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March 25, 2004Mortgage Interest RatesPlease contact Anthony Pipitone Mortgage Rates for March 25th, 2004 Even lower than GUARANTEED RATE.....We'll beat anyone's rates, even the GUARANTEED ones!!!! RLCA Conventional Jumbo FHA 15 Year Fixed FHA 30 Year Fixed FHA
Ask about our: 2350 E.Devon Ave. Suite 310 Des Plaines, IL 60018 Equal Housing Lender. Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee.
Posted by at 01:20 PM
March 18, 2004Mortgage RatesPlease contact Anthony Pipitone Mortgage Rates for March 18th, 2004 RLCA Conventional Jumbo FHA 15 Year Fixed FHA 30 Year Fixed FHA -PMI is Private Mortgage Insurance and is usually required on loans with a down payment less than 20% Ask about our: 2350 E.Devon Ave. Suite 310 Des Plaines, IL 60018 Equal Housing Lender. Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee.
Posted by at 02:37 PM
March 17, 2004Greenspan To Keep Rates LowFed Expected to Keep Interest Rates Low Associated Press
A report this month showing slow job growth in February raised the odds that Fed policy-makers will wait even longer than economists previously thought to begin to nudge up short-term rates. "Payroll growth has been sluggish. That's the nail in the coffin for no rate hike move," said Richard Yamarone, economist with Argus Research Corp. He believes the Fed will hold rates at currently low levels through this year and into 2005. The economy added a paltry 21,000 jobs last month - all of them in government. Private payrolls were flat. There were some 8.2 million people unemployed in February, with the average duration of 20.3 weeks without work. That marked the highest average duration of joblessness in over 20 years. Job growth has been stubbornly slow despite recent improvements in economic activity. The economy, after struggling to get back on its feet after the 2001 recession and terrorist attacks, finally snapped out of a funk in the second half of last year, growing at its strongest pace since early 1984. The economy is expected to grow at a healthy rate of more than 4.5 percent in the first half of this year, economists predict. Since President Bush took office in January 2001, the economy has lost 2.2 million jobs. The loss of jobs - including those that have moved overseas - is a major issue in the presidential campaign. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry points to the lackluster job climate as evidence that Bush's economic policies aren't working. Bush, meanwhile, has called on Congress to make his tax cuts permanent to spur job growth. Although companies are generally feeling better about the economy, they are still cautious about hiring. Productivity gains also have allowed companies to produce more with fewer people, economists said. With inflation under wraps even as the economy has registered solid growth, Fed policy-makers have leeway to hold interest rates steady, economists said. Against that backdrop, economists widely expect Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and his Federal Open Market Committee colleagues to keep the federal funds rate at a 45-year low of 1 percent at the end of their meeting Tuesday. The meeting got under way in the morning and an afternoon announcement was expected. The funds rate - the interest that bank charge each other on overnight loans - is the Fed's primary tool to influence economic activity. The funds rate has been at 1 percent since June. By holding the funds rate steady, consumers and businesses might have an incentive to spend and invest more, boosting economic growth. If the funds rate is left alone, that means commercial banks' prime lending rate would stay at 4 percent, the lowest level in more than four decades. The prime rate is the benchmark for many short-term consumer and business loans. At the Fed's previous meeting on Jan. 27-28, policy-makers got rid of a pledge that they would hold rates at super-low levels for a "considerable period." Instead, they said they would be "patient" in ordering any possible rate increases. At that time, the change reinforced some economists' beliefs that the Fed could begin to boost rates as early as its June meeting. But after the dismal February employment report, some economists said a June rate increase was out of the question. Others said the prospects of any increase this year was unlikely. "I am convinced that any sort of tightening is off the table for this year," said Clifford Waldman, economist at Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, a research group. If the jobs market doesn't turn around soon, some economists worry that consumers could turn cautious, raising the risk of an economic slowdown in the second half of this year. Yet, others - hopeful that job growth will pick up - continue to believe that the Fed may raise rates later this year, perhaps after the elections, at the central bank's Nov. 10 or Dec. 14 meetings. Greenspan said this month that extra-low rates eventually will have to go up, but he didn't give a clue when. "The federal funds rate is accommodative ... but at some point, it will have to rise to a more neutral state," he said. ****For further information please contact Anthony Pipitone at 312-492-3239. Posted by at 12:34 PM
Tax Breaks For HomeownersREALTY TAX: Homeowners often overlook valuable tax breaks Miami Herald
If you own a house, condo or cooperative apartment, you might be among the millions of homeowners who forget to claim all the tax deductions to which you are entitled. Uncle Sam encourages home ownership by awarding special tax breaks. That's why 68 percent of U.S. households involve home owners. It's up to each homeowner to use these tax breaks to maximum advantage. Using just one or two forgotten tax breaks can save hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars. ** If you bought a home, deduct your principal residence mortgage acquisition loan fee. If you purchased your principal residence in 2003, and if you paid a loan fee (usually called "points") to obtain a home mortgage, that fee qualifies as an itemized interest deduction in the year of home purchase. Each point equals one percent of the amount borrowed. For example, if you obtained a $100,000 mortgage, you might have paid a two-point loan fee to lower your mortgage's interest rate, or $2,000. Be sure to double-check the IRS Form 1098 sent in January by your lender. If it did not include the loan fee points you paid in 2003, itemize them anyway on Schedule A of your income-tax return. Your proof of payment will usually be on the loan closing papers received at the time of home purchase. ** Deduct home mortgage refinance fees over the life of the mortgage. If you refinanced your home mortgage and paid loan fee points, those points are not deductible in the year of payment. Instead, you can deduct them over the life of the mortgage. Rather than paying loan fee points when refinancing, most home owners are usually better off obtaining a no-fee mortgage and paying a slightly higher tax-deductible mortgage interest rate. ** If you changed job location and residence location in 2003, your moving costs may be tax deductible. Whether you rent or own your home, if you changed both your job location and your residence in 2003, your moving costs might be tax deductible. If you made a major cross-country move, the result can be savings of hundreds or even thousands of income-tax dollars. ** Deduct any home mortgage prepayment penalty paid. Whether you sold your home, or refinanced its mortgage, if you paid a mortgage prepayment penalty, you can claim it as an itemized Schedule A deduction. Be sure the IRS Form 1098 received from your lender includes the penalty paid. ** Deduct undeducted loan fees from a prior home loan refinance. If you refinanced your home loan in 2003, perhaps for the second or third time to take advantage of record-low interest rates, any undeducted loan fees from your prior home loan refinance can be deducted in full in the year of the refinance. To illustrate, suppose you had $900 of undeducted loan fee points refinancing in 2002. Because you refinanced in 2003 to pay off that old mortgage, the full $900 in undeducted loan fees became deductible on your 2003 income tax return. ** Deduct pro-rated mortgage interest share in the year of home sale or purchase. If you bought a home in 2003 and took over its existing mortgage payments from the prior owner, in the month of purchase the mortgage interest was pro-rated between the buyer and seller. This pro-ration is usually calculated on the closing settlement statement. Even if the other party actually paid the mortgage payment for the month, you are entitled to deduct your share of the pro-rated mortgage interest as an itemized deduction. ** Deduct your share of pro-rated property taxes if you bought or sold your home. You are entitled to deduct your share of the pro-rated property taxes, even if the other party actually paid the tax bill. Your share of the pro-rated tax bill should be on your closing settlement statement. ** Deduct prepaid mortgage interest and property taxes. Prepaying mortgage interest and property taxes can be a great tax savings, but you must have made the prepayments by Dec. 31, 2003. Double-check your mortgage lender's IRS Form 1098 to be sure it included your prepaid mortgage interest for the January 2004 payment, which you sent to the lender in December 2003. If you prepaid in late 2003 your property taxes due in 2004, you should have either a canceled check or other evidence you prepaid the property taxes in 2003. ** Deduct and double-check property taxes paid from your escrow impound account. If your mortgage includes a monthly escrow or impound account payment for one-twelfth of your annual property tax bill, double-check to be certain your mortgage lender remitted your property taxes to the tax collector on time in 2003. Unfortunately, many mortgage lenders forget to pay tax bills on time. Just because you paid your escrow impound payment on time to the lender does not make the full amount tax deductible. Only the amount actually remitted to the property tax collector in 2003 qualifies as an itemized deduction for your primary or secondary home. ** Deduct ground rent payments if your home is on leased land. To qualify, your situation must meet the tax law's exact requirements. For example, if you rent a "pad" or lot in a mobile home park, your monthly rent paid to the park owner usually will not qualify for this deduction. Internal Revenue Code 163(c) permits homeowners living on a leased parcel to deduct their ground rent payments if the ground lease is for at least 15 years, including renewal periods, the lease is freely assignable to the buyer of your home, the landowner's interest is primarily a security interest (like a mortgage), and you have a current or future option to buy the land. If you do not have an option to buy the land, such as in a mobile home park, your land lease or ground rent payments do not qualify as tax-deductible itemized interest.
Posted by at 12:32 PM
March 11, 2004Mortgage Interest RatesPlease contact Anthony Pipitone Mortgage Rates for March 11th, 2004 RLCA
Jumbo FHA 15 Year Fixed FHA 30 Year Fixed FHA -PMI is Private Mortgage Insurance and is usually required on loans with a down payment less than 20% Ask about our: 2350 E.Devon Ave. Suite 310 Des Plaines, IL 60018 Equal Housing Lender. Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee. Posted by at 06:55 PM
March 09, 2004Housing Bubble?????HOUSING MARKET: A rise in interest rates could burst the bubble Grand Forks Herald
Driven by the lowest mortgage rates since John F. Kennedy was president, people are buying more homes in a sluggish economy than they did during the late-1990s boom. Prices have risen faster over the last four years than at any time in the previous decade. The housing boom has been a windfall for many: homebuilders, remodelers, real estate agents, furniture and paint store owners and homeowners. In many markets, the stunning increase in home values has been the only good financial news for owners faced with slumping stocks and slow wage growth. Yet the good times may end soon, painfully for some. Economists worry that a housing bubble may have developed, similar to the steep climb in stock prices in the late 1990s. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned again this week that interest rates can't remain so low forever. Many economists think they might start to rise late this year and next year. When they do, it will be the equivalent of sucking oxygen from a raging fire. Home sales will slow. Price increases will tail off and could reverse in some markets. Jan Hatzius, an economist at Goldman Sachs investment bank in New York, thinks the national average home price could fall for the first time in the history of the House Price Index, which is published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, an agency responsible for mortgage market oversight, and dates to 1975. The fall, should it happen, would be a reverse of the housing boom of the last few years - a boom fueled by the simple mathematics of mortgage interest rates. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage stands at 5.59 percent, down from 8 percent in 2000. At 8 percent, payment on a $100,000, 30-year-loan is $734 a month. At today's rates, the same monthly payment would cover a $127,000 mortgage loan, permitting buyers to spend more on houses with the same income. Home sales have exploded as a result, setting records for three straight years. New-home sales grew 10.7 percent in 2003, powering them through the 1 million mark. A 9.6 percent rise in existing home sales drove them over 6 million, also for the first time in history. Sales of homes for more than $400,000 rose 8 percent last year. For more information contact Anthony Pipitone at 312-733-4444. Posted by at 05:07 PM
March 05, 2004Condos find real estate spotlightAffordable home financing a big draw for prospective buyers Courtesy Top Producer Online The popularity of condominiums continues to surge, and conditions in the rental apartment market are finally showing signs of improvement, according to the National Association of Home Builders' Multifamily Market Index (MMI), a quarterly gauge of multifamily market activity and builder confidence. Posted by at 03:59 PM
Mortgage Interest RatesPlease contact Anthony Pipitone Mortgage Rates for March 5th, 2004 RLCA Conventional Jumbo FHA 15 Year Fixed FHA 30 Year Fixed FHA
Ask about our: 2350 E.Devon Ave. Suite 310 Des Plaines, IL 60018 Equal Housing Lender. Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee. Posted by at 12:48 PM
March 03, 2004Dollar Declines SharplyThe Americas: Dollar Declines Sharply, But Has Further to Fall Global Finance
"The economy will be strong enough to keep the trade deficit wide, but not strong enough to move the Federal Reserve off the sidelines for the foreseeable future," says Lara Rhame, senior currency economist at Drown Brothers Harriman in New York. "This means that neither growth differentials nor interest rates will be supportive of the dollar anytime soon," Rhame says. "And that means that dollar-negative capital flows are likely to dominate in 2004." The slide in the dollar has been driven by a net outflow of money from the US over the past two years, as private-sector foreign investment into US Treasury and agency securities has largely dried up with US interest rates at 45-year lows, says Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at Bank of New York. "The question now is not if the dollar will continue falling, but how far it will fall and at what pacc,"Woolfolk says. To determine what the Group of 7 industrial nations considers to be an orderly decline, he examined annual changes in all G-7 currency pairs since 1980. In no instance did a G-7 currency devalue more than 30% against another G-7 currency in any year. "More importantly, there were only two instances in which a 20% devaluation was recorded outside of the dollar's coordinated devaluation following the Plaza Accord of 1985. They were the devaluation of the Italian lira in 1992 and of the euro against the Japanese yen following the launch of the single currency in 1999,"Woolfolk says. "In light of this, it appears that the maximum speed limit for the devaluation of a G-7 currency is 20% a year," he says. A 20% devaluation of the dollar in 2004 would result in a year-end rate for the euro of $1.58. If the G-7 were to refuse to provide policy guidance this year on the manner of the dollar's decline, another 20% fall might not be as ridiculous as it sounds,Woolfolk says. Look for the dollar's decline to gather pace in February when it becomes clear that the G7 is far from responding to the slide in the dollar against the euro, says David Gilmore, partner and economist at Essex, Connecticut-based Foreign Exchange Analytics. "With the US policy mix steadfastly accommodative, it is the dollar that must fall and fall far to drive adjustment," Gilmore says. "We see one outcome for the dollar in 2004: lower by another 20% to 30%," he says. *****For further information about the economy and it's impact on interest rates call Anthony Pipitone at 312-492-3239.***** Posted by at 05:05 PM
March 02, 2004Do real-estate agents represent the buyer, seller or both?Courtesy Chicago Sun-Times A real estate agent represents either the buyer or the seller in a home purchase. That was not always the case. Until January 1995, real estate agents were legal agents of the property's seller. Even though agents helped buyers find a home, they still were acting for the seller. Now, by law, it is presumed that if you go to an agent and ask his help in finding a property, he works for the buyer. This is called a buyer's agent. The buyer's agent should help find listings of properties that suit the buyer's needs. He or she should provide information about financing, and help in the purchase and closing. The buyer's agent also should help determine the fair value of a property, and negotiate for the best price and terms. The buyer and the broker enter into a contract defining the legal relationship and duties of both parties. The seller's (listing) agent represents the home seller in a transaction. Agents representing a seller might work in the same agency as your broker. A first-time home buyer, or someone not familiar with negotiating a purchase, probably would be better served by a buyer's agent. Some "buyer brokers" have offices that only represent buyers and not sellers. They, too, are paid by the seller. A Realtor is a licensed real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of Realtors, and is regulated by a code of ethics and standards of practice. All agents are licensed by the state of Illinois. The Chicago Bar Association also has information on the rights and duties of both the real estate buyer and the seller at www.chicagobar.org. Posted by at 03:39 PM
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