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Have you ever thought about your Freedom Point?

“Freedom Point” is one of the more important concepts in mortgage planning and yet it gets surprisingly little attention.

As its name implies, Freedom Point is the particular date when a homeowner's liquid assets exceed his debts. At the Freedom Point, paying off a mortgage transforms from [...]

This 30-second video posted to YouTube and shows a home’s electric meter running backwards after installing solar panels.

The meter runs backwards because the home is putting more power into the electric grid than it is taking out for itself.

With energy costs expected to rise sharply this winter and the costs of “going green” coming [...]

In real estate, the true cost of buying a home is always higher than the home’s purchase price itself.

This is because of service charges from governments, lenders, and title/escrow companies.

Because there is no such thing as “typical” closing costs because each home purchase is different, home buyers should remember that the actual cost [...]

Easy come, easy go.

There was a strong rally Monday afternoon in the mortgage bond market. It was sudden and furious, mostly coming on in the last 60 minutes of trading.

When markets closed, mortgage rates for conforming home loans were grazing their lowest levels in nearly two years.

It lasted overnight and into the [...]

Since November 1, the following banks have written-down at least $1 billion in their respective loan portfolios:

Bank of America
Barclays
Bear Stearns
Citigroup
HSBC
Morgan Stanley
Wachovia
Wells Fargo

This is a big deal to people in the market for a home loan because when banks repeatedly take mortgage-related losses, it can lead to major risk aversion — even for “good” borrowers. [...]

In a holiday-shortened trading week, mortgage rates finished the week slightly improved.

But, because many traders had left early for Thanksgiving, matching buyers and sellers at any given price proved to be an exercise. Mortgage rates bounced wildly as a result.

Between now and the New Year, expect the same volatility. Fewer market [...]

Today is “Black Friday”, a day that many Americans get started on their Holiday Season shopping.

Did you know? The earliest known reference to “Black Friday” is November 29, 1975. The term was mentioned in two separate articles, both with Philadelphia timelines. Therefore, the term Black Friday is believed to have originated in Philadelphia.

Did [...]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae are quasi-government agencies in that they are publicly-owned, but overseen by the government.

The purpose of Fannie and Freddie is to make sure that money is available to homeowners that want home loans.

Neither lends to consumers directly, though; you’ll have to talk to your loan officer for that. [...]

Mortgage bonds staged a late-day rally yesterday, exaggerated by the holiday-shortened week and because trader participation is light.

(We’ll revisit this theme several times between now and the New Year so don’t get tired of it.)

When mortgage bonds rally, it means that demand for them is strong and that pushes mortgage rates down. [...]

In a holiday-shortened week with no major economic data releases, expect worries about the credit markets and speculation about holiday shopping to take center stage.

Last week was a mixed bag for the economy and mortgage markets responded in kind. Rates were relatively unchanged.

The news started with Wednesday’s Retail Sales report. In showing a [...]