Getting a Mortgage Before the Door Shuts

If you’ve been sitting on the fence trying to decide whether to buy a house or refinance a mortgage, you should act soon.  New loans are starting to get costlier.

The mortgage market is facing pressures from new laws and regulations, still-declining home prices and the ongoing need for government-owned mortgage players to shore up their finances.  The Mortgage Bankers Association predicts mortgage originations, which reached $3 trillion in 2005, will be less than $1 trillion this year, the lowest level since 1997. 

“The price of mortgage money is going to go up, and the availability of mortgage money may also be impinged,” says Keith Gumbinger, vice president at HSH Associates, which tracks mortgage data.

The silver lining is that the rate for a 30-year fixed loan is hovering around 5% for those with good credit.  That is up about a percentage point from last year’s lows but is still an attractive rate by historical standards, though expected to keep climbing as the economy improves.

Home prices in some areas are still falling, but they are bottoming out or firming up in others.  It may not be the perfect time to buy a home — but better mortgage options today may be a worthy trade-off to the possbility of lower prices tomorrow.

–adapted from The Wall Street Journal

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Whether you are in a relationship or not this Valentine’s Day, you can still give the wonderful gift of a blood donation.  Giving something truly special of yourself today or any other day of the year is the ultimate act of kindness.

Today, February 14, 2011, is also National Organ Donor Day.  Celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving the ultimate gift of love by signing up to become an organ and tissue donor.  In the time it takes you to order flowers or buy a box of chocolates, you can register and become an organ donor. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated Valentine’s Day as National Organ Donor Day since 1998 to raise awareness of the lives than can be touched — potentially more than 50 at a time — through one person becoming an organ and tissue donor.

You can find a local blood donation center in the United States here, and become an organ donor by clicking here.   Over a year ago, I signed up with Life Stream which is the new name for the Blood Bank of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, and just minutes ago registered as an organ donor with Donate Life California. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

~April Glatzel

Street Cleaning Tickets

Those of us who live in the Wood Streets neighborhood are well aware of the new street sweeping schedules, due to the signs posted on our streets.  However, most of us have not been made aware of the TICKETS that the City is writing!  That’s right…  be aware that your vehicles must not be parked on the street during the street sweeping times posted, even if the street sweeper has come and gone!

I saved my neighbor from being ticketed.  Just as I was telling her she needs to pull her car off the street, a City car came barreling down towards us with his flashing light going round-and-round. I informed the City worker that my neighbor was getting her car keys in order to move the car.  No ticket this time!

Be safe on the roads, and mind the street signs to avoid being ticketed.  ~April