Federal Reserve Raises Rates

After months of speculation, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates. What does that mean for you? Here’s a great overview from Spencer Lewallen and Pinnacle Capital Mortgage: First, let’s give a little background on the Fed: . The Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) controls rates on overnight loans from bank to bank or from the Fed to member banks. …

Fannie Mae Retiring HomePath Products

On June 24th Fannie Mae announced significant changes coming to financing options on Fannie Mae Owned Properties and has provided notice to lenders that they will be eliminating the variances for HomePath Mortgage and HomePath Renovation Mortgage on October 7, 2014. The variances are the specific parts of the program(s) that allowed for reduced down payment, no mortgage insurance, no …

11 Homes Open In the East Mountains Today

Today is the perfect opportunity to view property in the East Mountains. Listing brokers for 11 homes have joined together to hold an open house tour from 12:00 noon through 4:30 pm on Saturday, May 31, 2014. View all the homes or pick and choose your favorites. List prices range from $265,000 to $750,000. View detailed property information and download …

MLS Emails Blocked by Some ISPs

We recently received the following email from FlexMLS (the Greater Albuquerque MLS provider) support. If you’ve been having trouble receiving emails from your real estate broker or from your MLS portal, this could be why. *** There are still some lingering issues regarding emails not reaching their proper destination originally posted here. FBS is aware of the problem and is …

MLS Now Offers “Contemporary” Search Field

In the past, brokers seeking a modern/contemporary style property for their buyers had to resort to hand culling listings or searching for keywords in remarks—an imperfect solution that sometimes led to homes being missed. Though our market doesn’t have a great deal of contemporary inventory, I’ve found that when buyers want that style it’s a very strong preference. The MLS …

What Drives Mortgage Interest Rates?

Have you ever wondered why home loan rates fluctuate the way they do? Though it may seem arbitrary, there are a number of forces at work on the interest rate picture. Jason Pike of First Mortgage Company recently sent me this quick overview I thought was a helpful way to understand all the different factors that can impact interest rates. …