My New Blog

Wow - have we had a snow storm over the last week!! I don't know about you, but I think I'm almost ready for rain again - definitely ready for some sunshine. This has been quite a week.

I hope that all of you are staying warm and safe during all this inclement weather. AND, I hope most of you live in areas where you are not being affected by power outages. It seems PGE just can't figure out what's going on in my area - power outage from very early morning yesterday until close to 2pm. Then a couple more outages this morning already. Just my neighborhood alone is keeping those PGE crews busy. They are some of the heros in this storm, in my book.

Rates today are a little higher than we saw last week. According to CNBC this morning, with yields at record lows on the 10 year Treasury bond, but prices high to buy those bonds, there are few buyers, which contributes to slightly higher mortgage rates this morning. We are still definitely at 5% or lower, but not as low as we've been. Those rates will come back though I think, for all the reasons mentioned last week.

The stock market is down slightly this morning, but trading, as expected, is very light. This is, after all, a holiday week, and most people are much more focused on the holidays. Locally, I expect most of us might be wondering how we are going to get to friends and family houses to celebrate.

Mortgage renegotiations??? I have received letters from several companies intimating that they represent my lender. When I have called, they are in fact, companies all over the country offering the same renegotiation services my office, Town and Country Mortgage is offering. The difference with these other companies so far, has been that I would be working with attornies all over the country, as opposed to local attornies who know our market. So, that said, I do want to emphasize that the attorney you will deal with, if you choose to utilize services I can offer, are local attorneys. You will meet with them face to face, and they will explain to you the process in all the detail you require to decide if this is an option you want to pursue. For my part, I will take a mortgage application for you, and if you are not eligible for a refinance transaction, or if a refinance transaction does not make sense for you, I will let you know you do not qualify, and will turn your file over to our attorneys for renegotiation. Then our office becomes the source for an expert witness for the attorney, to advise on what rates and terms you can qualify, and what loan balance makes sense for your property.

In most cases, our attorneys are using the real estate values on zillow.com to determine the value of your property, and therefore how much of your loan balance should be forgiven by the banks. If you are unsure what value zillow.com shows for your house, it is a free website - so look up your own house. Some neighborhoods in the Portland metro area have been very hard hit by falling values, while others have held their own relatively well.

Unless we have more significant news over the next 2 days (remember that all mortgage offices close at noon - 1pm on Wednesday, Christmas eve), this will be my last email to you until Friday. Yes - I will be working Friday, so please feel free to call if you have any questions or concern.

Please have a safe and sane and wonderful holiday. Stay warm and dry, and drive safely if you are driving.

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.

Warm regards,