Clint 's Blog

In case you spent the last 2 days in the Amazon basin, I'll tip you off to some news from the weekend. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had operational control taken from them by the government following Sunday's announcement. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) will be taking over the board of d...

Well, I was right. Sort of. The Jobs Report was bad news today....Jobs lost in August came in higher than expected. 84,000 actual compared to 75,000 expected. Unemployment soared more than anyone though it would, 5.7% up to 6.1%. This had our mortgage backed securities well up on the day and stil...

Seller down payment assistance with FHA loans is gone (Ameridream, Nehemiah, etc.) What that means, in essence, is also gone is the 100% financing option. As a Realtor, if you were reliant on 100% financing options, then you weren't selling real estate! It's not as tough to sell property if finan...

38bp gain on our benchmark Fannie Mae 6% mbs. to close the day at $101.72. Lower energy costs, lower than expected drop in gasoline and crude inventories, and a higher than expected Jobless claims number sent the stock market on a free fall with the Dow diving 344 points to close at 11,188, the N...

Well, I didn't get my entry in yesterday but I'm giving myself a free pass. It's been a hectic couple of days so I apologize. So here we go. + Use "mortgage people" on your team to move listings. Dropping the sales price $10k has less impact than offering $5k to go towards a seller buy down. The ...

Released On:                    Report:                                                           Impact on Mortgage Rates (Potentially): Wed., September 3-      Beige Book                                       Moderate                                    ADP National Employment Report        HIGH...

As you and your team begin to better groove your process, you learn to become an extension of one another. This makes several areas run smoother than they otherwise would. You learn the strengths that each member brings to the table and when it's best to bring in that member to help you finish ou...

Each day for the next 6 days, I will have a similar post. I will work market updates in as well but this will be in addition to those so hopefully this will be an informative week. Teams and teamwork are so crucial and vital to our industry and as much as you may hear about it or read about, I st...

The market closed early yesterday and isn't open on Monday, in observation of Labor Day, so I haven't given a usual market update to close out the week like I normally do. Instead we'll look more at a couple of general tips and best practices for anyone that is, or potentially could be, affected ...

Modest gains in the Mortgage Backed world, picked up 12 bp today with the Fannie Mae 6% 30 yr note closing at about $100.81. Oil bounced back a little on fears that Gustav could turn into a heavy hitter in the Gulf and threaten oil platforms by the weekend. New home sales were 2.4% in July but we...