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This week brings us the release of three economic releases for the bond and mortgage markets to digest along with 10-year Treasury Note and 30-year Bond auctions. All of the data will be posted the latter part of the week. Only one of the three reports is considered to be of high importance to the markets, so several days will likely be influenced more by stock trading and other factors than the economic news of the day.
There are no relevant events scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. The 10-year Treasury Note auction is scheduled for Wednesday while the 30-year bond sale will be held Thursday. Results of both sales will be posted at 1:00 PM ET on the sale days. If investor demand was high, we may see bonds rally during afternoon trading, however, weak demand could lead to selling and an increase to mortgage rates. The results of the last sales do not give us much to look forward to, so it is not likely that these auctions will fuel a bond rally and a downward t rend in mortgage pricing.
January’s Goods and Services Trade Balance is the week’s first economic data. It comes early Thursday morning and gives us the size of the U.S. trade deficit. It is the week’s least important piece of news and likely will not influence mortgage rates much. Current forecasts are calling for a $41.0 billion trade deficit during January.
There will be two reports posted Friday morning. The first is at 8:30 AM and is the most important of the week. This is when February’s Retail Sales data will be posted. It is extremely important to the financial markets because it measures consumer spending. Since consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, data that is related usually has a big impact on the financial markets. This month’s report is expected to show an increase in sales of approximately 0.2%. If Friday’s release reveals a larger than expected increase, the bond market will likely fall and mortgage rates will mo ve higher. If it reveals a decline, I expect to see bond prices rise and mortgage rates improve Friday morning.
Also on tap Friday is the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment for March at 9:45 AM. This index gives us a measurement of consumer willingness to spend. If confidence is rising, then consumers are more apt to make large purchases. This helps fuel consumer spending and economic growth. A drop in confidence will probably hurt the stock markets and boost bond prices, leading to lower mortgage rates. If the index rises, indicating that confidence is rising and spending will likely rise, we may see mortgage rates move higher late Friday morning. It is expected to show a reading of 73.8, which is a slight increase from February’s final reading.
Overall, it will likely be another active week in the mortgage market. Friday will probably be the most important day of the week with the Retail Sales report due, while the calmest day could be tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on the stock markets. I am expecting to see the most movement in rates the latter part of the week, so please be careful if still floating an interest rate.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would…. Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days… Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now… This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
Are you tired of putting time, energy and money into mortgage broker marketing just to end up with an agent that never seems to follow through? Let us say you meet with an agent and feel like you have made a connection. But weeks go by without hearing from that agent. You make follow up calls, it all sounds good, but the agent still does not call, return your calls, or send you clients. What is going on?
It sounds like you have just encountered the passive Realtor. A passive Realtor can be incredibly frustrating. But rather than giving up on them, or throwing your valuable time and energy away, by understanding their behavior style, you can develop a positive relationship.
Why They Seem Passive
When you encounter an agent that seems passive, you are really meeting someone who struggles with change. They want to have a stable environment with few or no problems. They perceive any change to be stressful, so they are often willing to continue to work with someone who offers inferior service, simply because they are uncomfortable with working with someone new.
These agents are especially uncomfortable with confrontation. They will go to great lengths to avoid it. They appear to buy in to working with you, but you may not be uncovering their true objection because they go along with anything.
Realtors that are passive also avoid fast decision making. They want to take time to evaluate decisions and mull them over for days or months. When you are working at your mortgage broker marketing, this can be frustrating. It feels like you are investing your time without receiving a timely pay out.
Misunderstanding Passive Realtors
One of the chief problems with working with passive agents is that you take their passivity, their desire to avoid confrontation and general friendliness, as a buy in. You may think you are making progress, when in reality you are not getting anywhere or the agent needs time to process.
Be realistic in your expectations when working with these clients. If they already have a strong relationship with a mortgage broker, chances are they will not jump into another relationship with a broker immediately. It may be a long courtship before you gain their loyalty.
On the positive side, passive agents are great to work with when it comes to unexpected glitches. They can easily empathize with problems that happen and are not likely to go ballistic. And, once you establish a relationship with them, you can count on them to remain loyal.
Communicating More Effectively
When focusing your mortgage broker marketing on this type of real estate agent, you need to pursue your relationship differently from other agents. It is best to incorporate a slow, friendly strategy, with lots of small talk and focus on feelings.
You are more likely to get their attention when you present information gently and then use a questioning technique to draw out their feelings or problems. Passive agents seek out a relationship; they want a feeling of personal attention, problem solving and excellent customer service. They also want proof of your performance, which can be supported by customer testimonial.
The Good News
While wooing a passive agent can feel like a lengthy process, on the positive side, they are great team players. They expend effort to make their client relationships positive. They are the agents that are willing to go the extra mile for clients. These positive relationships trickle over to your business, resulting in a repeats and referrals.
When you understand how to create a positive environment that is not threatening to the Realtor, you establish a productive and positive relationship. Tailoring your mortgage broker marketing to these Realtors result in a loyal partnership with big pay offs.
Jeff Nelson helps loan officers increase loan originations by attracting quality relationships with real estate agents from the development of customized relationship-building strategies. Click here to get a free copy of the Marketing Planning Guide, a 20-page workbook designed to help you outline a strategy to become an Agent Magnet.
This week brings us the release of three economic releases for the bond and mortgage markets to digest along with 10-year Treasury Note and 30-year Bond auctions. All of the data will be posted the latter part of the week. Only one of the three reports is considered to be of high importance to the markets, so several days will likely be influenced more by stock trading and other factors than the economic news of the day.
There are no relevant events scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. The 10-year Treasury Note auction is scheduled for Wednesday while the 30-year bond sale will be held Thursday. Results of both sales will be posted at 1:00 PM ET on the sale days. If investor demand was high, we may see bonds rally during afternoon trading, however, weak demand could lead to selling and an increase to mortgage rates. The results of the last sales do not give us much to look forward to, so it is not likely that these auctions will fuel a bond rally and a downward t rend in mortgage pricing.
January’s Goods and Services Trade Balance is the week’s first economic data. It comes early Thursday morning and gives us the size of the U.S. trade deficit. It is the week’s least important piece of news and likely will not influence mortgage rates much. Current forecasts are calling for a $41.0 billion trade deficit during January.
There will be two reports posted Friday morning. The first is at 8:30 AM and is the most important of the week. This is when February’s Retail Sales data will be posted. It is extremely important to the financial markets because it measures consumer spending. Since consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, data that is related usually has a big impact on the financial markets. This month’s report is expected to show an increase in sales of approximately 0.2%. If Friday’s release reveals a larger than expected increase, the bond market will likely fall and mortgage rates will mo ve higher. If it reveals a decline, I expect to see bond prices rise and mortgage rates improve Friday morning.
Also on tap Friday is the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment for March at 9:45 AM. This index gives us a measurement of consumer willingness to spend. If confidence is rising, then consumers are more apt to make large purchases. This helps fuel consumer spending and economic growth. A drop in confidence will probably hurt the stock markets and boost bond prices, leading to lower mortgage rates. If the index rises, indicating that confidence is rising and spending will likely rise, we may see mortgage rates move higher late Friday morning. It is expected to show a reading of 73.8, which is a slight increase from February’s final reading.
Overall, it will likely be another active week in the mortgage market. Friday will probably be the most important day of the week with the Retail Sales report due, while the calmest day could be tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on the stock markets. I am expecting to see the most movement in rates the latter part of the week, so please be careful if still floating an interest rate.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would…. Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days… Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now… This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
Thursday’s bond market opened in negative territory but has since recovered those losses. The stock markets are showing relatively minor gains as the Dow is up 36 points and the Nasdaq is up 3 points. The bond market is currently almost unchanged from yesterday’s closing level, but due to strength in bonds yesterday we should see an improvement of approximately .125 of a discount point in this morning’s mortgage pricing.
Today’s only relevant report is the Fed Beige Book at 2:00 PM ET. It details economic activity throughout the country by region. The Fed relies heavily on this data during their FOMC meetings, so look for a potential reaction during afternoon trading. It probably will not cause a major sell off in the stock or bond markets, but could cause enough movement in bond prices to possibly improve or worsen mortgage rates slightly if it reveals any significant surprises.
The first of today’s two relevant reports was the revised 4th quar ter Productivity Index. It showed an upward revision to an annual rate of 6.7%. This was higher than the preliminary reading of last month and better than forecasts. That means that employees were more productive in quarter than thought, which is good news for bonds and mortgage rates. This is because the economy can grow easier without inflation concerns when productivity is high.
Also posted this morning was January’s Factory Orders that revealed a 1.7% increase in new orders for durable and non-durable goods. This was close to forecasts, but December’s orders were revised higher by 0.5%. Still, this data has had little influence on this morning’s bond trading and mortgage rates.
The Labor Department gave us last week’s unemployment figures, announcing that 469,000 new claims for benefits were filed last week. This was a sizable drop from the previous week, but nearly matched forecasts. It also has not affected today’s mort gage pricing.
Tomorrow morning brings us one of the most important reports we see each month. It will be the Labor Department that is in the spotlight when they release February’s Employment report at 8:30 AM ET. Some of the important portions of the report will give us the unemployment rate, number of new jobs added or lost and the average hourly earnings reading. The best combination for the bond market and mortgage rates would be an increase in the unemployment rate, a large drop in payrolls and little or no increase in earnings. Current forecasts are calling for 0.1% increase in the unemployment rate to 9.8% and approximately 65,000 jobs lost during the month.
I am remaining extremely cautious towards mortgage rates until this report is behind us. There is some room for improvement in the bond market and mortgage rates, but if this data gives us stronger than expected results, indicating that the employment sector is not as bad as feared, we could see a major sell-off in bonds and a significant spike in mortgage rates. However, much weaker than expected data could fuel a bond market rally and lead mortgage rates lower tomorrow and early next week. Either way, I suspect we will have some volatility in the markets tomorrow.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would…. Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days… Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now… This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
Wednesday’s bond market has opened in negative territory again with the stock markets showing gains. The Dow is currently up 44 points while the Nasdaq has gained 10 points. The bond market is currently down 10/32, but we will likely see a slight improvement in this morning’s mortgage pricing due to strength in bonds late yesterday.
Today’s only relevant report is the Fed Beige Book at 2:00 PM ET. It details economic activity throughout the country by region. The Fed relies heavily on this data during their FOMC meetings, so look for a potential reaction during afternoon trading. It probably will not cause a major sell off in the stock or bond markets, but could cause enough movement in bond prices to possibly improve or worsen mortgage rates slightly if it reveals any significant surprises.
There are two reports scheduled for release tomorrow morning. The first is the revised Productivity index for the 4th Quarter of last year. The preliminary r eading posted last month showed an annual rate of 6.2% increase in worker output. Analysts are expecting to see little change to the initial reading. Employee productivity is watched fairy closely because a higher level of output per hour is believed to mean that the economy can expand without inflation concerns.
January’s Factory Orders will be posted late tomorrow morning, which will give us another measurement of manufacturing sector strength. This data is similar to last week’s Durable Goods, except this report covers orders for both durable and non-durable goods. Current forecasts are calling for an increase in new orders of approximately 1.8%. A smaller than expected increase would be good news for the bond market and should lead to a small improvement in mortgage rates.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would…. Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days… Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now… This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
HUD has issued Mortgagee Letter 2010-02 that will change the UFMIP factors for FHA loans effective with case numbers assigned on or after April 5, 2010. FHA will collect an upfront mortgage insurance premium of 2.25% (2.00% on Home Equity Conversion Mortgages and HOPE for Homeowners). The policy change will increase premiums for purchase money and refinance transactions, including FHA-to-FHA credit-qualifying and non-credit qualifying streamline refinance transactions. Annual premiums will not change at this time. The annual premium (collected monthly in payment) will be charged based on the initial loan-to-value ratio and length of the mortgage according to the following schedule:
For loan terms greater than 15 years
- Greater than 95% LTV 55 bps
- Equal to or less than 95% LTV 50 bps
For loan terms of 15 years or less
- Greater than 90% LTV 25 bps
- Equal to or less than 90% LTV None
The annual premium for all HECM borrowers is 50 bps of the outstanding mortgage balance. The annual premium for HOPE for Homeowners is 75 bps.
Wednesday’s bond market has opened in negative territory again with the stock markets showing gains. The Dow is currently up 44 points while the Nasdaq has gained 10 points. The bond market is currently down 10/32, but we will likely see a slight improvement in this morning’s mortgage pricing due to strength in bonds late yesterday.
Today’s only relevant report is the Fed Beige Book at 2:00 PM ET. It details economic activity throughout the country by region. The Fed relies heavily on this data during their FOMC meetings, so look for a potential reaction during afternoon trading. It probably will not cause a major sell off in the stock or bond markets, but could cause enough movement in bond prices to possibly improve or worsen mortgage rates slightly if it reveals any significant surprises.
There are two reports scheduled for release tomorrow morning. The first is the revised Productivity index for the 4th Quarter of last year. The preliminary r eading posted last month showed an annual rate of 6.2% increase in worker output. Analysts are expecting to see little change to the initial reading. Employee productivity is watched fairy closely because a higher level of output per hour is believed to mean that the economy can expand without inflation concerns.
January’s Factory Orders will be posted late tomorrow morning, which will give us another measurement of manufacturing sector strength. This data is similar to last week’s Durable Goods, except this report covers orders for both durable and non-durable goods. Current forecasts are calling for an increase in new orders of approximately 1.8%. A smaller than expected increase would be good news for the bond market and should lead to a small improvement in mortgage rates.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would…. Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days… Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now… This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
This week brings us the release of six economic reports to be concerned with. Two of the reports are considered to be very important, but nearly all of the week’s releases have the potential to affect mortgage rates. With reports being posted each day except Tuesday, we will likely see a fairly active week in mortgage rates.
The week’s first data comes tomorrow morning with the release of two relevant reports. The first is January’s Personal Income ad Outlays data at 8:30 AM ET, which gives us an indication of consumer ability to spend and current spending habits. Current forecasts call for an increase in income of 0.4% while spending is expected to rise 0.4%. A larger than expected increase in spending would be bad news for the bond market and could drive mortgage rates higher. However, weaker than expected numbers should help push mortgage rates slightly lower tomorrow.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will release th eir manufacturing index for February late tomorrow morning. This index measures manufacturer sentiment and can have a pretty large impact on the financial and mortgage markets if it varies from forecasts. It is expected to show a decline from January’s 58.4 to 57.8 this month. This is important because a reading above 50.0 means more surveyed manufacturers felt business improved during the month than those who felt it had worsened, meaning likely growth in the manufacturing sector. If we see a weaker than expected reading, the bond market could rally. But, a higher than forecasted reading could lead to major selling in bonds, causing mortgage rates to rise tomorrow morning.
The Fed Beige Book is the next report scheduled for release and it will be posted Wednesday afternoon. This report details economic activity throughout the country by region. The Fed relies heavily on this data during their FOMC meetings, so look for a potential reaction during afternoon trad ing Wednesday. It probably will not cause a major sell off in the stock or bond markets, but could cause enough movement in bond prices to possibly improve or worsen mortgage rates slightly if it reveals any significant surprises.
There are two reports scheduled for release Thursday morning. The first is the revised Productivity index for the 4th Quarter of last year. The preliminary reading posted last month showed an annual rate of 6.2% increase in worker output. Analysts are expecting to see no change to the initial reading. Employee productivity is watched fairy closely because a higher level of output per hour is believed to mean that the economy can expand without inflation concerns.
January’s Factory Orders will be posted late Thursday morning, which will give us another measurement of manufacturing sector strength. This data is similar to last week’s Durable Goods, except this report covers orders for both durable and non-du rable goods. Current forecasts are calling for an increase in new orders of approximately 1.2%. A smaller than expected rise would be good news for the bond market and could lead to an improvement in mortgage rates.
The biggest news of the week comes Friday morning when one of the single most important monthly reports we see will be posted. The Labor Department will release February’s Employment report at 8:30 AM ET Friday. Some of the important portions of the report will give us the unemployment rate, number of new jobs added or lost and the average hourly earnings reading. The best combination for the bond market and mortgage rates would be an increase in the unemployment rate, a large drop in payrolls and little or no increase in earnings. Current forecasts are calling for 0.1% increase in the unemployment rate to 9.8% and approximately 20,000 jobs lost during the month.
Overall, look for a fairly active week for mortgage rates. Friday is undoubte dly the biggest day of the week, but tomorrow may also bring noticeable movement in mortgage rates. It is fairly safe to label Tuesday the least important with no relevant data scheduled for release, but we may see movement in rates several days this week.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would…. Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days… Lock if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now… This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
Friday’s bond market has opened up slightly despite an upward revision to the 4th Quarter GDP reading. The stock markets are in negative ground with the Dow down 26 points and the Nasdaq down 3 points. The bond market is currently up 3/32, but I don’t think we will see much of a change in this morning’s mortgage rates, possibly a slight improvement.
This morning’s GDP revision for the 4th quarter came in a little higher or stronger than last month’s previous estimate of 5.7%. Today’s release showed a 5.9% rate of growth, meaning economic activity was stronger than many had thought. This headline number is bad news for bonds and mortgage rates because a strengthening economy raises inflation concerns and make bonds less appealing to investors. However, a relatively important inflation reading within the data was revised lower than previously thought. That has helped to keep bonds in positive ground during early trading.
The second report of the morning came from the University of Michigan who updated their Index of Consumer Sentiment for February. They announced a reading of 73.6 that was close to forecasts. It is a slight decline from the previous estimate but I don’t believe this small change will affect mortgage pricing today.
Also posted this morning was January’s Existing Home Sales data from the National Association of Realtors. They reported a 7.2% decline in home resales last month when a small increase was expected. This dropped sales to their lowest level since last summer, indicating that the housing sector still has some hurdles to tackle. This can be considered favorable news for bonds, but the data usually does not heavily influence trading or mortgage rates.
Next week is looking to be pretty active with several important economic reports scheduled for release. There is relevant data being posted four out of the five days, with a couple of them having multiple releases sche duled. Monday does bring us the release of some important data with January’s Personal Income and Outlays report and February’s ISM manufacturing index both scheduled. Income and spending are bother expected to rise, but the ISM index is likely to show that manufacturer sentiment slipped this month. Look for more details on next week’s events in Sunday’s weekly preview.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would…. Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days… Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days… Lock if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now… This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
Contributed by Stefan Swanepoel and Mel Aclaro, www.realtyu.com, compliments of Betsy Marvin
So, as a real estate salesperson looking to take advantage of every opportunity, you have either just started your Social Media journey or you are venturing deeper and deeper into the online Social Media jungle. Just as it’s important to know the rules of the road and driving etiquette before getting out onto the open highways, so it is equally important that you have an understanding of the customs of Social Media. Although no hard legal rules exist, there are many good manners to follow if you want the vast crowds of the Social Media world to follow you. Here are a few “rules of engagement” that will help you navigate more efficiently and with great impact:
Give More Than You Take – The more you contribute to conversations and discussions, the more people will recognize your name and what you stand for. Over time you will establish credibility and build value. Remember the well-known adage; the more you care, the more you share.
Respect – Be respectful of the community, the members, the group’s overall goals, etc. Social Media is a participatory sport, and that means that you are just one of many. People can chose to communicate with you or they can chose to ignore you. Treat others as you want to be treated.
Listen – Listening and receiving comments and feedback are two of the greatest strengths of Social Media. They represent first-hand interaction with your potential customers. By listening to them you gain unfiltered feedback about your products and market.
Respond – When people comment or leave messages for you it’s only polite to respond in a timely fashion. By responding you are validating to the online community that you are an individual who values and acknowledges others. This, in turn, adds to your credibility as an individual.
Build Relationships – It’s called social networking for a reason. Make sure you build relationships with everyone who communicates with you; establish conversations, ask questions, respond to questions, etc. Discussions and relationships encourage people to return to your page, thereby building a meaningful community.
Be Authentic and Transparent – Be sincere and honest; in other words, be yourself. With Social Media displaying your profile, message and comments it is critical to your success that you are genuine and dependable.
Do Not Become a Nuisance – It’s generally agreed that spamming is bad, but it’s also important to avoid becoming a Keyboard Gangster, Envelope Pusher or a Social Saboteur. More about these different types in my new Social Media Report.
Collaborate – Social Media is a collective medium. This means that it uses the knowledge or wisdom of the whole group; not just a single individual. For that reason, information obtained in Social Media on Wikis or reviews is seldom entirely wrong. On the other hand, it’s often not 100% right, either. As a result, there is a strong need to work together, updating and constantly adding value to improve the quality of the content.
Add Value – Every member of a community must contribute his or her fair share. What is your contribution? Remember that contributions come in many different shapes and actions: providing information, being a resource, answering questions and redistributing information.
Consider Opportunities in the Long Tail – In Social Media, every service offering has some degree of value. It’s not always wise to just focus on the few services that command a high frequency of interest among a few niche groups and the requisite competition that introduces other service providers. As technology continues to erode communication barriers, value will also come from the many niche groups in “the tail” that demonstrate interest in services that conventional (competing) service providers would otherwise consider having little value.
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