A recent article in The New York Times Great Homes and Destinations section featured Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama.  While many of the readers here already know the treasure we have here in LA (Lower Alabama!), all readers will enjoy this timely article.

I don’t expect a lot of volatility this week since the exchange shuts down early for the holidays.  As you get ready for this holiday season, remember the things most important to you, and if your answer has the word Xbox anywhere in it, you should re-evaluate.  Have a Merry Christmas!!

• 4.750% 30 Year Fixed
• 4.750% 15 Year Fixed
• 4.875% 30 Year Fixed FHA
• 5.000% 30 Year Fixed VA

For more information about your loan, call Steve Russell with Primary Residential Mortgage at 850-221-8334. Or visit www.SteveRussellOnline.com.

Steve Russell

Mortgage Banker

Primary Residential Mortgage

850-497-6325 Office

850-221-8334 Cell

steve@steverussellonline.com

*Rates are subject to change without notice. Click here for the specifics on the rate quotes listed above.

We started out really well, then the fed meeting results came out with the lowest federal funds rate in the history of the federal reserve at .25%. That’s right, the banks are now borrowing their money at .25%. At one point on Tuesday, I was quoting rates at 4.75% with no points and 4.25% with 1% origination. Can you believe that?!

Then the air let out of the balloon on Wednesday as bond traders got nervous and we are back to the low 5% range with no points. Try not to cry over a terrible rate of 5% (wink), but the volatility in the market is a

strong indication that you should be ready to pull the trigger when the time comes. If you are worried about rumors of 4.5% rates coming available through the government, be aware of a few things:

1) A bird in the hand is better than a rumor and a maybe – If the government were to force a stimulus that will take rates down to 4.5%, it will only affect first time buyers. And if you have kept up with any of the government attempts to stimulate, you will notice that they have failed miserably (including the most recent Hope For Homeowners which to date has had fewer than 100 closed loans nationwide due to the heavy restrictions in qualifying).

2) The difference in monthly payment is negligible – The difference in monthly payment on a $200,000 loan at 4.5% vs. 5.0% is about $13.76 per week. With all of the stresses of searching for and buying a home, there is no need to add watching the bond market on a daily basis to it.

3) Historically low rates, and prices dating back to 2003 – I mean….what else can I say?! If you can’t see the value in buying an asset at the lowest price in over 5 years, combined with the cost of financing at historic lows, there is not much more that I can say.

Self Employed Alert: As we near the end of the year, and tax season is right around the corner, be aware of your income taxes and how they affect your ability to buy a home. If you are even remotely considering buying a home in this buyers market, pull out your last 2 tax returns right now. Look at the bottom right corner of your 1040 form where it says “Adjusted Gross Income”. This is the figure that is considered taxable income after expenses. That is the number that underwritiers use to calculate income and debt ratio for qualifying for a mortgage. This means that if you told your loan officer that you make $100k per year, and after reviewing your tax returns, you have written off $80k in expenses, you will probably not qualify for a mortgage (purchase or refinance).

This is important now, because you can address this with your accountant for the coming tax year. Underwriters will take your last 2 years signed tax returns, add them together, and divide by 24, and that is the monthly income that you have for the sake of a mortgage.

I hope this helps, and if I can help you, give me a call anytime at 850-497-6325 or go to www.SteveRussellOnline.com.

Steve Russell

Mortgage Banker

Primary Residential Mortgage

850-497-6325 Office

850-221-8334 Cell

steve@steverussellonline.com

]]> http://www.mygulfcoastbeachteam.com/mortgage-rates-december-19th-weekly-wrap-up/feed/ http://www.mygulfcoastbeachteam.com/muddy-waters-blues-trail-marker-installed-in-rolling-fork-ms/ http://www.mygulfcoastbeachteam.com/muddy-waters-blues-trail-marker-installed-in-rolling-fork-ms/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:36:29 +0000 Cal http://www.mygulfcoastbeachteam.com/?p=303 The Muddy Waters Blues Trail Marker was installed in Rolling Fork, MS recently.

The following is from the Lower Delta Partnership December 2008 Newsletter:

On Wednesday, December 3 at 10:30 a.m., Rolling Fork joined the Mississippi Blues Trail with a marker
dedicated to McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. Muddy Waters. The marker dedication will take place near the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and Walnut Streets in Rolling Fork; the public was invited.

Born April 4, 1915, near Rolling Fork, MS Blues great, Muddy Waters, took Chicago by storm in the late

1940’s playing slide guitar blues on the electric guitar. Considered one of the greatest bluesmen of all times, Muddy Waters was also a huge inspiration of the British beat explosion in the 1960’s as acknowledged by such notables as The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.

The Mississippi Blues Trail is the primary project of the Mississippi Blues Commission which was organized in 2003 with a mission to foster an appreciation of the Blues and the culture that created it. The commission plans to install over 100 markers throughout Mississippi, currently there are 52 markers which are proving to be an effective tourist attraction for the state. A fundraising drive was held earlier this year in which local citizens donated over $1,200.00 toward the marker. The City of Rolling Fork contributed the remaining sum to meet the local match requirement for Muddy’s Blues marker.

Relatives of McKinley Morganfield were special guests at the marker unveiling. Mr. Jay Sieleman, executive director of the Blues Foundation, Robert Gordon, author of Can’t Be Satisfied - The Muddy Waters Story, and Rolling Fork native son, Willy Bearden, producer of the Blues Music Awards and 2009 recipient of The Blues Foundation Keeping the Blues Alive Award all took part in the dedication. Other state and local dignitaries were also present at the ceremony which was organized by the City of Rolling Fork, the Sharkey County Historic Preservation Commission and friends in cooperation with Mississippi Development Authority and the Blues Commission.

Robert Morganfield, brother of the late Muddy Waters, McKinley Morganfield, plays his harmonica during the dedication of Muddy’s Marker in Rolling Fork, MS.

Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton

Are you on the same wavelength
as your market?

Do you have the tools you need to capture and convert your online customers (and aren’t they all online these days)?

Because technology is now a core part of our real estate businesses, I wanted to share SHIFT’s Internet Lead Generation Model with you.

I would also love to tell you about all the technology training, tools and resources that Keller Williams Realty offers - all for just $10 a month. Customizable Websites, national IDX, not to mention free leads from all your listings on the Web.

I think SHIFT would offer you even more ideas and strategies for making the most out of your Web presence and Keller Williams Realty’s technology tools could put it all into action. Are you ready to make a shift? Let’s get together soon! Call me.

]]> http://www.mygulfcoastbeachteam.com/catch-people-in-your-web-internet-lead-generation-for-real-estate/feed/ http://www.mygulfcoastbeachteam.com/mississippi-theres-no-place-like-home/ http://www.mygulfcoastbeachteam.com/mississippi-theres-no-place-like-home/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:16:50 +0000 Cal http://www.mygulfcoastbeachteam.com/?p=294 Only in Mississippi.  It’s all true, y’all!

1. You can properly pronounce Kosciusko, Ackerman, Gautier and Belzoni.

2. You think people who complain about the heat in their states are sissies.

3. A tornado warning siren is your signal to go out in the yard and look for a funnel.

4. You know that the true value of a parking space is not determined by the distance to the door, but by the availability of shade.

5. Stores don’t have bags or shopping carts, they have sacks and buggies.

6. You’ve seen people wear overalls at funerals.

7. You think everyone from a bigger city has an  accent.

8. You measure distance in minutes. (It’s about 5 minutes down the road)

9. You go to the lake because it’s like going to the ocean.

10. You listen to the weather forecast before picking out an outfit.

11. You know cowpies are not made of beef.

12. Someone you know has used a football schedule to plan their wedding date.

13. You have known someone who has a belt buckle bigger than your  fist.

14. You aren’t surprised to find movie rental, ammunition, beer, and bait all in the same store.

15. A Mercedes Benz isn’t a status symbol. A Chevy Silverado Extended Bed Crew Cab is.

16. You know everything goes better with Comeback Dressing.

17. You learned how to shoot a gun before you learned how to multiply.

18. You actually get these jokes and are ‘fixin’  to send them to your friends.

19. You have used your heater and air-conditioner in the same day.

Finally: You are 100% Mississippian if you have ever had this conversation:

20. ‘You wanna coke?’ ‘Yeah.’  ‘What kind?’ ‘Dr Pepper.’

21. You have been on vacation to Gulf Shores Alabama!

We know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting

different results. (Einstein)

Keller Williams is actively interrogating the market and trends and finding the streams of revenue in this industry for 2009.

In reality, there is a process involved with locking a rate that involves pulling credit, running the application for an approval, registering a loan number, and then running the file through a “pricing engine” to get and secure the actual rate lock based on market conditions.

Today, I had a customer that had been non-committal for the last couple of days shopping for the best rate.

When she finally made the decision to move forward, the bond market had made a drastic re-tracement that, even though I jumped on it immediately, I was unable to secure the rate lock before the system was frozen due to volatility.  When it came live again, her rate was .25% higher, and she was less than happy.  In her situation, we will just float the loan and wait for the market to correct itself, but it is frustrating for all involved.

The moral of the story is;

if you find the loan officer that you trust and want to work with, get the application done, get your paperwork together so that your loan officer can pull the trigger in a moments notice when your target rate becomes available.

The news media is very good at giving out headlines, but never the whole story.  Behind this story is not just the low rates that we are seeing, but the volatility in the market that creates wild swings in intraday bond trading.

Luck is nothing more than preparation combined with opportunity.  So, prepare yourself for the opportunity to get a great mortgage loan in the coming weeks.

If you would like to discuss your mortgage for the opportunity to lower your rate or get a fixed rate to replace your ARM, call me anytime at 850-221-8334, e-mail me or visit my website at e-mail me or visit my website at www.SteveRussellOnline.com.

Steve Russell

Mortgage Banker

Primary Residential Mortgage

www.SteveRussellOnline.com

steve@steverussellonline.com

850-221-8334 Cell

850-497-6325 Office

888-257-8383 Toll Free Voice and Fax

Well it is time for my friend Kevin Koitz to put his nose to the grind stone!  Serving the Washington DC Real Estate Market as well as Bethesda MD Real Estate Market, Kevin and his Koitz Group have been preparing for the arrival and departure of administrations regardless of who won any of the hundreds of elections.

Of course the biggie election was the Presidential election and it was a given that there would be no additional term for the current President.  Regardless of who the winner would be there would be a great demand for the efforts of great Real Estate agents in the near future.

As we all now know, Barak Obama beat John McCain and will be appointing many, many people to new positions of responsibility.  The Barak Obama Transition Team is presently getting all of their Presidential appointment decisions made and confirmed.  As this Presidential transition takes place there will be large numbers of persons not only moving in to the Washington DC and Bethesda MD market area but many moving out as well.  The Koitz Group stands prepared to assist those that will be buying homes and condos as well as those that will be needing to sell homes and condos.

Regardless of who you supported in the election or what party you are affiliated with be it Democrat, Republican, or Independent we all have great hopes that the new administration will have great success in it’s transition and that the woes we have been suffering will be put behind us as a Country and that we can soon return to prosperity!

If you are presently in transition either to or from the DC real estate market and would like the assistance of a great REALTOR, contact Kevin Koitz!

And when it is time for you or your friends to find a great place on the beach to get away from the DC scene, remember to visit our Gulf Shores Real Estate site!

Since the immediate reaction in the mortgage market to a reduction in the federal funds rate is often negative, be prepared for some volitility in the mortgage bond market this week.  The rates below are as of 4:00 Central Time on 12/15/08:

• 5.000%  30 Year Fixed
• 4.875%  15 Year Fixed
• 5.000%  30 Year Fixed FHA
• 5.000%  30 Year Fixed VA

For more information about your loan, call Steve Russell with Primary Residential Mortgage at 850-221-8334.  Or visit www.SteveRussellOnline.com.

*Rates are subject to change without notice.  Click here for the specifics on the rate quotes listed above.