All Posts Tagged With: "interest"
Caution: Refinancing with Low Mortgage Rates May Not Work
I got a letter from my mortgage lender offering to refinance my home. I could lower my rate, said the letter, and I might save money. Actually, both claims are correct but the bigger issue is whether refinancing is actually worthwhile. According to the letter my mortgage rate would drop from 4.63 percent to 4.46 [...]
30Jan2012 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
American Chopper Vs. Jesse James: Who Really Wins?
The stage is set for the most-publicized motorcycle build-off in recent memory. The two-night battle to be shown live from the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas will feature three well-televised bike builders, Paul Teutul Sr. with Orange County Chopper, Paul Teutul, Jr. from PJD designs and Jessie James, the once-host of Discovery’s Monster Garage [...]
28Nov2011 | Peter G. Miller | 19 comments | Continued
American Chopper — Foreclosure Vs. No Foreclosure
So which is it: Was the Orange County Chopper world headquarters foreclosed or not? The answer as derived from the American Chopper TV show and public information is very simple: Both. Let’s start with foreclosure. It’s plain that a foreclosure action was initiated by the lender, the GE Commercial Finance Business Property Corp. The matter [...]
7Nov2011 | Peter G. Miller | Comments Off | Continued
Has Mortgage Lending Gotten Better Since Wall Street Reform?
Has lending really gotten better for borrowers during in the past few years? Certainly mortgage rates have improved. In recent weeks they have been at or near historic lows. But no less important the lending system has improved. It’s not just that mortgage rates are better, it’s also that the probability of getting a good [...]
24Oct2011 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
America’s Big Banks, America’s Financial Vietnam
Three years ago the most-powerful instutitions in America were the nation’s largest banks and brokerages, Wall Street for short. While millions of people were losing their homes, their jobs and their savings, the nation’s elite extracted a $700 billion line-of-credit from Uncle Sam. Now Wall Street is our financial Vietnam. It’s broken. The old cures [...]
3Oct2011 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Should Government Set Mortgage Rates?
With all the talk of getting a new mortgage there’s one question which no one seems ready to touch: Why doesn’t the government ought to set mortgage rates? At first this may seem like an audacious idea, a violation somehow of the free market absolutism preferred by so many businesses and industries — at least [...]
26Sep2011 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Ready For The 3 Percent Mortgage?
It was in the 1880s that long-term interest rates hit 3.5 percent, something we may soon see with mortgages. Mortgage borrowers are now seeing home loans at not much more than 4 percent for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages. And, reports HSH.com, 15-year loans are already below 4 percent. The lower rates result in substantially reduced monthly [...]
23Sep2011 | Peter G. Miller | 1 comment | Continued
Pawn Stars — How To Win At Haggling
If it’s true that American Chopper is a metaphor for the workplace then there’s little doubt that Pawn Stars is its retail equivalent, a place where each week viewers get a chance to see the odd, the interesting and the way business really works. With the economy the way it is — driven into the [...]
21Sep2011 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Mortgage Rates Sink, Hit Yearly Low
Mortgage rates are in the dumper. Freddie Mac is reporting that mortgage rates have hit their lowest levels since last November. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.39 percent, its lowest level for 2011. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.49 percent. The 15-year fixed and 5-year ARM set new historical record lows [...]
4Aug2011 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Are ARM mortgage interest rates about to rise?
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has come out with a new approach to mortgage financing, good faith estimate forms (GFEs) that are supposed to be better than the form introduced by HUD in 2010. This is important stuff for three reasons: First, HUD estimates that the 2010 GFE saves borrowers $700 per loan. Second, when [...]
31May2011 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
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