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Mortgage Rates Tic
Up
Freddie Mac's results of its
Primary Mortgage Market Survey show the 30-year
fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.69 percent,
with an average 0.7 points, for the week ending
February 24, 2005. One-year Treasury-indexed
adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.16
percent.
"Mortgage rates moved up for the second week in
a row on concerns about a pick up in inflation
showing up in raw materials," said Frank
Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.
"However, a broader
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measure of
inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI),
posted a less than expected rise in inflation,
causing bond yields to fall. This means that
rates may retreat to prior levels seen earlier
in the year.
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Mortgages Reverse
In-home Care
Costs
 The National Council on the Aging
(NCOA) has published a report that says reverse
mortgages can help an estimated 13.2 million
elderly homeowners pay for long-term care and
remain independent in their homes longer.
The study said such
homeowners could access a total of $695 billion
through reverse mortgages.
A borrower aged 75
years old with a home worth $100,000 could receive
a reverse mortgage that could pay a family care
giver $500 a month for almost 12 years; $1,120 a
month in adult day care services for almost five
years; or $2,160 a month in home care -- daily
care for at least four hours -- for 2.5 years.
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Moving? Stay In Touch
 When you move it's important to
update your postal information so mail can be
forwarded to your new address. Fortunately,
changing addresses is both quick and easy.
Notify the Postal
Service about a month before you move. Such time
is necessary because the post office will contact
you at your current address to assure the notice
is legitimate. Use the change-of-address form (PS
Form 3575) from your local post office.
First Class, Priority
and Express mail will be forwarded to your new
address for a year, and newspapers and magazines
will be forwarded for 60 days. Books, catalogs and
other mail will not be automatically forwarded
unless you ask. | |
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Right
Paint Choices
A Key To Resale
 If people stop dead in their tracks to
admire your residence, your house has curb appeal.
According to the National
Association of Realtors, curb appeal sells more than
half of all houses that go on the market. At the very
least, it makes buyers take notice, gets them across the
sidewalk or yard and inside the front door.
Real estate agents say that
when you couple curb appeal with pricing the house
appropriately, that figure climbs to 90 percent. What
kind of property it is has a bearing on how it is
perceived, but generally, the tidier, fresher and
cleaner it looks, the more curb appeal it has.
And painting is key. Sure,
choices and tints can vary from region to region, but a
new paint job that's crisp and fresh can really reel
them in no matter where you live.
Painting can be very
expensive, but it is the least expensive way to get the
biggest return on your investment. Because painting is a
maintenance issue, you can't say to a buyer, "Well, I
spent X amount on painting." But the expense of painting
definitely will be reflected in the quality of the
buyer's offer.
Whatever
your personal preference, you should always keep resale
in mind. If you go off the deep end of the color
spectrum, you could affect the value of your home.
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