the anticipated 0.50%. A cut of 0.5% is already priced into the mortgage market so if it is cut only 0.25% then the rates will get worse.

    The Consumer Price Index which is a very good measure of inflation has been trending higher for the last 3 months and came in higher today.  The Feds have another report coming out at 2:00 PM today which is a read on the current economic conditions in the market place. Keep Reading...