Last week was a mix of ups and downs with a rally at the end of the week that took us into positive territory by weeks end with just slight improvements over the previous week.  At this point we are at a low for the year and that probably will not last long since most of the drop in rates can be attributed to a flight to quality, NOT because of economic data.  European issues are still causing money to flow into our credit markets causing our rates to drop as that happens, once they decide to pull their money out (and they eventually will) we will see interest rates climb This week has a few biggies to look at in addition to the Flight to Quality issues. here is this weeks calendar: Monday May 17: In the absence of any real news the flight to quality continued today with a bouncy ride... 05/17/2010

After 6+ months of waiting ,no communication with the negotiator except when the BPO was done and   when the negotiator responded with a final counter of 185k. Christmas Eve with their counter we Said heck yea as you cant see all the beatiful river views of this Mother/daughter home but the homes across the street are Million dollar homes. This first time buyer really took a chance by fronting the money for inspections appraisels,C/O etc. etc. inn  the end his and my risks really paid off and he was awarded a great home at a fantastic price. Lots of head aches and working with my client to get him to hang in there but none the less he is in a great area with views of the Toms River in Money Island, Toms River.....dreams do come true....its fantasy that never happens!!! COMPLIMENTS OF AN... 05/14/2010

    Pass It On: Preserving your Family Treasures   TOMS RIVER - As spring cleaning is underway, Americans across the country will be left to contemplate how to preserve new found treasures.  CONTACT:Carol Anne Zsiga 732-349-6200  czsiga@theoceancountylibrary.org Where: Toms River Branch of the Ocean County Library. 101 Washington Street, Toms River, NJ When: Saturday May 22, 2pm What: how to preserve your family treasures Ocean County Library will provide information and expertise on how to preserve collectibles, photos, family records and other valuable materials. "Pass It On: Preserving your Family Treasures" will be held on Saturday May 22 at 2 p.m. at the Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library. Preservation Specialist Jill Rawnsley has worked at the Conservation Center in Phi... 05/13/2010

Don't forget the Attic and Basement when staging a home to sell.   I recently staged a home in Toms River New Jersey that had a stair way leading from the second floor bedroom area to the attic.  What I discovered when going into the attic was it was an entire third floor with finished walls windows and floor boards.....the downs side was that it was filled with furniture, baby toys and clothes.  This space if de-cluttered could be a huge selling point - The attic was a 20x 16 foot room which could easily have been turned into a guest room, an office, or a gallery.   My point to this blog is the dumping space in your attics and basements are real estate - treat it as expensive available living space ...especially in the situation that I came across this past weekend - the house needed t... 05/12/2010

  Did I mention in last Monday's Blog that I thought we would have a bumpy week last week?  I just did a quick Tally... I get updates on Fannies and Ginnies at least 3 times a day, I am scheduled to get the "open", "Mid day" and "Close" each day, if the market is bouncing a lot, I get multiple updates through out the day.  So just how bumpy was it?  Thursday I received about 45 updates, and Friday 29 updates.  Yup it was a busy week and over all it ended up being a positive one for interest rates with a gain of 21/32nds for Fannies. Most of last week's gain came on Thursday when The mysterious 1,000 point plunge in stocks happened, and Friday the market just couldn't get its direction in the wake of Thursdays confusion along with mixed signals in the employment report. This week promise... 05/10/2010

    I have to admit that this one made me laugh at first.  What are the chances you will find someone reading at the Library??? what a crazy place to be reading. Toms River library celebrates "Get Caught Reading Month"   Toms River - The Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library will join libraries across America as well as in Europe, Mexico, Japan, United Kingdom, Antigua, and Romania in celebrating May as National Get Caught Reading Month. Started in 1999, Get Caught Reading is an international campaign to promote the joys of leisure reading for readers of all ages. The campaign is supported by the Association of American Publishers. What: Get Caught Reading month When: The entire Month of May           Where: Toms River branch CONTACT:       Scott Walker, 732-349-6200, ext. 5914 ... 05/06/2010

  What's New Cupcake    Toms River, NJ: The Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library, , will host  Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, authors of "What's New Cupcake". When: May 13, 2010 7pm Where: Toms River Branch of the OCL, 101 Washington St. Contact: Scott Walker, 732-349-6200, ext. 5914    swalker@theoceancountylibrary.org The two will share their creative decorating ideas that transform the plain cupcake into a work of art by using simple inexpensive items. "What's New Cupcake" follows up to their first book "Hello Cupcake". And just as in their first book many of their creations appear so real they look too good to eat. You will learn imaginative ideas and simple techniques that turn cupcakes into holiday center pieces, racecars, sandcastles and more. You will also discover doz... 05/06/2010

 Is it just me?  I cant believe that it is May already.... Well April ended with a bit of a bang for the mortgage world, with enough insecurities in foreign markets along with some Wall Street Fun all served to fuel a bit of a flight to quality last week. By the end of the week we say Fannies trading up a healthy 24/32nds which has helped interest rates for mortgages trickle down.  This week is the beginning of the month with a new laundry list of data to chew on. Here is this weeks Economic Calendar: Monday May 3: March personal income estimated at +0.3%, Spending +0.6% and PCE index +0.1%. The actually numbers matched the estimates exactly, yet we are in negative territory for rates today. Why? take a peek at the next bullet. Monday: April institute of Supply Mgt expected 60.0. The es... 05/03/2010

      French author to discuss her new cookbook   TOMS RIVER -   Internationally best-selling author and former president and CEO of Clicquot, Inc.,  Mireille Guiliano will discuss her newly-released fourth book "The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook" at the Toms River branch (101 Washington St.) of the Ocean County Library.   What: Mireille Guiliano ("French Women Don't Get Fat") discusses her new cookbook When: The program and book signing will take place Thursday May 20 at 7 p.m. Where: Toms River branch of The Ocean County Library CONTACT:   Larry Meegan, 732-349-6200, ext. 5906  lmeegan@theoceancountylibrary.org Scott Rodas, 732-349-6200, ext. 5912  srodas@theoceancountylibrary.org Her cookbook, a follow up to "French Women Don't Get Fat" (2004) and "French Women for all Seasons,... 04/28/2010

  I remember when I was a neophyte in the Mortgage biz back in the 80's and Japanese tax law changed and our rates went up... thinking "Wow, the economy really is global." Well today is another piece of info to confirm just that.  There was a surprise downgrade of Portuguese Debt today that has caused a big influx of cash into US Credit instruments in a flight to quality. In English:  Every one is running away from foreign investment and looking for a safe place to park their cash. So they see the good old USA as a safe haven, and we have significant foreign investment in US Bonds and Mortgages. This is happening even ahead of a large auction, which should be good news for this weeks excess supply. This is a good news scenario that may only be temporary, but will show up this afternoon ... 04/27/2010

 This Week's Economic Calendar  Last week was a good mix of confusion that ended with Fannies losing 13/32nds. Much of this was due to action in stocks, but there was some good news that caused it as well. There was a huge jump in new home sales, the Forecast was for an increase of 3.9% and the Real number was +26.9%... HUGE news, (or was it?)  if you dig into that number, and realize that home sales have been in the toilet, any increase looks huge... Also 45% of that number was for homes under $200,000, only 13% was for homes above $400k. So it is a bit of a mixed bag number.  This week has quite a mix of data, auctions and a Fed meeting to confuse the market. Here is the Calendar: Monday, April 26: Treasury Auction # 1 for the week with $11Billion in 5 yr notes. The good news here is ... 04/26/2010

      Have a great week! Rob Robert Rauf Mortgage Banker NMLS ID# 248937 www.RobertRaufHomeLoans.com   or my blog: http://activerain.com/blogs/rrauf (732)223-1630 x102 Since 1987 I have been helping my clients fulfill their dream of home ownership! Real Estate Mortgage Network        NJ Mortgages, New Jersey Mortgages, Mortgages in NJ, mortgage in New Jersey, Mortgages in New Jersey   04/25/2010

   We have seen this subject so often, Old Worn out business photos, You know the ones... When you meet the person and they are 20 years older than their picture... TIME TO GET A NEW ONE! I try to keep mine up to date. So just a week or so ago I scheduled a local independent Photographer to take our pictures for my office. This is a great way to do it, you don't need prints, you really just need a quality professional photograph in a digital format. Michelle Kasich is the local Photographer we used in Toms River, NJ. This is the second time she has done photos for our office. Michelle's Husband Steven is also a photographer.  Here is the REALLY Funny part. Michelle Specializes in animal photography, and Steven is the one that takes photos of families, portraits etc... But it has always ... 04/21/2010

Only 10 Days Remain for Home-Buyers to take advantage of the Tax Credit in Toms River, NJ! What does this mean for "First Time" Home-Buyers in Toms River? It means; if you are NOT "under contract" on your new home by April 3oth, 2010, you are NOT eligible for a Tax Credit of up to $8,000! What does this mean for "Repeat Buyers" in Toms River, NJ? It means; if you are NOT "under contract" on your new home by April 30th, 2010, you are NOT eligible for a Tax Credit of up to $6,500! What does this mean for Home-Sellers in Toms River? It means, on May 1st, 2010, your home will be worth LESS than it is today as the artificial demand created by the Tax Credit will disappear! Won't the Government "extend" the Tax Credit again? NOT likely! All indications are the Tax Credit will be history come ... 04/20/2010

   Last week ended up with a bang, and for the most part 4 of the 5 days were mortgage friendly days.  By the end of the week we saw Fannies trading up 26/32nds which is a significant improvement in a weeks time and will translate into improving rates. Who do we have to thank?  You can Thank Goldman Sachs for last weeks credit market rally.  The SEC Suit against Goldman started a bit of a sell off in stocks triggering a flight to quality into the Credit Markets, driving prices up and yields down. This week has some data to chew on, but I think we may have more movement this week based on stocks Here is this weeks economic calendar Monday April 19: March LEI; depending on which forecast you look at this was anticipated to be anywhere from +0.6% to 1.0%  in reality it came out +1.4%, a ve... 04/19/2010

   A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about the National Flood insurance program expiring the end of March. Well we just got a little bit of good news: President Obama signed emergency legislation last night which allows insurance agents to write flood insurance policies again.  Therefore, restrictions regarding properties located in a flood zone are lifted. this is only temporary, I am getting conflicting info here, one of my sources says it is ony extended for 30 days, and the NAR says it is extended until May 31, 2010. I would bet that the National Association of Realtors is on the ball with this, so I would lean towards trusting that date.  With any luck our elected officials in DC will get it fixed in the next month and life will be good.  If you are buying a home that is in a flood zo... 04/16/2010

 Actor to discuss new art form   TOMS RIVER -   Actor, writer and internationally recognized dealer of vernacular photography, Steve Bannos, will speak at a program about his photographic pursuits at the Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library, 101 Washington St., Friday May 7 at 7 p.m. What: Steve Bannos discusses vernacular photography When: Friday May 7 @ 7 p.m. Where: Toms River library branch CONTACT:    Larry Meegan, 732-349-6200, X 5906  Lmeegan@theoceancountylibrary.org   Scott Rodas, 732-349-6200, ext. 5912     srodas@theoceancountylibrary.org Bannos, who played the character Frank Kowchevski in the NBC comic-drama "Freaks and Geeks," has a collection of more than 1 million snapshots in his vernacular photography collection. Vernacular photography is aesthetically unprete... 04/15/2010

     Have a great week Rob Robert Rauf Mortgage Banker NMLS ID# 248937 www.RobertRaufHomeLoans.com   or my blog: http://activerain.com/blogs/rrauf (732)223-1630 x102 Since 1987 I have been helping my clients fulfill their dream of home ownership! Real Estate Mortgage Network        NJ Mortgages, New Jersey Mortgages, Mortgages in NJ, mortgage in New Jersey, Mortgages in New Jersey 04/14/2010

   Economic Calendar Ahhhhhh... That was the Sigh of relief last week as we had the first positive gain in Fannies in a month. By the close of the day on Friday we saw the price of Fannies up 7/32nds over the week and that translates into a noticeable improvement on a rate sheet. It was a bumpy week, but when the dust settled it was all good at the end!the best day of the week was Wednesday which also happened to be one of the potentially scary days. The 10 yr auction went off well and there were no shockers to scare the market. This week is quiet till mid week and then over 3 days we have quite the list of info for the markets to chew on. Here is this weeks economic calendar: Monday April 12: No news day in the markets. With the Absence of any data to chew on and the Dow up above 11,00... 04/12/2010

  Last week was another bad one for mortgage rates. But let's face it: That is GOOD news.  Signs of an improving economy, The first real job growth we have seen in about 2 years are all great things, and good news equates to bad news for interest rates. By the end of the week we saw Fannies lose 28/32nds and of course rates are up because of it.  Along with the good news reports we have the Treasury out of the mortgage business. How much of last weeks up-tick in mortgage rates that is due to Uncle Sam's exit from buying mortgages is difficult to tell, but it may be a small piece of the equation. This week will have a hand full of data and auction activity to chew on to determine the direction of interest rates. Here is this weeks Calendar:expected MondayApril 5: March Institute of suppl... 04/05/2010