Container plants are an easy way to give immediate visual impact to your home, creating that important curb appeal – the “wow” factor as potential buyers pull up outside. Here are some important tips to make sure you use containers effectively.

Use big containers

Don’t be afraid of using big, bold containers. They will have much more impact and will be easier to care for because they won’t dry out so easily. Smaller containers tend to get lost in the landscaping, so you’ll lose the visual impact you’re trying to achieve.

Use quality containers

Avoid plastic containers, as these can look cheap. Terracotta, wrought iron, or zinc containers look great. Choose a container that complements your house and the rest of your landscaping. For example, if you have iron detailing, find a matching container; if you have brick paving, a terracotta pot might look good next to it.

Fill them with plants

For immediate results, fill your containers with more plants than you normally would. Otherwise, you will be forced to wait for the plants to grow before your container will look lush and healthy.

Feed your plants

Make sure you keep your containers well maintained by watering and feeding the plants regularly. You want buyers to think the containers are always there, not just a quick fix.

Ben Bernanke is about to treat the U.S bond market like a child on a sugar high. 

Since 2008, through “quantitative Easing,” the Fed has been adding liquidity into our economy by purchasing government paper and mortgage-backed securities, sending interest rates to near historical lows.  However, Bernanke and the Fed have recently yanked the pixie stick from the child’s grasp, stating that “tapering” of this “quantitative easing” program will likely occur toward the end of this year.   The agitated child, knowing the flow of sugar (liquidity) might end, is throwing an immense temper tantrum, as mortgage rates have increased over 1.25% in the last six weeks alone.  30 year fixed rates are now solidly in the mid 4’s, not mid 3’s, but still attractive, historically speaking.

We all know that as a child comes down off their sugar high, we’ll have heck to pay, but eventually, the behavior has a better chance of being healthy, grounded, and normalized.   Makes one wonder what things might have been like if the market had been given a granola bar to begin with……

Mortgage rates climbed for the sixth consecutive week but remain relatively low by historical standards. The uptick in rates can be attributed to improving economic reports and speculation that the Federal Reserve will scale back bond purchases.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed loan achieved a 14-month high and is closing in on the 4 percent mark. According to the latest survey by mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is up 0.07 percentage point from last week, climbing from 3.91 percent to 3.98 percent. Continue reading →

Mortgage rates climbed for the third consecutive week, according to the latest survey by mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. The average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now hovers a quarter percentage point higher than it did at the beginning of the month.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan climbed to 3.59% this week, up 0.08% from a week ago. Prior to last week’s climb to 3.51%, the 30-year fixed had remained below the 3.5% threshold for more than a month. However, the average is still well below the average rate from a year ago, 3.78%. Continue reading →

Over the last 17 days, interest rates have risen.

The reasons are twofold;  First, investors are nervous that the Fed may soon start tapering their bond purchase program, and we’re watching investors sell mortgage backed securities in anticipation of higher rates down the road.  Secondly, the “inverse flight to quality” has existed, as money has flown out of “low risk” U.S. debt (HA!) and into “riskier” assets such as stocks, etc.

Rates on a conventional conforming 30 year fixed loan are around 3.75%, up from 3.5% a week ago.  So, be watchful and make your moves wisely!

Home prices across the Sacramento region posted another hefty gain in April, and are now a third higher than they were a year ago, according to a new report by industry watcher Dataquick.

In Sacramento County, the median sales price of a detached resale home rose from $208,000 in March to $215,000 in April. The April price was up nearly 33 percent from April 2012, when it stood at $162,000, Dataquick said. Continue reading →

It’s a sorry state of affairs when personal finances punctuated by large-scale debt are the norm instead of the exception in our society. It may not be your fault, however.

The average college students graduates with nearly $30,000 in debt. Buy your first car and that tacks on another $20,000. Add in the average household credit card debt and you’re looking at around $60,000 total in debt. That’s a lot.

This debt-load may end up costing you your dream house. Lenders want buyers who have excellent credit scores. A large amount of debt can reduce your credit score. A large debt-to-income ratio can also be quite damaging.

Living a debt-free lifestyle is possible and there’s no better time to start than now.

Continue reading →

The median existing single-family home price posted its biggest annual gain in more than seven years in the first quarter of 2013,

as market conditions for home sellers continued to improve and home sales increased, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported today.

The median home price leaped 11.3 percent on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2013, rising from $158,600 to $176,600, according to NAR’s latest quarterly report. That represents the largest year-over-year price gain since the fourth quarter of 2005, when the median price jumped 13.6 percent, NAR said. Continue reading →

Q: We have loan approval, have a 20% downpayment and have signed off on the one contingency we had (an electrical issue found on inspection). The appraisal came in at almost $20,000 below the contract price. It seems that the sellers are almost underwater on their mortgage, and had to bring money to the table to reach the contract price. We are being urged to try another lender, as the listing agent and our own agent seem to think our lender (a major bank) purposely gives low appraisals. This sounds suspicious to us. Is this the norm? We’re about to walk away from the deal, as it seems there is no way to make it work. Continue reading →

FICO is a credit-scoring system established by the Fair Isaac Corp. FICO scores are calculated to determine the probability of credit users paying their bills. FICO scores have become the lending industry’s benchmark for credit-granting decisions. However, not all lenders use FICO scores to determine creditworthiness. Some lenders use scores from other agencies such as Scorex. Many lenders look to the three major credit-reporting bureaus — Equifax, Experian and Transunion in making their lending decisions.

Credit Guidelines

Credit scores range from about 300 to 850. According to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which purchase mortgages from banks and resell them to investors, a FICO score above 620 is considered good. However, says Fair Isaac, “A 620 score doesn’t mean you’re going to qualify for the best rate. It means you’re going to qualify for a standardized rate, or a prime rate. ‘Prime’ is a broad category, so lenders will have different loan products that classify as ‘prime’ rates.’ ” The interest rate lenders charge their most creditworthy customers is described as the prime rate. The prime rate is based on the fed funds target rate set by the Federal Reserve.