All Blog Posts (528)

While most of America was celebrating the holiday season, our leaders in Washington were arguing about the Federal Spending Bill and the extension of a middle class tax credit. If you didn't follow the results, there was a…

The interest rate predictions at the beginning of 2012 were that rates would gradually rise into the 5.5% area. This was based on the assumption that the economy would gradually be improving and The interest rate predictions at the beginning of 2012 were that rates would gradually rise into the 5.5% area. This was based on the assumption that the economy…

On December 1, 2011 the Federal government expanded their HARP refinance program and may have created the first really significant solution to the depressed world of real estate. The acronym stands for Home Affordable Refinance Program. It is designed to help homeowners that have performed according to the requirements of their mortgage but the value of their home has…

Over the last three years appraisals have been a challenge to many transactions and in many cases become a deal killer. Buyers that purchased at the top of the market have become trapped in a declining market that imprisons them in the current situation with few alternatives for improvement. If they wish to sell, they find their equity gone so there are no funds for a down payment and…

By Gary Tedrow, Western Ohio Mortgage

If you’ve been watching the economic news, you’ve probably

noticed that market experts and traders have been keeping a close eye on the

Commerce Department’s Personal Spending and Personal Income reports. Obviously,

those reports provide insight into the health of our economy, but did you know

they also influence home loan rates? That’s right, personal spending can actually

influence the interest rates that are…

This is a question I deal with almost every day. Buyers want to

buy more house to lower their payment with a low rate. Homeowners want to lower

their current payments and hit the market lows. Shoppers "dial for

dollars" by calling every lender on the internet to find the best base

rate available. At the risk of starting an endless journey, I'd like to give

some…

The Congressional Super Committee is listening to all sides and keeping their cards close to the vest when it comes to their proposal for budget reform. If they come up with nothing there will be $1.2 billion in automatic cuts. This week 100 congressmen signed a letter urging them to go after $4 billion in cuts. Of course the devil is in the details and I haven’t seen many new ideas. There is one, though.

               This beauty is called the Harkin-DeFazio Financial Transaction…

Have you ever sat in on a presentation or session, where soomething jumps out at you and you say to yourself, “wow – that is so simple and obvious, but yet I never would have visualized it that way.” This post is a result of that type of experience. The concept has to do with the Buyer’s Cycle, or the cycle we all go through when making any type of purchase.

Picture a clock, starting at 12 and moving around clockwise. Here are the phases buyers go through on that clock:

1:…

You have just used LinkedIn to update your professional profile and had a profile for your company, but for your status updates on your business you went to Facebook and Twitter. Well that has now changed.

Now those who are admins of company profiles on LinkedIn can post real status updates and include a link! Which will allow you to share photo's, videos and much more.…

Are you Crazy?

Mortgage rates hit another historic low the past week. A thirty

year fixed rate could be had right at 4% and a fifteen year rate was at 3.375%.

All the talking heads are emphasizing…

At F8 this week Facebook rolled out a bunch of new changes to the way you view information from your network. See our blog for the run down on the top 11 changes that happened on Wednesday September 21st (click here for yesterdays blog)

I know everyone…

(Did you wake up Wednesday morning to find a new Facebook?  Many were looking at their home feed this morning as most of us do without a cup of coffee or anything.   Did you shudder, did you gasp, did you freak out?  I pictured Jon Stewart screaming NOOOOOOO as he looks up at a camera on the ceiling of the studio!  LOL   Most of you felt like this image describes. …

It has been a summer of weather catastrophes and economic nightmares which make people nervous and afraid to make any moves. The numbers that are talked about daily are the high unemployment rate and the low GDP. Add to that short list, the declining home prices and you have a recipe for recession.

I would like to add a few other recent pieces of data that make me think that the evening news may just be missing something. Maybe these longer term trends aren’t as sexy or take more…

http://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-angry-at-perry-for-crossing-boundaries-with-houston-prayer-rally-53291/

 …

CHINA: 2 Years Labor for Pastor

In another example of the ongoing crackdown against house churches in China, house church pastor Shi Enhao was sentenced to two years in a labor camp last month. Pastor Shi, who serves as deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance, was charged with “illegal meetings and illegal organizing of venues…

As a travel consultant, you would think that planning my own summer vacation would be easy, that things should just fall into place. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and that’s why I’ve procrastinated until just a few weeks before leaving to really start planning.

Choosing where to go was the easy part. Several months ago my wife and I opted for Niagara Falls with a few days in Cleveland on the way. That was the easy part. Putting all of the details together – that’s the…

What You Need to Know If You're Buying a Home!

You've probably heard the saying, "When you fail to plan, you plan to fail." That is especially true when it comes to buying a home today. Underwriters are following strict guidelines–and that means even things like bank deposits and transfers are under scrutiny.



Here's some…