TODAY’S UPDATE:

1. The January Jobs Report was released this morning and it showed us what we all already know.  The economy is not really going backwards, but it sure is not moving forward very rapidly.  This report, which was a little worse than expected, has sent interest rates lower.  Rates are still a little worse than where they were 2 weeks ago, but are better than where they were earlier this week.  Click on the attachment to see today’s rates.

1. FHA fees are going up again.  The date of this happening is probably going to be April 1^st.  Along with the higher fees, other negative changes are expected.  We will have more on this topic next week when the details are clearer.

1. DO YOU KNOW WHAT REAL ESTATE AGENTS HAVE IN COMMON WITH NEWSPAPER CARRIERS AND COMPANION SITTERS?  (First of all, I am not sure what a companion sitter is but it is not important at this time.)  All 3 have a special provision in the IRS handbook that allows them to be treated as 1099 “statutory non-employees,” and, therefore, write off every dollar that they spend for work purposes.  Congratulations to your lobbying efforts!  By contrast, we, loan officers, do not have quite as strong of a lobby and, as a result, receive a W-2 every January.  This means that we, loan officers, do not get to write off every dollar that we spend on doughnuts, bagels and cupcakes used to convince real estate agents that we have the best rates in town.

Have a great weekend!

We began to summarize the Fed’s actions that rocked the markets yesterday.  We then read this summary from the Washington Post and decided to just add the link instead of writing our own lengthy summary.  Click here to read the article.  If you care, it is a pretty good article.  If you don’t care that much, then read our bullet points below:

• The actions taken yesterday by the Fed will keep interest rates low for an extended period of time.  In fact, because the Fed has, once again, committed to purchase mortgage backed securities, interest rates could actually go lower.

• For those of us who make a living in the housing industry, it was certainly significant how many times Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, mentioned housing in his comments and during the press conference that followed his comments.  However, the skeptic would say, “If mortgage interest rates of 3.5% are not enough to create a booming housing market, why do we think that lower interest rates are the answer?”

• Finally, if you watched the press conference, it was interesting how often the Fed chairman hinted that he couldn’t fix the economy all by himself.  He was basically imploring Congress to help.  Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall when the Fed chairman meets with Congressional leaders and with the President?

Have a great weekend knowing that interest rates are phenomenal, people’s 401ks are higher, and hopefully, just hopefully, the people in charge know what they are doing.  Also, please do not hesitate to call us if you have a client that needs to get preapproved this weekend or has a mortgage related question.