Have we turned the corner on inflation? Mortgage rates down.
Recent economic data shows that food inflation is rising at a faster rate than overall inflation, with grocery prices rising by 12%, menu prices increasing by 8.5%, and eggs becoming 49.1% more expensive through November. Inflation cooled more than expected in...
Housing market shows signs of stabilization amid lower rates
The housing market has been showing signs of stabilization in recent weeks, thanks in part to lower mortgage rates. Purchase application data for the last week of November showed a 3% decline week-over-week, but the year-over-year decline of 40% is the smallest since...
Buying Your First Home In California When Mortgage Rates are High
As a first-time homebuyer, it can be overwhelming to consider buying your first home when mortgage interest rates are high. With the current state of the economy, mortgage rates have been on the rise, making it difficult for first-time homebuyers to take the plunge....
Recessions, Inflation, Home Values: Correlations?
Just for kicks, I took a chart showing recessions and home value changes during those recessions, and overlaid inflation the year before, of, and after, the start of the respective recession. Here it is: Sources are: Corelogic, The Balance, macrotrends,net, and (for...
Debunking: “You need two years on the job to get a good mortgage”
One of the most common misconceptions is that you always need two years on the same job to get a decent mortgage. This is not true! Each scenario is different, but for W2 base salary or full time consistent hourly income, generally speaking you can get a mortgage with...
2022 Mortgage Industry Implosion Tracker
In March 2020, the Fed cut rates to 0%. Mortgage rates do not track 1-to-1 with the Fed rate, but by August 2020 it was the case that the highest rates available for vanilla normal mortgages were lower than the lowest rates, for the same, that been available in 2019....
Home improvement ROI considerations?
Wherein I give you "permission" to make home improvements for your family, not for the return on investment! Featuring a cool kid with absolutely crazy climbing abilities, demonstrated via the epic in-house climbing wall....
High Mortgage Fees Drive Me Crazy!
Did you know that since 2019 average feed paid by consumers, to lenders, for originating a mortgage, have gone up 40%?! #SupplyChain? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8owc6zVIFU We do over 75% of our mortgages with zero lender fees. We do not have 15 layers of middle...
HowTo: Pay off debt to increase your mortgage approval amount!
https://youtu.be/SXFt0dt87jc A common mistake is for the would-be homebuyer to pay off the wrong debts before applying for preapproval. Don't make that mistake! Reach out to us directly, so we can go over which specific debts of yours make the most sense to pay down,...
SB 9 – convert your SFR into a duplex or triplex?!
California recently passed SB 9, which allows the owners of single family homes in urban areas to "divide their lots into two and build up to three additional homes on them" (LA Times). This is going to be a fairly fast (2 minute read) primer to answer some of the...
