Larry Bailey

"THE IMPORTANT THING IN THIS WORLD IS NOT SO MUCH WHERE WE STAND, AS IN WHAT DIRECTION WE ARE MOVING." Oliver Wendell Holmes. And when it comes to the direction our economy may be moving, there was some surprising news from the Fed last week that the "Minutes" from their October meeting revealed.

After years of being concerned about inflation, the Fed is now concerned about deflation. So what exactly is deflation? Deflation is when prices drop, which generally is due to lack of demand, and therefore lack of pricing power. With the economy slowing down, we are hearing economists forecast that we may be in for a deflationary recession. In a deflationary environment, investors flee into fixed instruments like Bonds, because the fixed payment received would actually buy them more goods and services over time as prices decline.

So what does this mean for home loan rates? Remember, home loan rates improve as Bond pricing moves higher - and more demand for Bonds would mean higher prices for Bonds. In the spring of 2003, when Alan Greenspan uttered the "D" word, deflation, Bonds rallied 400bp in just a few weeks, bringing a significant drop in home loan rates. Of course, the economy is different right now, but as more money may be headed towards Bonds in a deflationary environment, we could again see a significant improvement in home loan rates down the road.

On the inflation front, last week's Producer Price Index indicated that wholesale inflation plummeted last month - by the most since records began in 1947 - largely due to declines in energy prices. In addition, the Consumer Price Index showed that inflation at the consumer level fell by a record 1.0%, thanks again to lower costs of energy.

When it comes to the direction the economy is heading, the week did end with some hopeful news. Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker said that an economic recovery could begin in 2009 as low interest rates, low energy prices, and less drag from the housing sector may shore up spending. In the meantime, Bonds and home loan rates spent much of last week trading near a key level of technical support called the 200-Day Moving Average, finally moving and staying above this level on Friday. As a result, Bonds and home loan rates ended the week unchanged to slightly better than where they began.

WHEN IT COMES TO CREDIT SCORES, IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER TO DO ALL YOU CAN TO KEEP YOUR SCORE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION! CHECK OUT THIS WEEK'S MORTGAGE MARKET VIEW FOR HOLIDAY SHOPPING TIPS THAT WILL HELP KEEP YOUR CREDIT SCORE ON THE UP AND UP.

I have watched many of my clients (mortgage and real estate) see their clients and peers get involved in Loan Modificaiton programs/companies/scams and would love to get your take on this activity.

If you need to modify your terms to help you stay in your home (lowering the interest rate, resetting the payment to show current and adding the arrearage to the end of the note, lowering the current principle balance, etc.) I see this as a good thing. I am happy to see Fannie Mae, Bank of America, and others trying to step in to help homeowners stay in their home.

I also have seen perfectly good people intentionally wreck their credit by slow paying their mortgage to be "Eligible" for a loan modification (or so they think.)

The most confusing part is that different programs have different guidelines (which are not easy to find) and usually disqualify someone anyway. I have also seen clients get a nice 1099 for the "forgiven" principle (turning into taxable income) when they needed it least.

I am not sure about any of this. It seems that there should be some kind of consistency and transparentcy to all of this.

As more people have worse and worse credit histories, it removes them from being able to borrow. This disenfranchises them from buying or refinancing for the next 2-4 years, because of how their "solutions" are reported to the credit bureaus.

How many "lost" people can the Real Estate and Mortgage Industries take?

Please share your thoughts with me to let me know your opinions.

This means (to me) that I will do whatever I can do, to help our relationship grow. I will seek and find ways for us to grow together. I will stop and listen to what you have to say and understand that your words and actions are as important as mine. I will make sure that if there is a problem that you are made aware of it ASAP, as I would expect the same.

Now, as short way (as I was taught at a young age) is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I have lived this way in my personal and professional life every possible minute I can.

I am proud to work for a company that stresses the same values and insights. TruClose Financial Services LLC is a title insurance company. The core of its business is title insurance offered in all 50 states. While it was growing, it listened to its relationships and added things like Appraisal Management Services for all 50 states, Lead Generation Services for Mortgage and Real Estate Companies, and offers general marketing and sales support when you just need someone to listen to help you.

TruClose Financial does all of these things so that we can help you grow your business grow.

We will continue to add value to our relationships and their businesses as we are asked to. We will always listen to what you need and do what we can to help, as any good relationship would do.

A brief outline of some of the value points is below. If I can personally be of any assistance to helping your business grow, in even the smallest of ways, please let me know. I would love to hear your feedback on this post, if you would like to leave it.

* FRONTING OF APPRAISAL FEES UNTIL SETTLEMENT?

* EXCLUSIVE LEAD GENERATION SERVICES WITH A 28% APPLICATION RATE FOR JUST $0.25 EACH?

* THE ABILITY TO BE CLEAR TO CLOSE YOUR LOANS IN JUST 24 HOURS FROM YOUR TITLE ORDER?

* LOAN CLOSINGS 24 HOURS PER DAY, 7 DAYS PER WEEK?

We are looking to expand our Sales Department. (YES we are EXPANDING)

Please contact me if you are serious about continuing to make the money you deserve. We continue to gain market share and need help managing new accounts and new territories. Contact me for an immediate and completely confidential interview.