Thread: New home sales hit lowest level

smoothy i was already there with the rental houses.

Originally Posted by Jodi

My fiance and I are taking advantage of the market. We have 2 bids out there for houses. We already have 2 houses now and we are renting one. The houses are so cheap here its insane and at 3.6% interest the mortgages are 400 to 600 a month. We can't pass on this.

I haven't seen 3.6% ever. The lowest I have seen is 3.875 but that's if you buy with a builder and use their mortgage company. Are you buying points? Can you send a link to where you have seen this?

Ing direct. You have to a high fico and 20% this is where I have my houses.

Originally Posted by Jodi

Ing direct. You have to a high fico and 20% this is where I have my houses.

Yea, 20% down will help out big time...I hate seeing how much money I pay into PMI every month. Cash down the toilet for some one who considers me high risk, then a third party will try to you sell you PMI separately, so not only can the bank recoup if you default, but you can too. Insurance can be such a convoluted meaningless practice.

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

The party is over.

that's an understatement, some foreign economists are even saying this is the begining of the end of the US a a true economic superpower.

a couple of things that need to be done are:

go back to a progressive tax rate

corporations must pay their fair share in taxes. this way the Fed can stop printing money and deflating the dollar to make up for this difference.

move from keynesian borrowing to a fiat money system. this would cause the Fed Gov to be much more fiscally conservative in terms of wasteful spending

increase education in schools regarding health and person finances (basically we need to change the curriculum to one more suited to the 2000's). living in extreme debt should not be an acceptable nor an expected way of life in the US.

Originally Posted by busyLivin

i was wondering how long it would take someone to blame bush

Oh Jesus Christ!

Originally Posted by LAM

that's an understatement, some foreign economists are even saying this is the begining of the end of the US a a true economic superpower.

Objectively, I agree with this.

a couple of things that need to be done are:

go back to a progressive tax rate

corporations must pay their fair share in taxes. this way the Fed can stop printing money and deflating the dollar to make up for this difference.

move from keynesian borrowing to a fiat money system. this would cause the Fed Gov to be much more fiscally conservative in terms of wasteful spending

increase education in schools regarding health and person finances (basically we need to change the curriculum to one more suited to the 2000's). living in extreme debt should not be an acceptable nor an expected way of life in the US.

Valid points, LAM.

But I don't see the US government getting its house in order. They've never made the needed changes before, and I don't see them doint it now or in the future. In fact, the potus and House and Senate are not even discussion these issues.

Also, I will add to your list:

Medicare - disaster already, with 77 million baby boomers to start hitting Medicare rolls on Jan 1, 2011.

Social Security - spending more now than it's taking in 27 years ahead of schedule.

Originally Posted by LAM

that's an understatement, some foreign economists are even saying this is the begining of the end of the US a a true economic superpower.

They said the same thing when Japan was rising, and then Argentina...forecasting 25-50yrs in the future isn't exactly a science and is very difficult to maintain accuracy

a couple of things that need to be done are:

go back to a progressive tax rate

we already use a progressive tax rate, for personal income and business taxes

corporations must pay their fair share in taxes. this way the Fed can stop printing money and deflating the dollar to make up for this difference.

The US already has one of the highest corp tax rates in the entire world.

See page 36 below

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/69xx/doc6...rporateTax.pdf

move from keynesian borrowing to a fiat money system. this would cause the Fed Gov to be much more fiscally conservative in terms of wasteful spending

we already operate under a fiat currency system...that is rooted in Keynesian economics.

increase education in schools regarding health and person finances (basically we need to change the curriculum to one more suited to the 2000's). living in extreme debt should not be an acceptable nor an expected way of life in the US.

completely agree...I'm thinking about the crumby consumer science classes they offer in high school these days...my favorite, is how they teach student to balance a checkbook...manually. OK, great, everyone should be able to audit there electronic statement from the bank, but they should be focusing on teaching students how to calculate APR and APY and why/when the banks quote people in one format over the other.

end rant

Originally Posted by Jodi

Ing direct. You have to a high fico and 20% this is where I have my houses.

Yeah the 20% down is where it's at if you have it. It used to be you could borrow 100% and still make money on the place. Now if you can borrow 100% at a low interest rate and still make money you are golden. That way you are just leveraging the money. So say you are looking at a place that is 100K. You need 20K in order to get that 3.6% rate. Some people would say that your better bet is to invest that 20K into a good stock or mutual fund. That way you don't have to deal with having to take care of place and all the other things that go into owning a rental house. Give me 20K and I may be able to make you 10% on that money in a month. How long will it take you to make 10% on that rental house? See, I would love to start buying rental properties. Issue is, I don't have the liquid to put 20% down, second I have young children and don't have time to deal with all the issues that go into that. I'd rather just click a mouse and buy a company that I think is going to do well in the future. If I were single and didn't have any kids, I would probably own a few properties right now. Maybe a few years down the road. Hopefully it wont' be to late.

I'm not sure where you're finding these amazing rates unless you mean a 15 year conventional. I'm in the market and with 20% down and a high FICO, I'm looking at maybe 4.5-4.75.

Even ING is quoting above 4.0% from when I looked, so where are you seeing this?

The houses I'm buying 6 years ago sold for 200 to 250k. I'm can buy them noww for 50 to 75k and renting for 900 a month. 300 month mortgage 600 mo profit. Easy money and I make that 20% back in no time. Done it twice, now I'm ready for 2 more. In 10 to 15 years I've made all that profit every month now ill sell them for 100 plus additional profit. Its a great opportunity for us

I'm not sure where you're finding these amazing rates unless you mean a 15 year conventional. I'm in the market and with 20% down and a high FICO, I'm looking at maybe 4.5-4.75.

Even ING is quoting above 4.0% from when I looked, so where are you seeing this?

Ing 5 year arm. Look again they are even lower now. Every 5 years you can also pay them one month mortgage payment and they extend you another 5 years. I did this with my primary residence last year. Also its an extension not a refi so you arent starting over at 30 years. This is all on their site too. I've been with them for 6 years. Whaats your fico at?

Originally Posted by lnvanry

Quote:
Originally Posted by LAM View Post
that's an understatement, some foreign economists are even saying this is the begining of the end of the US a a true economic superpower.

They said the same thing when Japan was rising, and then Argentina...forecasting 25-50yrs in the future isn't exactly a science and is very difficult to maintain accuracy

a couple of things that need to be done are:

go back to a progressive tax rate

we already use a progressive tax rate, for personal income and business taxes

corporations must pay their fair share in taxes. this way the Fed can stop printing money and deflating the dollar to make up for this difference.

The US already has one of the highest corp tax rates in the entire world.

See page 36 below

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/69xx/doc6...rporateTax.pdf

move from keynesian borrowing to a fiat money system. this would cause the Fed Gov to be much more fiscally conservative in terms of wasteful spending

we already operate under a fiat currency system...that is rooted in Keynesian economics.

increase education in schools regarding health and person finances (basically we need to change the curriculum to one more suited to the 2000's). living in extreme debt should not be an acceptable nor an expected way of life in the US.

completely agree...I'm thinking about the crumby consumer science classes they offer in high school these days...my favorite, is how they teach student to balance a checkbook...manually. OK, great, everyone should be able to audit there electronic statement from the bank, but they should be focusing on teaching students how to calculate APR and APY and why/when the banks quote people in one format over the other.

end rant

I should have added in that we need to go to a fixed fiat money system

Originally Posted by Jodi

Ing 5 year arm. Look again they are even lower now. Every 5 years you can also pay them one month mortgage payment and they extend you another 5 years. I did this with my primary residence last year. Also its an extension not a refi so you arent starting over at 30 years. This is all on their site too. I've been with them for 6 years. Whaats your fico at?

It's high, not really going to post it in a public forum

You're talking about an ARM though. I'm fully expecting high inflation in the coming years, even if it's 5 or more years or more down the road. That means when I renew the loan, it would not only cost me 750$, but also peg me at a presumably much higher interest rate.

Your rate never changes providing you do it before the 5 years are up. You will never lose the rate you originally signed your loan with. I didn't believe it at first but I did it and the only fee is 1 month mortgage.

I hear fha loans are at 4.25 for 30 years. I do highly recommend ing. My family and friends use them too. They are the best. I'm working on my 3rd mortgage with them and never had a problem.

Under ing site look under mortgage faq. It explains iy under the question: can I extend my fixed rate

I can understand wanting a conventional though. This is just how I'm doing it to get the lowest rate possible.

Originally Posted by Jodi

Under ing site look under mortgage faq. It explains iy under the question: can I extend my fixed rate

I can understand wanting a conventional though. This is just how I'm doing it to get the lowest rate possible.

Can I extend my fixed rate period?
Yes! If you qualify (meet our credit standards at the time you apply for the extension) you can use the Rate Renewal feature to extend your fixed-rate period for an additional 5 or 10 years (depending on your current loan type) at our current Easy Orange rate – all for one payment which is equal to 2 of your bi-weekly payments. You won't extend the time to pay off your mortgage and there's no need to apply for a new one and pay full closing costs. This will save you money and time from refinancing your mortgage. To learn more, simply give us a call at 1-800-464-9263.

----------------------------------

Maybe I really am misunderstanding it, but it's saying that it will renew at their current Easy Orange Rate.

The other thing that scares me is the "if you qualify" stipulation. What determines qualification? Is it my income, debt ratio, FICO, etc? It's unnerving to know that the bank can simply demand the repayment in full at the end of the 5 years and I wouldn't be able to meet that obligation. Especially if we have a credit contraction like we had over the last few years, who's to say I'd qualify for credit in 5 years?

I feel more comfortable buying/selling vanilla derivatives on equities than borrowing on an ARM...those contracts would make me feel very uneasy.

My preference is with Doublebase on this one.

best of luck though Jodi...sounds like you've have some success with this in the past. Hope it continues

Originally Posted by lnvanry

I feel more comfortable buying/selling vanilla derivatives on equities than borrowing on an ARM...those contracts would make me feel very uneasy.

My preference is with Doublebase on this one.

best of luck though Jodi...sounds like you've have some success with this in the past. Hope it continues

Got any good tips?

Originally Posted by lnvanry

I feel more comfortable buying/selling vanilla derivatives on equities than borrowing on an ARM...those contracts would make me feel very uneasy.

My preference is with Doublebase on this one.

best of luck though Jodi...sounds like you've have some success with this in the past. Hope it continues

except for vacation spots near water and the usual high price real estate areas in the US (NYC, CT, CA, Philly Suburbs, etc.) owning land is no longer the financial "lock" that is used to be. there are no more guarantees that homes will appreciate at "x" percent yearly. almost better off buying some municipal bonds depending on your location.

Va loan

Originally Posted by Doublebase

Got any good tips?

Sure...my trades before closing bell:

1.] Bought CRM October 95.0 Put. This company is grossly over valued...they will come back to reality soon. Will sell when the ask price hits $3.00...Stop Loss at $1.00

2.] Bought QID October 19.0 Calls. I sell the calls backs when the ask prices hits 2.25...Stop loss at $.50.

3.] Will buy FAZ tomorrow morning. Once the crumby news on Wednesday (manufacturing index @ 10:00 EST) hits...then the crumby news on Thursday comes (ECB announcement at 07:45 EST and jobless claims at 08:30 EST and pending homes sales at 10:00 EST)...then more crumby news on Friday (employment at 08:30 EST <--This will be only mildly disappointing IMHO). After the bad week, I'll sell the FAZ and buy FAS just before closing bell on Friday. I play the fading strategy on volume trading frequently lately.

3.] Bought shares of TZA and my only long position...HOOK.

If the market goes is up tomorrow around closing bell eastern time, I'll by VIX. I should be hedging here with something bullish, but I don't foresee a whole lot of upward movement till November (election time)