Today's market conditions are alarming to some and absolutely exciting to others. It's how you look at it is the glass half empty or is it half full?
There are massive numbers of real estate agents leaving the business, and even more who are not making ends meet.
The result for those who are left and adapt to the changing market is less competition. Less competition for what? The HUGELY overwhelming distressed real estate market.
Barron's Magazine wrote today that..."Unsold homes are also being dumped on the market from soaring mortgage foreclosures. The number of foreclosures ran about 2½ million in 2008, a record high, and nearly four times as many as are usual in most years. Against approximately 55 million mortgages outstanding, that's a foreclosure rate of 4.5%, also a record. Analysts agree that the record high foreclosure rate stems from the fact that about 10 million homes nationwide are "underwater" -- they're worth less on the market than their owners' mortgages."
"It's almost like a tsunami -- you can see it coming and you know it's going to hit but you cant get out of the way," said Ann Stickel, vice president of affiliated services with a Sarasota, Fla.-based brokerage firm.
As prices continue to fall, and more homes become less valuable than the principal value of their mortgages, more foreclosures are likely. This will, in turn, trigger even more distress sales, in a vicious circle.
The Mortgage Bankers Association's surveys of members suggest one out of 10 mortgages was either delinquent or in the foreclosure process at the end of September, and Moody's Economy.com estimates 12 million homeowners are "upside down" -- they owe more on their homes than their properties would fetch in today's market.
Some Realtors are finally getting it. Fortune Magazine wrote that some Realtors say these distressed deals are the only thing keeping them in business.
Christian Bohyn is one of them. He began focusing on short sales earlier this year, he uses his mortgage broker license to negotiate loan modifications, forbearance agreements and even deed in lieu. His focus is helping people.
Yet still, in today's abundant distressed real estate market there are still the naysayers who have no idea what they are talking about. The Wall street Journal wrote today that Home Resales Rise as Prices Tumble. Only the real estate professionals who extended their "profession" to include expert short sale management.
If you don't want to learn how to become a true expert at Short Sales and master the distressed real estate market you will most assuredly not even come close to earning a living with real estate commissions.
The key is knowing how to successfully package, propose and market a short sale property in the right manner. most real estate agents won't take the time to learn nor are willing to make the personal investment in their career to successfully navigate the short sale labyrinth that's why I advise them to look for a short sale mittigation company who can assist them in helping their clients sell the home with third party approval.
It just makes sense to start looking into short sales and REO's because it's the only thing that sells these days. So, more and more Realtors are getting it. It's all about helping people and moving property.
Only you know what you want to achieve financially the rest of the year. Right now all you have to ask yourself is are you doing what you need to make sure you will be where you want to be in December.
I came to the following conclusion:
Hello...read this..its nice, I'm going through some hard times and then I stumbled upon this story. It's a must read, enjoy
When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you.
Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know What I was thinking. I want a divorce.
I raised the topic calmly. She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?
That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage.
With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house,
She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger.
I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly.
Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release.
The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table.
In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me,
months time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.
This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal
our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy.
Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.
I told Dew about my wife s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd.
contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day,
me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with
I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.
On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest.. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse.
was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying!
Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.
On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman
growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by.
She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one.
Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head. Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mum out.
To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute.
I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway.
But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step.
I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind... I walked upstairs.
Dew opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore.
She looked at me, astonished. Then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head.
didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other any more.
Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death does us apart.
Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed
the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.
At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card.
I smiled and wrote: 'I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart'
The small details of our lives are what really matter in a relationship.
It is not the mansion, the car, the property, the bank balance that matters.
These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves.
So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy.
Do have a real happy marriage!
If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you, but if you do, you just might save a marriage.
Relationships are made not to exploit, not to be broken.
We teach some by what we say
We teach some more by what we do
But we teach most by what we are
You don't get to choose how you are going to die, or when, but, you can decide how you are going to live, here and now.
Remember:
people will forget what you said ...
people will forget what you did ...
but people will never forget how you made them feel ...
This week is packed with economic releases and major events that will likely lead to a fair amount of volatility in the markets and mortgage pricing. There are seven reports scheduled for release along with another FOMC meeting.
The first of the week's news comes late tomorrow morning with the release of September's New Home Sales. This data covers the remaining 15% of home sales that last week's Existing Home Sales report tracked and is this week's least important data. It is expected to show a decline in sales, but regardless of its results I am not expecting it to have a significant impact on mortgage rates tomorrow.
The first important data will be posted Tuesday morning with the release of the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for the month of October. This Conference Board index will be posted at 10:00 AM and gives us a measurement of consumer willingness to spend. It is expected to show a sizable decline in confidence from last month's 59.8 reading, indicating that consumers are less likely to make large purchases in the near future. As long as the reading doesn't exceed the forecasted 52.0, we will likely see the bond market react favorably to this report. This data is watched closely because consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy.
The week's FOMC meeting is a two-day meeting that begins Tuesday and adjourns Wednesday afternoon. Assuming the Fed stands pat and leaves rates unchanged, traders will be looking at the post-meeting statement for any indication of the Fed's next move. Since there is a fair amount of uncertainty and a lack of a strong consensus of what the Fed will do here, the move itself, if it happens, will likely cause plenty of volatility in addition to the post-meeting statement. The meeting will adjourn at 2:00 PM Wednesday, so look for quite a bit of volatility during afternoon hours.
Wednesday morning, the Commerce Department will post Durable Goods Orders for September. This report gives us a measurement of manufacturing sector strength by tracking orders at U.S. factories for big-ticket items. Analysts are currently calling for a drop in new orders of approximately 1.0%. If we see a smaller than expected decline in orders, mortgage rates will probably rise as bond prices fall. A weaker than expected reading should be good news for the bond market and mortgage rates, but this data can be quite volatile from month to month and is difficult to forecast.
The next relevant data is the preliminary reading of the 3rd Quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) early Thursday morning. The GDP is considered to be the benchmark measurement of economic growth because it is the sum of all goods and services produced in the U.S. and therefore is likely to have a major impact on the financial markets and mortgage pricing. There are three versions of this report, each a month apart. Thursday's release is the first and usually h as the biggest impact on the markets. Current forecasts call for a decline of approximately 0.5% in the GDP. If this report does show a decline, I am expecting to see the bond market rally and mortgage rates to fall.
There are three reports scheduled for release Friday. The first is the 3rd Quarter Employment Cost Index (ECI), which tracks employer costs for salaries and benefits. Rapidly rising costs raises wage inflation concerns and may hurt bond prices. It is expected to show an increase in costs of 0.7%. A smaller than expected increase would be good news for bonds and mortgage rates.
September's Personal Income and Outlays report will also be posted early Friday. This data gives us an indication of consumer ability to spend and current spending habits. It is important to the markets because consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy. Rising income generally indicates that consumers have more money to spend, making econ omic growth more of a possibility. This is bad news for the bond market and mortgage rates because it raises inflation concerns, making long-term securities such as mortgage related bonds less attractive to investors. Analysts are expecting to see an increase of 0.1% in income and decline in outlays of 0.2%.
The week's last report comes at 10:00 AM ET Friday when the University of Michigan updates their Index of Consumer Sentiment for this month. Current forecasts show this index remaining nearly unchanged from this month's preliminary reading of 57.5. This index is important because it helps us measure consumer confidence, which is believed to indicate consumers' willingness to spend. Since consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, any related data is considered to be important.
Overall, it is difficult to peg a single day of the week as being the most important. The data being posted Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is very important to the markets. The FOMC meeting is the single most important event of the week, but we may see noticeable movement in mortgage rates several days this week. Accordingly, please maintain contact with your mortgage professional.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
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Christian Bohyn, MBA, Licensed Real Estate Agent and Mortgage Broker. Senior Partner, Founder of MonkeySold LLC specialized in processing short sale & loan modification. Helps people avoid forclosure
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