Everett, WA

Rates are good now for the short term and one way to shed some light where our interest rates will be in the future is to look into our past.

I have attached a link showing the history of long term rates going back to 1971. See below:

http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/pmms30.htm

In my old marketing stuff I found a chart reporting long term rates from 1799 up to 1992. (That's right I started in this business back in 1799) It revealed long term interest rates were at or below 8.5% - 95% of the time.

When you review the history of rates you can't help but notice the period when rates soared into high double digits. Rates moved higher during the Carter administration and after his administration ended in 1980 rates were almost at 15%.....Although Carter was an economic disaster he did appoint Paul Volcker to the Fed and thanks to Volcker (despite the screaming from the new Republican President (Reagan) and the Democratic majority in congress led by Tip O'Neill ...the good ol' days some say) Volcker trudged and pushed us through that particular economic calamity.

Ok- we have some history and as we look ahead what do we see? Can it be argued that the current white house is struggling like Carter? Is it possible we will be faced with high double digit rates again?

It doesn't matter who is to blame it matters what happens as a result of government intervention (or non-intervention) and/or policy whatever that is. What is important is not how we got here it is how we get out of it safely. The debate today is ridiculous and I hope both sides start exercising real leadership soon.

It's nice to see our old friend Volcker back in the picture - he was asked to help you know but it seems nobody is listening.

If the lobbyists (Banking - Insurance - the 2 most powerful lobbyists) are allowed to continue this stranglehold on our representatives the result will be higher rates AND they will be to the level we saw during the Carter Administration....YES THEY WILL..... it won't happen tomorrow but it will happen unless sound fiscal decisions can be made to include a total overhaul of the tax code...I can only dream.

SAVE YOUR MONEY AMERICA!!!

I wish us all well.

HR 3126 deserves the support from the consumer, Realtor, obviously the lending industry, (the banks won't support it because it will save the consumer money and Banks lose revenue) and support is needed from all the other vendors supporting the real estate market place IF the amendment killing the HVCC (preventing originators from ordering their own appraisal) is included.

America write your representative and senator and refer to HR 3126....and demand this amendment is included. It has some distance to travel before it gets to a vote however we all need to contact our representatives and tell them to get this on their radar screen and support it.

I have to be frank (no pun intended) the government has continued to demonstrate its ignorance when dealing with the financial industry and the overall results of HR 3126 I'm sure will be mixed but if it eliminates the ridiculous HVCC requirement the consumer will be the winner and that's rare in today's world.

The removal of this HVCC thing would be the beginning of meaningful and necessary push back. Let's hope Barney Frank doesn't screw this up too. See link below:

http://www.housingwire.com/2009/10/22/house-panel-sunsets-hvcc-in-consumer-finance-bil/

I wish us all well.

Stealing and changing the title a bit from the Britney Spears "hit" song whenever it came out was inspired by HUD's latest announcement that it is considering "Civil Money Penalties" against the FHA underwriter if HUD FEELS (I emphasize the word FEELS) the underwriter didn't underwrite the loan properly. HUH?

I wonder if Britney Spears is now in charge of HUD. Nope it is Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan the man on an island along with the rest of Washington DC. Does anybody really believe our government and its agencies know anything?

Timothy Geitner Treasury Secretary recently stated "regulatory overhaul without limiting consumer choice of financial products or stifling competition" was the focus.

Yet Mr. Donovan of HUD (or somebody inside the HUD house) comes up with a bizarre plan to force an individual to pay financial consequences if HUD sees fit to go after them? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Read the HUD guidebook also known in the industry as the "4155". By design it is written to allow an underwriter to be subjective ....why? Because not everyone is the same, can document the same and have special circumstances. This is what we call risk analysis so if Mr. Donovan has his way the consumer will live the perfect life - nothing bad happens and even if you are that perfect consumer there is no guarantee HUD would not come after the underwriter for some minutia and be fined because some 22 year old bureaucrat is ‘following' the rules. You can bet the cost of your home loan will go up because now the underwriter will have to be insured for error and or omission insurance.

It is unbelievable that such an idea is even put into the public for discussion. WHO are these people and WHERE do they come from and HOW the hell do they get this job and WHAT are their credentials?

The "stupid" continues and I continue to write my representation in DC only to get back some template non-response response stating they hope all is well in Snohomish ....it's not well anywhere and the government IS the reason. They are not addressing the issues...the lobbyists are winning.... This is not a Democrat or Republican thing this is our government and America I hope you contact your representative.

I wish us all well.

The American Public not so smart says HUD & Washington DC....

NO...Real Estate Market is NOT improving just limping along...

Can I shake it up a little? - Down Payment Assistance

Meanwhile the lobbyist plays on...

Everett, WA Condo Community - Sometimes certain pieces in our staging inventory get a reputation. Our "lucky" orange sofa has been one of those items. We purchased this sofa about two years ago and it seems that every time we use it to stage a house the property sells in a heartbeat. Very rarely is this sofa in our warehouse as we keep it very busy staging and selling homes!

Just yesterday we moved it to yet another home for sale. We moved it literally down the street and around the corner to a new home, the fourth home it has enjoyed in this development of 36 new homes. You see, wherever this orange sofa goes, the green $$$ is sure to follow!

Staging by SISTERS Interior Redesign, Edmonds, WA, www.sistersredesign.com, 425.776.7890

Give your listings the advantage of professional real estate staging. Contact us for a complimentary quote.

We look forward to working with you!

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is unveiling a new Mortgage Program to provide support to state and local housing agencies to provide Mortgage Help to thousands of home buyers and renters.

The administration said the new program would help to support low mortgage rates and expand resources for low and middle income borrowers who want to buy or rent a home.

The program will feature two parts

• a new bond purchase program to support new lending by housing finance agencies and
  
• a temporary credit and liquidity program to improve access by housing agencies to credit sources for their existing bonds.

The new program will operate under a law that Congress passed in 2008 to bolster the housing industry, which has been battered by the worst slump in decades, a downturn that saw home sales and home prices plunge and mortgage defaults soar to record levels.

The government said the new effort was designed to provide hundreds of thousands of affordable mortgages for working families and enable the development and rehabilitation of tens of thousands of affordable rental properties.

Treasury, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in a joint news release that the new program would provide temporary support to local housing financing agencies and encourage them to return to relying on market sources for their capital as quickly as possible.

The local and state housing finance agencies, which provide loans to people with low or moderate incomes, have had a hard time raising money to fund loans due to the housing crisis and credit crunch.

“This initiative is critical to helping working families maintain access to affordable rental housing and homeownership in tough economic times,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. “Through this initiative, the administration aims to help (the housing finance agencies) jump-start new lending to borrowers who might not otherwise be served and to better support the financing costs of their current programs — key components in stabilizing the housing market overall.”