I’m sure that everyone has heard about what is happening in the mortgage markets around the country. You’ve heard about major mortgage companies going out of business and are probably asking yourselves a couple of questions. What are rates going to do? Which mortgage company should I go with? Is the company I am with now going to be in business? Should I buy now or wait this situation out? Fortunately the answers are fairly simple.

What are rates going to do? For the last 4 years interest rates have been between 6% and 6.5%. We have had very little movement over the last couple of years. Unless the economy starts to heat up and inflation increases rates should remain fairly stable.

Which mortgage company should I go with? I always recommend that a homebuyer go with either a local mortgage lender or a national retail lender. For the most part, stay away from mortgage brokers. There are some great brokers out there, however a mortgage broker has to work under another company’s umbrella. Usually, your loan is processed and underwritten by another company. The time from origination to closing can greatly increase when working with a broker. The best scenerio is to work with a local mortgage lender. Your loan will be processed, underwritten and funded locally. You will have greater control over the processing of your mortgage and will be able to have all of your questions answered quickly.

Is the mortgage company I am with now going to be in business? This is a question you need to ask at the time of origination! This also goes along with; How long have you been in business and is your company a mortgage lender or a mortgage broker. If the company you are with now has been in business at least 10 years you can safely assume they will be in business today, tomorrow and probably another 10 years down the road.

Should I buy now or wait? I look at it this way, the Fayetteville market has been shielded from the national market for as long as I can remember. Yes, we do feel the affects but not to the degree the rest of the nation does. Rates are very good right now. If you sit on the fence and wait for them to come down you could very easily fall off the wrong side of the fence!! Why take the chance for rates to come down and then have them go up and now you have possibly lost your dream home because you no longer qualify at the higher rate? Take your time to find the right home. That makes more sense. I would not rush into and offer to purchase because your worried about rates. You may end up with a house you really do not want.

Welcome home!!! My daddy’s a hero!!! I have missed you!!! was what I was reading on my way home yesterday, on the windows of the van in front of me. It made me think back to lunch - it was different than it has been.

We had gone to a sub place right up the road on Yadkin. The place was packed, I remember now as I sat down and looked around at all the young men and women in uniforms and there were some with gray hair to. George had a big smile on his face, and I realized but it didn’t hit me like it should. The place had not been that busy for sometime. I remember the feeling of pride I felt just being in their company at the time yesterday. Looking at the tabs on the uniforms that read Ranger, Airborne and Special Forces, as I write this today I truly believe we are blessed to live in Fayetteville because we are in the presence of America’s best.

To the little boy or girl in the van in front of me yesterday, to the Husband or Wife driving we want to say on your loved one’s safe return home, “WELCOME HOME,” “YOU ARE OUR HERO,” “AND WE HAVE MISSED YOU!!!

I arose early this morning as normal; put the coffee on went out and grabbed the paper to see what was happening. I was hit with the normal onslaught of murder, crime and wrecks, and then in the Business Section I was hit again with the news of layoffs in the Mortgage industry, Real estate sales tumble. Real estate sales at all time low, Sub-prime loans going into foreclosure. I thought, “Man this looks terrible for everyone. Should I even go to work today?” But knowing what I do about our market I am going to dig in and find out how it really is here in Fayetteville.

So I looked for the areas our MLS covers Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Hope Mills, Spring Lake, and Raeford. Along with Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, and a few other counties and small towns. Keep in mind the MLS is not a know all, it is only as good as the information we as brokers and agents enter into it. I looked at sales data from September 13-September 13 for the years of 03-04, 04-05, 05-06, and 06-07. These are the numbers I found:

• 03-04 there were 6192 Residential properties closed
• 04-05 there were 7341 Residential properties closed
• 05-06 there were 8275 Residential properties closed
• 06-07 there were 7566 Residential properties closed

To me that shows steady growth except for this year, which is not that far behind considering everyone is deployed with the troop surge we have had and this years numbers are still above ‘03 and ‘04.

I don’t think we should be concerned with the home sales in Orlando or California because I think our glass is half full with BRAC (Base Re-Alignment Commission) and the hopefully soon safe return of our Troop/Hero’s home. Remember these are my opinions please feel free to add your own.

I wanted to give my take on this. I get asked more than once will mortgage rates go up or down when the feds meets. The big date right now is 18th Sep, 2007. The rate everyone is talking about is the rate that the Fed charges banks on money they loan overnight. If you remember, in ‘04 and early ‘05 when the fed would drop rates, mortgage rates would go up for a week or so and then go down. I think then it had to do with good employment reports and consumer spending.

My opinion on it this time is a lot different, the employment report last week was not good, everyone is screaming, and the new housing starts are very slow throughout most of the country. This affects a lot more people than we think about. The people in the factories making all the goods for homes down to pictures that go on the wall and the goods to clean them with, the surveyors, people who put in streets, construction workers, the sales and advertising people. A good friend of mine told me today that the word on the street, and I am sure he meant Wall not Hay, was that there was a 100% chance of a 1/4% drop to an 80% chance of 1/2% drop. I think we will see rates drop a little to try to stimulate things. I think we are still fine it will just make it that much better for us.

Everyone says the market is down, that it is a terrible time to buy, that it is a terrible time to sell, so I am going to add my two cents as someone in the industry day in and out. OUR MARKET IS FINE. We don’t see the big swings of appreciation that some of the other markets see, But we show steady appreciation. Homes are still selling in the price ranges where people qualify and quite well, as rates go up less people qualify in certain price ranges so those in a higher price range will sit on the market a little longer. We have a great amount of homes at $180k and above on the market because rates are a little higher and we also have about 12,000 troops deployed. Our Market is different from any other in the US except another one by a large military base so we shouldn’t be alarmed by the nay sayers on the national news. It’s not changed to a buyer’s or a seller’s market its a good market for us and we are doing just fine.