Mortgage rates skyrocketed this week and are .5% higher than Monday. Two things have driven mortgage rates higher:

1- The threat of inflation is omnipresent in every economic report.

2- Two mortgage companies defaulted on their lines of credit.

Remember when I talked about how important it is to use a mortgage planner who subscribes to real-time MBS pricing?

Why am I so adamant about the fact that the ten-year treasury note is not the determining factor of mortgage rates? Continue reading this post

Let’s set the scene. You are a REALTOR; you arrive on time for your weekly [broker] sales meeting to be informed you are now going to be evaluated by your client on every transaction.

Gulp.

That’s not all; in addition the evaluation score will be used publically to assist future clients in their selection of your services.

Is this your worst nightmare or your incredible dream come true?

For me it would be both at the same time. I’ve had clients who think I can part the water and others who would never be satisfied even if I sacrificed my first born son, returned 110% of the commission plus physically moved every stick of furniture into or out of the new home!

Giving power directly to the people who may or may not understand the real estate process would be placing it in hands that have the power to do undeserved damage.

I don’t see that happening. Yet, there is strong merit in having a one-on-one evaluation with the customer. Listening to the other side’s expectation and experience undoubtedly can provide valuable insight Continue reading this post

Lock all interest rates at application.

The unrest in Asian markets is bleeding to the US and traders are more concerned about the inflation risk than the possibility of a recession.

Economists believe that The Fed’s easy money policy is really an investor bailout disguised as a recession aversion. They think it’s compromising the integrity of our economy. As commodities prices (oil, food) accelerate, so may consumer, non-essential prices.

I still favor mid-term ARMs over 30 year-fixed rate loans. We offer a 7-year fixed period ARM at 4.875% (5.18% APR) while a 30-year fixed rate loan is a full percentage point higher.

When you consider that the average hold time for a mortgage is five years, the 7-year fixed period ARM makes a whole bunch of sense.

It should be a volatile week ahead with lots of economic data being released. Keep checking www.millionairerealestatelender.com for updates. Want your rate quote and good-faith-estimate reviewed FREE? Fax it to (858) 605-4230 and call (858) 777-9751 to let me know it’s there. Continue reading this post

According to Wikipedia, a sales lead is:

“…the identity of a person or entity potentially interested in purchasing a product or service, and represents the first stage of a sales process. . . Sales leads come from either marketing lead generation processes such as trade shows, direct marketing, advertising, Internet marketing or from sales person prospecting activities such as cold calling.”

OK, I guess I can live with that definition (though there are clearly more “prospecting activities” than cold calling).

As I mentioned on this blog previously, I don’t like the term “lead”. Maybe it’s just semantics, but I prefer to call the folks visiting my main web site and my blog “visitors” or “readers”. Those terms just sound more personal to me than “sales lead”.

So what do you do once a reader contacts you?

Let’s continue on through the Wikipedia entry… Continue reading this post

While the RE.net crowd promotes the power of networks and blogging,
some of them don’t seem to be adverse to doing a little paid search
on Google.

Looks like the 4realz seminars and
the Redfin blog forum are being promoted not just through their vast
Web 2.0 networks but also through good old fashion paid advertising. Continue reading this post