For information on qualifying for USDA Home Loans in NC, Click Here

For information on where you can purchase USDA Home Loans in other parts of the Triangle, click here.

Many of our competitors are NOT doing USDA Mortgage Loans – but we are closing them every week! Here’s a list of counties in NC where you can get this 100%, no money down loan.

If this is an area you are considering for a home, Call us 919-649-5058!  We work with TOP Real Estate Agents in this area who are familiar with the market, how to negotiate for the Seller to Pay Closing Costs, and how to get you the best price!

Call Steve Thorne 919-649-5058 USDA Home Loan Expert if you have questions on Qualifying for a USDA Home Loan in Wake Forest NC and Rolesville NC. We have the best mortgage rates available in North Carolina

I read a ton of Economic commentary and as such, I can sometimes come across as a “Debbie Downer.”

I like low mortgage rates – I’m constantly looking to see if they are going lower… and in general, as mortgage interest rates move lower, it’s BECAUSE of BAD NEWS in the Economy.

Most people don’t want to read commentary from someone who is delivering more bad news, because they get enough of that from the media. So instead of pointing out that home sales are down, and consumer confidence is off, and the Economist that Obama most listens to (Mark Zandi) thinks we need more jobs to make markets move higher…

Let’s look at the Bright Side of Life!

• Mortgage Rates are at an ALL TIME low.  I’m talking lower than World War II when our grandparents all bought houses.

• Housing Prices are at an ALL TIME low. You’ve never been able to get a better deal on Real Estate.  That’s a fact I don’t think ANYONE can disagree on!

The question then becomes… are we at the Bottom?

I am a syndicated writer.  I write for Zillow and Lender 411, and I’ve been saying lately that”this is not my first rodeo” – meaning, I’ve seen at least 7 other Refinance Booms in my mortgage career.  They all follow a pretty predictable path (If you want to know if you should refinance now, click here).  Rates get low, they pop back up, they get a bit lower over a gradual period of time, and then one day – they don’t get any lower.

At some point, the banks are just not interested in buying mortgage loans, over a 30 year period, that have rates below a certain percent of profit.

It looks to me like we are there. (Can I Get A Refinance Under 4.25%, click here)  I think we are at the bottom of this cycle, and that means if you are waiting for a lower rate, you are wasting valuable time! In a few hours, the ADP jobs numbers will be released, and Friday, August 6th the NonFarm Payroll Numbers will be released.

These reports, if AT ALL positive will likely move mortgage rates higher.

If you want to PURCHASE, and, and, and the moon is right, and you have money to cover your closing costs, and your down payment - you might be able to work out a temporary buy down so that you would have payments starting at 2.5% the first year, 3.5% the next year and 4.5% (4.8 APR) for there on out.  But that will be the exception, not the rule. (click here for more info on a 2-1 Buy Down)

So, if you are considering a Home purchase in Raleigh or Cary, or you want to refinance a mortgage in NC – please don’t wait, call Steve and Eleanor Thorne 919-649-5058.  We’ve seen these situations before, and you need to act while rates are where you want them to be!

Robert Rauf, a friend of ours to the north put together a great review of what Economic and Financial reports are in play this week – and how they might move mortgage rates!

Last week we saw a pretty stagnant couple of days with a little bit of up on Tuesday and a little bit of Down on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving us pretty much unchanged by time Friday morning came along. The markets seemed to be waiting on the Employment report to sink their teeth into for some direction. Friday’s Employment report came in looking pretty darn strong with oodles of new jobs, the rate dropping to 9.7%… but if you dug just a little you could see that over 400k of the new jobs created were census workers (temps basically) and there was almost NO hiring in the private sector.

So the good news number was actually bad news, and if you read my blogs at all you will know that bad news is good news for interest rates and we ended the week with a gain of 21/32nds for Fannies keeping fixed rates for highly qualified buyers in the high 4% range.

This week starts off a little slow and has a good mix of data to chew on and some auctions to mix things up along the way. Here is this weeks calendar:

• Monday June 7: No news day and in the absence of any economic data we have a pretty flat market that started off slightly negative and is now slightly positive for the day.
• Tuesday June 8: Auction # 1 of the week with $26 Billion in 3 year notes. Most of the shorter term auctions have been fairly well bid, I anticipate we will see the same this week and this will most likely be supportive of steady rates.
• Wednesday June 9: April Wholesale Inventories expected up 0.6%. Snooze factor here, no one really cares about an April number in June, not likely to be a market mover.
• Wednesday: Auction #2 with $21 Billion in 10 year notes. Normally I would be concerned over this much supply in a longer term note, but the flight to quality we have seen that has dropped rates to levels we have now seems to still be there with the concerns in Europe, I expect we will see demand for this as investors (foreign and domestic) look for a safe place to park their cash. This will probably lead to a steady market for the day.
• Wednesday: Fed releases its Beige Book. This report puts together the 12 districts of the Federal Reserve. There are some glimmers of hope and improving economy in the reports, but employment remains in the ugly range so it will likely overshadow any signs of improvement in this report. This is not a likely market mover.
• Thursday June 10: Jobless claims for last week expected down 5,000. This would put the number at almost 450,000. above 400k is still very recessionary, so it is supportive of steady to possibly lower rates.
• Thursday: Auction #3 with $13 Billion in 30 year bonds. Same comments here as yesterdays 10 year… Most likely will be well bid in a flight to quality.
• Friday June 11: Retail Sales expected +0.2% Ex Auto +0.1%. If we are shocked here by a stronger than expected number we will likely see a sell off that would give back all of the gains we saw last week. As forecast it is supportive of steady to possibly lower rates.
• Friday: April Business inventories expected +.5%. This is a case where April is not Ho-Hum.  If this number comes in lower than expected it is a sign that business needs to stock up, that would be positive news for the economy and we would see rates climb on that news. If it comes in as reported it will be the ‘ho-hum’ we would expect from an April Number.

We continue to benefit from Stock market woes and the insecurities in Europe. Investors seem to be continuing to pull out of equities, currency and European debt and tossing it in a safe place to weather the storm. Luckily the USA and the Dollar are considered a safe haven to park cash. This has benefited us in the form of a flight to quality which is likely to keep rates low for the short term. BUT… this flight to quality can disappear in an instant.

No one really likes to put money in a 3 year note at 1.1% or a 10 year at about 3%, Investors want more.  The parking of cash in a flight to quality is not for the yield, it is to preserve cash.

Once investors confidence is restored the cash will flow back out of our credit markets faster than it went in causing rates to jump overnight. That being said, Just lock in- we are at generational lows right now and the greedy will get hurt here.

Robert Rauf Mortgage Banker  NMLS ID# 248937

www.RobertRaufHomeLoans.com or my blog: http://activerain.com/blogs/rrauf

If you are shopping for mortgage rates in NC – please call us! The preditory lending laws in NC are different than any other State in the Union – ask a local mortgage lending expert  Steve and Eleanor Thorne, FFSI, 919-649-5058.

If you are an Economic Junkie like we are – click here for more ideas about the direction rates are going and what the Oil Slick might mean to housing trends.

The Tax Credit is going to “go away” at the end of November… and everybody is telling you NOW is the right time to buy – and that’s a FINE reason… But I think there’s ANOTHER incentive.

I wrote recently about the fact that rates are NOT getting below 5%. The Fed is meeting today- and there’s likely to be a statement tomorrow that they are NOT going to “prop” up the mortgage backed security market after September when the program is scheduled to end. 

The FED has been purchasing mortgage backed securities, and because of that – well, the more they buy, the lower rates go.  So as they’ve given no indication they will continue purchases, rates have started heading up! 

FIRST TIME HOMEBUYERS!  NOW is the time to purchase a home! You can use the USDA home loan program in NC (it’s a 100% loan!),  or FHA or VA (you wouldn’t believe the number of Vets that FORGET this great benefit!)!  Call us, Steve and Eleanor Thorne, to help you with qualifying for a new home!… we have the lowest mortgage rates!

Because our median sales price is lower – our FHA loan limit will go to $271,050 on January 1, 2009.  This means that at the end of the year, the maximum loan in Wake County, Franklin, Harnett or Johnston is $271,050 – down from the current maximum loan of $295,000.  These calculations are based on the Housing Bill that passed Congress in August.  Orange, Person and Durham Counties stay at their current limit of over $336,000!

UPDATE:  In February of 2009 – the FHA raised the limits back to the $295,000 limit!  Talk about CONFUSING!

The downpayment requirements for FHA also change at the end of the year, and if you’re buying that means you will be putting 3.5% starting on January 1st.

If you have questions about qualifying for a mortgage loan, or you want to check rates and see if we can beat what your loan officer is quoting you – call us!