Dulcie Crawford Receives Award of Excellence in Online Marketing

On March 25, at their Marketing & Technology Workshop in Henderson, Nevada, Realtor.com named 22 Las Vegas area Realtors® as excelling in Online Marketing. We are proud to announce that Dulcie Crawford and The Dulcie Crawford Group were among those honored.

Feds are Lowering Rates, Again

Treasurys fall on rate cut, bank earnings
Bond prices sink as Wall Street cheers fed rate cut, stronger-than-expected earnings from beleagured banks.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bond prices fluctuated Tuesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and surprisingly strong earnings from Wall Street banks coaxed investors back into the stock market.

Read article here.

Economic Indicators are Stronger than Expected

There are some signs of hope that the banking & housing crises are passing...

Treasurys fall on rate cut, bank earnings
Bond prices sink as Wall Street cheers fed rate cut, stronger-than-expected earnings from beleagured banks.


Last Updated: March 18, 2008: 4:44 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bond prices fluctuated Tuesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and surprisingly strong earnings from Wall Street banks coaxed investors back into the stock market.

The central bank lowered the fed funds rate, a key overnight bank lending rate, by three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.25%. The Fed has already slashed the fed funds rate by 2.25 percentage points since September to help stabilize the economy and ease conditions in the credit market.

Bonds were lower throughout the session Tuesday as stocks rallied. Shortly after the Fed's announcement, stocks trimmed gains as some investors were expecting a more dramatic rate cut, and bond prices rose modestly in response. Since then, bond prices have eased.

Earlier Tuesday, investment banks Lehman Brothers (LEH, Fortune 500) and Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) both reported earnings that beat Wall Street estimates, sending stocks sharply higher. The rally comes just one day after Bear Stearns (BSC, Fortune 500) shocked investors by agreeing to be sold to rival JP Morgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) for $2 a share.

Bears' dramatic fall raised fears Monday that the financial system was in serious danger. But the stronger-than-expected results from Goldman and Lehman helped to ease some of the concerns about the health of the financial services sector.

Investors tend to favor the security of government-backed bonds in times of economic uncertainty. Conversely, when there are signs that the economic climate is improving, investors prefer stocks.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 1 11/32 to 100 9/32 with a yield of 3.46%, up from 3.30% late Monday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The 30-year long bond lost 1 7/32 to 100 12/32 with a yield of 4.35%, up from 4.28% late Monday.

The 2-year note dropped 13/32 to 100 26/32 with a yield of 1.57%, up from 1.35%.

Elsewhere, the government said Tuesday that initial construction of new homes fell in February, though by a smaller number than expected. Still, the housing report showed further decline in the number of single-family homes, which analysts say are the core of the housing market, undergoing initial construction in February.

The Labor Department's Producer Price Index (PPI), a key measure of inflation at the wholesale level, rose as expected in February. But core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, came in higher than expected.

First Published: March 18, 2008: 2:37 PM EDT CNN Money

NEW FHA LOAN LIMITS FOR CLARK COUNTY

This is big, big news! It opens the door to home ownership without having to have a lot of money to put down.

Here's a great article from Aaron Gordon (published with permission):

"FHA LOAN LIMIT RAISED TO $400K AND HOW THIS HELPS YOU"
March 6, 2008 (newsletter sent via email)

Today, the announcement came that the FHA loan limit in Clark County was raised to $400,000. This is great news for all of us and the market. In Nye County, it was raised to $325,000.

This makes 100% loans, all the way up to a sales price of $412,000, readily available for most buyers once again.

I know many of you haven’t done an FHA deal in years. It’s time to get a refresher course.

Some experts locally are predicting that 50% of all loans this year will now be done FHA.

If your preferred lender doesn’t do FHA today, you need to find one who does as a back-up. We have two designated FHA underwriters in our branch.

In my opinion, it is very important for your business today to have a lender who knows FHA and has local underwriting. Many FHA loans, that seem challenging, are ultimately decided by the underwriter.

I was asked to speak on FHA recently. I compared the process to how you would imagine lending was back in the day when you knew your banker, he knew you, and he made the loan based on his belief in you to repay the loan.

FHA underwriters usually look at the overall merits of the loan. If they believe in the borrower’s ability to repay, regardless of the borrower’s past, they usually have the leeway to make the loan.

If you would like someone to come speak to your office on FHA, please let me know and we will arrange that for you.

Here is what else you need to know.

FHA loans have very competitive interest rates because the Federal government insures the loans for lenders. In today's credit crunch, this single issue may outweigh all others.

FHA loans have lower down payment requirements. Plan on around 3%. You can get 100% gifted to you from a family member or seller for down payment and closing costs.

There is no “soft market” rule on FHA. 100% financing and gift can apply.

The mortgage insurance is usually less on FHA loans than conventional loans.

Primary residence only. Full documentation of income only.

Bankruptcy and foreclosure are looked at far differently.

You can be in a Ch. 13 bankruptcy and possibly buy a home or refinance so long as you have been making your BK payments on time for a year.

FHA wants to see you two years out of Chapter 7 BK. However, if you can show that it was an extenuating circumstance and prove that you have been solid since, you can sometimes get the loan only one year out of the Chapter 7.

Same with foreclosures. They want you to be three years removed from foreclosure before you are qualified. However, if the foreclosure was the result of circumstances beyond your control, you may be able to get a loan a year later.

Medical collections have to be addressed but usually not paid.

You can have a non-occupant co-borrower help you qualify.

You can get up to 6% seller help, on top of the 3% gifted down payment, for closing costs.

FHA isn’t credit sensitive. You don't have to have perfect credit to get an FHA mortgage. You don’t even have to have a credit score.

In fact, even if you have had credit problems, such as a bankruptcy, it's easier for you to qualify for an FHA loan than a conventional loan. You can have credit scores as low as 500, still put just 3% down, and get the same rate as someone with a 700 credit score.

Declining market areas do not affect FHA mortgages as they do conventional mortgages. There is no "soft market" appraisal rule that reduces loan to values by 5% or more.

FHA debt to income ratios are aggressive. Although the guidelines say they are at 31%/43%, these can go up to sometimes up to 40%/50% with good compensating factors like a good rental history, low payment shock, more down payment, lots of reserves, etc. I have even seen some go to 55% on a strong loan.

If your borrower has compensating factors, they can make even the most challenging borrowers acceptable.

There are a few things to be cautious of.

Many of the homes sold today are those owned by a bank that the bank acquired in a foreclosure. FHA currently has an anti-flipping rule in the first 120 days of acquisition and, although many banks are exempt, some transactions can be affected by this.

In addition, some banks won't accept offers from your FHA buyers.

The bottom line is today’s announcement clearly makes FHA the preferred loan choice for nearly every buyer unless they are looking for a home over $412,000 or they have to go with a stated income loan. It’s important to know.

Nehemiah Wins Court Support for Down Payment Assistance

Good news. The lawsuit brought by Nehemiah fighting a proposed US ban on seller-gifted down payment assistance won court support yesterday. Such down-payment assistance, a huge benefit for many homebuyers, will continue.