Credit Card Antivirus

Prepping to buy a home??  Having your finances under control is always very important.  Here is a Consumer Watch article provided by Al Clark.  It is a pretty timely note as many of us use our credit cards for Christmas gift purchases. Watch the video!  Check out the Billguard website: www.billguard.com CONSUMER WATCH: ANTIVIRUS FOR OUR CREDIT CARDS

Bill Guard is a free consumer service that aggregates experiences of its online users and those who post online complaints. So in essence users of the service share their stories of overcharges, hidden fees and outright fraud. Many fraudulent operators try to slide small charges on our bills and Credit cards thinking that we will not haggle or research the charges. When this happens the Bill Guard service will alert you of scams they have seen and the members have seen. Bill Guard alerts you whenever a charge on your bill is flagged by anyone else, that had a unwanted charge on theirs. Click on the video that explains the entire process in under two minutes The process works once you register your credit or debit cards into the service. Today. debit card use is growing and we use our debit cards for small purchases on a regular basis. Its easy to have 50 or 60 debit cards transactions every month and making sure they are all valid is a tough job. Bill Guard scans your card activity daily for hidden charges, billing errors, forgotten subscriptions, scams and fraud, The system alerts you via email when your attention is required. So if a consumer in California got a mysterious charge for a magazine subscription, that ripoff is then submitted to the system and all Bill Guard users benefit from this "shared experience". Each new transaction is analyzed by over 100 automated tests. Bill Guard also scours the web for complaints posted by others about similar charges and merchants that may appear on your bills. The service has garnered a lot of venture capital and has won several awards A scan report is emailed monthly, providing a quick overview of Bill Guard's findings and an indication of how clean your cards are. Alerts are emailed immediately giving you an early warning sign of potential fraud. Bill Guard was designed by financial security experts. They are very proactive about their data security and their Privacy Policy To learn more, visit www.billguard.com

New Home Sales--Remember Local Market Counts

Well...the news can't always be gangbusters.

But don't be too disappointed about New Homes missing the national consensus on housing starts.  No doubt the Housing Market is dictated by the local market.

In Hampton Roads, new home neighborhoods are starting to pop up and are seeing good activity.   In the past week, I had two buyers looking at new homes neighborhoods in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.  

It was fascinating to see the activity the new home sites were experiencing.  With lots available in present releases still be limited to 10 or fewer, the buyers seemed to want to jump to get preferred lot before that lot was gone.

Kind reminds of The Eagle's song, Hotel California, with that line "We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine".  Though it has not been since 1969, this attitude in buyers has been not seen for a few years.

Jim is so right...it is all about the rates right now.  These historic rates won't be here forever.  So sitting on the sidelines is not the way to play the game right now. 

Keeping you updated on the market! For the week of December 3, 2012 MARKET RECAP The news was disappointing, but not terribly so. We are referring to the dip in new-homes sales for October. The Commerce Department reports sales came in at an annual rate of 368,000 units last month, which was 17,000 shy of the consensus estimate for 385,000 units. Pricing was also a minor disappointment. The median price for a new home dipped 4.2% to $237,000. This marked the second-consecutive month of price weakness. Disappointing, yes, but hardly a cause for concern. Year over year, new-home prices are up 5.7%. Given the scant supply of homes, we don't see a backsliding trend developing. The number of new homes for sale is still only 147,000, representing a 4.8-month supply at the current sales pace. The longer-term perspective is another reason to remain optimistic. New-home sales have averaged 361,000 per month on an annual-rate basis through October. In other words, sales are on pace to increase 18% this year. What's more, we have plenty of room left to run. Even with the double-digit sales increase, 2012 will be the third-lowest sales year since the Census Bureau began tracking new home sales in 1963. It's also worth remembering that this year's average sales rate is still below the 375,000 average rate of sales in 2009. Most estimates we've seen (which are likely conservative) expect new-home sales to double within the next couple years. This would put the annual sales pace closer to historical norms, which is around 1 million sales on an annualized rate. Though new-homes sales disappointed in October, the trend in overall pricing – new and existing homes – remains strong. Most private data providers show prices increasing in more markets. This past week, Case-Shiller's home price index showed prices rose 0.4% in the 20 cities it follows. This was the sixth-constrictive month of price gains, with gains sweeping across all 20 cities. The trend in purchase applications is also encouraging. Rising applications point to rising home sales. Rates continue to make new historical lows (albeit by a couple basis points) each week. Low rates contribute to a high-affordability index. Low mortgage lending rates are an important variable in the home-purchase equation, but they are not the overriding variable. The above chart shows brisk sales even with lending rates 300 basis points higher than they are today. In other words, low lending rates have done about all they can do to stimulate sales. At this point, the key variables for a sustained housing recovery are economic growth and more credit-worthy borrowers having access to credit. Economic Indicator Release Date and Time Consensus Estimate Analysis Construction Spending (October) Mon., Dec. 3, 10:00 am, ET 0.4% (Increase) Important. Rising residential real estate construction is spurring overall economic growth. Mortgage Applications Wed., Dec. 5, 7:00 am, ET None Important. Purchase applications continue to point to stronger home sales. Unemployment Situation (November) Fri., Dec. 7, 8:30 am, ET Unemployment Rate: 8.0% Payrolls: 25,000 (Increase) Very Important.Financial markets are looking for a sustained trend in job creation growth. Consumer Credit (October) Fri., Dec. 7, 3:00 pm, ET $12 Billion (Increase) Moderately Important. Expanding credit use reflects higher consumer confidence. An Ode to Diversity When people contemplate what went wrong in the housing bubble, they frequently point to lending: subprime loans, interest-only loans, negative amortization loans, and securitization were the helium that inflated the bubble. That's not really true, nor fair. These products have been around for years and had served the borrowing public well. The problem was really the misguided belief that an asset – housing in this case – can only rise. The chief problem today, and a primary impediment to the housing recovery, is excessive regulation, which is limiting choice. A recent report from FBR Capital Markets points to a regulatory environment that is “plain vanilla” in that it favors the 30-year fixed-rate loan above all others. Now, there is nothing wrong with the standard fixed-rate mortgage products, but other mortgage products have their place. Indeed, you could argue that taking an interest-only loan to purchase a Phoenix-based home late in 2011 was a savvy business move; the buyer would have tied up little of his own capital to purchase a bargain-basement asset that has since appreciated strongly. Many regulators and even more mortgage-industry participants have called for the need for more private mortgage investors to enter the market. For that to occur, though, these investors need the freedom to offer products that will satisfy a wider swath of borrowers needs, while also enabling them to earn a profit. We think 2013 will become the year of diversity: that is, a more diverse, heterogeneous mortgage lending market with more private investors. We say that because economic growth impacts regulation, and we see economic growth in 2013. Generally, the higher the growth, the more accommodating the regulators. We look forward to a strong 2013, and a stronger, more flexible mortgage lending market. If

Fiscal Cliff: Mortgage Deduction On Way Out???

Ever since Mitt Romey made note in August about the possiblity of the Mortgage Deduction being reduced, the Mortgage Deduction has come a focus of the "tax revenure enhancement" forces in Congress.

With the Fiscal Cliff rapidly approaching(less than 45 days!!), House Republicans and President Obama will be looking for a means to avoid going over the cliff.  As is the wonk of political compromise, unseen consequences arise for the expediency required to avoid a crisis.  And the the Fiscal Cliff is a CRISIS!!

Thus, you need to be aware that the Mortgage Deduction will come under attack as will many others like Oil Subsidies and like "Corporate Welfare" deductions/loopholes.   The basis of the attack will to raise tax revenues without "raising tax rates"....kind of like a bank giving free checking with lots of fees for checks, copies of checks and like...significant cost impact hidden by words like "Free" or "No tax increase" pledges.

You and I may debate for hours if this is the right way or the wrong way to increase federal revenues.  Yet, the fact remains the fact.   Fiddling with the Mortgage Deduction, at minimum,  will:

    1. Directly impact the finacial feasibility of home ownership,
    2. Remove the incentive to buy a home
    3. Reduce home values by up to 25%
    4. Cause more homeowners to go under water on their mortgage
    5.  Reduce home affordability for low income, first time home owners and other buyers with
            low reserves.

IF you believe as I do, that the Mortgage Deduction is a value added feature of our tax code, contact your Congress man/woman, Senator, and the President's office.  Let them know where you stand.

 Perhaps as Congressman Forbe did, your representatives will send a email survey to get your take on this matter.