According to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac, the number of foreclosure filings climbed 4 percent in August from the month prior. A foreclosure filing is defined as default notice, scheduled auction, or bank repossession. Despite the number of filings surpassing 300,000 for the 18th straight month, RealtyTrac's report shows some bright spots for.......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Home Defaults Dropped For The 7th Month In A Row In August 09/16/2010

The recent rise in mortgage rates was slowed this week after the government released its Retail Sales report for August. Prior to Tuesday, mortgage rates had been spiking across Florida on the resurgent hope for U.S. economic recovery. The sentiment shift was rooted in reports including the Pending Home Sales Index and Initial Jobless Claims, both of........   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Home Affordability Gets A Boost From Weak Back-to-School Retail Receipts   09/15/2010

While many experienced real estate agents have a general understanding of the mortgage approval process, there are a few important details that frequently get overlooked which may cause a purchase to be delayed or denied. New regulation, updated disclosures, appraisal guidelines, mortgage rate pricing premiums, credit score, secondary approval layering, rescission deadlines, property type, HOA insurance requirements, title and property flip rules are just a few of the daily changes that can have a serious impact on a borrower's home loan financing. With today's volatile lending environment, it's obviously important for home buyers to get a full loan approval which clearly defines all contingencies that pertain to......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Seven Things Your Agent Should K... 09/14/2010

Want a lower mortgage rate on your upcoming Longwood home buy? Think about moving up the closing date. The reason is rooted in "rate locks", a bank's guarantee to honor a specific mortgage rate for a specific, finite period of time. Rate locks allow home buyers to........   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: The Math Of Choosing A Great Closing Date 09/14/2010

Everyone Needs to Snap Out of The Doom and Gloom Mode - It's Hurting your Business! As a Broker I hear our agents and mortgage brokers every day having problems with other REALTORS and Mortgage Brokers. It seems like a lot of other agents and brokers have given up. Are hard to get a hold of or grumpy when you do get them. TIP TO GET OUT OF A FUNK . . . Get away from negative people. Go to the office, the gym, take your Dog for a walk or go where ever you can start your day with a positive outlook. STOP LISTENING TO THE NEWS AT LEAST UNTIL THE END OF THE DAY!!! Go buy a CD or download some music that PICKS YOU UP!  Put your headphones on while blogging or networking online! It will put a smile on your face. It's amazing how much other people want to be around us when we have a smile on o... 09/14/2010

Supermarket aisles in the Longwood area are filled with specialty cleansers -- some for the kitchen, some for the bathroom, some for the carpets. Loaded with chemicals, these cleansers can be tough on......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: White Distilled Vinegar : An Environmentally-Friendly Home Cleaning Solution   09/13/2010

When adjustable-rate mortgages are on the verge of adjusting, a common concern among homeowners is that their mortgage rates will adjust higher. Well, this year, because of the math of how ARMs adjust, homeowners in Lake Mary and around the country are seeing that mortgage rates on ARMs can sometimes adjust lower, too. Adjusting conforming mortgages are adjusting to as low as 3 percent. As a quick review, here's the timeline for..........   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Your ARM Is Adjusting Lower. Is There A Downside To Letting It? 09/12/2010

The private-sector Case-Shiller Index reported home values up 5 percent nationwide in June. The government's own Home Price Index, however, reached a different conclusion. According to the Federal Home Finance Agency, month-to-month home values fell 0.3 percent in June, and values are down by 1.7 percent from June 2009. So, as a home buyer and/or homeowner in........   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Which Model Is More Accurate : The Case-Shiller Index Or The Home Price Index? 09/09/2010

Just one week after reports of Existing Home Sales and New Home Sales plunging, the housing market is signaling that auturm may fare better than did summer. The number of homes under contract to sell rose 5 percent in July. The data comes from the July Pending Home Sales Index, as published by the National Association of Realtors®. By definition, a "pending home sales" is a......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Home Sales Are Back On The Rise After A 2-Month Pullback   09/09/2010

  There's plenty of reasons to want to change a showerhead in your head. Perhaps you're trying to fix a leak in the faucet; or, remodeling your bathroom; or, trying to conserve water via a low-flow showerhead.  Whatever the reason, changing a.......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: How To Change A Showerhead 09/07/2010

On the first Friday of each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases Non-Farm Payrolls data for the month prior.  The data is more commonly called "the jobs report" and it's a major factor in setting mortgage rates for residents of Florida and homeowners everywhere. Especially today, considering the economy. This is because.........   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE:   August 2010 Jobs Report Pushes Mortgage Rates Higher     09/03/2010

Home affordability took a slight hit this week after the Federal Reserve's release of its August 10 meeting minutes. The "Fed Minutes" is a lengthy, detailed recap of a Federal Open Market Committee meeting, not unlike the minutes published after a corporate conference, or condo association gathering. The Federal Reserve publishes its meeting minutes 3 weeks after a FOMC get-together. The minutes are lengthy, too. At 6,181 words, August's Fed Minutes is thick with data about the economy, its current threats, and its deeper strengths. The minutes also recount the conversations that, ultimately, shape our nation's monetary policy. It's for this reason that mortgage rates are rising. Wall Street didn't see much from the Fed that warranted otherwise. Among the Fed's observations......   Rea... 09/02/2010

According to the Standard & Poors Case-Shiller Index, home values rose 5 percent in June versus the month prior.................. Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Case-Shiller Posts 16th Straight Month Of Home Price Improvement   09/01/2010

http://notaries.dos.state.fl.us/not001.html is the link to searh for a Notary in Florida.     We offer FREE Notary Service for our clients and friends at our office in Altamonte Springs. Richard Shuman Florida Wholesale Realty Corp & American Mortgage 860 North SR 434   Suite 1005  Altamonte Springs FL 32714   08/31/2010

  Mortgage rates are low right now but pinning them down this week could be a challenge. As Labor Day Weekend nears and Wall Streeters take their head-start on the holiday, trading volume will fall, which will cause mortgage rates in Florida to get jumpy. As mortgage rates change, so......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Mortgage Rates May Be Low, But They're Tough To Pin Down -- Especially This Week   08/31/2010

With Labor Day looming, the autumn and winter months aren't far behind. It's a good time to reflect on your home's heating and cooling costs, and take steps to lower your energy bills. Finding air leaks may be a perfect first project. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, up to 30 percent can be cut from a home's energy costs just by.......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: How To Reduce Home Energy Costs By Sealing Air Leaks   08/31/2010

With home prices holding firm and mortgage rates still dropping, home affordability is reaching new heights. According to the quarterly Home Opportunity Index as published by the National Association of Home Builders, more than 72 percent of all new and existing homes sold between April-June 2010 were affordable to families earning the national median income. It's a slightly higher reading as compared to......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Home Affordability Rankings For 225 Metropolitan Statistical Areas 08/27/2010

One day after the National Association of Realtors released the softest Existing Home Sales report since 1995, the U.S. Census Bureau released a similarly-weak New Home Sales report. Americans bought just 276,000 newly-built homes in July. That marks the fewest units sold since the government started keeping records in 1963. In addition, although new home inventory actually dropped 2,000 units in July, the slowing sales pace still managed to......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: New Home Sales Drop In July -- Just Like Existing Home Sales   08/26/2010

The number of home resales plunged by 1.4 million units in July, according to the National Association of Realtors®' Existing Home Sales report. It's a drop of 27 percent from June; single-family home resales are at the report's lowest levels since May 1999. Furthermore, because of.......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Existing Home Sales Plummet In July; Home Buyers Gain Leverage 08/25/2010

The tightening in mortgage-lending policies that characterized the last 3 years appears to be slowing. According to the Federal Reserve's quarterly survey of senior bank loan officers, roughly 1 in 10 lenders added mortgage qualification hurdles between April and June. It's a......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Bank Mortgage Lending Policies Appear To be Easing   08/24/2010