As usual there are a host of economic releases next week which will affect interest rates and the stock market, and may influence our clients’ confidence and desire to move forward with a home purchase. We all know that a constant drumbeat of bad news harms our business efforts by reducing consumers’ willingness to buy, spend, or take any sort of financial risk. Much of the news reported in the media is ill-informed, biased, sensationalized to get attention or just plain wrong. When you see the media reporting on your area of expertise do you notice how incorrect the information they present is?  You can help your clients by pointing this out. They know that the media is wrong about their area of expertise, but they don’t know it’s wrong about yours- real estate. You can gain their trust, loyalty and referrals if you set youself apart by showing them how informed you are about your field. 

It is a very good time to buy- mortgage interest rates are low and we still have some great programs, but lenders are tightening and buyers are going to have to come up with larger down-payments very shortly. Even if prices come down many borrowers will have to come up with more cash. If your sellers want to sell in the next year or two NOW is the time (at the right price). Waiting isn’t going to pay off for buyers OR sellers. Many people don’t realize that failing to accept risk and just sitting tight waiting for things to get better is a risk in itself, in terms of lost opportunity. 

On Tuesday we’ll see Pending Home Sales (an NAR release on contracts signed and a good benchmark to compare your business momentum with nationwide trends) and on Wednesday we’ll have the Mortgage Bankers Association Purchase Money Applications on Wednesday (which serves the same function for us). Let’s hope that if these are weaker than expected the media won’t pick up on them, and if they’re strong we’ll hear all about it. That will get our buyers going- people are more willing to move forward if they see that others are doing it. 

The most important releases are International Trade Data and Jobless Claims on Thursday and Import/Export Prices on Friday along with the Consumer Sentiment survey. Import/Export and Trade Data show inflation trends (which have a significant impact on mortgage rates- inflation fears cause rates to rise), and also indicate trends in our budget deficit and the value of the dollar. Consumer Sentiment is a leading indicator of consumers’ willingness to spend, and with the huge influence that consumer spending has on our economy the markets are always very interested in this release and can be volatile in its aftermath. 

Product update
Do you have first time home buyers looking for 100% financing? VHDA FHA Plus may be the product for them. It uses 2 FHA loans, a 97.75% first and a 5% second, for 100% financing plus closing costs. Seller contributions are allowed and your buyers only need to have 1% in the transaction OR in reserves. The rate today is 5.625% !! (APR 6.33) Ask your SunTrust team member for details 

Feel free to call us if you need pre-approvals, current rates, financing scenarios for your buyers. Mark and Ken are away, everyone else is available.