Mort Rates

Mortgage rates moved to within a hair of the 4% barrier this week, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

The average rate for 30-year, fixed-rate loans rose 0.07 percentage point to 3.98%, and is up 0.63 percentage point since the week of May 2. Rates have not been this high since the week of April 12, 2012.

"Fixed mortgage rates crept up further this week following a solid employment report for May," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.

The recent improvement in the employment picture should result in more home buying, which would pressure rates even higher. Rates have also been going up because the Federal Reserve has signaled that it might cut back on buying mortgage-backed securities. If that happens, lenders would likely charge higher rates to make the securities more attractive to other buyers.

As rate increases push up the cost of home ownership, the impact on the housing market will be slight, according to Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, a mortgage information company.  But, he added, "Although the size of the increase was [small], it is still unwelcome as the housing market tries to gain momentum."

 

$30M Beverly Hills Cop shootout home

The increase will boost monthly mortgage payments for homebuyers by about $33 for every $100,000 borrowed. Gumbinger said that will discourage some existing homeowners from refinancing their loans if they already have a competitive rate but "[It] shouldn't be a major setback for a home purchase transaction."

But the soaring rates create a double whammy for would-be home buyers, with home prices also on a rapid rise -- up more than 10% in the 12 months ended March 31, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index.

If both trends continue, it could put a damper on a housing market still struggling to put the bust behind it. 

Slappy St. Nic

In a jolly, joyful, sort-of funny article (that is unrelated to entrepreneurial endeavors - almost) I'm reminded again of why and how we have this blessed Christmas.  St. Nicolas loved it, and yet he loved his savior more.  Check out this article from www.worldmag.com:

Slappy holiday

Why not take the Santa Claus tradition a little further?

Santa Claus had his origins in St. Nicholas, the fourth-century bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey. Known for his generosity and his love of children, Nicholas is said to have saved a poor family's daughters from slavery by tossing into their window enough gold for a rich dowry, a present that landed in some shoes or, in some accounts, stockings that were hung up to dry. Thus arose the custom of hanging up stockings for St. Nicholas to fill. And somehow he transmogrified into Santa Claus, who has become for many people the secular Christmas alternative to Jesus Christ.

But there is more to the story of Nicholas of Myra. He was also a delegate to the Council of Nicea in a.d. 325, which battled the heretics who denied the deity of Christ. He was thus one of the authors of the Nicene Creed, which affirms that Jesus Christ is both true God and true man. And unlike his later manifestation, Nicholas was particularly zealous in standing up for Christ.

During the Council of Nicea, jolly old St. Nicholas got so fed up with Arius, who taught that Jesus was just a man, that he walked up and slapped him! That unbishoplike behavior got him in trouble. The council almost stripped him of his office, but Nicholas said he was sorry, so he was forgiven.

The point is, the original Santa Claus was someone who flew off the handle when he heard someone minimizing Christ. Perhaps we can battle our culture's increasingly Christ-less Christmas by enlisting Santa in his original cause. The poor girls' stockings have become part of our Christmas imagery. So should the St. Nicholas slap.

Not a violent hit of the kind that got the good bishop in trouble, just a gentle, admonitory tap on the cheek. This should be reserved not for out-and-out nonbelievers, but for heretics (that is, people in the church who deny its teachings), Christians who forget about Jesus, and people who try to take Christ out of Christmas.

This will take a little tweaking of the mythology. Santa and his elves live at the North Pole where they compile a list of who is naughty, who is nice, and who is Nicean. On Christmas Eve, flying reindeer pull his sleigh full of gifts. And after he comes down the chimney, he will steal into the rooms of people dreaming of sugarplums who think they can do without Christ and slap them awake.

And we'll need new songs and TV specials ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Slap," "Deck the Apollinarian with Bats of Holly," "Frosty the Gnostic," "How the Arian Stole Christmas," "Rudolph the Red Knows Jesus").

Department store Santas should ask the children on their laps if they have been good, what they want for Christmas, and whether they understand the Two Natures of Christ. The Santas should also roam the shopping aisles, and if they hear any clerks wish their customers a mere "Happy Holiday," give them a slap.

This addition to his job description will keep Santa busy. Teachers who forbid the singing of religious Christmas carols-SLAP! Office managers who erect Holiday Trees-SLAP! Judges who outlaw manger displays-SLAP! People who give The Da Vinci Code as a Christmas present-SLAP! Ministers who cancel Sunday church services that fall on Christmas day-SLAP! SLAP!

Perhaps Santa Claus in his original role as a theological enforcer may not go over very well in our contemporary culture. People may then try to take both Christ and Santa Claus out of Christmas. And with that economic heresy, the retailers would start to do the slapping.

Updates to our Property Management System

Just like our logo, our Investment Brokerage / Management Business is growing and we’re happy to tell you about it.  As you would imagine because we are managing more houses we now have more staff.  In an effort to keep you up to speed I wanted to send you all all an update, further introducing to you our new staff, and clarifying our existing staff members.   As you will also note, we have made some changes to our management system in an effort to better serve you.

Rental Payments:

To begin following changes are immediately in effect at JXN Housing:

Rent proceeds to Property Owners are processed between the 20^th and the 22^nd, no longer specifically on the 21^st.  This is the case because of how days fall in months, and how we record our books. 

Regular Maintenance Requests:

Because we are a web-based brokerage we require that maintenance request be filed on our website at www.jxnhousing.managebuilding.com, and yet sometimes your tenants can’t seem to get to an internet connection in order to process a request.  For their convenience and for the maintenance of your investment we’ve added our Regular Maintenance Request Hotline.  Tenants need simply to call the office line: 601-376-9128 and press extension 99.

Emergency Maintenance Requests:

In that same light we’ve added an Emergency Maintenance Hotline.  Tenants now know that they have an Emergency Maintenance request they may call it in.  In order to file an Emergency Maintenance Report they call our office at 601-376-9128, and press 15 be connected to the property manager 24 hours a day to file your Emergency Maintenance Report. 

Staff:

At JXN Housing we have an expanding full service friendly staff.  Please review the staff, the brief explanations can help you understand how our management firm works.  Our staff is as follows:

Sarah Sullivan
Asst. Property Manager
sarah@jxnhousing.com
Ext. 100

Sarah is our voice here at JXN Housing.  She manages prospects  and advertises our properties.  When you call she will send you in the right direction.

Andrea Thornton
Account Manager
andrea@jxnhousing.com
Ext. 108

Andrea is oversees the books here at JXN Housing, and manages the payments to owners.  She is our executive in our accounting department.

Ronda Ashe
Account Processor
ronda@jxnhousing.com
Ext. 103

Ronda processes our leases, rents, draft checks, manages collections, and processes our new incoming clients.  Ronda can answer any question about your payments.

Marc Sanders
Director of Tenants
marc@jxnhousing.com
Ext. 107

If Sarah is our voice at JXN Housing, Marc is our smiling face.  Marc is our “Man on the ground,” and he is out and about showing properties, and is in the houses for inspections.

Your Property Manager:

In closing, we’re delighted to have you in the JXN Housing “family.”  We hope that you will see an increase in the level of professionalism with which you property is managed, and in your satisfaction with your investments.  If you would like to speak with me direct extension is 101. 

Thanks,

Dallis Ketchum

Realtor | Broker | Property Manager

JXN Housing LLC

PO Box 4262

Jackson, MS 39296

www.jxnhousing.com

dallis@jxnhousing.com

Fax:         601-510-9564

Work:     601-376-9128

Foreclosure Heat Map

Roll your mouse around below if you'd like to feel the foreclosure heat in the USA right now.  It's pretty amazing, and it can be read in several ways.  It's sad - I agree.  We think of all the people who have and will loose their homes.  This is true.  I feel for these folks, but I simply ask that for a moment you look at the facts on the flip side, one in particular - there has never been a better time to buy a home as when prices are so deflated, and rates so historically low.  The New York Times reports (in an article published yesterday) that even "The big investors are wooed by what they see as vast opportunity.  There are close to 650,000 foreclosed properties sitting on the books of lenders."  With opportunity on the rise, "An additional 710,000 are in the foreclosure process, and according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, about 3.25 million borrowers are delinquent on their loans and in danger of losing their homes."  So, this also creates a major surge in the rental market.  Naturally families are being forced to move, and find less expensive housing situations.  NY Times continues "With so many families displace from their homes by foreclosure, rental demand is rising," and the case is definitely true here in Jackson, MS.  Rental demand is stronger than ever, and investment properties are now more valuable than they have ever been in our Mississippi economy.


Lastly, you'll see here that this active chart shows which how many foreclosures are in each state.  Thankfully Mississppi isn't at the top of the list, but because of the Perfect Storm created by our economy we are able to reap the benefits of low lending rates and overall depressed housing prices nationwide.  This coupled with the fact that the Wall Street Journal (article from August 2010) labelled Jackson, MS the tenth strongest real estate investment market in the nation means one simple thing - Now is the time to acquire investment properties in Jackson.

Makes you think doesn't it...  We'll if it does - one of the Licensed Real Estate Brokerages that I operate specializes in Asset Acquistion and Property Management.  You can check it out here.  Holler if your interested, or if you need Property Management here in Jackson for houses you've already purchased.

Follow Your Passion

This video was shot last summer in France.  The short clip here on the blog is just a trailer to the full length 40 minute documentary which will go live (free, and available for download) tomorrow 11.11.11 on their adventure blog Sebmontaz.com.

It got me thinking - as it will for you too - are you following your passion?  Am I working at things that stretch me, that push me, that I can be endlessly growing in?  Am I pushing?

Check out the clip and enjoy.

I Believe I can Fly ( flight of the frenchies). Trailer from sebastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

Google Encrypts Search to Thwart Wi-Fi Hackers | Threat Level | Wired.com

Google Encrypts Search to Thwart Wi-Fi Hackers | Threat Level | Wired.com:

Which raises an important question:

What are you doing to protect your clients?

I know that at JXN Housing (our property management business) we take very seriously the confidentiality of all our clients and customers. Here's just your reminder - be careful, keep good records, and make it clear to your customers and clients that you are diligently protecting them. Remember the seven protected classes, tape them above your PC screen.

Google just gives us a good reminder - We should all be going to great lengths to protect our clients and customers.

Keep a steady look out,

Dallis

'via Blog this'