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February 1st, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

Courtesy of Black & Decker, energy-conscious homeowners in Blue Ridge now have another way to conserve natural resources.

Introducing the Lights Out Auto Switch, a 135-degree, motion-detecting device that turns the lights on when people enter a room, and subsequently turns them off after everyone has left.  The timer can be set at 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes.

Use it in bedrooms, home offices, child playrooms and anywhere else a person may leave the lights on.

Best of all, the device is easy to install.

The Lights Out Auto Switch runs on 3 AA batteries and slips right over an existing toggle light switch. There’s no electrical wiring or assembly required and the product ships with a 2-year warranty.

The Lights Auto Switch is available on Amazon.com for $23.

Tags: Add new tag, Energy Conservation, Home Gadgets, Light switch, Lights Out Autoswitch

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

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January 27th, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Real Estate VIEWS

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent.

In its press release, the FOMC noted that the U.S. economy “has continued to strengthen”, that the jobs markets is getting better, and that financial markets are supportive of growth.

There was no mention of the housing market’s strength.  The last 3 statements from the Fed included that specific verbiage.

It’s the fifth straight statement in which the Fed spoke about the economy with optimism.  This should signal to markets that 2008-2009 recession is over and that economic growth is returning to U.S. economy.

The economy isn’t without threats, however, and the Fed identified several in its press release, including:

1. Credit remains tight for consumers
2. Businesses are reluctant to hire new workers
3. Housing wealth is down

The message’s overall tone, however, remained positive and inflation appears is still within tolerance.

Also in its statement, the Fed confirmed its plan to hold the Fed Funds Rate near zero percent “for an extended period” and to wind down its $1.25 trillion commitment to the mortgage market by March 31, 2010.  This is noteworthy because Fed insiders estimate that the bond-buying program suppressed mortgage rates by 1 percent through 2009.

Mortgage market reaction to the Fed press release is, in general, negative. Mortgage rates in Blairsville are rising this afternoon.

The FOMC’s next scheduled meeting is March 16, 2010.

Tags: Add new tag, Economic growth, Fed Funds Rate, Federal funds rate, Federal Open Market Committee, Federal Reserve System, FOMC, Mortgage

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

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January 27th, 2010Categories: Mortgage & Finance reVIEWS

The Federal Open Market Committee ends a scheduled, 2-day meeting today in Washington. It’s the first of 8 scheduled meetings for the policy-setting group in 2010.

The group adjourns at 2:15 PM ET.

As is customary, upon adjournment, the Fed will issue a press release to the markets recapping its views of the country’s current economic condition, and the outlook for the near-term future.

The post-meeting statements from the Fed are brief but comprehensive. And Wall Street eats them up.  Every word, sentence and phrase is carefully dissected in the hope of gaining an investment edge over other active traders.

It’s for this reason that mortgage rates tend to be jittery on days the FOMC adjourns. Wall Street is frantically re-balancing its bets.

Today should be no different.

The FOMC is expected to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent — the lowest it’s been in history.  However, it’s what the Fed says Wednesday that will matter more than what it does.

After the Fed’s last meeting in December, it made several observations:

1. The jobs market is getting “less worse”
2. The housing sector is making improvements
3. Financial markets are stabilizing further

The economy is gradually improving, the Fed told us, but there are still risks to the economy ahead.  Furthermore, inflation remains in check.

As compared to December’s press release, today’s FOMC statement will be closely watched. If the Fed changes its verbiage in any way that alludes to strong growth and/or inflation in 2010, expect mortgage rates in Ellijay to rise as Wall Street moves its money from bonds to stocks.

Conversely, reference to slower growth in 2010 should lead rates lower.

We can’t know what the Fed will say so if you’re floating a mortgage rate right now or wondering whether the time is right to lock, the safe approach would be to lock prior to 2:15 PM ET Wednesday. After that, what happens to rates is anyone’s guess.

Tags: Add new tag, Economy, Federal funds rate, Federal Open Market Committee, Federal Reserve System, FOMC, Inflation, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Wall Street

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

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January 26th, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Real Estate VIEWS

Just one month after from blowing away Wall Street, December’s Existing Home Sales hit the skids, shedding nearly 17 percent and falling to a 4-month low.

Don’t be alarmed, though. The plunge was expected. And not just because Pending Home Sales cratered last month.

When November’s Existing Home Sales surged, it was clear to observers that an expiring $8,000 federal tax credit was the catalyst. At the time, the tax program was slated to expire November 30 and the looming deadline pushed a lot of would-be buyers in Ellijay from a December time frame into November.

The expiration date has a cannibalizing effect on December’s sales figures. It was only later that Congress extended the tax credit to June 30, 2010.

So, with home sales plunging in December, it’s no surprise that home supplies rose for the first time in 9 months.  Home Supply is calculating by dividing the number of homes for sale by the current sales pace.

The national housing supply now rests at 7.2 months.

Despite December’s Existing Home Sales report appearing shaky, it’s actually terrific for new home buyers in places like our  North Georgia Mountains.

See, for the past few months, as housing has been improving, sellers nationwide have been bombarded by messages of “hot markets” and rising home prices by the media.  Psychologically, a seller is more likely to hold firm on price if he believes the housing market is improving and now December’s data is deflating that argument.

This is why we say there’s always two sides to a housing story — the buyers’ side and the sellers’ side. And, usually, what’s good for one party is bad for the other. It’s what we’re seeing now.

Because of soft data like December’s Existing Home Sales, buyers may retake some negotiation leverage that’s been lost since Spring 2009, helping to improve home affordability and, perhaps, spur more sales.

Tags: Add new tag, Existing Home Sales, Home Affordability, North Georgia Mountains, Pending Home Sales, Real Estate

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

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January 22nd, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Real Estate VIEWS

A “Housing Start” is a privately-owned home on which construction has started. It’s an important gauge of housing health because it tracks new housing stock nationwide.

In December 2009, starts fell by nearly 7 percent.

The news is mildly disappointing but not too bad. The likely cause for the Housing Starts drop is December’s rough weather conditions. It’s tough to break ground when Mother Nature won’t coordinate and last month was especially hazardous in a lot of parts of the country.

More cheery, however, is that for the second straight month, Housing Permits exploded.

A housing permit is an certification from local government that authorizes construction. After posting a 7 percent gain in November, permits rose by another 8 percent in December.

It’s a signal that housing is, indeed, in recovery — despite the falling number of actual starts. More permits mean that builders plan to bring more homes on the market for what’s expected to be a very busy spring home-shopping season.

According to the Census Bureau, 82% of homes start construction within 60 days of permit-issuance.  Therefore, Housing Starts should start rising soon anyway.

For home buyers, the news couldn’t be better.

With more homes coming online, competition among home sellers should increase, and that will suppress the rise in home prices in Ellijay and nationwide.

It’s basic economics.  When home supplies grow faster than home demand, prices fall.

Tags: Add new tag, Construction, Economics, Housing Permits, Housing Starts, Market, Real Estate

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

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January 21st, 2010Categories: God's VIEWS

Abundant Life!

I actually hope I’m shrinking as I get older in the way John the Baptist described when he was talking about his relationship with Jesus. In John 3:30 he says, “He must become greater; I must become less.” John’s goal was to shrink. I think I understand that better now than I used to. John wanted his life and his work to involve an increasingly smaller percentage of him and a progressively larger percentage of Jesus. In the strange economics of discipleship, the less there is of you in what you do, the greater you become.

This is all especially difficult for those of us who want to be “make it happen” people. There are two lifelong battlefields where we wrestle with the Lord over the “me first” thing. One is the area of control. We don’t mind giving the Lord time, or money, or service. We give Him loyalty and hard work. We’ll give Him anything but control. I want to maintain control of the areas that really matter to me: maybe my career, or my family, my money. I want to control my ministry, or my image, my talent, my plans. For most of us, there is a major control issue that lets the control of Jesus Christ go only so far. And there can never be less of me and more of Jesus until that issue is settled, with my white flag. And maybe you’ve been through just enough pain, just enough humbling that you are ready to surrender what you have held tightly for so long and tried to control.

The other battlefield where our ego wrestles against the takeover of Jesus is the issue of credit. We really want the credit for what we do. We want to be noticed, appreciated, promoted, and admired. Recognition is important to us. But God has said, “I am the Lord; that is My name; I will not give My glory to another.” We can’t know the power of having Jesus really in charge until we are ready to say, “I don’t care if my name’s not on it. I don’t care who knows. I am here to get people to think about You, Jesus, not me.”

If you can surrender the control and the credit, you are ready for the incredible shrinking you. Our lives become more incredible than we could ever have imagined as our ego and our interests and our self-reliance begin to recede, and our lives become more about Jesus than ever before.

Frankly, I’m looking forward to the years ahead, and to shrinking more and more, so my life can be bigger than ever as I make more and more room for Jesus.(From: “The Incredible Shrinking Me” Hutchcraft)

In Him,

Terry Stuart

Minister at the Blairsville Church of Christ

Tags: Abundant Life, Add new tag, Christianity, Church of Christ, Evangelism, Jesus, Terry Stuart

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

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January 21st, 2010Categories: Mortgage & Finance reVIEWS

Securing an FHA mortgage in Georgia is about to get more expensive.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Federal Housing Authority outlined policy changes to its mortgage assistance program. The shift is meant to both reduce the government group’s portfolio risk while strengthening its overall financials.

For consumers, the changes mean higher costs.

As listed in the official announcement, there are 3 major guideline updates for the FHA:

1. Upfront mortgage insurance premiums are increasing to 2.25% from 1.75%

2. Minimum downpayments for applicants with sub-580 FICOs are rising to 10 percent

3. Seller concessions are being limited to 3%, down from today’s allowable 6%

Furthermore, the FHA has appealed to Congress to raise an FHA borrowers’ monthly mortgage insurance premiums.

To read the FHA’s statement, it’s clear what the group is trying to balance.  On one side, the FHA wants to provide affordable financing to families that need it. That’s its mission statement. On the other side, though, the FHA must manage the risk that comes with insuring lesser-quality loans.

To that end, the FHA is stepping up its enforcement of “bad lenders” in hopes of stopping problems where they start.

Also in its new policies, the FHA is introducing a “termination clause”. If banks or loan officers that produce more than their fair share of bad loans, they lose their right to originate FHA mortgages.

As a result, home buyers in Blairsville, GA.  should expect tougher FHA underwriting in 2010. Not because the FHA says so, necessarily, but because banks don’t want to do “bad loans”.  Lenders are incented to turn down at-risk applicants and, already, we’re seeing examples of this. Despite FHA allowing 580 FICOs and lower, many banks have made 620 their minimum.

Some have other guideline overlays, too.

The FHA’s new guidelines don’t go into effect until spring.  So, between now and then, the old guidelines will apply.  Therefore, if you know you’re going to need an FHA home loan in the next few months, consider moving up your time-frame.

If nothing else, you’ll save some money at closing.

Tags: Add new tag, Federal Housing Administration, FHA, Georgia, Insurance, MIP, Mortgage, Mortgage Guidelines

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

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January 19th, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Real Estate VIEWS

The next time you think you’ve outgrown your home, imagine what life would be like in New York City’s “skinniest home”. It’s barely wider than your wingspan.

In Greenwich Village, there’s a single-family, 3-story residence in which the interior living space width measures just 8 1/2-feet. By way of reference, that’s 4 inches more narrow than the Smart Fortwo electric automobile.

Even the home’s USPS street address hints at its size.  Built on an alleyway, nestled between 75 Bedford Street and 77 Bedford Street, the diminutive home is officially known as 75 1/2 Bedford.

It just sold for $2.1 million.

Meanwhile, big price tags for little homes is nothing new. In 2008, the “Little House” in Toronto sold for the equivalent of $511 per square foot.

It is a good thing that Homes For Sale in Blairsville, GA. are not selling for an average of $512 per square foot. If so, my children would never eat!

(Image courtesy: Wikipedia)

Tags: Add new tag, Blairsville, Greenwich Village, Homes For Sale, House, New York City, Skinny Home

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

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January 14th, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Real Estate VIEWS

Mortgage rates are dropping this morning on weaker-than-expected Retail Sales data from December. Lower rates means more bang for your home-buying buck.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, December’s “ex-auto” sales receipts were down roughly $500 million from November. Analysts had expected receipts to grow.

The relevance of Retail Sales to home affordability isn’t obvious, but it’s definitely logical.

Retail Sales is directly related to consumer spending and consumer spending accounts for the majority of the U.S. economy. When consumer spending slows, the economy often does, too. It leads investors to seek out “safe” investments.

It’s the reason why stock markets often drop on weak economic data — stocks are among the riskiest investment classes available.

Conversely, the best place to find safety is in the market of government-backed bonds.  This world includes products like U.S. Treasuries and many of the mortgage-backed bonds that help set mortgage rates for people all throughout the North Georgia Mountains.  Weak economic data puts mortgage bonds in demand.

For rate shopper, this is good news.  More demand for mortgage bonds causes mortgage rates to fall.  Mortgage rates are lower this morning because Wall Street is shedding some risk.

December’s Retail Sales report closes out a year of generally-weak data.  2009 marks just the second time that Retail Sales fell year-over-year since the government started tracking it 40 years ago.  The other year was 2008.

For home buyers in North Georgia Mountains and around the country, though, today may represent an opportune time to lock a mortgage rate.  Housing data is still improving and other economic indicators are showing strength.  Soon, Wall Street will shift from a “safe” mentality and move toward risk.

When it does, mortgage rates will rise.

Tags: Add new tag, Business, Market, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, North Georgia Mountains, Real Estate, Retail Sales, Stock market, United States Economy, Wall Street

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

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January 13th, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Real Estate VIEWS, Mortgage & Finance reVIEWS

As the housing market improves across the country, certain cities are emerging as relative bargains.  Some areas, like Miami, were hit hard by the recession, and other areas are buoyed by good school systems and strong labor markets.

In this 5-minute video from The Today Show, 10 cities are highlighted for their home prices.  And they’re not “small towns”, either.

Among the featured cities:

1. Miami, Florida

2. Akron, Ohio

3. Tuscon, Arizona

4. Minneapolis, Minnesota

5. Trenton, New Jersey

Now, this piece is about finding gems on a national scale.  They exist locally here in Blue Ridge, Blairsville, Ellijay and all over the North Georgia Mountains too.  You just need to know what to look for.

With mortgage rates low and tax credits available, it’s not likely that bargains will last.

Tags: Add new tag, Bargains, Mortgage, Tax Credit, The Today Show, U.S. Housing Market, United States

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: 1 Comment »

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