4th of July Concert and Fireworks at Cauble Park in Acworth

Make plans to be at Cauble Park at Lake Acworth for 4th of July festivities, including live bands and fireworks. Gates open at 2pm and the first band “Crying in the Sun” begin at 4pm. Fireworks are scheduled to light up the sky the the sun sets. Worried about parking? Shuttles are available from downtown Acworth.

For more information, visit www.acworth.org.

Technology Is Changing How You Get A Mortgage

The mortgage industry is going through a paradigm shift in the way mortgage products are delivered to clients. While the principles have not changed, the method in which they are delivered is changing with ever increasing speed.

Part of my job in delivering outstanding customer service to my clients is great communication…that is a principle. However, the paradigm shift referenced above pertains to the method in which I delivery great communication to my clients.

For example:

• Today most Americans own or have daily access to the Internet 
• Two years ago, most people had never heard of a blog (your reading one now)
• Five years ago, nobody had a Blackberry that delivered their email to remotely
• Ten years ago, most individuals didn’t have an email account
• Fifteen years ago, most people did not have a cell phone

Because of these and other changes, I can now deliver excellent customer service to my clients whether they are 3 or 3,000 miles away. In many ways, because of technology, my level of communication has increasingly exceeded what was possible in the past.

Used correctly, technology not only enhances my customers experience while getting a home loan, it allows them to also better intergrate their mortgage into their overall financial situation.

For that reason, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to enhance my customers overall personal level of service.

Recently I saw a demonstration for a new product called Microsoft Surface.

Surface is indicative of the current trend in computing and technology. Instead of being about adding new features (or speeding up existing ones), it’s about doing things in a simpler, friendlier way.

This trend is made possible because of decades worth of incremental advances in technology — fast enough processors, inexpensive enough camera sensors, large enough displays, experienced and creative enough coders.

Simple, clean, easy. TiVo did it with television recording. Apple did it with the iPod and is hoping to do it with the iPhone.

This approach is what I expect from technology to operate and do what I need it to do…increase my clients overall experience.

Hopefully Microsoft Surface and others deliver on the promising prospect of simple, clean and easy computing. 

 

Which Way Will They Go? Inflation Up, Growth Down, Or Both?

The Federal Open Market Committee adjourns from a two-day meeting today and so this is a good time to remind yourself: The Fed does not control mortgage rates. 

Rather, the Fed sets the Federal Funds Rate.

And the FFR is, in turn, used to determine Prime Rate.

Prime Rate, in turn, is used to determine the rates for credit cards, charge cards and home equity lines of credit. 

This is why today’s meeting should be important to holders of debt — the Fed’s decision to lower, raise or hold the FFR at its current level can impact the spending of every American household.

The Fed is widely expected to hold the Fed Funds Rate steady today, but Ben Bernanke & Co will issue a press release discussing the group’s view on the economy and the outlooks for the future. 

It is the statement that has the biggest influence over mortgage rates.  If the FOMC expresses concerns about inflation, mortgage rates should jump in response.  Naturally, the reverse is true.

Yesterday, after starting the day with strong improvement, mortgage bonds gave up their gains to end the day flat.  Today, bonds are already trending lower (which means higher mortgage rates).

One thing is for sure: there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding today’s press release and traders are unsure of what bets to make next.

(Image courtesy: Wall Street Journal)

When Selling Your Home, It May Be Profitable To Invest In It

The NBC Today Show recently ran a Home Staging series that’s worth watching.  Hosted by Barbara Corcoran, the trio of 5-minute pieces resemble HGTV Reality Shows but carry much more insight and “everyday tips” that ordinary folks can use.

The video clip above is look at a home on Long Island that, as Barbara called it, is “the worst house on the block”.  You can’t help but feel bad for the agent whose name is on the For Sale sign.

Of course, the story has a happy ending — the home is now under contract.

Watch all three home staging clips via YouTube:

• Home staging with a $100 budget
• Home staging with a $500 budget
• Home staging with a $5,000 budget (see clip above)

“People don’t want to put the money in,” Barbara says. “They’re thinking about taking the money out.” 

This series of videos shows how that line of thinking can actually reduce your profits.

How To Protect Yourself From Becoming A “Trigger Lead”

From the CBS News Video Web site, an interesting story for anyone who’s recently applied for credit.

Credit repositories now sell the contact information of people applying for new mortgage loans to other mortgage lenders that want to compete for the business.

Called “trigger leads”, an unsuspecting mortgage applicant can have his credit checked by a mortgage lender, and then discover that the credit bureaus have sold the rights to his personal information to countless other credit firms across the country.

Because trigger leads identify a person making a lending decision right now, one marketer of trigger leads calls them “the best leads in the business”. It’s no wonder that the credit bureaus are marketing them, and that some lenders are salivating over them.

As the family in the CBS video learned, though, it’s difficult to make the phone stop ringing.  Some of the calls bordered on harassment.

For consumers, there is a very low-tech opt-out Web site called http://www.optoutprescreen.com that is sponsored by the three major credit bureaus (and are also the ones that sell trigger leads).  You can opt out for five years, or submit a form by mail to opt out forever.

Watch the video and then go protect yourself.

(Image courtesy: CBS News Video)

The Fed Starts Its Two-Day Meeting

The mortgage markets officially enter “Wait-and-See” mode beginning today as the Federal Open Market Committee begins their two-day meeting.

The importance of the FOMC’s meeting to mortgage markets is all in the words of the committee as opposed to their actions (or lack thereof). 

After all, the group has not “done anything” in a year and yet markets always consider its meetings to be a highly-anticipated event.

What will the FOMC say about inflation, the economy, and the outlook for the future?  This is what impacts the mortgage markets more than anything else.

If the Fed is fearful of inflation, mortgage rates will go up because the dollar is expected to lose value.  That dimishes the value of mortgage bonds to foreign investors.

If the Fed is satisfied that the economy is exhibiting controlled growth, mortgage rates will come down, by contrast.

Right now, markets are anticipating a bullish view on inflation from the Fed and that is one of the reasons why mortgage rates increased so dramatically since March. 

It will be looking for further clues at 2:15 P.M. ET Thursday afternoon.