Sam's Blog

Senior Mortgage Advisor

Carolina Mortgage Company - 843-230-7929

Senior Advisor - Helping you GROW your business!

www.activerain.com./luckydog1 - SC

www.activerain.com/luckydog2 - NC

www.samthompsonmortgage.com/

www.carolina-mortgage.com/

Checkout:  http://www.activelaurinburg.com/   Active Adult Community Laurinburg, NC

Know the oldest cure for a sore throat?   Gargle with ice water for 30 seconds!  This may be the world's best kept secret too.  This is what a doctor told my daughter to do and it's the first I have ever heard of it.  But, you need to stop at 30 seconds because it will give you a 'brain freeze' or cold headaches if you don't.  

Speaking of old ideas that still work, why not start a "Newcomer's Club?"  This is an awesome idea that you do not see anymore that can be a huge way for Realtors to capture new buyers and build a huge referral network too. 

Read my tip of the week below for more on this neat idea!  

Are you working hard at selling?   

Here's the quote of the week I heard this week:  

"I can't tell you that you will be successful if you work hard everyday, but I can tell you that you won't if you don't."  

Remember the following selling points:  

1. $7500 first-time home buyer tax credit, - Agents are not doing this yet!  

2. Low interest rates with programs down to a 580 FICO score.  

3. Some of the best home values in this greatest buyer's market in history!  

Also, please make sure that your buyers and sellers know that WE HAVE MONEY TO LEND!!  With all the negative mortgage news, many in the public do not know that we can lend money.  Spread the news.  Put this in your print ads too!  

CALL ME FOR A QUICK CLOSING TOO!  WE HAVE A NEW QUICK CLOSING CHECKLIST TO GET YOUR BUYERS CLOSED IN A HURRY!   Keep reading for 2 good ideas that can really help you with this.

Senior Mortgage Advisor

Carolina Mortgage Company - 843-230-7929

Senior Advisor - Helping you GROW your business!

www.activerain.com./luckydog1 - SC

www.activerain.com/luckydog2 - NC

www.samthompsonmortgage.com/

www.carolina-mortgage.com/

Checkout:  http://www.activelaurinburg.com/   Active Adult Community Laurinburg, NC

Interest Rates are Dropping Again!  

Since interest rates are dropping again, I thought this might cause some folks to wonder what causes this.  So, here's an overview of how mortgage companies set daily pricing.  There is much disinformation that exists on the subject.  In fact, daily price changes for FHA/VA and conventional loans are very simple to calculate.

1) Where pricing is concerned, a mortgage company must minimize risk without compromising production volume.  When a company sets daily pricing, it is in effect taking a position against the market.  In other words, the company is offering a rate to a borrower while market prices are still fluctuating.  Loan Officers face the exact same dilemma.  Interest rate quotes to consumers must be competitive in order to drive production, however the price can't be so low that the loan is originated at a loss.  In addition, when a mortgage advisor quotes a price, there is always a danger that the market may move and a price change occurs.

2) There is an inverse relationship between the price of bonds and the movement of interest rates.  As interest rates rise, the price of bonds falls and vice versa.  

For example:

Bond Price        Discount points to consumer
     98                                        2.00
     99                                        1.00
     100                                      None
     101                                       1.00  rebate

As bond prices rise, the number of discount points the borrower must pay decrease.  When the media speaks to a rally in bonds, they are indicating that bond prices have risen which pushes interest rates lower.

3) As loans are originated they are packaged and sold as mortgage bonds or mortgage-backed securities (MBS's).  The amount of money that an investor will pay for a mortgage bond depends on the interest rate paid by the mortgagor and current market conditions.  Ginnie Mae bonds are common, daily prices for different pools can be found in most newspapers.  Whenever a borrower makes a mortgage payment, a portion of the payment is passed on to the holder of the Ginnie Mae security.  It is the daily price fluctuations in the forward mortgage-backed security market that cause mortgage companies to change pricing daily.

4) Treasury bonds represent Government debt and not mortgage debt.  Thus, mortgage interest rates are not determined by the price or yield of either the 10 or 30-year Treasury bond. Often there is a large disparity between the amount of movement of Treasury bonds when compared to mortgage-backed securities in any given trading day. Watching the Treasury market to determine daily changes in discount points is impossible. Period.

5) Most mortgage companies watch market activity for over an hour each day before setting daily pricing. Mortgage companies commonly set daily pricing based on the bond levels at 10:00 am eastern.  Daily price changes are the difference between prices of the mortgage-backed securities from 10:00 a.m. ET.  By subtracting the price of the mortgage backed security from the price at 10:00 a.m.  ET the day before, you derive the net movement in discount points.

6) The Treasury market opens at 8:30 a.m.  ET and the mortgage-backed securities begin to trade at approximately 8:40 a.m. ET each day.  Many economic reports are released at 8:30 am eastern time, so wide price swings are not uncommon directly following the market open.  It is imperative to know when important economic data is scheduled for release.

7) Mortgage bonds are priced in 32's.  Each 1/32nd is equivalent to 3.125 basis points. It takes 4/32's to see pricing improve by 1/8th etc.32nds.  Depending on how your company prices, you may see daily price adjustments for a movement as small as 1/32nd or 3 basis points.

8) Mortgage companies make money originating and servicing loans, not by "playing the market".  Bond traders make a living trading bonds, but the secondary marketing personnel of mortgage companies trade bonds to displace risk.  In fact, when regulators audit mortgage companies, large, consistent trading gains are viewed negatively.

9) Daily rate changes for loan programs other than standard fixed rate loans are more difficult to track.  Often investors such as Banks and Savings and Loans will price adjustable rate products based on asset/liability needs, therefore the daily price changes do not necessarily track changes in bonds.   


Hope this helps you understand mortgage pricing!    

Senior Mortgage Advisor

Carolina Mortgage Company - 843-230-7929

Senior Advisor - Helping you GROW your business!

www.activerain.com./luckydog1 - SC

www.activerain.com/luckydog2 - NC

www.samthompsonmortgage.com/

www.carolina-mortgage.com/

Checkout:  http://www.activelaurinburg.com/   Active Adult Community Laurinburg, NC

Gas prices below $2/gallon again!  

I filled up with $1.95/gallon last week so there's some good news for our economy.  Maybe this will get some people out riding around looking at properties again and calling you about buying!   

Promote something like this:  "Gas prices are dropping, mortgage interest rates are dropping, home prices are at a historic low, what are you waiting for?  AND, if you are a 1st-time home buyer, the Gov't is giving you a tax credit up to $7500!  Call me for the details!" 

When they do, remember the following selling points:  

1. $7500 first-time home buyer tax credit

2. Low interest rates with programs down to a 580 FICO score.  

3. Some of the best home values in this greatest buyer's market in history!  

Also, please make sure that your buyers and sellers know that WE HAVE MONEY TO LEND!!  With all the negative mortgage news, many in the public do not know that we can lend money.  Spread the news.  Put this in your print ads too!   CALL ME FOR A QUICK CLOSING TOO!  WE HAVE A NEW QUICK CLOSING CHECKLIST TO GET YOUR BUYERS CLOSED IN A HURRY!

Senior Mortgage Advisor

PHH Mortgage - 843-230-7929

Senior Advisor - Helping you GROW your business!

www.activerain.com./luckydog1 - SC

www.activerain.com/luckydog2 - NC

http://samthompson.phhmortgage.com/

www.myphhmortgageadvisor.com/

Hubble image 300 million light years away as seen through an area the size of the eye of a dime!     I recently met an engineer working on a new telescope that NASA is developing along with Canadian and European space agencies to replace the Hubble Space Telescope in a few years.  This new NASA Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) will be positioned around 1 million miles from earth in a halo orbit at the L-2 libration point, a gravitational balance point far beyond the moon's orbit.  This will allow the telescope to focus on very small points in space with open shutters for up to 5 days capturing the light and focusing on those images.   The engineer was very excited about his job and got me excited too with his passion in describing the new technology that will be employed.  He told me about one image that Hubble collected that shows several galaxies that he liked that was seen from a point in space equivalent to looking through a hole in the eye of president Franklin D. Roosevelt on a dime held at arms length.  I think the image above is what he was talking about known as the "Galaxy Cluster" that I found on the Internet.   The point of this is two fold:  to educate you on this that I learned from this engineer AND to help all of us see that life is too short and we all need to be working in fields that can get us excited too.  With this excitement, we too will show our passion and this will help others feel it too.   Are you excited about Real Estate Sales?  If so, show it and use this passion to get others excited too.  If not, get out and do something else for a living while you can before you have to retire.  If you need help getting excited about your real estate career, call me and let me help you with some new motivational ideas!   Also, keep reading my emails and call me if you get a new prospect so I can help share my passion with your prospects too!     Description of the image above:   Coma Cluster, Abell 1656 Object Description: Galaxy Cluster Position (J2000): R.A. 12h 59m 48s.70 Dec. +27° 58' 50".00 Constellation: Coma Berenices Distance: 300 million light-years or 90 million parsecs Dimensions: The image is approximately 9 arcminutes (1.7 million light-years or 500 kiloparsecs) wide. About the Data Data Description: This image was created from HST data from proposal 10861: D. Carter (Liverpool John Moores University) and collaborators. Instrument: ACS/WFC Filters: F475W (SDSS g), F814W (I) Exposure Date(s): November, 2006 - January, 2007 Exposure Time: 12 hours About the Image Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Release Date: June 10, 2008 Get inspired and excited about your career and use your passion to get some new buyers this week!

Senior Mortgage Advisor

PHH Mortgage - 843-230-7929

Senior Advisor - Helping you GROW your business!

www.activerain.com./luckydog1 - SC

www.activerain.com/luckydog2 - NC

http://samthompson.phhmortgage.com/

www.myphhmortgageadvisor.com/

I sat in on some CE today and heard some horror stories about realtors missing things like:

"There's hardwood under the carpet"  - Don't be fooled!  Builders sometimes only put hardwood around the perimeter of the room and not in the middle.  If this is the case, you will not be able to tell by checking around the HVAC vents or pulling up the carpet in a corner.

"This house has granite countertops" - Now, many remodelers are putting in granite overlays for a savings.

"Brick Veneer and Hardieboard Plank Siding"  - Without taking a closer look, you might miss that the bricks are actually a new product that looks like brick veneer but are really pretend bricks on a board and nailed to the floor joists.

Since your job as a Realtor is to discover and disclose, you are responsible for things that you say to promote so you must disclose them right or you could end up in a lawsuit.  Scarey huh?

The best thing is to never ASSUME anything and get inspectors in to make the call on things you cannot tell and use this information to help your sellers and buyers understand the issues that could come up.

Sellers and buyers need professional realtors or it's "buyer beware!"

Youtube yourself and your listings!   It's time to start using the internet in case you have not already starting doing so.  Here are some examples of how others are doing it and some ideas of how you can promote your services too with youtube for FREE!   Click to view each one below: Wilkesboro, NC Listing Video with realtor narrator  You can hire someone or do it yourself.   Beaufort, SC Listing with realtor narrator  This must be a service because this looks just like the first one...   Raleigh, NC Listing - soundtrack only  The soundtrack option is okay but I personality like the other approach; just my taste.   Irmo, SC Listing - soundtrack only This one is like the other. Instead of this, why not do a walkthrough, pointing out the rooms and show the potential.   Listing Presentation Video - Do one of these and share the link to your prospects or FSBOs so they can see how you do it BEFORE they sign up with another realtor.   1st-time Buyer Presentation Video - Same as the listing presentation as a way to promote your service and personality on a video that can be embedded in your websites or blogs and emailed to your prospects too.   Funny Rent vs Buy Video - You can do something funny like this too!   One Wing Landing - You have got to watch this one!  Nothing to do with real estate but certainly worth watching!   Open your mind and creative side in showing the world your personality and professional service online.  It's free and easy with a little time and work.  Then, it's there to promote with any future promotions on realtor.com, craigslist, facebook, youtube, your website, your emails, etc.   Also, by putting all of your listings on video, your sellers are going to be sharing them to their family and friends too.  What a impact this can have for your business!   Send them an email link with the listing with your personal contact information and ask them to forward the email to all of their family, friends and anyone that asks about their home.   One more thing, you can also explore other youtube videos and facebook videos, etc. to see what others are doing and steal ideas and learn what you can do differently or better.   Use this slow time to get this going and you are going to turn slow time into fast time!!     MAKE SURE TO SEE THE PROMOTION ON JUST POSTED FOR A 360 VIRTUAL TOUR FOR ALL OF YOUR LISTINGS!

Senior Mortgage Advisor

PHH Mortgage - 843-230-7929

Senior Advisor - Helping you GROW your business!

www.activerain.com./luckydog1 - SC

www.activerain.com/luckydog2 - NC

http://samthompson.phhmortgage.com/

www.myphhmortgageadvisor.com/

 Here's a service available in the Southern Pines area for realtors and FSBOs.

Senior Mortgage Advisor

PHH Mortgage - 843-230-7929

Senior Advisor - Helping you GROW your business!

www.activerain.com./luckydog1 - SC

www.activerain.com/luckydog2 - NC

http://samthompson.phhmortgage.com/

www.myphhmortgageadvisor.com/

Think Michael Phelps was fast?    

Here's what I need in order to make sure your FHA and VA loans are processed fast too!  

1. Agreement of Sale contract and verification of property address making sure the individual unit numbers are accurate, if applicable.  

2. All addendums and disclosures referenced in the Agreement of Sale are part of the contract and are fully executed by all parties.   

3. The owner of record is confirmed and is listed as the "seller" indicated on the Agreement of Sale contract.  If the property is bank owned, the power of attorney may be needed.  

4. If there are any seller concessions, the seller can pay prepaid expenses, discount points and closing costs.  Money for repairs, etc., cannot be included.  

5. Only permanently affixed personal property is included in the Agreement of Sale (FHA Loans Only).  

6. The real estate certification is signed by buyers, sellers, and selling agent (FHA Loans Only).  

7. The FHA Amendatory Clause is signed and dated by both the buyer and seller (FHA Loans Only).  The exact sales price must be indicated on the form.  

8. VA Amendatory Clause must be signed and dated by both the buyer aqnd seller (VA Loans Only).  It is acceptable to use the words "sales price" instead of listing the exact sales price.  

9. VA Appraisals require a legal description of the property (VA Loans Only).  The lot and block number are required to place an order for a VA appraisal.  

10. For both FHA and VA loans, any changes must be initiated by both the buyer and seller.  Addendums and disclosures referenced in the Agreement of Sale must be part of the contract and fully executed by all parties.    

Call me for your quick Govie closings and once we get these items collected, we will be able to close them almost as fast as your conforming loans!   

Senior Mortgage Advisor

PHH Mortgage - 843-230-7929

Senior Advisor - Helping you GROW your business!

www.activerain.com./luckydog1 - SC

www.activerain.com/luckydog2 - NC

http://samthompson.phhmortgage.com/

www.myphhmortgageadvisor.com/

"We are in the midst of a once-in-a-century credit tsunami"...   Quote of the week from former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan   He says this crisis will pass and we will learn from our mistakes and we will have a better system when all is done.  The question is how bad will things get and how long will it take and his best guess is several months.  

So, what can we do about this?  Sell harder!  Our industry is the key to pulling this nation and the world out of this.  Sell that we are probably seeing this best conditions for a new home purchase in our lifetimes past and future.    When the going gets tough, the tough get going!  

Remember the following selling points:   1. $7500 first-time home buyer tax credit, 2. low interest rates with programs down to a 580 FICO score and 3. some of the best home values in this greatest buyer's market in history!  

Also, please make sure that your buyers and sellers know that WE HAVE MONEY TO LEND!!  With all the negative mortgage news, many in the public do not know that we can lend money.  Spread the news.  Put this in your print ads too!  

CALL ME FOR A QUICK CLOSING TOO!  WE HAVE A NEW QUICK CLOSING CHECKLIST TO GET YOUR BUYERS CLOSED IN A HURRY!  

Try us for your JUMBO LOAN clients too!  We have a new Jumbo pricing special that is kicking butt right now!

Senior Mortgage Advisor

PHH Mortgage - 843-230-7929

Senior Advisor - Helping you GROW your business!

www.activerain.com./luckydog1 - SC

www.activerain.com/luckydog2 - NC

http://samthompson.phhmortgage.com/

www.myphhmortgageadvisor.com/