The best news for Austin real estate is that mortgage rates lowered again this week. In fact they hit 60 year lows, a great rate for anyone considering buying Austin real estate. The bad news is that many potential buyers are still unable to secure a loan, the good news is that if you are … Continue reading Austin Real Estate, Mortgage Rates Lower Again
Foreclosure filings in the State of Texas— default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 34,187 properties during the third quarter of 2010, a 4 percent increase from the previous quarter and up 15 percent from the third quarter of 2009, according to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. (click link … Continue reading Texas real estate foreclosure activity on the rise in Q3
There was a great article recently on The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch’s website about an 18-year-old named Lindsay Binegar who pulled the trigger on a purchase many people older than her can’t manage. She bought a house. And paid cash. The lessons from her story are priceless. I can’t do the article justice, so I recommend … Continue reading Financial Lessons from a Teenager
Nationwide, April sales of existing homes were up 22.8 percent compared to April 2009, and were up 7.6 percent from March of this year. The driving force behind the jump, of course, was the now-expired tax credits. But another reason to buy is still here: historically low interest rates. Bankrate.com reported on May 24 that … Continue reading Tax Credit, Rates Spur Home Sales in Austin and USA
You might have noticed last week that the Federal Reserve raised the discount rate on loans to banks. To the uninitiated, this might seem like a move that will push mortgage interest rates higher. However, it is not. Yes, mortgage rates crept up a bit after the announcement, but that was largely a knee-jerk reaction … Continue reading Are Austin mortgage rates headed higher…or not?
U.S. News & World Report recently published an article that indicated a pretty dramatic change in the way homeowners are now tackling their debt. According to the article, a study released by Transunion showed that Americans are increasingly more likely to make payments on their credit cards before payments on their mortgages. The data … Continue reading A Shift in Payment Priorities
Effective February 1, 2010 the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will relax FHA rules that prohibit insuring mortgages on homes that are owned by the seller for less than 90 days — a move that could help expedite the rehabilitation and resale of foreclosure properties.
