Delavan Real Estate & Mortgage Blog

There are many newspapers in Delavan, Wisconsin and throughout the country that report on what current Delavan real estate mortgage interest rates are.  The problem is they rarely hit the nail on the head.  Whis is this?

 The reporters use flawed data when reporting this information.  They use the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.  What makes this data flawed?

I’m glad you asked.  This blog post explains clearly: Lake Geneva Real Estate Mortgage Rates.

According to the Census Bureau, 2.8 million people commute to work 90 minutes or more each day, in each direction.  That is often the case in Delavan, Wisconsin as well.

Now, your daily commute may not be as long, but time spent in cars, trains and buses is time away from work and from family.  Drive-time can affect a person’s Quality of Life and it’s one reason why Forbes Magazine’s Best and Worst Commutes is worth reviewing.

Measuring travel time, road congestion and travel delays in the 60 largest metropolitan areas, Forbes ranks city commutes from best-to-worst with Salt Lake City topping the list and Tampa-St. Petersburg finishing it.

The Top 5 Commutes, as compiled by Forbes:

1. Salt Lake City, Utah
2. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York
3. Rochester, New York
4. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin
5. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York

The bottom 5 are Tampa-St. Petersburg, Detroit, Atlanta, Orlando, and Dallas-Forth Worth.

Long commutes shouldn’t deter you from moving to a particular city, but the potential commute should be consideration.  Before making an offer on your next home, make a rush-hour commute to work from your potential new neighborhood.   Then imagine doing it every day.  Now I used to drive to Milwaukee from Delavan.  That never seemed like a great commute, but I can’t imagine living in the worst cities.  Delavan real estate is very attractive if you wish to make the commute to Milwaukee or Madison.

You can read the complete Forbes list of Best and Worst Cities for Commuters on its website.

Travis Egan Asst Vice PresidentWalworth State Bank 1221 South Shore Dr Delavan, Wisconsin, 53115 US	Work: 262-728-4203Mobile: 262-745-5055 tegan@walworthbank.com www.TravisEgan.com
Lender, Delavan Real Estate

Consumer Sentiment has been on the rise since last February and it’s something to which Delavan real estate home buyers should pay attention. 

The affordability of your next home may hinge on consumer confidence.

As the economy recovers from a near-the-brink recession, many of the elements of a full recovery are in place.  Business investment is returning, household spending is expanding, and financial systems are gaining strength. 

Consumer confidence is at a 2-year high.

What’s missing from the recovery, though, is jobs growth.  Another net 20,000 jobs were lost in January. Data like that hinders economic growth.

That said, twenty-thousand jobs lost is a much better figure than the several hundred thousand that were shed per month throughout early-2009, but it’s still a net negative number.  Not only does household income drop when Americans lose jobs but so does the average American’s confidence in his or her own economic future.

This is one reason why jobs growth is so closely watched by Wall Street — jobs are linked to higher confidence levels which, in turn, is believed to spur consumer spending.

Consumer spending represents 70% of the U.S. economy.

As confidence rises, it could be good news for the economy, but bad news for home buyers. More spending expands the economy and, all things equal, that leads mortgage rates higher. 

Same for home prices. More confidence means more buyers which, in turn, squeezes the supply-and-demand curve in favor of sellers.

Later this morning, the University of Michigan will release its February Consumer Sentiment survey. If the reading is higher-than-expected, prepare for mortgage rates to rise and home affordability to worsen.

Travis Egan Asst Vice PresidentWalworth State Bank 1221 South Shore Dr Delavan, Wisconsin, 53115 US	Work: 262-728-4203Mobile: 262-745-5055 tegan@walworthbank.com www.TravisEgan.com
Lender, Delavan Real Estate

Many people are aware that the recent downturn in real estate has made many vacation condominiums difficult to sell.  The Abbey Resort is a wonderful vacation spot on Lake Geneva and is no exception to his rule. 

I encourage you read the article written by Shirley Coulman about Lake Geneva Real Estate.

Travis Egan Asst Vice President Walworth State Bank 1221 South Shore Dr Delavan, Wisconsin, 53115 US	Work: 262-728-4203 Mobile: 262-745-5055 tegan@walworthbank.com www.TravisEgan.com
Lender, Lake Geneva Real Estate, Delavan Real Estate

I recently received a question that puzzled me.  I believe I’m a pretty good communicator and yet I hear this question.  Now this gentleman has been a client of mine for years and yet I failed to communicate this information to him.

To read the entire article, click on the link below:

Wisconsin FHA mortgages and the first time home buyer.

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For all your Lake Geneva Real Estate needs, contact Walworth State Bank today @ 262.728.4203 or visit us on our website at www.walworthbank.com!  If you are in need of a Wisconsin FHA mortgage or any other lending questions visit us at www.TravisEgan.com.

I recently had the pleasure of being a part of a wonderful real estate transaction.  Unfortunately, it was all smooth sailing throughout.  There were many tears and moments of extreme anxiety, but with the gracious and diligent efforts of a great Realtor the clients shared the first official Valentine’s Day as a married couple in their new home.

To read the entire article, click on the link below:

True professionalism on display in this Delavan real estate transaction.

I saw an article today on washingtonpost.com website that a person with some knowledge in the Treasury Department is suggesting that banks will lend mortgages at 4.5% for new home purchases.

It got me thinking.  Are interest rates really what’s keeping people from buying real estate in Lake Geneva, Delavan, Elkhorn, Williams Bay or anywhere in Wisconsin for that matter?  I mean rates have already fallen to the mid 5’s on many Wisconsin FHA mortgages. 

I believe the answer may simpler than the experts think.  Read about it here.

I find it alarming that so many so-called mortgage professionals and journalists have consistently and loudly proclaiming this as fact.  In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.  Those of us who have toiled for years advising, counseling, and preparing our clients for homeownership have known this program to be one of the finest loan programs available for first time homebuyers in this or any market.  We extol the virtues of this program because it is NOT  a means to avoid showing underwriters the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but the opposite.  The reason FHA will NEVER become the “new” subprime is because everything is verified.

All aspects of FHA mortgages are meticulously verified.

• The borrower’s income is verified.
• The borrower’s assets are verified.
• The borrower’s credit is verified.
• The appraisal is verified and underwritten.
• Social Security numbers are verified.
• Dates of birth are verified.
• Borrower’s are checked against a list to ensure they have not defrauded the government or failed to live up to prior agreements with the government.

It is true that opportunities in the underwriting standards allow the consumer to explain blemishes or situations that do not fit into the norm.  These explanations must be reasonable and documented.  This is the first and most direct opposition to a comparison with “subprime” mortgages.  Most of those programs did not require such scrutiny of the borrower or their finances.  Many of the homeowner’s, who lost their homes, were not properly advised when they were placed into mortgages they could not reasonably afford.  FHA has checks and balances to avoid these indiscretions.

The broad blanket that many cast as a means of comparing FHA and “subprime” do the FHA loan program a horrible injustice.  FHA mortgages have helped many homeowners realize the dream of homeownership.  Will there be foreclosures that come from people who have FHA mortgages?  Unfortunately, yes.  There will always be circumstances that lenders, underwriters, and appraisers cannot anticipate.  Life has a nasty way of reminding this from time to time.  Many Americans will benefit from and because of FHA mortgages.  I am proud to serve those wish to take the next step on getting their piece of the American dream.  Wisconsin homebuyers, more specifically buyers in Walworth County, in places like Delavan, Lake Geneva, Elkhorn, Williams Bay, and Walworth should know there are many qualified lenders who can and will assist you both honestly and ethically.

The Feds took over the mortgage giants, now what for homebuyers in Delavan, Lake Geneva, Elkhorn and all of Walworth County?

So the Federal government did sweep in Sunday, fired the two top people at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and took over control of the two. This will probably come as mixed blessings in the industry.

1)  This will shore-up the two insuring they will not implode, which is very good for the industry as a whole since it will guarantee the flow of money to banks and lenders to fund new loans.

2)  The take-over has renewed Wall Street’s awareness in mortgage bonds and because of this we’ve seen rates drop considerably over the last two days and the word on the street is they’ll drop further.  Low 5’s could be just around the corner.

3)  Shares of home improvement companies Lowes and Home Depot are up over 5% with the infusion of confidence in the real estate market.

Now the ugly news:

1)   For the short term it doesn’t look like there will be much of an adjustment in underwriting guidelines, but everyone expects them to get even more strict than they’ve become in the past few months.  This means that it may become even more difficult for some to qualify for a loan.  At a minimum it will mean that more documentation and conditions to be met before closing will be required.

2)   Shares of Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FHLMC) are down. Way, way, way down.  It’s clear investors are confident on Wall Street based on the last few days, just not with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Other than that, I think overall - if the Feds handled this correctly - this will be very good for the industry and may be what we need to get the market started again.  Lack of consumer confidence, fueled by sensationalist media, has been dealing a death blows to the industry for the past nine months.  As I’ve said before, now is as good a time to buy a home as there has been in some time.  It’s time to get off the fence and take part in the American dream.

Delavan, Wisconsin — Here’s a sonic boom to prospective homebuyers: The lingering decline in the prices of homes has made many houses more affordable than they’ve been in years.

You know what this means?  Housing could shift from a buyer’s market, which it presently is in Delavan, Elkhorn, Lake Geneva, and all of Walworth County to a seller’s market before you know it.

Please don’t misinterpret me.  I am not saying that all is well when it comes to housing.

I would agree with my peers who suggest that it may be at least a couple of months before the demand for housing matches or surpasses the current inventory.

Nor am I expecting another housing bubble to form in the immediate future.

All I would like to point out is that, in broad terms, the average house is no longer as overpriced as it once was here in Walworth County.  That being the case, it is no longer wise to assume that home prices have to fall a lot more before they stabilize.  I would suggest that may have already happened.

For now, however, this is what most buyers believe, at least the ones I’m talking to.  Knowing full well that there are a lot of unsold homes out there, most would-be buyers are waiting for a sign that prices have stopped falling and thus stabilized before making an offer to purchase.

They are waiting because history and the mass media have conditioned them to do so.

Until recently, home prices used to go in only one direction, up, the only question being how rapidly.  As a result, a house became just about the only item — large or small — that people would buy expecting its price to appreciate.

Fortunately, for owners in Wisconsin or the Midwest we didn’t see the exponential appreciation in home values the folks on the coasts and Florida did.  So we haven’t seen the precipitous decline in value they have seen as well.  What we have seen is a much smaller rate of appreciation but few markets have seen an actual decline in value.

Remember, incomes are still rising, so home prices don’t have to fall as much as you think before buyers decide that they can once more afford the home of their dreams.  Sooner or later, the fact that housing is more affordable will sink in.  That’s when the market will turn and that’s when those who have chosen to sit on the sidelines may wish they had acted sooner.