MAIN STREET OR WALL STREET?

President Bush delivered his first television address in more than a year Wednesday to defend the administration’s plan to borrow up to $700 billion in order to buy troubled assets from banks and financial institutions.

On Wednesday, lawmakers asked Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to justify the administration’s claims that drastic action is urgently needed to unfreeze credit markets.

Paulson and Bernanke were also pressed to modify their plan to provide more help for troubled homeowners and protections for taxpayers when they testified before the House Financial Services Committee.

“We’ve all heard ‘Why Paulson is wrong,’ ” said …

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comment (1) | Permalink | Retirement, Mortgage, Real Estate, Government, CityBlog, General, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

[Analysis Paralysis] Calling The Bottom Of Calling The Bottom Of The Real Estate Market

One of the real estate conversations that everyone seems to have involves calling a bottom. Why are we so obsessed with calling a bottom?

If you’re right, you can claim it and tout it on your resume for the rest of your career.

I’ve certainly been asked the “bottom” question like a gazillion times. We should learn from the prior conversation, which was “calling the top.” In the prior scenario economists and pundits got lots of air time doing this. Call the top for several years and eventually you’ll be right. Consistency is a virtue.

Bob Toll said:

“People are looking for a reason …

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comment (1) | Permalink | Mortgage, Real Estate, General, CityBlog, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

IS THE HOUSING CRISIS REALLY A “CRISIS”? In his commentary, Dennis Kneale crunches the numbers.

Everyone needs to watch this video. Follow the link below. It actually id great information to keep the housing crisis in perspective.

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comments (0) | Permalink | Mortgage, Real Estate, General, CityBlog, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

What The Surprising Strength Of The U.S. Dollar Is Doing To Mortgage Rates

Before getting marked-up, mortgage rates are based on the price of mortgage bonds, a complex debt security that can be dramatically simplified in three bullet points:

An investor buys for the bond for, say, $10,000
He collects regular interest payments on his $10,000
When the bond “matures”, he gets his $10,000 back
It’s not specifically stated in the bullet points above, but all the money that changes hands in a bond’s lifecycle is paid (and repaid) in U.S. dollars. This is an important observation because it’s one reason why the value of mortgage bonds will, at times, trend closely with the …

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comments (0) | Permalink | Mortgage, Real Estate, General, CityBlog, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Home prices on less slippery slope?

By Inman News
Inman News

OFHEO indexes show slowdown in price declines

The rate of decline in U.S. home prices slowed during the second quarter, but the 4.8 percent year-over-year drop in a house-price index that relies on data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was the largest in the index’s 17-year history.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s national purchase-only house-price index showed prices falling a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent during the second quarter, compared with 1.7 percent in the first quarter.

Looking back a year, the purchase-only house-price index fell 4.8 percent. An OFHEO index that includes not only …

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comments (0) | Permalink | Mortgage, Real Estate, General, Education, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Mortgage applications up slightly

By Inman News
Inman News

Mortgage applications nudged up slightly last week as a small increase in refinance applications was all but cancelled out by a reduction in applications for purchase loans, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The MBA’s Market Composite Index showed mortgage application volume up 0.5 percent from the week before on a seasonally adjusted basis, and down 31.2 percent from a year ago on an unadjusted basis. Applications for refinance loans increased 0.3 percent from the previous week, while purchase applications fell 0.6 percent. The Government Purchase Index, which is largely FHA-backed loans, increased 3.3 percent.

The refinance …

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comments (0) | Permalink | Real Estate, Mortgage, General, Education, CityBlog, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Important Real Estate News for 1st time home buyers

There is important news for people considering purchasing a new home and the message is coming with a sense of urgency.
.
Once again Broker/Owner Michael Tezak of Realty Executives and Jeff Svantner of Sistar Mortgage in their ongoing effort to provide the most current information to there agents, clients and the general public; are sharing industry news that is critical to potential home buyers. As Jeff Svantner, Vice President of Development for Sistar mortgage, says; “In this ongoing real estate and mortgage “crisis” as many lawmakers & economists are calling it, the general consumers need to know the truth about …

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comment (1) | Permalink | Mortgage, Real Estate, Education, CityBlog, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Blog Probes Real Estate Models

www.REALonomics.net is a blog that is asking serious questions about where the real estate industry is going. More specifically, REALonomics poses challenges to the broker/owners to adopt models that will allow their organizations to become more transparent.REALonomics.net advocates that the industry open up the property information portals to consumers and upgrade its approach to how it is interacting with the consumer by implementing more social networking such as www.CityBlogUSA.com, a community blogging network for every city in the USA.Visit www.REALonomics.net.

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comments (0) | Permalink | Real Estate | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Down Payment Assistance for Everyone

Jeff Lawley, Jarrett Real Estate, has recently become a certified Nehemiah Program Specialist. This down payment assistance company has gifted over a Billion dollars for homebuyers and continues to be the most trusted name in the business. Jeff Lawley can assist homebuyers with between 1% and 6% of the contract sales price through this program. FHA loans are the mortgage product most often utilized, and are very advantageous with the recent changes. Whether you are in the market for new construction or a previously lived in home this is a great program. Contact Jeff at …

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comment (1) | Permalink | Real Estate | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Hospitals and Physicians

When someone relocates they often seek information about physicians, specialists, hospitals and other types of health care, such as extended care. Is there a resource in Valparaiso for health care information?

Explore more of Valparaiso, Indiana

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lifestyle, Healthcare | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...