Current Mortgage Rates Stay Lower on Monday

We saw mortgage rates dip a little lower on Friday after trouble in Turkey led financial market participants to seek out the perceived safety of long-term government bonds.

Mortgage rates are expected to stay close to current levels this week, but we could see some movement after a few key economic reports get released. Read on for more details.

Where are mortgage rates going?                                            

Rates hold lower to start the week

It’s a quiet start to the week as there are no significant economic reports scheduled for release. That’s keeping long-term government bond yields, which dropped due to an increased demand on Friday after trouble for Turkey’s lira, down near three week lows.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note (the best market indicator of where mortgage rates are going) is currently at 2.88%. That’s basically flat on the day and about six basis points lower from where it was this time last week.

The expectation for this week is the same as it’s been for quite some time, and that’s for current mortgage rates to stay close to present levels. The fact that rates have remained in a tight range all summer (and most of spring) really isn’t the worst thing for borrowers, as many forecasters had expected rates to rise higher than they are now by this time.

The pressure isn’t off quite yet, though, as it is widely anticipated that the Federal Reserve will increase the nation’s benchmark interest rate, the federal funds rate, by at least a quarter-point by the time 2019 rolls around.

According to the CME Group’s Fed Funds futures, there is a 96.0% chance that the federal funds rate will go up a little over a month from now at the FOMC’s September meeting.

That would push the target range up a quarter-point to 2.00%-2.25%. There is still a lot of time between now and December, but at the moment the majority of analysts believe another rate hike will take place then, pushing the fed funds target range up to 2.50%-2.75%.

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Rate/Float Recommendation                                  

Lock now before move even higher     

With mortgage rates expected to rise in the coming months, we believe the prudent decision for most borrowers is to lock in a rate sooner rather than later. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that you’ll get a higher rate and pay more interest on your purchase or refinance.

Learn what you can do to get the best interest rate possible.  

Today’s economic data:           

  • Nothing out today.

Notable events this week:     

Monday:   

  • Nothing

Tuesday:   

  • NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
  • Import and Export Prices

Wednesday:         

  • Retail Sales
  • Empire State Mfg Survey
  • Productivity and Costs
  • Industrial Production

Thursday:     

  • Housing Starts
  • Jobless Claims
  • Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey

Friday:          

  • Consumer Sentiment

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*Terms and conditions apply.

Source: totalmortgage.com

Expert Home Security Tips and Tricks

Expert Home Security Tips and Tricks

Purchasing, updating, and decorating your home was a big investment. It is your family’s refuge and holds both treasured memories and valued possessions: in short, all things that you want to protect. We talked with several security experts to discover and share their top tips for home protection.

Their advice was varied, but they all agreed that using a smart combination of the right tools, techniques, and safety measures is the key to protecting your home and family. And you might even save a bit of money in the long run!

First Line of Defense: Securing Your Home Exterior

The first step in improving your household safety is to evaluate the exterior of your home. If burglars or other criminals can’t get into your home, they can’t do much damage. This is why taking a look at access points like your doors and windows is essential.

Roman Zrazhevskiy is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ready to Go Survival, a company that creates custom survival kits. As a former EMT and lifelong outdoorsman, Zrazhevskiy understands the connection between facility security and your personal safety. He says the best place to start updating your home security is with the exterior doors to your home. Here are his key points:

  • First, replace all the doors with solid wood or steel doors, and install high-quality deadbolt locks.
  • Ensure the door frames are made of steel or have steel supports for the door, and that all door hardware is a minimum of three inches long. You can also install a steel bar on the inside that can be closed if needed.
  • A great product that helps secure your doors is called the Door Sentinel. It comes with all the hardware to reinforce your exterior door so it will be much more difficult to break into.

Identity theft expert, author, and speaker Robert Siciliano covers all aspects of security as they relate to violence and fraud prevention in both the physical and virtual worlds. Here are his top home security tips for way that you can use your doors, windows, and even your landscaping to keep you and your family safe.

  • Make sure nobody can see inside your windows at night, and be choosy about which drapes to leave open during the day, especially if you have expensive items that can be viewed through windows.
  • Keep your shrubs and trees manicured so that burglars can’t hide near them.
  • Do a door and lock inventory to make sure they all work—the only time a door should be unlocked is when someone is using it.
  • The only time a window should be unlocked is when it’s open while you’re home, and even then, be extremely judicious about this, including for second-story windows that can be climbed up to.

Quick and Easy Home Security Tips

There are also many quick, simple, and inexpensive ways that you can keep your home safe that won’t break the bank, including a few tips for home security while on vacation. Siciliano further suggests these three inexpensive, easy, and creative ideas.

  • When traveling for long stretches, arrange to have someone mow your lawn and park their car in your driveway.
  • Get a beware of dog sign even if you don’t have a dog. Get a big dog food bowl. Place it near your front door.
  • Go to an Army/Navy store and get a pair of men’s boots, put them near your front or back door.

Justin Lavelle is the Chief Communications Officer for BeenVerified, a leading source of online background checks and contact information. Lavelle encourages you to make a few easy, little or no cost changes to your home (and your habits) that can protect you and your family.

The lived-in look is a great deterrent. Many hardware stores sell timers that can run lights in your house. These can be lamps or hardwired fixtures. These timers are easily installed as a do-it-yourself project. It is recommended that you have outdoor lights timed as well. You can set lights inside and out to come on at different times during the evening and morning, giving your home an occupied look even if you are gone. Keep a car in the driveway if possible and keep the radio on. Be sure you remove your mail and any newspapers dropped off on a daily basis.

A big billboard that says you are not home is unattended packages. If you are gone all day at work, consider sending your packages to a trusted neighbor you know will be home during the day. You can also have packages shipped to a P.O. Box and pick them up at your post office. Another option is to have items shipped to the nearest brick and mortar location and pick them up there in the evening or [on the] weekend.

Smart Tech to Keep Your Home Safe

Now that you have considered the physical and structural aspects of home security, it’s time to think about ways that digital and virtual tools can help you. Rob Caiello, Vice President of Marketing at Allconnect, helps movers with the purchase and setup of home utilities and services, including finding the right home security system and service. As a security system expert, he encourages all homeowners to take a look at the new technologies available.

Home security systems aren’t what they used to be. With the explosion of home technology, home security systems have gotten much smarter. With smart home security systems, you can receive real time alerts to your smartphone if an emergency takes place in your home. Plus, you can also receive texts or email notifications about potential security threats, like a window or door left open for too long.

These systems often require an initial up-front investment, but the benefits of peace of mind are priceless. Plus, adding monitored safety and security devices can often help homeowners dramatically lower their home insurance premiums. As a final security and technology tip, don’t post your vacation plans on social media: You don’t want the world to know your home will be left unwatched.

New technology has made everything from public data collection to home security quicker, simpler, and more affordable. If your finances are tight, you might consider a cash-out refinance to obtain the funds for security upgrades. Lavelle also encourages homeowners to look into both traditional security system, as well as new tools like web-based digital intercom systems.

It used to be expensive to have a security system installed, but today many DIY kits are available that work with your home’s internet wifi for connectivity. Some will provide monitoring services and some will allow you to be notified on your smartphone if there is an intrusion detected. Google the many options that are available to find a system that fits your needs and budget. If nothing else, install a camera prop above your front door and other entrance areas. It will deter most burglars.

Unfortunately we live in a world where opening your front door may be dangerous for you and your family. Camera intercom systems used to be cost prohibitive for many residential applications, but today with internet wifi, smartphones, and small digital cameras, having the ability to answer your door without actually opening it is a reality. There are even systems that allow you to appear to be home and answer the door when you are halfway around the world.

Don’t Let Your Castle Be Compromised

Whether you are in town or away on vacation, the world is an unpredictable place so it’s important to take precautions to safeguard your home—your castle. From digital solutions to simple DIY steps, there are many means to bolster protection for every house on any budget. Contact a PennyMac Loan Officer to explore the refinancing options to fund security upgrades for your home.

The views, information, or opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily represent those of PennyMac Loan Services, LLC and its employees.

Source: pennymacusa.com

Conventional loan home requirements: Is an inspection required?

Conventional loans have a few basic property standards, but no in-depth home condition requirements. You likely want a home inspection anyway.

Source: themortgagereports.com

Have We Seen The End of Record Low Rates?

While it might not seem like the sort of thing mortgage rates should care about, the senate run-off election in Georgia was by far and away this week’s most important event. This wasn’t a surprise either. In fact, interest rates have been bracing for this potential impact since the inconclusive results in early November. But why do rates care about politics? Actually, they don’t! Not too much, anyway. Rates care about the prices and yields of certain bonds in the bond market above all else. Bond prices can take a variety of cues, but the most basic and most objective input is that of supply and demand. Supply and demand can be influenced by several underlying factors. For instance, the Fed currently buys more than $100 billion in bonds each month. That has a huge impact on the demand side of

Source: mortgagenewsdaily.com

MBS RECAP: Things Are Getting Ugly For Bonds

Posted To: MBS Commentary

Selling Spree Continues; MBS Underperforming Earlier in the day, Treasuries looked to be selling off at a slower pace versus the past few trading sessions. After sharp spikes in yields, this is the kind of pattern we tend to see before bonds find some support and undergo a friendly correction. But just after the 9:30am NYSE open, Treasury yields hit more new long-term highs, thus re-setting our vigilant search for support. To make matters worse, MBS underperformed (i.e. they had an even worse day than Treasuries) with both UMBS 1.5 and 2.0 coupons losing nearly 3/8ths of a point by the close. Econ Data / Events 20min of Fed 30yr UMBS Buying 10am, 1130am (M-F) and 1pm (T-Th) Market Movement Recap 08:34 AM Treasuries were slightly stronger during the first part of the overnight session. After…(read more)

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Source: mortgagenewsdaily.com

Understanding How Mortgage Interest Rates Work

Question: What do home mortgage loans (including second mortgage loans), retail installment loans, automobile loans, home improvement loans, and mobile home loans, have in common — aside from being loans to consumers?

Answer: The interest charge sometimes is calculated monthly and sometimes daily. With a monthly interest rate the borrower is charged for each month, whereas with a daily interest rate the borrower is charged for each day.

Why is this distinction important? Because daily rates are a potential trap for unwary borrowers, countless numbers of whom have found themselves permanently, usually with no understanding of how it happened. The problem has been entirely overlooked by regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.


Source: mortgagedaily.com

Buyers Can Expect More Fixer-Upper Homes for Sale Than in Years Past

Rising home prices and tough buyer competition may be giving sellers more flexibility to list their home for sale “as-is” without needing to fix it up. A new Zillow analysis shows there are 12 percent more fixer-uppers for sale now than five years ago.

Zillow identified the number of fixer-upper homes listed for sale beginning in 2011 and ending in 2015, and compared them to overall for-sale inventory trends.

To identify fixer-uppers, Zillow mined historical listing descriptions for phrases like “fixer-upper,” “TLC” and “needs work.”

Nationally, expensive fixer-uppers, or those priced within the top third of their markets, saw the biggest surge in inventory over the past five years, rising nearly 35 percent.

Conversely, affordably priced fixer-uppers, or those valued within the bottom tier, increased less than 3 percent.

So what’s happening?

There aren’t enough homes on the market to accommodate buyer demand in many U.S. metros. As a result, sellers have the luxury to list their home for sale “as-is” because they know it will likely still sell, even if it needs a little TLC.

For example, in Seattle, one of the nation’s hottest housing markets, for-sale inventory has decreased 10 percent over the past five years; however, fixer-upper listings increased 33 percent over the same time period.

“Across the country, homes are selling fast and for high prices,” says Svenja Gudell, Zillow’s chief economist. “Sellers are in the driver’s seat, with the freedom to list their home for sale ‘as-is’ without worrying about price cuts or the home sitting on the market. And without sufficient new construction, the housing stock has aged, so home buyers are finding more and more homes on the market in need of a little TLC.”

Curious if there are more fixer-uppers in your area? Local data is available in Zillow’s full report.

Related:

  • 4 Tips for Buying a Fixer-Upper
  • 3 Situations Where It Pays to Buy a Fixer-Upper
  • Embracing the Mess: Renovating a 1970s Fixer

Source: zillow.com