Marc's Mortgage Matter's

Last week, not only did they extend the program, but we found out that the Toyota Corolla became the most traded-in car as part of the "Cash for Clunkers" program. After hearing about it, the C.E.O. of General Motors said, "Oh my God, don't tell me Toyota makes even a better clunker than we do."

Yesterday’s FOMC (Fed's) minutes did….not much! “Economic activity is leveling out...inflation is subdued…conditions in financial markets have improved…household spending has continued to show signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, sluggish income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit…businesses are still cutting back on fixed investment and staffing but are making progress…Although economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time, the Committee continues to anticipate that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary stimulus, and market forces will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth in a context of price stability.” The statement goes on to say that Fed Funds will stay between 0-.25% for an extended period, and that “to provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets and to improve overall conditions in private credit markets, the Federal Reserve will purchase a total of up to $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and up to $200 billion of agency debt by the end of the year. In addition, the Federal Reserve is in the process of buying $300 billion of Treasury securities. To promote a smooth transition in markets as these purchases of Treasury securities are completed, the Committee has decided to gradually slow the pace of these transactions and anticipates that the full amount will be purchased by the end of October.”

In short that tends to mean mortgage rates should stay in the 5's like they are now (mid 5's lately) and HELOC's (equity line of credits) (no longer available..but you knew that ;) should continue to remain at the low levels they are.

Three brothers married wives from different states. The first brother married a girl from Oregon. He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day, he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second brother married a girl from Florida. He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third brother married a lady from California. He ordered her to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything but by the third day, some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, and his arm was healed enough that he could fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher.