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The week in review:

This week’s mortgage rate update is brought to you by the new movie, Ben and Hank’s Excellent Adventure, which hit the big screen several weeks ago to mixed reviews.  The film begins with our fearless leaders, Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Fed and Henry Paulson as Secretary of the Treasury rescuing some of the world’s largest institutions from disaster.  Then, as the situation continues to deteriorate, our action heroes create a $700 Billion bail-out plan to save the financial system as a whole.  Funny thing about this show is that the ending has yet to be written…

Home loan rates ended the week up about .125% higher than they started.

What to expect:

With so many historical events going on at the same time, it is almost impossible to determine what may happen next and how the markets will react.  Will the House and Senate approve the plan on Monday?  What details will get agreed to?

There are several “normal” reports to come out this week.  We will see a gauge on inflation coming out Monday and the Department of Labor’s employment report on Friday.  Low inflation = lower rates; bad employment numbers = lower rates.

Breg-ometer:

Next 7 days: Lower at the very beginning of the week; flip a coin after that
Next 30 to 90 days: Need to see what happens this week to make a call

Courtesy of:
Bob Bregitzer

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Mortgages, Vinings Mortgages, Atlanta Mortgages

Who will you vote for in November?

This was a tangential thought when I was driving around Smyrna Vinings the other day. My initial thought was that it’s no wonder that sales of Smyrna Vinings homes are down. With so many political signs all over the place, it’s hard for Smyrna Vinings homebuyers to tell which homes are actually for sale. How can anyone find the real estate signs with all of these political signs nowadays.

But since we’re ramping up to the November elections, it seemed like a good time to take a community poll and see who you’re planning on voting for in November. You may not have decided yet and that’s okay. Just check the “Don’t know yet” option.

And in a strange twist of fate, the SmyrnaVinings.com site has become so popular, our name has now been thrown in as a possible candidate. I realize it’s a bit unusual to have a team running for President, but that’s the power of the Internet these days. For a little more background, click on the following video.

I hope you enjoyed the video. If you’d like to join the bandwagon, feel free to pick SmyrnaVinings.com in the election poll as well. For those that haven’t voted before, the community poll is on the left side bar.

[tags[Presidential Election, Smyrna Vinings Community Site[/tags[

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Smyrna Vinings Best Outdoor Dining Spot

In a hotly contested battle, Atkins Park Tavern in the Smyrna Market Village was voted the Best Outdoor Dining Spot in Smyrna Vinings.

Congratulations to Kevin and the rest of the crew at Atkins Park Tavern. APT pulled in 30% of the vote, followed by Zucca’s at 23%, Garrison’s Broiler & Tap at 19%, Mellow Mushroom and South City Kitchen at 10% each and NY Pizza Exchange at 8%.

And there really is no better time than right now to go try them all out with this perfect dining weather we’re having right now.

Thanks to our loyal readers for chiming in on which ones were your favorites.

Stayed tuned as we’ll be announcing our latest poll tomorrow. Think of it as a warm-up for November.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna restaurants, Vinings restaurants, Smyrna Vinings Best Outdoor Dining

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Will the mortgage rate rollercoaster continue?

Week in review:

What in tarnation is going on here? Unless you were living under a rock last week, you saw that the US government bail out our financial system. First, they gave insurance giant AIG an $85 billion lifeline, announced they would guarantee money market funds to avoid a “run on the bank”, revealed they would create a marketplace for illiquid mortgage debt and banned short selling of 799 different financial stocks.

The stock market loved the news and rallied at the end of the week. As usual, the stock market rally resulted in home loan rates ending the week about .125% higher than they started.

What to Expect:

While the events of last week are great news for our financial markets, the initial effect will most likely cause long-term rates to increase. The moves to make capital easier to acquire and stimulate the economy can be viewed as inflationary. Also, commodity prices, like gasoline, increased dramatically at the end of the week.

We still feel the Fed stepping in to save Fannie and Freddie will contribute to lower rates in the long-term. However, we’ll have to wait and see because there is so much volatility and uncertainty in the financial markets.

Breg-ometer:

Next 7 days: Large swings – possibility for increase in rates
Next 30 days: Neutral – the markets are still digesting the news
Next 90 days: Neutral

Courtesy of:

Bob Bregitzer

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Mortgages, Vinings Mortgages, Atlanta Mortgages

As your local Smyrna Vinings real estate agent, I’m often asked by people “how much is my home worth?”.

It is, in fact, a popular question with the recent real estate market. And while we as real estate professionals can use our market knowledge to give you our best guess at your home’s market value, our assessment is just one person’s view.

What we find is the homeowners may have another view of how much their home is worth as well as other parties involved in selling your home. I think the following most aptly describes how drastically these home values can vary.

Your House As Seen By:

Yourself…

Your Buyer…

Your Lender…

Your Appraiser…

Your County’s Tax Assessor…

I hope that clears up some confusion. But if not, feel free to contact us and we’ll be glad to prepare a Total Market Overview for your home, which includes a comparative market analysis for your home. Just another great benefit of working with the #1 Real Estate site in Smyrna Vinings.

Technorati Tags: Smyrna Real Estate,   Vinings Real Estate,   Comparative Market Analysis