FHA and VA Playing Much Bigger Role than in the Past

Where FHA backed less than 3 percent of all new mortgages in 2006, its share of the business has ballooned to nearly one-quarter of the mortgage market. In August, mortgages from the FHA and the Veterans Administration (for qualified veterans) backed 40 percent of loans for all home sales.

13 Texting Terms You Should Know

Since texting is limited to small messages, these abbreviations are a good way to cut down on the numbers of characters you use and still get your point across.

BC = Because
BTW = By the way
CU = See you
DRIB = Don’t read if busy
COB = Close of Business
NRN = No reply necessary
OTP = On the phone
P&C = Private and confidential
QQ = Quick question
RFD = Request for discussion
THX = Thanks
U = You
YW = You’re welcome

If you think text messaging is only done by kids – Look Again….

Americans sent more text messages than they made cell phone calls per phone. Text messaging is quickly replacing talking on the phone as the preferred method of communication for many people in the USA. Savvy Realtors should recognize this early and position themselves to capture this business, before their competitors do.

Statistics from Neustar:

• 72.2% of wireless users have paid for SMS packages. This equates to 203 million Americans.
• 57% of wireless users 13+ are considered regular text message users.
• There has been a 107% increase in text message use in the USA in the past year.
• 2.5 billion text messages are sent each day in the USA.
• More text messages are sent per phone than phone calls. The average text messages used per month is 357 compared to 204 cell phone calls.
• 138 million Americans have sent a text message in the past three months.

Pending Home Sales Up for 6 Months in a Row

In another sign that the housing market has hit bottom and rebounded the Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, increased 3.2% to 97.6 from a reading of 94.6 in June, and is 12.0% higher than July 2008 when it was 87.1. The index is at the highest level since June 2007 when it was 100.7. 6 months of increasing contract activity shows us that there is a very good chance the bottom of the market occurred prior to this rebound. Nobody will know for sure until more time goes by, but the astute consumer should take note.

Overall Housing Market Continues to Improve

Since March, things have improved in the housing market. There are signs that the housing market is getting back on its feet — or at least, declining less slowly. Existing home sales recently registered their biggest gain in more than a decade. Seasonally-adjusted single-family building permits are up 27% since bottoming in March, while single-family housing starts have increased five straight months and are up 36% since March.

Interest rates have remained low as well. Freddie Mac said that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.12% last week, and the 15-year rate is now down to just 4.56%. With lower prices and very low mortgage rates, housing affordability hasn’t looked so good in many years.

This combination of improved sales and low interest rates should continue to eliminate the inventory supply. This will happen with more sales of homes and Realtors and loan officer’s alike need to be positioned to capture as much of that business as possible moving forward.

Reaching Today’s First Time Buyers

In today’s market, communicating with Buyers in the manner that they prefer is key to building success as a Realtor and / or loan officer. This is a great article that hits the nail right on the head from agents in the business. http://rismedia.com/2009-08-26/first-time-home-buyers-dominate-real-estate-market/