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The Federal Reserve

 This morning in our weekly Crescent Realty Sales meeting, we had a visit from Paul Miller, a Mortgage Banker at National City Mortgage.  He had some great news:

In a surprise move today, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the Federal Reserve will be buying up to $800 Billion worth of Mortgage Backed Securities and AAA rated Education, Auto, Credit Card and Small Business loan securities.  This announcement sent home loan rates tumbling to 5.25% at some banks for 30 year fixed rate loans both FHA/VA and Conventional.  Approximately $600 billion will be allotted towards the mortgage market which will increase the value of these underlying securities.  These purchases from the government will start as soon as next week and should help mortgage interest rates stay very attractive in the near future.  With this infusion of cash into the mortgage market combined with exceptional deals in the pricing of homes, this is an excellent opportunity to buy a home. 

Thanks again, Paul Miller of National City Mortgage for the update!

 With Pierce County apparently claiming the dubious honor of #1 in the state for home foreclosures, I find it shocking that there isn’t a greater effort underway to educate homeowners about Washington State’s Free Homeowner Counseling Line. 

Just so you know, when a person falls behind in their payments and the forclosure process is started, it becomes a matter of public record.  This means that homeowners are baraged with mail, phone calls, sometimes even personal visits from people wanting to charge them money to get them out of their situation.

Depending on what kind of services are being offered, it might be just the help the homeowner needs.  Real Estate agents might be able to help them sell the home before it is foreclosed.  Bankruptcy attorneys may be able to help the homeowner keep their home.  Unfortunately some of the time, desperate homeowners are paying for help that is available to them for free.

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