“My Two Cents” is a blog where I share simple mortgage advice
From daily situations to my views on the market as a whole, you’ll find practical information on lending, home buying, and government regulations that affect the housing market.
As we close out July we saw the Fed hike rates another 0.75% which was already priced into markets based on the Fedʼs prior commentary. I donʼt think itʼs a question of “if ” the Fed will continue to hike rates, the only real question is by how much?
This year has been full of mortgage rate talk, Fed rate talk and a lot of doom and gloom from the media. Let’s take a minute and talk about The Neutral Interest Rate or the Real Federal Funds rate! This is calculated by taking the nominal Fed Funds Rate and subtracting inflation. (Fed Funds Rate – Inflation = The Real Federal Funds Rate) With
The number one question I get asked is “Are we going to see a housing crash or a recession?” Which I get, the media has had a very negative tone in 2022 and with mortgage rates rising and inflation at the highest levels in 40 years it makes it easy to jump on the attention-grabbing headlines. While most of us
With Q1 of 2022 in the books, I think it’s worth a look back at some of our early-year predictions and what we had hoped we would see in the mortgage market and housing market. Early this year we predicted mortgage rates rising (not a shocker) but had hoped that by the end of March we would see them in
As we get set to close out Q1 of 2022 the year has started off much as we expected. Volatility in rate markets Inflation reaching the highest levels in nearly 40 years 10-year treasury note breaking 2.0% for the first time since 2019 All of this has caused mortgage rates to also reach the highest levels that we’ve seen since
As the calendar turns to February and we look back on the first month of 2022 economically—it ended almost identical to what we had expected. Mortgage rates are trending upwards, stock markets are volatile, and the Federal Reserve confirmed that they will start hiking the Fed Fund and Prime rate. The only thing that changed is the Fed is now
Welcome to 2022 and while I’m sure each of us over the next week will inevitably write, type, text, or data, enter the wrong year somewhere 2022 is here and we’re ready. This is the first time since 2018 where we enter a year not really having a line of sight as to what the first quarter is going to
Before the pandemic, 15-year mortgages were simply too expensive for many homeowners seeking to refinance. Popular instead was the 30-year fixed-rate loan, which typically comes with a more affordable monthly payment. But now the tide seems to be turning, with 15-year mortgages accounting for 17 percent of home loan applications this past September, up from 10.2 percent a year earlier,
If you are one of the millions of Americans who received forbearance and were allowed to pause your monthly mortgage payments during the past year, that could have implications when it comes time to file your taxes this year and in the years to come. Exactly how will forbearance affect your ability to deduct the interest? Individuals typically use what’s
As you prepare to file your 2020 taxes, you might be asking yourself what the perks of owning a home are. Well, while the revised Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 remains in effect, the pandemic has changed the scene somewhat. The IRS has delayed filing season by about two weeks, for example, meaning it won’t begin accepting or
