Good News Friday Podcast Week 2

Good News Friday Podcast Week 2
December 28, 2007

(Click The Play Button Above To Hear The Podcast.)

Hello and Welcome to Good News Friday!  Today is Friday December 28^th 2007. My name is Bruce Karasik.

Each week we bring you good news and positive developments in the Real Estate Market, Mortgage Market, in our economy and our country.  In future shows, you will be hearing interviews with key people in the industry from real estate and mortgage experts to economists and other well known business leaders.

We have all heard a great deal of news lately about the Credit Crisis, the liquidity crisis.  As you your advisor, as the proud Owner and President of Karasik and Associates Mortgage Consultants, I want to talk today, about how that effects you the homeowner or you the home buyer. 

Some of the questions I often hear are,

Can I still get a loan to buy a home?  Am I able to refinance my home?  Can I take cash out?

The banks have decided to only loan money now to people who have decent credit, some equity, or some down payment, a job or a business, and some reserve assets after you buy or refinance. In the past anyone could get a loan without a down payment, without a job or business, without reserves in the Bank.  100% financing without any documentation of income. 

Many of the loan programs and guidelines have now changed.  And I think for the better.

The good news the banks are still lending.  Conforming and Jumbo loans, stated and verified income. If you have enough equity you can still take cash out of your home, Mortgage Interest Rates are still at near all time low levels and the lowest in the last two years.  It is a golden opportunity for the right borrowers to take advantage of these low rates.

Because of the all the changes in the lending guidelines, it takes a real professional to advise you.   But the point I want to make today, is that for the vast majority of you, great loans are available to you to either buy a home or refinance your existing home. For some of you who have adjustable mortgages or short term fixed rates, this may be the time to act.

In a recent interview, George Freidman, President and CEO of Stratfor.com  gave the following explanation as why he believes the American Economy, the financial and stock markets have remained strong despite all our recent economic adversity.

The United States Economy is so large that it is larger than the 4 next largest economies combined. 

Bigger than Japan, China,Great Britain, and Germany combined. The United States is the second largest producer of Natural Gas in the world.  The 3rd largest producer of oil.  It produces, 85% of what Saudi Arabia does. We talk about deindustrialization. The United States is still far and away the largest industrial power in the world. The core answer as to why our interest rates have remained low is our size and foreign Investment in America .   There is a huge amount of foreign money that cannot be invested in other economies.    There is nowhere else in the world where  they can go that is large enough to absorb all this money.

This is a place where people want to go invest their money. And we take that investment from around the world, and we grow our economy.                

We continue to believe that homeownership will remain to be the best avenue for American families to secure their financial future. I look forward our continuing dialog and we invite your feedback. Please feel free to email me at Bruce@TheKarasikTeam.com , call me at my office at 805-267-0366, or you can post your responses on our blog at www.GoodNewsFriday.com.   

So we do have some good news to be grateful for.  And so, my friends, I wish you and your families a Happy, Healthy, and prosperous New Year. And that’s it for now.  I’ll see you back here next week for another episode of Good News Friday!