Altamonte Springs, FL Real Estate News

Many borrowers believe that when they purchase a property by obtaining mortgage financing, they also own their home. Technically speaking, full ownership on a property only happens once the mortgage loan amount has been paid in full. To break this down in more detail, there are a few components of a mortgage: A Promissory Note is a document signed by the borrower acknowledging their commitment to pay the mortgage back with interest in a specific period of time. In addition to the terms of repayment, the Note also contains provisions concerning the rights of both parties involved in the agreement. In some states, a Deed of....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Who Owns My Home If I Have A Mortgage? 03/21/2011

Homebuilders are optimistic about the housing market this spring, relative to recent months. According to the monthly Housing Market Index as published by the National Association of Homebuilders, after 4 straight months of reading 16, March homebuilder confidence ticked 1 point higher to 17. It's the highest confidence reading in 10 months. A value of...   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Homebuilders Expect More Sales Volume This Year   03/17/2011

Today, for the second straight meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. The vote was 10-0. In its press release, the FOMC noted that since its January 2011 meeting, the economic recovery "is on firmer footing", and that the labor markets are "improving gradually". In addition, household spending "continues to expand". Nonetheless, the Fed said, the economy...   Read THE COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: A Simple Explanation Of The Federal Reserve Statement (March 15, 2011 Edition)   03/16/2011

  The Federal Open Market Committee meets today in Washington D.C. The FOMC is a special group within the Federal Reserve, led by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, and consisting of 12 members. The FOMC's official schedule calls for 8 meetings annually at which it reviews the nation's economic and financial conditions, and chooses whether to change existing monetary policy. The group's last rendez-vous was a 2-day affair, January 25-26, 2011. Today's FOMC meeting represents a.......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Your Mortgage Rate Strategy For Today's FOMC Meeting 03/16/2011

  The calendar has turned March in Lake Mary and warmer weather is around the corner. Get ready for Spring Cleaning Season. For households in which Spring Cleaning is an annual ritual, this helpful checklist from MarthaStewart.com makes sure no job gets left behind. From the smallest of chores to   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Get Your Spring Cleaning Checklist 03/14/2011

When mortgage lenders go out of business and are essentially taken over by the FDIC, homeowners are left wondering if they still need to make a monthly payment. Great thought, and a very common question for many borrowers in the 2006-2010 timeframe. The short answer is YES, you still have to continue making mortgage payments if your current lender files for bankruptcy or disappears over the weekend. In order to give a more thorough answer to this popular topic, we'll need to address the relationship between mortgage loans as liens and mortgage servicers who make money by handling payments. To put this topic in perspective, 381 banks actually filed bankruptcy between 2006 and 2010 forcing them to.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Do I Have To Continue Making My Mortgage Payment If... 03/14/2011

  FHA Streamline Refinance guidelines are changing. For the better. In an effort to improve its loan portfolio, the FHA is loosening approval standards on its popular refinance program, rendering large groups of homeowners suddenly FHA Streamline-eligible. Now, that may seem counter-intuitive -- lowering qualification standards in order to reduce loan defaults -- but in the FHA's case, it makes complete sense. It's because the FHA doesn't make loans. It insures them. What's good for.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: FHA Streamline Refi Changes : No Income, No Job Required 03/14/2011

Beginning April 1, 2011, Fannie Mae is increasing its loan-level pricing adjustments. Conforming mortgage applicants in Florida should plan for higher loan costs in the months ahead. If you've never heard of loan-level pricing adjustments, you're not alone; they're an obscure mortgage pricing metric and, thus, are rarely covered by the media. That doesn't make them any less relevant, however. LLPAs are mandatory closing costs assessed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, designed to offset a given loan's risk of......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Loan Fees Set To Rise For Conforming Mortgage Applicants   03/10/2011

  April 15 is the traditional due date for federal income taxes. It's a deadline so ingrained in the American psyche that the April 15 calendar date is often called, simply, "Tax Day". In 2011, however, federal taxes aren't due April 15. They're due April 18. It's because of a combination of holiday, calendars, and tax law. The change centers on Emancipation Day. Emancipation Day is a public celebration in.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Federal Income Tax Deadline Extended To April 18, 2011 03/09/2011

  Home affordability reached an all-time high in 2010's last quarter. Unfortunately for home buyers in Florida , it's been a different story since, however. As mortgage rates cratered, and with home values soft, the Home Opportunity Index reached its highest level in 20 years. The index is published by the National Association of Home Builders.  Close to 74 percent of the new and existing homes sold between October-December 2010 were affordable to......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Home Affordability Peaked Last Quarter; Purchasing Power Sinks 10% 03/08/2011

  For certain members of the military, and for certain federal employees, there's just 2 months remaining to get use the federal home buyer tax credit. Eligible persons include members of the uniformed services, members of the Foreign Service, and intelligence community employees who served at least 90 days of qualified, extended duty service outside of the United States between January 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010. Spouses of persons meeting the above criteria are eligible as well. The federal home buyer tax credit ranges up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers, and up to $6,500 for.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Military Personnel Can Still Claim The $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit   03/07/2011

Calculating an exact mortgage payment without a calculator on a loan is no small task, but there are some simple rules-of-thumb you can use to get a close estimate. With the exception of the MIT Blackjack Team, performing this type of complex math in your head often leads to frustrating rants. When coming up with a rough estimate, it is important to understand the individual components that factor into the overall monthly mortgage payment. Yes, the thousands of dollars you send to your lender every year may cover more than just the mortgage, but referring to one simple formula will help you gauge what the new payment will be as you're out looking for new properties that may be in......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: How Do I Calculate My Mortgage Payment Without Using A Mortgage Ca... 03/06/2011

  For the third time in 12 months, the FHA is changing its mortgage insurance costs.  Effective for all FHA case numbers assigned on, or after, April 18, 2011, annual mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) will increase 25 basis points. The change will add $250 to an FHA-insured homeowner's annual loan costs per $100,000 borrowed, and applies to all borrower's equally. Current FHA borrowers are unaffected. To understand the FHA is to......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: FHA : Monthly Mortgage Insurance Premiums To Rise April 18, 2011 03/04/2011

  Mortgage rates could move higher beginning tomorrow morning. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its February jobs report at 8:30 AM ET. Home buyers and rate shoppers in Orlando would be wise to take note. The jobs report is almost always a market-mover. Consider last month. Although net job creation fell well-short of expectations in January -- just 36,000 jobs were added -- the national Unemployment Rate dropped to 9.0%, its lowest level in.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Make A Mortgage Rate Plan BEFORE Friday's Jobs Report   03/03/2011

  Last week, Standard & Poor's released its Case-Shiller Index for December 2010. The index is a home valuation tracker, meant to meausure the change in home prices from one period to the next. December's Case-Shiller Index showed major devaluations nationwide. As compared to December 2009, on a year-over-year basis, home values fell in 18 of the Case Shiller Index's 20 tracked markets, and the U.S. National Index dropped 4 percent overall.  The retreat puts December's home values at similar levels as compared to early-2003. That said, buyers and sellers in the The Crossings area would be wise to take the findings lightly. The Case-Shiller Index is inherently flawed. As such, its.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Ignore The Case-Shiller Index; Focus On The Future Instead   03/02/2011

  After a strong run to close out 2010, the market for home resales softened a bit in January. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the Pending Home Sales Index dropped 3 percent last month, and December's figures were revised downward for a loss, too, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. A "pending home sale" is defined as a home under contract to sell, but not yet closed.  The forward-looking index is.......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Pending Home Sales Drop For Second Straight Month   03/01/2011

    More than 50% of supermarket purchases are "impulse buys". You may not have known that, but the supermarkets do. And they've built their stores accordingly. A fool and his grocery cart are soon filled to the brim. In this 6-minute video from NBC's The Today Show, you'll learn how supermarkets use everything from packaging to placement so that customers spend more of their money with each store visit. Among the......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: The Psychological Tactics That Supermarkets Use On Customers 02/28/2011

Buying a new home is literally a team sport since there are so many tasks, important timelines, documents and responsibilities that all need special care and attention. Besides working with a professional team that you trust, it's important that the individual players have the ability to effectively communicate and execute on important decisions together as well. Real Estate Agent - A Realtor® is a licensed agent that belongs to the National Association of Realtors®, which means they are pledged to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. A few of the......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Assembling Your Home Buying Team - Knowing The Players   02/28/2011

  Not all housing reports are sunny, it seems. In its monthly New Home Sales release, the U.S. Department of Commerce showed a 13 percent drop-off in annualized new construction sales between the months of December and January. It's the biggest one-month drop in New Home Sales since May 2010. In addition, the supply of.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: New Home Sales Crater In January, Opening The Door For Deals With Builders 02/25/2011

  Home resales rose another 2.7 percent last month, according to the National Association of REALTORS® monthly Existing Home Sales report. An "existing home" is a home that's been previously occupied and is not considered new construction. The number of existing homes sold on a rolling 12-month basis is now at its highest point since May 2010, the month before the federal homebuyer tax credit ended. It's.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Existing Home Supply Down 40% In Last 6 Months 02/24/2011