Why aren't more people buying homes?

Interest rates have officially reached an all time low of 3.75% for a fixed rate..Can you believe it? Why aren't more people buying homes? Home prices in most areas of the United States have dropped at least 25% from their all time high in 2007. Why aren't more people buying homes? Many economists have predicted that the housing market has bottomed or is near the bottom. This means that prices have fallen just about as far as they are going to fall, eventually beginning their rise, again. Why aren't more people buying homes?

DEPRESSION DOESN'T LAST LONG!

Every year the kids go back to school, and in recent years, leave for months at a time. I know the time is getting shorter when July heat and humidity gives in to August moderate temperatures. But after I enjoy the bittersweet Labor day holiday, the NFL starts. It doesn't take long to get over the end of summer and move on to the fall. I don't care if it rains, hails, thunders, or snows. Nothing can bother me on Sundays unless the cable goes out! So go ahead, I dare you to take my kids away from me, take the hot swim days away, I don't care! I have my football!

WHY ARE THE LINES SO LONG AT DORNEY PARK'S WILD WATER KINGDOM?

Have you ever been to Camelbeach in Tannersville, the Great Wolf Lodge in Scotrun, or Wet and Wild in Orlando? What do these three water parks have in common? They all move the lines much faster than Wild Water Kingdom. On one particular ride at WWK they have a roped off gate at the top of the stairs which keeps you from entering the main deck. This deck is where several slides begin. Only after the riders are completely out of the water and safely outside of the exit does the attendant come over to unchain the rope and allow the next set of riders to walk up to the slide. This takes several moments, between the unlatching of the hook, the riders walking over to the slides unsure of which one to choose, looking over to the attendant to make sure that they are allowed to go down the slide, all of which is another 60 seconds or so. Meanwhile, the lines build and get longer and longer. This creates a logjam on every ride causing wait times of over 60 minutes on most rides. This is completely unnecessary as witnessed by attending these other water parks. The others use a system of waiting until each rider has crossed a midway point on the three slides. At this point they allow the next set of riders to get set at the beginning of each slide. Upon the safety of the last of the current riders exiting the pool, but not yet outside of the exit, the attendant allows the next set of riders to start their ride. This simple yet still safe way of moving the line saves dramatic total times and cuts the wait times in half. Boy, its amazing how making a simple and subtle change can dramatically make it more enjoyable for everyone. My advice is to avoid WWK and go to one of the other water parks. You will get much more of your money's worth!

LOW RATES DUE TO SHAKY ECONOMY

It is amazing to me how much bad news continues to come out each day about everything from the economy to the housing market, and job market. Here's a bit of good news. The interest rates were supposed to be climbing along with gas prices by the beginning of summer, yet neither happened. In fact, the interest rates have dropped, and the Federal Reserve has promised to keep the Federal Funds rate at 0% for 2 more years. This means that most variable rate mortgages ( home equity lines of credit, commercial loans ) are going to stay low for at least 2 more years, too. Mortgage rates are not based on the Federal Reserve interest rates, but they are based on the sale of treasury bills, economic news, and other factors that effect the stock market, as well. With the mortgage rates at or near their historic lows, buyers and homeowners need to take advantage of them now. They will not stay this way for long. I have seen mortgage rates as high as 18%! Believe me, enjoy them while they last.

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972

MORE SIGNS OF MORTGAGE MARKET EASING THEIR RESTRICTIONS!

As I have kept you informed of changes within the mortgage industry, there have been some signs of easing with lending restrictions. This time I am glad to say that in the very near future there will no longer be a maximum debt ratio of 50% on all loans. More importantly, there will no longer be a minimum credit score requirement with FHA loans. Most of you don't know that there is no minimum FHA score required right now. FHA doesn't have nor ever had a minimum score. The problem we have all had in trying to get buyers approved is that the large institutional investors who buy an sell FHA loans are the ones who have imposed the minimum credit scores on FHAs. Most lenders are requiring minimum scores of 620 because they have to sell the loans to these institutional investors. If they can't sell them, the banks and mortgage companies are stuck holding the loans in their portfolio. With these investors removing the minimum credit scores, we will be able to grant more mortgages, sell more houses, grow the economy and the GDP. We have hit the bottom of the market and are ready to turn a corner slowly. It appears like we are almost in a normal market. For now, I'll take it!

INCREDIBLE ACT OF KINDNESS

We were at the beach when a commotion startled us to our left... We looked to see a man grabbing at his throat like he can't breath..his wife runs to the lifeguard chair asking for help...another woman tells him to lie back in his chair..within seconds he stops moving and his face turns dark grey..he is dead. The lifeguards come running and pull him off his chair on to the sand by his legs. They immediately start CPR and a lady comes over and immediately starts pounding on his chest..she is an ER nurse. Within minutes, police come running onto the sand followed by Paramedics, but they can't get an ambulance on the sand because you can't drive on the beach. The Paramedics place the man on a stretcher with a Defibrilator attached to it. You can see his body jump but no pulse. Every minute, as they continue to work on him, his body jumps in response to the electrical shocks he is receiving but still no pulse. Eventually they manage to get a beach vehicle on to the sand and get him loaded onto it in the back. As they drive away you can still see the paramedics working on him but the mood is very dim with the remaining swimmers and beach onlookers' faces in horror over what we've just witnessed. A woman faints as another tells us that he has had 7 heart bi-pass operations and can't get another. As his loved-ones leave the beach, everyone else appears to try and get back to some sort of normal activity, but the mood is not good as we all know the outcome of this event. About an hour later, the lifeguard who originally started the CPR is back at his chair. We asked him what became of the man. He told us that his heart has started beating but it is irregular. He was lifted by Helicopter to a hospital in Atlantic City where he remains in critical condition. Since yesterday, he has been moved from Critical Care to Stable and is on the road to recovery. What an incredible story with a happy ending. Everyone from the bystanding nurse,the lifeguards, paramedics, police to the helicopter pilot all deserve kudos for what they have done for this man.

DO YOU THINK THIS BILL WILL PASS?

Have you heard the government's thoughts of increasing down payment requirements for mortgages? I don't believe it will ever happen. They attempted to stimulate the economy last year with a 1st time homebuyer tax credit of $ 8,000. That worked for the first three months of 2010, only to see a sharp decrease in sales immediately following the end of this tax incentive. Some stimulation! Now, they're thinking of increasing the required down payment for qualifying for a mortgage? This bill will never pass! Since the housing market is a huge chunk of our GDP, and since it spurs increases in the auto industry and retail sales, we need to continue to sell more houses and not stop them from being sold. This would only prove to decrease the number of overall home sales. There's no way this will ever go through. It will kill our already fragile economy. Home sales will slow to a crawl, home values will plummet and foreclosures will double already historic highs. Rest easy....there's no way this will ever happen!