Final Days of Tax Credit

Mortgages in Greenville, NC - If you are interested in the $8000 tax credit for first time home buyers, time is almost up. To date, there have been no definitive answers as to whether the housing stimulus will continue or not.

Borrower's who are not under contract and haven't submitted their mortgage application by October 30th may miss out on the stimulus. I generally takes about 30 days to process an application and close. The home purchase must be finalized ("CLOSED") by November 30th in order to qualify for the 2009 First Time Home Buyer Stimulus.

100% Financing - NO PMI

Mortgages in Greenville, NC - I currently have a mortgage program that offers 100% financing with no PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). PMI is an insurance policy that the borrower must pay in order to protect the lender in case the loan were to go into foreclosure, and it can be expensive. In today's market, it's rare to find a program like this. You do have to stay below certain income limits, but for the right person, it's a heck of a deal!! The rates are currently in the high 4's to low 5's.

I also have rate incentives currently on USDA, FHA, VA and Conventional loans for borrower that are below income limits for the county.

For more details, please contact me. (252-551-7828 or clay.brown@rbc.com)

Market Update

Mortgages in Greenville, NC - In the past 6 months, we've seen rates at historic lowes. Many homeowners and homebuyers have been able to take advantage of rates below 5%. Low mortgage rates combined with motivated sellers and tax credits for first-time buyers have created the "perfect storm" for home buyers.

Recently, rates went up to about 5.5% and have come back to just below 5%, so if you are in the market to purchase or refinance, now is the time to act!!! And if you are a First Time Buyer, the deadline to receive a tax credit for your purchase is December 1st.

Don't miss out on the "Perfect Storm" for Home Buyers!! Call me if you have questions. 252-551-7828.

Historically Low Rates

Mortgages in Greenville, NC - Last week the US Treasury discussed purchasing mortgage loans from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration in an effort to push mortgage rates to 4.5%. At first, I thought it was just a rumor, but after further investigation, it looks like this is real possiblity.

As a reaction to the hype and open media discussion on the rates hitting 4.5%, rates actually dropped below 5% in the ladder part of last week, almost reaching 4.5%.

I'm not a economist by any stretch of the imagination, but I really believe that we'll see rates hit 4.5% on 30 year fixed and possibly lower. Low mortgage rates won't fix the US economy, but it's a much more tangible benefit to the average US family than a drop in the Fed Funds Rate. For this reason, I believe that the US treasury will follow through with the plans to purchase mortgage debt and effective drive interest rates to their lowest rates is US History!

The BIG "D" - Deflation!!

Mortgages in Greenville, NC - Yesterday, the Federal Reserve indicated that our economy is showing signs of deflation. This means that the average price of goods may be going down instead of up. The market has reacted by moving money from the stock market into the bond market. Generally, this would be a good thing for mortgage rates, causing them to drop. However, if you follow mortgage rates, you've seen that we haven't seen a significant change in rates. The reason is that investors still don't have a high level of confidence in mortgage bonds. The charts below show the 10 year T-Bill rates as well as the FNMA bond prices over the past 3 months. The first chart shows how T-Bill rates have significantly dropped over the past week. The 2nd chart shows the price of the FNMA 6% 30 year bonds. (Bond prices move inversely to the rates) As you can see, the FNMA Bond has stayed fairly flat. Hopefully, as investors gain confidence in mortgage bonds, more people will buy them causing rates to drop.

No change to Conforming Loan Limits

GREENVILLE, NC - On Friday, November 7th, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that the Conforming limits will remain unchanged for 2009. Click on the link below for more detailed information:

2009 Conforming Loan Limits

Call me if you have any questions about how this will effect you or your clients!

Mortgages in Greenville, NC

Mortgage Market Guide

GREENVILLE, NC - This week, I'd like to let everyone know about the newest tool that I have as a mortgage loan officer that helps me provide superior service to my clients. It's called Mortgage Market Guide. Everyday, I receive a market update informing me of what's going on in the market and what it's effect will be on the mortgage rates. I get weekly marketing tips and ideas on how to improve my business and the business of those I work with.


Probably the best service that they provide is up to the minute mortgage bond quotes and charts. This allows me to see what is going on with mortgage bonds how those changes are immediately effecting the interest rates. This allows me to give the best and most educated advice to my customers on whether now is a good time to lock their rate or not. It's not a crystal ball, but it's about as close as one can hope to get! Below is a sample chart showing how mortgage bonds have been trading over the past quarter. Obviously, there's been a lot of fluctuation recently.


Feel free to call or email me if you have questions about how these bonds effect the mortgage rates and how this could effect you as a borrower.



(Mortgages in Greenville, NC)