Blog
The Latest on the $700B Bailout
Posted on Sep 23, 2008 by Mike Geyer |
Many questions have emerged since President Bush's proposal to bail out AIG. One of the questions is what will the price tag be to you, the taxpayer? Here's what we know so far. The Federal government would buy up as much as $700 billion of illiquid assets at a deep discount from banks. The Treasury Department would run the program directly. What remains to be seen is how the Treasury Dept...
A Changed Wall Street Hopes for Positive SIgns
Posted on Sep 21, 2008 by Mike Geyer |
Even though the Dow Jones may be where it was a week ago, Wall Street is a completely different place. In a matter of days, Lehman Brothers Holdings went into bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch was snapped up by Bank of America and the insurer AIG was bailed out by the government. And now the government is planning to assume banks' risky assets. Overall, investors are relieved about the intervention b...
Posted on Sep 17, 2008 by Mike Geyer |
Homeowners rushed to take advantage of the drop in interest rates following the government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Applications to refinance spiked 88% last week accordng to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Also purchase applications edged up by 5% as well. The average rate for a traditional, 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped from 6.06% to 5.82%. The average rate for a ...
Buyers Are Flocking to FHA (government backed) Loans!
Posted on Aug 20, 2008 by Mike Geyer |
Borrowers are flocking to government insured loans, particularly those offered by the Federal Housing Administration, according to Inman News. The Mortgage Bankers Association says application for government-insured loans was up 133.9% in July from a year ago; while applications for conventional loans like those purchased and guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell 50.2%. Ginnie Mae, ...
4 Questions to Ask When Buying A 2nd Home
Posted on Aug 18, 2008 by Mike Geyer |
Four questions to ask when you're buying a second home: How accessible is the property? Gas prices put a damper on the appeal of a place that's hundreds of miles away. You can usually take a cheap flight to Florida, but that's not necessarily true of Corpus Christi, Texas or Durango, Colorado. Is the community well planned? In rural areas, a beautiful new cabin may be right next to a clu...
