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Freddie Mac will publish their Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey later today.   Their survey shows a slight dip in mortgage rates over last week to an average 30 year fixed rate home loan priced at 4.82%.  This is down from last week’s rate of 4.87% and just above the survey’s all time low a few weeks ago of 4.78%.

It looks like mortgage rates have found a short term range near the all time bottom. 

See:
http://www.moneycafe.com/library/mortgagerates.htm

During the month of April, DentalPlans.com is offering a free Discount Vision Plan with the purchase of a Discount Dental Plan.  The free discount vision plan that is being offered is called Coast to Coast Vision (CTC) and has over 12,000 participating eye care locations nationwide. Members save on eyeglasses, contacts (excluding disposables), eye exams and surgical procedures.

You must click on the image below to take advantage of the offer.

 

See also:
http://www.moneycafe.com/personal/featured/dentalplans.htm

More and more people will be buying homes for the first time.   Home prices and loan rates are both down considerably thereby making affordability better and better.  Combined with the new first time homebuyer tax credit, this is a great time to consider purchasing a home for the first time.  SmartMoney.com has a really good article for first time homebuyers (and other homebuyers) that explores common mistakes when purchasing real estate.

See:
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/10-mistakes-first-time-home-buyers-make.html

See also:
http://www.moneycafe.com/personal/featured/homepurchaseloans.htm
http://www.moneycafe.com/personal/featured/homebuy.htm

This is a look at some of the best interest rates for deposits and loans from national banks and lenders. (Surveyed Monday morning.)

Rates are APY (Annual Percentage Yield)
Assumption: $10,000 deposit

Rates are APR (Annual Percentage Rate)
Assumptions when available:  $320,000 conforming loan,
20% down, excellent credit, documented income,
priced with approximately 1 point loan cost (+/- .25 point)
California property  (Rates Survey between Friday and Monday)

SmartMoney.com has a good article about reverse mortgages.  Specifically, they address the pitfalls of this type of financing.  The key point here is that reverse mortgages can be a useful financial vehicle, but clearly are not for everybody.  I have provided some links below to more reverse mortgage information published by the private senior organization AARP, the reverse mortgage industry association and the federal government’s HUD Department.   Hopefully, these publications read together will give a balanced overview of the reverse mortgage and help borrowers make more informed decisions about what’s best for themselves.

Reverse mortgages are like many specialty financial products.  They are a great idea to address special situations, but then they take on a life of their own and tend to get oversold.  Adjustable rate mortgages, option ARMs and negative amortization mortgages are all great financial products.  But they were oversold.  By oversold I mean sold to people who had no business getting them and to people who didn’t understand them, and many who didn’t want to understand them, as long as they got their house.  Throw in the burst in the housing bubble and that was the recipe for disaster for lenders and many borrowers. 

My sense is the explosion in the popularity of this product is creating a situation where people (and lenders) are getting into situations they don’t fully understand.  When you are young and make a mistake, time is on your side to help recover.  Senior citizen’s have a much more difficult path to recover from serious financial mistakes.   Senior citizens should always be cautious with financial decisions and especially cautious with reverse mortgages.  Rightfully so, a home is for many people their largest asset, the roof over their head and a source of stability in their life. 

Borrowers should pursue these mortgages with caution, education and careful planning.  Lenders should embrace customer education, complete and informed disclosure, and an underwriting process that is more than just numbers oriented to help ensure the product is right for its customer.

See:
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/the-pitfalls-of-reverse-mortgages.html
http://www.moneycafe.com/personal/featured/reversemortgage.htm
http://www.aarp.org/money/personal/reverse_mortgages/
http://www.reversemortgage.org/ConsumerGuides/tabid/251/Default.aspx
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hecm/rmtopten.cfm

Freddie Mac will publish their Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey later today.   Their survey shows a rise in mortgage rates over last week to an average 30 year fixed rate home loan priced at 4.87%.  This is up from the survey’s all time low last week of 4.78%.

For those of you who follow our Monday Money rate surveys,  this uptick was clearly evident a few days ago. 

See:
http://www.moneycafe.com/library/mortgagerates.htm
http://moneycafe.com/blog/?s=monday+money