John Beckett's Real Estate Blog

As mortgage rates hit a new record low this week, two questions come to mind:

• How low will rates go?
• And when will they head back up again?

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan fell for the third straight week, to 4.57%, down from 4.58% last week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average rate for a 15-year loan was 4.07%, up from 4.04% last week. The 30-year rate is the lowest since Freddie Mac started keeping records in 1971 and the lowest recorded by the Bureau of Economic Statistics since February 1955, when home-loan terms were shorter than 30 years.  The number of refinancing applications rose 9.2% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said, as more people who refinanced last year, when rates were about 5.5%, see benefits to refinancing again. The number of applications for home purchases, however, continued to decline.  Why are rates so low? It’s the economy. Amy Hoak of MarketWatch explains, mortgage rates are low because of fears about the economy, both in the United States and abroad. She interviewed Greg McBride of BankRate.com, who said: When investors get nervous, they flock to safe-haven investments such as government debt. Mortgage rates are priced relative to yields on U.S. government debt. The decline on government bond yields has directly benefited the mortgage shopper. And when will rates start to rise? I left my crystal ball in my other office, but the short answer, obviously, is when the economy improves.  David Dessner, director of sales for New York’s GuardHill Financial mortgage company, told said: So keep an eye on when investors start moving their money from U.S. Treasury bonds to other venues. That’s when rates will start to inch up. Remember that the published weekly number is an average gathered nationwide, so the actual rate customers are offered can vary. In fact, mortgage rates offered by a given lender on a given product can change daily, or even several times a day.  The irony of the record-low mortgage rates, of course, is that so few people can refinance or can afford to buy because of the same economic conditions that are keeping rates low. Ted C. Jones, a title company economist in Houston who was interviewed by Holden Lewis of Bankrate.com, has what he calls “a great way to get money in the pockets for people to recover from this economy”: Allow anyone who is up to date on mortgage payments to refinance at the current market rate, even if they owe way more than their home is worth.  If you’re one of the lucky few Americans who have at least 20% equity in your home, a solid income and good credit, you may want to see if refinancing could save you money. Refinancing a $250,000 mortgage from 5.5% to 4.5% would save about $150 a month.  But whether refinancing provides a true savings depends on whether you’ll live in the house long enough to recoup your closing costs, which vary widely across the country.  Is this a good time to buy a house or should you wait for rates to go lower? Or rush now for fear rates will spike soon? This assumes, of course, you have a down payment, a secure job and good credit — things many Americans lack these days.  McBride and other experts  expect rates to rise by the end of the year, but McBride points out that 5.5% is still a low rate, by historical standards. On a $100,000 loan, the difference between a 4.5% rate and a 5.5% rate is $61 a month.  The biggest question to ask is whether this is the right time for YOU to buy a house.

Read at: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/blog/page.aspx?post=1779385&_blg=1,1779072

Homebuyers and sellers who expect an appraisal to sail through to closing without a hitch may be surprised to discover that home appraisals today can be problematic. The reasons for the change are complex, but there’s no question that mortgage lenders have started to demand more reviews and do-overs. Rob Johnson, vice president of lending at San Diego Funding, a mortgage company in San Diego, attributes the increase in home appraisal reviews to lender-specific requirements imposed because of past problems with certain types of home loans. For example, a mortgage lender might demand more scrutiny of an appraisal if the borrower has a marginal credit score or high debt level relative to income or if the property was a foreclosure that was fixed up and flipped by an investor.

Appraisals may lag home prices

Home prices are also a factor. When prices are on the rise, perhaps because buyers have bid more in a multiple-offer situation, appraised values might still be lower. The reverse is also the case. “Any time you have a market in transition, appraisals aren’t going to keep up because the appraisal is based on historical data,” Johnson says. nadequate “comps” can present problems as well. (“Comps” are recent sales of nearby homes that are similar, or comparable, to the home that’s the subject of the appraisal.) The mortgage lender may deem the comps inadequate if the homes were too far away or were sold in such nontraditional circumstances as a short sale or foreclosure or if the sales occurred too long ago. If the comps aren’t sufficient, the lender may order a review or second home appraisal to verify that they were chosen correctly. “If (the appraiser) can’t find three comps within that area and has to expand, that is where you start to get appraisal reviews or secondary appraisal requirements to make sure the appraisal was valid or that (the lender) was comfortable,” Johnson says. The term “second appraisal” generally refers to a new, start-from-scratch valuation. An appraisal review could be a “desk review,” in which the appraisal gets a second look by an office-bound person, or a “field review,” in which the appraisal is subject to another drive-by or in-person inspection of the property. A review is more common than a second appraisal.

New guidelines distance lenders from appraisers

Leslie Sellers, president of the Appraisal Institute in Chicago, says a lender might order a new home appraisal if the first one was based on factual errors or the appraiser wasn’t competent in the area. Some second appraisals, he adds, result from a misunderstanding of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, guidelines that were meant to prevent undue pressure being placed on appraisers to inflate home valuations, but that may have caused some lenders to cut off communication with appraisers. “The banks are thinking they can’t even talk to the appraiser,” he says.

Sellers can offer comps to appraiser

An appraisal review can cost several hundred dollars while a second appraisal generally involves a second full fee, says Sara Schwarzentraub, owner of Inter-State Appraisal Service in San Diego. These costs usually are paid by the buyer. “It’s commendable that the lenders are being cautious and having stricter criteria to protect themselves, because in the long term that protects everybody, but it does make it more costly,” she says. Home sellers can offer the appraiser information that might affect the appraiser’s opinion of the home’s value. This information is best handed over before the appraisal is prepared. “If you know of a sale that’s similar to your house and it was a foreclosure, short sale, divorce or anything of that nature, make the appraiser aware of that,” Sellers says. Real-estate brokers can help buyers and sellers find comps to offer the appraiser, Johnson says. If the broker believes comps may present a problem, the buyer and seller can plan accordingly. “A good real-estate agent is aware of these issues. Many times, an agent will call us and say, ‘I know we are going to have problems with comps on this,” he says. Neither the buyer nor seller can choose the appraiser, but Sellers says buyers can insist on a minimum competency, which he defines as having local market knowledge and being certified as well as licensed. Buyers and sellers also can agree on longer time frames for the home appraisal contingency and closing date. Schwarzentraub says that asking for a 45- or 60-day closing, rather than 30 days, is not unreasonable. Buyers are entitled by federal law to a copy of any appraisal for which they’ve paid a fee. Buyers should look over the appraisal and notify the lender of any errors that could have affected the appraiser’s opinion of the home’s value.

Read at: http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=24569959

Every guy needs a getaway, a place where he can go to hang out, by himself or with his buddies. Batman had his secret cave, Superman his remote Fortress of Solitude. Well, you’re not going to tunnel underground or fly off to the Arctic for your special sanctuary. But you can create the perfect hideaway within your own home. All it takes is a spare bedroom, a corner of the basement or even an attic to carve out a manly escape — especially if your idea of escaping is locking yourself in a room to listen to Miles Davis albums at floor-shaking levels, shouting encouragement to your alma mater’s football team or tinkering in the privacy of your workshop.

The guy: Your tastes run more to single-malt scotch than malt liquor, and you want a sophisticated space to indulge your passions: vintage jazz, fine cigars and the occasional game of Texas hold ‘em with the guys. You’re one of the few people you know who still keep a collection of LPs and a turntable to play them on, the centerpiece of an audio system that gets pride of place in this mellow den.

The getaway: Think Edwardian library, updated for the 21st century with built-in storage for stereo equipment, sound-absorbing floor and walls, and a wireless tabletop remote control to operate everything from the music to the lighting to the thermostat.

Setting it up right
Whether it’s in a downstairs den, a converted bedroom or the attic, the key to a good listening room is containing the sound. After all, you can’t crank up the volume if the kids are next door trying to sleep. The best method, says Utz Baldwin, president of Houston-based electronics installer AD Systems, is to build a room within a room, creating an air buffer zone to deaden sound. But if you’re not inclined to construct a high-tech listening chamber, you can install sound-baffling materials on the floor, walls and ceiling. And don’t forget to audition your speakers. “Listen to your ears, not to a salesperson,” Baldwin says. Try to position your sitting area so it creates an equilateral triangle with the speakers, and place the speakers at least a foot or two away from the side and back walls for best sound quality.

Read at: http://realestate.msn.com/listarticle.aspx?cp-documentid=24360350

This weeks post is going to be in three parts. Today is on the “Sports den”. The next two will be on “The get away”  and last but not least will be “The Wired Shop.

Every guy needs a getaway, a place where he can go to hang out, by himself or with his buddies. Batman had his secret cave, Superman his remote Fortress of Solitude. Well, you’re not going to tunnel underground or fly off to the Arctic for your special sanctuary. But you can create the perfect hideaway within your own home. All it takes is a spare bedroom, a corner of the basement or even an attic to carve out a manly escape — especially if your idea of escaping is locking yourself in a room to listen to Miles Davis albums at floor-shaking levels, shouting encouragement to your alma mater’s football team or tinkering in the privacy of your workshop.

1. The sports den

The guy: You haven’t quite outgrown your love for hoops or video games, and Sundays are holy to you because of pro football. Whether it’s March Madness or the latest action-movie DVD, everyone wants to watch it on your big screen.

The getaway: Your basement home theater has to be big enough to accommodate a crowd, but you don’t want to sacrifice anything in the way of sound or video quality. That means a high-definition digital projector, a 75-inch (or larger) screen and at least 5.1-channel surround-sound speakers. For comfort, you need ample plush seating, and for convenience, a built-in bar complete with taps for your favorite suds.

Setting it up right
Today’s high-quality projectors have excellent “off-angle” viewing, which means you don’t need to sit directly in front of the screen to get a sharp image. Marc Leidig, owner of Ambiance Systems in Clifton Park, N.Y., suggests mounting the projector against the back wall or in the wall cavity to avoid the distraction of a machine hanging overhead. An acoustically transparent screen, with thousands of tiny holes that allow sound to pass through, lets you install the center channel speaker of your surround system behind it, further reducing visual clutter. Leidig recommends a fixed screen rather than a retractable one. “It saves money that you can spend on other features in the room, and it performs better because it can’t move around and affect video quality.”

Article From: http://realestate.msn.com/listarticle.aspx?cp-documentid=24360350

Signs are emerging that the job market is picking up, but landing a new position can still be a challenge. The last thing you want to do is sabotage your employment search, and, since your résumé is typically the first impression that hiring managers have of you, it’s also the first place where you can potentially ruin your chances. According to a survey conducted by Robert Half International, executives spend more than six minutes, on average, screening each résumé they receive, which means every word counts in this critical document. Of course, no job seeker is going to shoot himself or herself in the foot on purpose. But you might be harming yourself without realizing it. Here are five common mistakes that put you at risk of losing the job opportunity:

1. You don’t proofread
Three out of four executives interviewed said just one or two typos in a résumé would remove applicants from consideration for a job. Since your word processing program has a spell-check function, you may think there’s no need to review your résumé for typos and grammatical errors. Unfortunately, spell-checkers don’t catch words that may be spelled correctly but used incorrectly: For example, if your most recent position was as a corporate blogger, your software may not raise the red flag if you mistakenly list yourself as a “logger.” In addition to reading through the résumé yourself, you should also have someone else review it to catch any errors that you may have overlooked.

2. You ignore potential red flags
When reviewing your résumé, imagine that it belongs to someone else. After reading through it, would you have questions about the information provided or be concerned by a lack of details? If you have these thoughts, rest assured potential employers will, too. For instance, one of the biggest red flags is a gap in employment that goes unexplained. Rather than make a hiring manager wonder why you were away from the workplace for an extended period of time, use your cover letter to address why you weren’t working and how you continued to advance your career through volunteer opportunities, professional development courses or other means.

3. You exaggerate your qualifications
Some people will do whatever they can to stand out, which includes fudging the details about a job title, the amount of time spent with an employer or a professional accomplishment. If you think that a hiring manager won’t try to confirm your qualifications, think again. If you are caught making up information, you not only will lose out on the opportunity at that company but also may permanently harm your reputation. Even a small fib can prove harmful. For instance, if you’re working toward a degree that you plan to complete by the summer, don’t say you already have the credential.

4. You don’t explain yourself
The best résumés use specific language so hiring managers can clearly understand your qualifications and accomplishments. If you say you are “knowledgeable” about HTML, an employer will not know if you use it every day to code Web pages or if you simply know that the acronym stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. Instead of using a vague term, you should explain how you’ve used your knowledge of HTML for certain projects or to aid your employer, how long you’ve been using it and if you possess any relevant certifications. Along the same lines, be specific when listing periods of employment, including the month and year for start and end dates instead of just the year.

5. You’re too wordy
Sometimes it’s difficult to determine what information belongs in your résumé and what can be safely left out. After all, the temptation is to describe any qualification that might remotely tip the scales in your favor. But you might not want to list every accomplishment, skill or project you’ve worked on. Hiring managers appreciate brevity, so cull the information you include, focusing on the aspects of your work history that are most relevant to the job for which you’re applying. If you’ve had a long career, for instance, you may include fewer details about jobs you held early on that don’t relate to your current career path. Omit hobbies, personal facts and other fluff, too.

Read at: http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2184-Cover-Letters-Resumes-5-Ways-You-Could-Be-Ruining-Your-R%C3%A9sum%C3%A9-Without-Realizing-It/?cbsid=61418593e72b487c8e31b8137e7f4da6-327931131-RL-4&sc_extcmp=JS_2184_advice&cbRecursionCnt=2&SiteId=cbmsn42184&ArticleID=2184&gt1=23000