tag:searchlightcrusade.net,2024:/mt//feed/macro 2024-05-23T21:34:32Z Movable Type 4.21-en 65 1 65 tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2477 2024-04-30T14:00:00Z 2024-04-30T15:24:11Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Supply and Demand. Now that I've given the short answer, it's time to explain the macro factors behind interest rate variations. But I'm going to keep referring to those first three words. It is a tradeoff between the supply of... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2465 2024-02-05T15:00:00Z 2024-02-05T17:39:19Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ In an attempt to debunk some of the slanders that are floating around out there, this article is an itemization of how lenders and brokers make money on loans. The first method is obvious: Origination or discount points charged to... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4840 2023-12-25T15:00:00Z 2023-12-25T16:27:37Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I have said repeatedly that buyer's markets are not the time to be selling a property if you have any choice. There is one exception: People looking to turn around and buy a more expensive property. If you're looking to... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2006:/~searchli//3.2456 2023-12-18T15:00:00Z 2023-12-18T15:48:25Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ (This was originally written February 16, 2006, but it's relevant still) One of the occasional questions I get from people has to do with why the housing bubble got so big (or if you're one of those still in denial... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4805 2023-01-31T15:00:00Z 2023-01-31T16:41:28Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Scapegoating mortgage brokers or anyone else is not the answer, nor is prohibiting yield spread. We've been here before (in the early 1990s), congress did something remarkably similar except a little bit more sane. It didn't work then. Why would... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.5013 2021-09-21T14:00:00Z 2021-09-21T15:24:54Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I've been answering this question for a long time. Whose interests do we need to be concerned about, in a "If they are harmed, we've got a problem" sort of way? Who has a primary stake in a real... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.5000 2021-08-11T14:00:00Z 2021-08-11T10:40:14Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The most common mistake in real estate (and every other aspect of financial planning, for that matter) is to assume the situation now is going to continue indefinitely. In the stock market, people chase last year's returns. They "wait for... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4543 2021-07-29T14:00:00Z 2021-07-29T13:33:51Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Every so often I get e-mail asking why real estate transactions are so complex. Matter of fact, I have this discussion with most clients at some point. The answer is, "Because real estate transactions for a lot of money, and... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4965 2021-04-22T14:00:00Z 2021-04-22T10:56:00Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I keep reading stuff on the internet advising people who are upside down to just walk away if they are a upside down on their mortgage. This has got to be right up there with the worst financial advice... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4950 2021-03-06T15:00:00Z 2021-03-06T13:49:33Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ If you don't know the answer to this, don't be embarrassed. Lots of alleged professionals forgot the answers to these questions for several years, if indeed, they ever knew. It seems like quite a few still don't know the answer... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4924 2020-12-25T15:00:00Z 2020-12-25T16:43:07Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ For at least the last thirty years, I've been hearing "affordable housing" advocates yammer about the high cost of housing, and how working families can no longer afford "decent" housing, which they apparently consider to be the three or... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2008://3.3962 2020-10-24T14:00:00Z 2020-10-24T13:43:36Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ One of the things that sticks out about buyer's markets is that there are two sorts of listings: Those who are willing to do whatever it takes, anything it takes, to get the property sold, and the other who apparently... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2008://3.3931 2020-10-13T14:00:00Z 2020-10-13T14:01:07Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ One of the consumer attitudes I encounter constantly is the feeling that if you cannot afford the loan, the lender will not loan you the money. This safety zone common sense sort of reliance upon lender policy as a backstop... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2008://3.3886 2020-09-26T14:00:00Z 2020-09-26T13:03:07Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ There is no such thing as the perfect time to buy. The perfect time to buy would mean that you have all kinds of leverage, and can make sellers give you pretty much the deal you want, but prices are... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4864 2020-09-16T14:00:00Z 2020-09-16T15:48:58Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I want to state that I am in no way shape or form an FHA loan guru. Between my general knowledge of loans and this information from someone who is an FHA guru, I think I can make some... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4860 2020-09-04T14:00:00Z 2020-09-04T13:49:26Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Most people, particularly first time buyers, want 100% financing or as close as they can get. Actually, most first time buyers don't have a down payment and couldn't put a significant down payment (5% or more) if they had... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2013://3.5078 2017-11-18T15:00:00Z 2017-11-19T15:08:28Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Lots of folks have offered lots of different proposals for fixing the real estate markets and the mess we were in (and continue to be in to a less obvious degree). All of the ones I have seen have... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4987 2013-08-26T14:00:00Z 2013-08-26T13:31:19Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ This saying comes to us courtesy of our military. They use it in the context of ten million peasants armed with stone age weapons will swarm one man, no matter how well armed or how well supported. In my work,... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4673 2012-04-30T14:00:00Z 2012-04-30T14:10:45Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ (I do use one piece of non G-rated language below. I hope you'll agree with me that it was necessary to convey the proper sentiment) USA Today had an oped, "3 ways to help borrowers without bailing them out" Their... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2011://3.5054 2011-07-11T14:00:00Z 2013-02-03T15:32:17Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Lots of folks have offered lots of different proposals for fixing the real estate markets and the mess we're in. All of the ones I have seen have suffered from one or more of about three problems. First, the...