Home Mortgage Guide

 
 
Commercial real estate valuations and office jobs – Commercial real estate valuations seem to coincide quite well with the overall number of office jobs. It’s not necessarily obvious that this should be the case, because commercial properties include retail, multifamily, and other non-office properties. Nevertheless the relationship is striking. – Sober Look Blog
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Read Rest of Housing and prices: CRE, US Housing, Case-Shiller, Invesco and Marathon on PPIP, Refi Now, $729k Continues?

China’s 8.9% Growth? No Way - Gordon G. Chang – Beijing has spent its way to a sugar high. – Forbes
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A Moment Too Soon After the Financial Crisis – By Brad DeLong – Examining the recovery paths of major industrial powers in the 1930s tells us that thoughts of reversion to normal policies — whether monetary, exchange rate, fiscal or banking — need to be delayed until …
Read Rest of Economies and Markets: China, Keep Rates Low, Go Long, George Soros Institute, Contrarians on Dollar

By Pat Cutler
One of the disadvantages of being self-employed is the lack of group health insurance. Since I have an individual policy, my Out-of-Pocket (OOP) costs such as deductibles and co-payments tend to be high. September 30th marked the end of the 12 month deductible period for my medical insurance policy. As a self admitted hypochondriac, I have no trouble meeting my deductible early in the year. I call the doctor as soon as I exhibit the slightest symptom – a slight rash that I am sure is leprosy, a sore wrist …
Read Rest of OOPs

According to the police, a Texas woman lived in an apartment with her dead boyfriend for a week. Know why he didn’t marry her? Cold feet.
And speaking of cold, here we are at the World Series…baseball in November in the Northeast. Lots of folks in mortgage banking like numbers and statistics, so here is one question (totally un-mortgage related) that is interesting:how many baseballs does a major league team use per season? It turns out that, on average, a ball only lasts 3-4 pitches (foul …
Read Rest of Price Bubbles 101; Tax Credit Update; Updates from BofA & USB

According to the police, a Texas woman lived in an apartment with her dead boyfriend for a week. Know why he didn’t marry her? Cold feet.
And speaking of cold, here we are at the World Series…baseball in November in the Northeast. Lots of folks in mortgage banking like numbers and statistics, so here is one question (totally un-mortgage related) that is interesting:how many baseballs does a major league team use per season? It turns out that, on average, a ball only lasts 3-4 pitches (foul …
Read Rest of Price Bubbles 101; Tax Credit Update; Updates from BofA & USB

Wooden sash windows are the popular thing found in London. With a variety to choose from it makes it hard to decide which ones work best for you or your home style. Sash windows London are the popular in demand style found on London homes in the UK.
What is a sash window you may ask yourself? A sash window has been referred to as a hung sash window that it built from one or more removable wooden panels or as they are referred to a sash that holds glass. The glass is then separated into areas by slim wooden …
Read Rest of Sash Windows London - Endless Choices

Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here. Please visit the HBB Forum.
Read Rest of Bits Bucket For October 29, 2009

stock market peak? – Bill Gross new piece – Midnight Candles – Investment Outlook November 2009 – …  I’ll jump straight into a discussion of why in a New Normal economy (1) almost all assets appear to be overvalued on a long-term basis, and, therefore, (2) policymakers need to maintain artificially low interest rates and supportive easing measures … The Fed will likely require 12–18 months of 4%+ …
Read Rest of Required Reading: Bill Gross Says Market Peak?, Option Arm Primer, Tri-Party Repo Primer

Homes: About to get much cheaper – By Les Christie, - National home prices are forecast to shrink another 11%. … Overall, the national median home price is predicted to drop 11.3% by June 30, 2010, according to Fiserv, … He pointed out that the tax credit for first-time home buyers helped support prices during the three months of Case-Shiller gains. … – hattip to B – CNNMoney.com
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Read Rest of Homeowners and Home Prices: Get Cheaper, The Hamptons, Rich Are Renting, Dog Ate It, Walk Away, Hussman on Crisis, Goldman vs. Merrill, Global Housing

Some days the best thing about my job is that my chair spins! (Sad but true.) But then along comes items like this. Who would have ever thought FHA compliance and underwriting issues would have made it to mainstream videos –not to be missed:

The MBAA has been busy. First, the MBAA announced that they have formed a panel to make recommendations to HUD regarding the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) – but probably not in response to that …
Read Rest of Important video on FHA loans; Citi & Flagstar news; Rates sliding lower again