Radio Shows - Podcast | Page 17 of 43

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Mortgage Mom Radio airs weekly focusing on topics that will educate our listeners around mortgage lending. This week we broadcast from our new Mortgage Mom Radio studio and discuss the new application form used by all mortgage lenders, forbearance and what to do before pursuing a refinance, and tips you can use to help make the mortgage process smoother and easier for everyone.

And, as always, we answer your questions submitted in the comment feeds on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch!

Tickets for the Walking Phoenix’s virtual concert benefiting the Pacific Mesothelioma Center can be found here: https://walkingphoenixes.veeps.com/stream/schedule
Find Drew’s music at https://irishcowgirlmusic.com/

Rates Hit Historically Low Levels

Interest rates hit historically low levels last year due to the pandemic outbreak and the worst quarterly decline in economic growth ever. Those rates have helped millions of homeowners to refinance and save significant money on interest expense. On the purchase side, along with several other tailwinds, low rates have fueled a bonanza in housing.

Fortunately, we are closer to getting past the pandemic as vaccines are now seeing widespread distribution. This, along with enormous stimulus measures, pent-up consumer demand, and easy monetary policy, tells us the good times of ultra-low rates may have come to an end.

To back up this claim, a Freddie Mac spokesperson said, “New COVID-19 cases are receding, which is encouraging and that has led to a rise in Treasury rates.”

Translation: Higher rates may be ahead, but not so fast. The Federal Reserve has played a pivotal role in keeping rates relatively low by purchasing $120 billion worth of Treasurys and mortgage-backed-securities per month. But despite those efforts, rates have crept steadily higher in the past month with the 10-year yield moving from .50% last August to the current level of 1.15% due in part to an improving economy, along with the aforementioned vaccination distribution and COVID-19 losing its grip.

Should rates move too high too quickly, the Fed will likely do more to try and pin down long-term rates, like purchasing even more bonds. But be aware, rates are subject to inflation expectations along with the direction of stocks and bonds and the economic landscape, to name a few.

Bottom line: If the economy continues to improve, rates have no other direction but to move higher. Last year this time in a strong economy, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.47% and if rates were to return to those levels, they would still be near all-time record lows.

Mortgage Rages are Projected to Stay Low in 2021

While 2020 was definitely a roller coaster of a year, one thing is certain: The real estate market not only met expectations, it actually surpassed them and broke records. As we continue into 2021, people are once again wondering what the housing market will bring. Here are the housing and mortgage projections you want to keep in mind for the coming year.

In 2020, 30-year fixed mortgage rates hit record lows, which was one of the main reasons for the thriving real estate market. These rates made homeownership affordable for many people, and eager buyers were ready to take advantage of the savings. Most experts predict mortgage rates will remain low in 2021. As a result, they also predict an increase in home sales.

If you’re thinking about selling your home, this is good news. Higher demand usually increases home prices, so you’ll likely be able to get more for your home. If you plan to buy, you have good news to look forward to as well: Some experts think we’ll see an increase in inventory as both new homes from builders and properties from hesitant homeowners who waited out the pandemic hit the market.

If you’re thinking about buying a new home this year, now is the time to act. Contact your loan officer to learn about the current mortgage rates and plan your next move in this burgeoning market.

Choosing the Best Baseboards

If you’re remodeling your home or redoing your floors, you’ll likely need to replace your baseboards. It might seem like a simple selection until you realize how many options and styles are available. That’s when you realize you need to make sure your new baseboards don’t clash with your existing furnishings and decor. When it’s time to get new baseboards, consider these options so you can choose the best baseboards for the style in your home.

Baseboard Materials: Baseboards are typically made from one of three basic materials: medium-density fiberboard (MDF), wood, or PVC.

MDF: An engineered wood product made from scraps of hardwood or softwood, MDF is usually the least expensive option. You can often get it pre-primed so you can paint it almost any color you want.

Wood: Wood is the most traditional option. However, prices can vary greatly depending on the type of wood you select. Popular options include oak, pine, walnut, maple, and fir. You can paint it, stain it, or simply apply a clear coat for a natural look.

PVC: While not as durable as MDF or wood, PVC baseboards are popular options for rooms that deal with water, such as a bathroom or laundry room, because they’re nonabsorbent. You can find PVC baseboards in a variety of styles.

Traditional Style: Traditional-style baseboards are one of the most popular styles because they look good in nearly every type of home. This style tends to have shorter boards, which gives the ceiling more depth.

Modern Style: If your home showcases a more contemporary look, the sleek and smooth style of modern baseboards might be a better fit. These baseboards often have a square or boxed appearance.

Victorian Style: Victorian-style baseboards are ornate and complex. Because Victorian homes tend to have higher ceilings, these baseboards are also taller than most other styles.

Country Style: Country-style baseboards also tend to have a tall profile. Additionally, they usually have a shoe molding that emphasizes the height.

Craftsman Style: Craftsman-style baseboards are known for their high-quality design. While the details are often simple, they typically look custom-manufactured and can include a base cap and shoe molding.

Now that you know more about the different types of baseboards you can purchase, evaluate your home and decide which one suits your style best. Then you won’t feel overwhelmed when it’s time to head to the hardware store to purchase your baseboards.

Q&A

QUESTION: Will 2021 bring about a buyer’s market?

ANSWER: Experts are anticipating a seller’s market to continue into 2021. There are several contributing factors such as low inventory, the recent increase in lumber, and the pandemic causing many people to work from home. Although a buyer’s market may not be in the cards for 2021, buyers can take advantage of historically low interest rates that are expected to remain low for a while. If you are a buyer or a seller, there is an upside for both and no better time to buy or sell your home than in today’s market.

We are LIVE on YouTube every Wednesday at 5 PM. Watch us record our show! Ask us your questions right in the feed, we’ll read those and answer them for you. Make sure to subscribe to our channel and turn on your notifications to know when we get started.

Mortgage Mom Radio equips you with all of the mortgage education that you could ask for right at your fingertips! Listen to our Podcast with hours of shows and topics, download our PHONE APP loaded with every mortgage tool that you could need, and last but not least, watch our weekly Homebuyer Workshop Series on YouTube! Mortgage Mom Radio

How do you schedule a phone appointment with mom? Call our office, 844-935-3634. Get your free consultation today! Do you want our phone app to have the tools you need at your fingertips? Click the link: PHONE APP

Debbie Marcoux is licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act, NMLS ID 237926, also licensed in AZ-0941504, FL-LO76508, GA-69178, IL-031.0058339, NV-57237, OR, TN-184373, TX, WA-MLO-237926 | Heidi Slagle-Points CA NMLS ID 1666881

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Mortgage Mom Radio airs weekly focusing on topics that will educate our listeners around mortgage lending. This week we continue the Homebuyers Workshop 2021 series by covering the details of the jumbo loan program. And as always, we answer your questions submitted in the comment feeds on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch!

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Mortgage Mom Radio airs weekly focusing on topics that will educate our listeners around mortgage lending. This week we talk about rising interest rates and what this means for your home purchase or refinance.

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Tickets for the Walking Phoenix’s virtual concert can be found here: https://walkingphoenixes.veeps.com/stream/schedule
Find Drew’s music at https://irishcowgirlmusic.com/

This week we take a break from discussing mortgages and the homebuyer workshop to bring in the voice of the Mortgage Mom jingle, Drew Young of the Walking Phoenixes to speak about his upcoming benefit virtual concert to raise awareness for those suffering from mesothelioma. He speaks about why raising awareness is important to him and what we can do to help.

As an added bonus, you get to hear a live acoustic version of the Mortgage Mom Radio jingle and a sample of a couple songs we will hear in his upcoming virtual concert!

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Mortgage Mom Radio airs weekly focusing on topics that will educate our listeners around mortgage lending. This week we continue the Homebuyers Workshop 2021 series by covering the details of the conventional loan program. And as always, we answer your questions submitted in the comment feeds on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch!

Don’t forget to keep watching past the hour mark for another segment of Mortgage Mom After Dark!

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Mortgage Mom Radio airs weekly focusing on topics that will educate our listeners around mortgage lending. This week we continue the Homebuyers Workshop 2021 series by covering the details of the FHA loan program including down payments, leniency on things like bankruptcies and foreclosures, debt to income ratios, lower rates and more!

And as always, we answer your questions submitted in the comment feeds on YouTube and Facebook!

A Look Into the Markets

This past week, the Federal Reserve held their first meeting of 2021 and shared its thoughts on the economy, inflation, and interest rates.

Below are three important takeaways for the mortgage/housing world and overall economy:

1. “In terms of tapering, it’s just premature.”
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in his press conference, essentially told the world they will continue to purchase $120B worth of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities for the foreseeable future. This means relatively low mortgage rates throughout 2021.

2. “Frankly, we’d welcome higher inflation.”
The Fed said inflation is not a problem now, and it would like to see higher inflation in the future. This gives the Fed cover to continue its asset purchase program described above for at least this year. However, if the Fed gets what it wants, higher inflation, it will be talking about “tapering” bond purchases and even hiking interest rates. Follow consumer inflation readings going forward, as they will be what the Fed watches to determine the need for future rate hikes and less bond buying.

3. “There’s nothing more important to the economy right now than people getting vaccinated.”
All of the stimulus to help revive and stimulate the economy doesn’t do much if businesses can’t open and people are not out and about. The initial vaccination process had issues, but the process has since ramped up around the country, and there are more vaccines on the way.
When you couple all of the stimulus from both the Fed and the government with economies reopening and the American spirit, we should expect strong economic growth later this year. At that time, we may start to see a concern with inflation and a need to “taper” bond purchases, as described above.
Bottom line: The Fed continues to support the housing industry by purchasing bonds, until they get what they want: higher inflation. If you or someone you know would like to talk about the incredible opportunity, please contact me.

Looking Ahead

Next week is Jobs Week. On Wednesday, we get a look at private job creation within the ADP Report. Then next Friday, we will see the January Jobs Report which includes the official unemployment rate, the number of jobs created or lost, and hourly earnings, or how much people are paid.

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Mortgage Mom Radio airs weekly focusing on topics that will educate our listeners around mortgage lending. This week we continue the Homebuyers Workshop 2021 series by covering the details of the VA loan program including requirements and benefits. Afterwards we answer your questions that were left in the comments and stay tuned past the 1 hour mark for some Mortgage Mom After Dark bonus content!

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Mortgage Mom Radio airs weekly focusing on topics that will educate our listeners around mortgage lending. This week we continue the Homebuyers Workshop 2021 series by covering the the many benefits along with the responsibilities of homeownership. Afterwards we answer your questions that were left in the comments and stay tuned past the 1 hour mark for bonus content!

A Look Into the Markets

“But if you try sometimes, well, you might find, you get what you need” … You Can’t Always Get What You Want — The Rolling Stones.

“Don’t Fight the Fed”

The Federal Reserve has been very clear on their communications over the past 18 months. They want to see inflation run hotter before even thinking about raising interest rates. And when we say interest rates, the only interest rates the Fed can control are short-term interest rates, by hiking or cutting the Fed Funds Rate. Long-term rates, like mortgages, are driven by the financial markets and inflation expectations. Yes, the Fed is buying bonds to manipulate long-term rates — more on that below.

If inflation is rising, it puts upward pressure on long-term rates, which is exactly what has happened over the last two weeks as inflation expectations rose to the highest level in two years and the 10-year yield spiked to 1.19%, the highest level since last March.

The Quandary?

More stimulus is on the way. The incoming Biden administration has put forth a plan to spend trillions of dollars to help revive and stimulate the economy, and this is a major reason why inflation expectations, real asset, and commodity prices are rising, thereby causing the spike to be higher in long-term rates.

The incoming huge stimulus and rising inflation expectations would normally give the Fed reason to stop buying bonds every month. Remember, the Fed is currently purchasing at least $120B in Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) each month to artificially help keep long-term rates relatively low. So, with inflation rising, does the Fed stop buying bonds and let market conditions dictate the real pricing of interest rates? Not any time soon.

And while some Fed members were out talking about “tapering” purchases, Fed Chair Powell spoke on Thursday and told the markets they will continue the present bond buying program.

This means we may see a continued uptick in inflation expectations, and the Fed may be pressured to do even more, like buy additional bonds to help keep long-term rates low.

Bottom line: With only a couple weeks into 2021, we are already seeing a shift towards slightly higher rates. If you or someone you know would like to talk about the incredible opportunity, please contact me.

Looking Ahead

Next week the economic calendar is light, but corporate earnings season will be in full swing. This means we will hear what corporations are thinking about current and future conditions. If stocks move higher on the notion of better days ahead, rates may follow suit. The opposite is true.

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Mortgage Mom Radio airs weekly focusing on topics that will educate our listeners around mortgage lending. This week we start off the new year by revisiting our Homebuyer Workshop and go over updates and changes for 2021. We start out with Catching Up With Mom, discussing all the fun and excitement over the holiday weeks. We then move on to cover the first installment of the revised Homebuyer Workshop and explain many of the real estate buzz words that are important to know when getting ready to buy a home. Afterwards we answer your questions that were left in the comments and stay tuned past the 1 hour mark for bonus content!

A Look Into the Markets
For the week of January 11, 2021

“Inflation is when you pay $15 for a $10 haircut you used to get for $5 when you had hair” – Sam Ewing

This past week we watched stocks and rates move higher with the former hitting all-time highs and the 10-year yield crossing above 1.00% for the first time since March. At the same time, mortgage-backed securities (MBS) traded lower, causing home loan rates to tick up just slightly from the lowest levels ever.

What was the main driver for these market moves? Inflation.

The Georgia Senate runoff ended with one party in power of all three branches of government. The market’s knee-jerk reaction is we will see endless stimulus measures, and this has sent inflation expectations to the highest levels in over 2 years!!!

The Problem:

MBS are the bonds which determine mortgage rates, and inflation is one of the main drivers. If inflation rises, rates rise â€“ period!

Fortunately, the daily Fed bond buying has offset some of the selling pressure caused by the rising inflation fears. Looking ahead, if inflation expectations continue to rise, the Fed will be forced to do more to pin down long-term rates, like more bond buying or some sort of yield curve control (YCC).

The Opportunity:

Millennials made up more than 1/3 of home purchases in 2020. One thing they have no experience with is inflation. The last time we had serious inflation, many of them were not even born. It is an opportunity for mortgage and housing professionals to educate them on the problem above and the screaming opportunity. In an era of higher inflation, you want to own real assets, like real estate which is a wonderful hedge against higher inflation. Moreover, when inflation rises, wages rise. So millennials today can lock in an “artificially” low mortgage rate thanks to the Fed bond buying, and more easily pay down that mortgage over time with ever increasing wages seen in an inflationary environment.

Bottom line: This past week we may be seeing a shift towards slightly higher rates in 2021. If you or someone you know would like to talk about the incredible opportunity, please contact me.

Looking Ahead

Things have changed. Economic reports will take a bit of a back seat as the never-ending stimulus from the government and Fed will be the big drivers. If reports are good or bad, it may not matter as much because a tidal wave of new stimulus is coming. Consumer inflation has not been a problem up until now, and next week we will get some readings that could be market movers.

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Mortgage Mom Radio airs weekly focusing on topics that will educate our listeners around mortgage lending. This week is the last show of 2020 and we bring on Heidi, Carrie, Matthew, and Manny to take a look back at the ups and downs of the 2020 mortgage roller coaster. We share some memories and stories of the difficulties of life in these unprecedented times all while answering your questions in the comments throughout the show.

Thank you for being a listener and enjoy the holidays over the next couple weeks! Stay safe and we’ll see you in 2021!

This Week’s Look Into the Markets:

“The ongoing public health crisis will continue to weigh on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term,” … December 16, 2020, from the Fed’s Monetary Policy Statement.

This past week Stocks climbed to all-time highs, and rates were able to hold steady near all-time lows. The big news of the week was the Fed Meeting.

It is important to follow Fed activities as they are the most powerful central bank on the planet, and what they say and do can cause seismic shifts in the financial markets. The dual mandate of the Fed is to promote maximum employment and price stability (inflation). At the moment, unemployment is too high and inflation is too low, so the Fed said they are “committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time.” What the Fed didn’t say limited the improvement in both Stocks and rates.

When it came to the Federal Reserve’s Bond-buying program, the financial markets were hoping the Fed would “up” their Bond purchases to help further pin down long-term rates like mortgages, but this didn’t happen. Instead, the Fed said it will “continue to increase its holdings of Treasury securities by at least $80 billion per month and agency mortgage-backed securities by at least $40 billion per month. The Fed will continue this program until substantial further progress has been made toward the current pace to sustain the Committee’s maximum employment and price stability goals”.

The takeaway — the Fed will continue to purchase at least $120 billion worth of Bonds until we see unemployment sharply lower and inflation solidly higher. This means home loan rates should remain relatively low for a long time.

Bottom line: Even with the Fed Bond-buying, rates have ticked up slightly from the recent all-time lows. With vaccine distribution and more stimulus on the way, it may be difficult to see rates improve much, if at all. If you or someone you know would like to talk about the incredible opportunity, please contact me.

Looking Ahead

The financial markets may continue to bask in the glow of the Fed’s seemingly never-ending monetary support. As of this writing, we still do not have a fiscal stimulus bill out of Congress, but we expect and hope to see a plan before Christmas. There is an enormous amount of political pressure to get a stimulus bill passed. The Bond market has a holiday-shortened 1:00 p.m. ET close on Thursday, Dec. 24 and full market closure on Christmas, Friday.