So what's your New Year's Resolution?? Interest Rates ticked up a bit... should we lock or not?

I received much positive feedback on this last post, so I thought I'd resend it to you along with a few additional updates.

I pray you and your families had a joyous Christmas!

What's your New Year's Resolution? Eat Right, Exercise More, Get Organized.... or considering buying or refinancing your home?? This blog will hopefully help you make a good choice if it's regarding home financing!

If you have been considering buying a home or even refinancing, you've probably been asking one of these questions? Should I refinance now? Should I buy now? What if rates go down again? With the economy this way, surely rates will have to drop again? I heard the Feds are going to lower rates again to stimulate the economy, should I wait to lock in an interest rate then? Just since Christmas, mortgage rates have tinged up about 3/8 or .375%. Depending on your loan size, that can make a difference on whether it makes sense to refinance or not.
These are all great questions and very valid. In the past, before all the housing bubble began, the answer to these questions might of been to wait. Times have changed! It's a whole new game in the mortgage world. If you are considering waiting to buy or refinance, below is a few reasons not to:

1. Mortgage Lenders are tightening guidelines to protect against future losses. Mortgage lenders are reducing loan to value limitations. They may require you to have 20% equity or more? If you are an investor or a jumbo borrower, those equity requirements are even higher. Someone who could qualify today, may not be able to qualify tomorrow.

2. The value of your home could decline, maybe it already has and could again? Foreclosures and short sales lower the market value of every home in your neighborhood and surrounding areas. A home that is comparable to yours that ends up selling for less than yours is going to lower your home's value. Lower appraisals lead to higher loan to values and, often, higher mortgage rates.

3. Have you or someone you know lost their job in the last two years? Job losses are happening at a very rapid rate. Many are being laid off as employers fear for the future stability of the company. Many are downsizing to offset lower prof ts (or no profits at all). Without a job and a steady paycheck, lenders won't give you a mortgage loan. I work with Business Fellowship International, a ministry that helps folks get connected and possibly into a new job. If this is you, please email me and I will help you in any way I can.

4. Another rise in cost is mortgage insurance or PMI. This is required if you have less than 20% equity or down payment in your home. PMI is an insurance that protects the lenders in the event of default. Remember hurricane Andrew and the impact it made on the insurance carriers? What's going on in the housing market right now, is comparable to that. Mortgage insurance carriers are raising rates and tightening guidelines as well, making it very hard to qualify or not allowing your payment to drop with the interest rate reductions.

5. What is your credit score? Most people assume their credit is good. But what is good anymore? To get the "preferred" or "going" interest rate, you have to have excellent credit scores, that means over 700 and sometimes over 720/740. Now don't get me wrong, we are still able to do loans under 700, but we would need to review your situation to see if it makes sense for you.

If you are thinking about buying or refinancing, now's the time to do it. The pendulum for mortgage loans has swung from one extreme to the other and it may be a long long while before lenders will consider loosening guidelines again. Financial crisis has it America.

But there is hope! Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, but to give you a future and a hope. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. If you have a relationship with the Lord, He will see you through! If you don't, consider asking Jesus into your heart, ask Him to forgive you of your sin and to cleanse you and make you new. He loves you so much and wants only good for you!

So, if your New Year's Resolution is to make a move or refinance your existing home, Jewel and I, the InSight Team, are here to help you make sound choices. We have many valuable resources and offer a variety of mortgage products.

For an Honest Approach to your Home Financing Needs, please give us a call or email us or visit us on the web at www.wantinsight.com.

Blessings Abundant!

Michele "MAC" A. Cole
Business Development
michele@wantinsight.com

Jewel Callahan
Mortgage Consultant
816-510-1399

Economic Troubles - There is a way to turn this around!

Do you believe that you can change the country's economic situation? Galatians 6:7 says: "God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap".

If a corn farmer sows seeds in his field he expects to reap a harvest of corn, what he has planted, right? I would find it odd if he sowed seeds of corn and the harvest came up tomatoes? Wouldn't you?

Just as the farmer sows seed, our country and us consumers have been sowing into materialism, paying for things on credit and buying bigger homes. Check out this article written by Margot Adler with NPR dated 11/20/09. "The average American house size has more than doubled since the 1950s; it now stands at 2,349 square feet. The move toward large homes has been accelerating for years.

Consider: Back in the 1950s and '60s, people thought it was normal for a family to have one bathroom, or for two or three growing boys to share a bedroom. Well-off people summered in tiny beach cottages on Cape Cod or off the coast of California. Now, many of those cottages have been replaced with bigger houses. Six-room apartments in cities like New York or Chicago have been combined, because upper-middle-class people now think a six-room apartment is too small".

When our countries leaders are adding to the nation's debt, why would we do any differently? A dog trainer I once knew said that "intelligence runs down the leash". So we are prone to follow our country's leadership.

However, YOU can make a difference. You can start sowing good seeds and begin to stop spending and start working on paying off debt and downsizing your home. Jesus said it like this, "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:17-20).

If we are hoping for change in this country, we need to examine our own lives first and start planting a seed for change without compromise.

If you don't know where to begin or you just would like additional guidance, please feel free to email me. I have several connections depending on your situation that can help you start this process! It's never too late!

Let the InSight Team, lend insight into your home financing needs.
Jewel Callahan - jewel@wantinsight.com
or Michele Cole - michele@wantinsight.com

Blessings to you!
Michele "MAC" A. Cole
Business Development Rep
The InSight Team
Mid-America Mortgage

Tax Credit Extended??

The current first time homebuyer tax credit is set to expire on December 1, 2009. However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that the governement may extend it and expand it.

There is consideration that they may increase the tax credit from $8000 to $15,000 and possibly include all purchases or purchases involving new home construction!

This would be a huge benefit to the housing market as well as to the economy as a whole. The National Association of Realtors has asked Congress to extend the credit due the estimated 350,000 buyers who would not of bought homes without the credit. They also indicate that it brough 1.2 million new buyers into the market! Wow!!!!

At least, lawmakers are requesting a 6 month extension on the original first time tax buyer credit. Even if you are not a first time buyer, the tax credit may still benefit you. Please give us a call or email us and we will be happy to answer any further questions you might have!

The InSight Team is here to help you make choices you can live with today....and in the future.

Blessings

Michele "MAC" A. Cole
Business Development Rep
www.wantinsight.com

A crop of fake credit histories emerges - Kansas City Star

A crop of fake credit histories emerges - Kansas City Star

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I just recently had Julia Jensen from the FBI speak at InSight Mortgage Group's monthly Lunch and Learn about this very topic, credit fraud. The information she shared is absolutely amazing and unbelievable. Desperate times bring even more desperate measures. If you don't want to fall victim or prey to this, please consider using a lender who cares about you and your future. If you are looking for a home loan and a lender who will give you sound biblical advice, contact InSight Mortgage Group. Our focus is not about making dollars and cents, it's about helping you make sound financial choices!! Please give us a call at 913-642-3334 or visit www.wantinsight.com.