After falling to a new record low at the beginning of the month, long-term mortgage interest rates made a steady upward climb during the following weeks, but still remain extremely low by historical standards.

December 3
The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage plummeted to 4.71 percent, excluding fees, during the first week, down from 4.78 percent the week before. The 15-year FRM rate dropped to 4.27 percent from 4.29 percent and the one-year adjustable rate mortgage averaged 4.25 percent, down from 4.35 percent.
"Interest rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell for the fifth consecutive week to an all-time record low." said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "…In addition, interest rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages thus far in 2009 averaged one percentage point below their respective average in 2008."
December 10
Citing a smaller-than-expected job loss in November and a slightly lower unemployment rate, Nothaft said of the second week, "Following an upbeat employment report, long-term bond yields rose slightly and fixed mortgage rates followed."
Rates on 30-year FRMs average 4.81 percent, while the 15-year FRM grew to 4.32 percent and the one-year ARM rate slipped down to 4.24 percent.
December 17
During the next week, rates moved up again, with the average on a 30-year FRM rising to 4.94 percent. Rates on 15-year FRMs increased to 4.38 percent and one-year ARMs carried an average rate of 4.34 percent.
December 24
During the week before Christmas, rates on 30-year FRMs again topped 5 percent, rising to 5.05 percent; while the 15-year FRM moved upward to 4.45 percent and one-year ARMs averaged 4.38 percent.
What's Next for Interest Rates?

Economists have been saying for months that interest rates would start to rise in 2010. It is unclear whether we will see a dramatic jump in January, but some are starting to worry that the Fed has very little rate-influencing power left and that the market may start moving rates back up fairly quickly.
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Your house should always be available for show, even though it may occasionally be inconvenient for you. Let your listing agent put a lock box in a convenient place to make it easy for other agents to show your home to homebuyers. Otherwise, agents will have to schedule appointments, which is an inconvenience. Most will just skip your home to show the house of someone else who is more cooperative.
Most agents will call and give you at least a couple of hours notice before showing your property. If you refuse to let them show it at that time, they will just skip your house. Even if they come back another time, it will probably be with different buyers and you may have just lost a chance to sell your home.
Try Not to be Home
Homebuyers will feel like intruders if you are home when they visit, and they might not be as receptive toward viewing your home. Visit the local coffee house, yogurt shop, or take the kids to the local park. If you absolutely cannot leave, try to remain in an out of they way area of the house and do not move from room to room. Do not volunteer any information, but answer any questions the agent may ask.
Lighting
When you know someone is coming by to tour your home, turn on all the indoor and outdoor lights – even during the day. At night, a lit house gives a "homey" impression when viewed from the street. During the daytime, turning on the lights prevents harsh shadows from sunlight and it brightens up any dim areas. Your house looks more homey and cheerful with the lights on.
Fragrances
Do not use scented sprays to prepare for visitors. It is too obvious and many people find the smells of those sprays offensive, not to mention that some may be allergic. If you want to have a pleasant aroma in your house, have a potpourri pot or something natural. Or turn on a stove burner (or the oven) for a moment and put a drop of vanilla extract on it. It will smell like you have been cooking.
Pet Control
If you have pets, make sure your listing agent puts a notice with your listing in the multiple listing service. The last thing you want is to have your pet running out the front door and getting lost. If you know someone is coming, it would be best to try to take the pets with you while the homebuyers tour your home. If you cannot do that, It is best to keep dogs in a penned area in the back yard. Try to keep indoor cats in a specific room when you expect visitors, and put a sign on the door. Most of the time, an indoor cat will hide when buyers come to view your property, but they may panic and try to escape.
The Kitchen Trash
Especially if your kitchen trash can does not have a lid, make sure you empty it every time someone comes to look at your home – even if your trash can is kept under the kitchen sink. Remember that you want to send a positive image about every aspect of your home. Kitchen trash does not send a positive message. You may go through more plastic bags than usual, but it will be worth it.
Keep the House Tidy
Not everyone makes his or her bed every day, but when selling a home it is recommended that you develop the habit. Pick up papers, do not leave empty glasses in the family room, keep everything freshly dusted and vacuumed. Try your best to have it look like a model home – a home with furniture but nobody really lives there.

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by Broderick Perkins
Savvy investors are always the first to jump in a potentially profitable housing market and a new survey indicates things are heating up.
More than 12 percent of homebuyers today plan to purchase a home as an investment, compared to less than half, only 5.6 percent, just seven months ago, according to a recent Move.com Homeownership Survey.
Foreclosure buyers account for 25.3 percent of consumers interested in purchasing a home and 42 percent of potential foreclosure buyers regard their purchases as investments, while 57.6 percent plan to live in the foreclosed home themselves.
"This latest Homeownership Survey validates what many had hoped to see in the housing markets -- affordable prices and ample inventories are restoring the appeal of real estate to investors while providing opportunities for first time home buyers to enter the market," said Move, Inc.'s chief revenue officer, Errol Samuelson.
Interest rates below 5 percent for much of the year and low home prices, which may be at or near market bottom, are also bringing investors back to the fold.
The new and improved home-buyer tax credit, no longer just for first time home buyers, can also be a boost for those taking the practical approach to investing by buying their own home first.
Investor intelligence
Devil's in the details of foreclosure deal
Real estate investment basics
Buying foreclosures not for the novice
The survey of 1,004 consumers, conducted from October 16 to 18 this year, found:
• Foreclosure buyers are confident they will profit from discounted purchase prices, as well as healthy appreciation rates over the next five years.
• Most foreclosure buyers, 58.2 percent, expect to pay 20 percent or less than market price for a foreclosure, while 38.5 percent expect a 25 percent or greater discount.
• Expectations are high -- 73 percent expect their properties to appreciate ten percent or more in five years, 28 percent expect their purchases to appreciate 20 percent or more.
Given the current market of flat and falling home prices, that may sound like high hopes, but RealtyTrac.com explains that lenders want to unload overhead-heavy inventories of repossessed and foreclosed home.
That forces lenders to list their homes below market and offer properties at a discount, giving the buyer some built in equity.
• Foreclosure buyers intend to convert their foreclosures into rentals (13.2 percent), fix them up for re-sale (11.3 percent), or house a family member until the home can be sold at a profit (17.4 percent).
In some markets, especially resort and vacation rental markets, where rents are higher, conditions bode well for investors who want to enjoy positive cash flow as they wait for equity to build.
"If you find a well priced property located in a healthy rental market and are able to manage and monitor the property and maintain a positive cash flow from the onset for a unit used strictly for income purposes, rather than being held with the expectation of price appreciation, this could be a good time to become a landlord," said Nancy Osborne, chief operating officer of Erate.com, a Santa Clara, CA-based financial information publisher and interest rate tracker.
Published: January 7, 2010

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by Broderick Perkins
Sure you can lose weight, get in shape, launch a business or find a new job.
But haven't you also procrastinated long enough about buying a home?
How long has it been since you upgraded your home with a new roof, spiffed up landscaping or pulled some other home improvement?
And that post-World War II ranch home of yours could certainly use a few energy efficient do-overs.
Look to low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices and other favorable market conditions to give you the resolve to consider home sweet home in your list of must-dos next year.
• Join the nearly 18 percent of Americans who say they've resolved to become a first-time homebuyer in 2010, according to a new Move.com survey. That's both a smart move and a timely one. Mortgage rates are at record lows, prices are down and the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit has been extended until April 30, 2010. It's also been expanded to include a $6,500 tax credit to move-up buyers.
• More than 15 percent of those who responded to the survey said saving money to purchase a new home is their top real estate resolution for the New Year. Resolve with them to learn the best way to budget, plan ahead and save money.
• Nearly 40 percent say No. 1 on their list of resolutions is starting a home improvement. Cheap home equity money should help them not only start, but also complete the job. Calabasas, CA-based Informa Research Services found home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) for $50,000, with an 80 percent loan-to-value note, were available in early December at an average variable rate of 4.98 percent. Some rates were as low as 2.74 percent.
• The Move.com survey also found 9.1 percent most wanted to fix their credit so they can buy a home next year. To get started all you need to do is take a look at your next credit card statement for a toll free number directing you to counseling help. That's part of the new, but little-known mandated disclosure provisions in the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act).
• Nearly 16 percent are wisely considering buying an investment property as their top resolution. The couldn't have picked a better time in the last half decade. Another Move.com survey recently found more than 12 percent of homebuyers today plan to purchase a home as an investment, compared to less than half, only 5.6 percent, just seven months ago, thanks to more attractive investment conditions.
"If you anticipate inflationary conditions in the future, investment property could be a good bet to hedge against it," said Nancy Osborne, chief operating officer of Erate.com, a Santa Clara, CA-based financial information publisher and interest rate tracker.

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by Matt Englett
Although the public has most certainly been made aware of the massive amounts of residential properties being foreclosed upon, most are not aware of the amount of commercial properties that are either delinquent or soon to be so. Towards the end of the residential real estate boom, the commercial real estate market also saw a boom itself. Fueled by easy credit and new investors entering the market the commercial real estate market exploded.
Thousands of these properties were purchased at the height of the market and were highly leveraged. These properties may have performed well enough to cover debt service and operating costs when occupancy rates were at historic highs, but now that businesses are tightening their belts, unemployment is rising, consumers are not spending money on goods and services or traveling the pressure is mounting on commercial property owners. This scenario has left these commercial owners in an extremely precarious situation. If the poor economy doesn’t push these owners to a breaking point, the lender that holds the mortgage on the property will.
Most of these properties were purchased or refinanced with short term financing and those notes are coming due within the next year or two. Combine the loss of rental income, the weakened financial condition of the property owner and then add in the tightest credit market in the last 60 years many commercial property owners are seeing this as economic Armageddon.
With the tightening of the credit markets combined with the poor financial condition of the borrower, banks are calling in their notes and not renewing them. When the bank calls the note due, these owners do not have the money to payoff the loan and obtaining new financing in not a viable option for the same reason the current lender is not renewing the loan. If nothing gets done on the commercial property owners behalf many could be facing a personal bankruptcy. This is a frightening proposition for a savvy real estate investor who spent a lifetime building assets for his or her family only to see them wiped out in an instant. Many of these commercial owners are now looking for ways to fight back and keep the properties they have invested so much money in.
There are two options available to a commercial property owner in this situation. The first option is to restructure the debt through Chapter 11 reorganization in a bankruptcy proceeding. This is the most effective tool, but a certain criterion must be met in order to proceed in this direction. If Chapter 11 is not an option for the property owner, then litigating the foreclosure action becomes the next best option.
The property owner can assert all claims applicable against the bank. These claims are similar to ones used in residential foreclosure litigation. They include fraud in the inducement and violations of the fair and deceptive trade practices statute. In the face of costly litigation and the possibility of losing on the issues asserted by the property owner, a lender will often look at other options other than a foreclosure.
Just like residential property owners, commercial property owners are starting to realize there are options available to them. They are taking legal action to protect their property rights and investment.
Matt Englett is a foreclosure defense attorney with the Orlando based firm of Kauffman, Englett And Lynd. He can be reached at 407-513-1901.
Published: January 8, 2010

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