Mortgage Rates This Month
- 30 yr fixed 5.26% up .16% from last month
- 15 yr fixed 4.75% up .43% from last month
- 5 yr ARM 4.43% up .17% from last month
Trivia
Prior to 1934 and the Federal Housing Administration, standard mortgage terms were 50% down payment, and a five year term with simple interest. The median price of homes sold in the western US last month was $231,000. By the rules used in 1930, you would need $115,500 down with 59 monthly payments of $110 + tax and insurance and a final payment of $115,500. Fail to make that last payment, the bank owned the home and you were out your $115,500 down payment. Many people would refinance the balance every 5 years until the Great Depression dried up the lending market and the housing market collapsed. Today's most common loan is an FHA loan with 3.5% down, 30 year term (360 equal payments) and compound interest.
Top 5 Ways Sellers Get More Money for Less Home
It is easy to find lists of ways a seller can get their home sold faster and for more money. Consider the other side of that coin. As a buyer, what are you looking at? Where is the seller trying to get you to focus? The following list is the most common list of top 5 ways to sell a home faster for more money with descriptions for the buyer to consider.
1 Price It Right. Existing homes are priced the same as other homes on the block. They are not priced based on the cost to build. They are priced on what the last person was willing to pay for a home in that area. Check into the cost of land and construction. You may be very surprised.
2 Stage the Rooms. People often feel like they are intruding when they shop for homes. It is awkward to look through someone else's bathroom. Sellers clean the home, touch up the paint and de-clutter. Some hire people to "stage the home". This means putting just enough fancy furniture in a room to draw your attention away from the house and to the furniture. If you are shopping for furniture, go to a furniture store. Look past the stage and decide if you like the home itself.
3 Do the Honey Do's. Re-caulk the tub in the poorly ventilated basement bathroom, paint over the mildew, and tighten up that faucet that always leaks. Picture living in the home not just walking through it. If it is winter, ask yourself how it is cooled in the summer. If it is summer, turn on the furnace, listen, and sniff. How old is the water heater? Why does the basement have all new sheet rock and carpet?
4 Get an Agent. This tip is not usually worded this way. The point being made is that there is an industry of professionals making a living by advertising and marketing homes. The more extravagant the advertising and marketing, the more margin the seller has to consider in pricing their home.
5 Curb Appeal. $100 in flowers can add $1000 to the home price. The bulbs in the yard and the bouquet on the counter make a nice impression. Take a vase of flowers with you next time you shop homes. Let the seller be distracted by daisies. Look at the foundation, basic size of the home, how it will fit your personal needs.
Maintenance Tips for winter
By Jim Spray 1/5/10
I learned most of these things from my children and neighbors.
Frost free faucets can still burst if you (or one of your children) leave a hose attached during freezing weather. A charged hose prevents the faucet from draining. Trust me. No need to test it yourself. Even if you have frost free faucets, it does not hurt to "winterize" them with an insulated foam cover to keep children from connecting, but not disconnecting a hose in cold weather. The covers are available at most hardware stores for a few dollars. This is significantly less than the cost for a plumber to visit on a cold dark and stormy night and significantly less unpleasant than fixing it yourself. Ice dams can form on any home. Especially if children have been playing with a hose during a day just above freezing. An ice dam forms at the edge of the roof, or eaves. When snow on a roof just above freezing melts, runs to the eave which happens to be just below freezing, perhaps due to shadows, home construction, or any reason, the water can re-freeze into a dam. Water behind the dam can sit on the roof and leak into the home. DO NOT wait for the dam to melt all on its own. Do not accept a clumsy neighbor's offer to climb on your roof in winter. This can cause something called litigation which is beyond the scope of this article. Also, the editor insists I mention: Do not climb on your roof in winter. Consult a winter roof climbing and/or ice dam removing expert with insurance.
Keep some straw by the back door. When an unexpected thaw arrives one day while you are on swing shift (or a large puddle is created by a burst not-so-frost-free faucet), you can spread the straw over the muddy areas before you go to work and before your dogs have been let in after tramping through said muddy areas. This is significantly easier than steam cleaning carpets at 2:00am after working a full shift.
Use steam to clean carpets rather than shampoo. Most carpet manufacturers recommend "hot water extraction" and discourage the use of shampoo.
Remember that garages in most, if not all areas are not required by code to be insulated, nor are they required to be heated. I suggest explaining this to children who for some reason don't notice the cold. Any appliances or tools that may contain water, for example, shop vacuums or carpet steamers, can freeze. Water expands when it turns to ice. Ice can split open the container in which it froze if there is insufficient room to expand. DO NOT, under any circumstances or season, allow a clumsy, litigious, dog fearing neighbor into your garage.
Mortgage Rates End the Year Above 5 Percent
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - Published: December 31, 2009
McLEAN, Va. (AP) -- Mortgage rates rose for the fourth straight week, ending the year above 5 percent. The average fixed rate on a 30-year mortgage was 5.14 percent this week, up from 5.05 percent last week, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Mortgage rates are closely tied to yields on long-term government debt. The average fixed rate on 30-year mortgages has steadily risen since hitting a record low of 4.71 percent the week of Dec. 3.
The Federal Reserve is pouring $1.25 trillion into mortgage-backed securities to keep rates low this year. The program, aimed at making home buying more affordable, is set to end next spring.
Still, qualifying for a loan is hard because lenders have severely tightened requirements. The best rates are available to those with good credit and a 20 percent down payment.
Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders across the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day.
The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 4.54 percent from 4.45 percent last week. Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.44 percent, up from 4.40 percent last week. However, rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 4.33 percent from 4.38 percent.
The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide fee for loans in Freddie Mac's survey averaged 0.7 point for 30-year loans. The fee averaged 0.7 point for 15-year and 0.6 point for five-year loans and for one-year mortgages.
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