A Thanksgiving Treat from the Fed

Happy Thanksgiving – Mortgage Rates Plunge Finally, some good news for the mortgage industry! In a move to increase credit availability, the Federal Reserve and Federal Home Loan Banks announced that they would purchase up to $600 billion in Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), exciting news that sent interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages plummeting below 6.00% and near the lows for the year!

If you have been on the fence about buying or refinancing a home, now is the time to act. Interest rates are extremely low and home prices in some areas are at 2003-2004 levels. Add to that recent declines in energy prices and lower consumer interest rates, and you have a great holiday recipe for success, but only if you give us a call.

Don't wait until next week. Call us today and get pre-approved. Rates have already been very volatile and this opportunity might not survive the holidays. In many markets, falling prices are bringing out buyers that have been waiting to buy and they are scooping up both bargains and hot properties. Let me offer you some pointers to help you negotiate a great deal and lower your costs to close.

Whether you are looking to buy or refinance, call me today. I'm here to help. If we don't speak before Thursday, however, I wish you and your family a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving.

Information provided by:

Lisa Warren
Silver Oak Mortgage
751 East Southlake Blvd Suite 100
Southlake, Texas 76092

Grand Prairie Outlet Mall names 20 Stores!!!

Grand Prairie Outlet Mall names 20 Stores!!! by Sandra Baker
Star-telegram

Prime Outlets said today that 20 more retailers have signed on for its $100 million shopping center in Grand Prairie, which is under construction at the northeast corner of Interstate 20 and Texas 360.

Joining anchors stores Neiman Marcus Last Call and Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH will be:

1. Aeropostale
2. Adidas Outlet Store
3. Bass Outlet
4. BCBGMAXARIA Factory Store
5. Brooks Brothers Factory Store
6. Columbia Sportswear
7. Dooney & Bourke
8. Easy Spirit Outlet
9. Guess
10. Izod
11. Jones New York
12. Nike Factory Store
13. Nine West Outlet
14. Oakley
15. Perry Ellis
16. Reebox Outlet Store
17. Samsonite
18. Tommy Hilfiger
19. Totes/Sunglass World
20. Van Heusen

Coupled with the previously announced anchor tenants, the 485,000 SF shopping center is now one-third leased.

"We are creating a well-tenanted outlet center in Grand Prairie," said Karen Fluharty, Prime Retail's senior vice president of marketing, in a statement.

Baltimore-based Prime Outlets said it anticipates announcing additional tenants after the first of the year.

The Grand Prairie center is scheduled to open for the 2009 holiday shopping season. It will have about 120 outlet stores and an on-site food court when completed, the developer said.

Foreclosure Prevention

The two secondary-mortgage-market companies are well aware of the market pain and are taking a number of steps to provide relief, particularly to prevent foreclosures. Among other things, Freddie Mac is allowing lenders to modify their at-risk loans into 40-year, lower interest-rate mortgages and to reduce borrowers' burdens by permitting them to roll up to six months of missed payments into what amounts to an unsecured second loan. The two companies are also ramping up their staff and adjusting compensation so their internal structure better matches the size and complexity of the processing demand they face. What’s more, to help facilitate short sales, Lockhart’s agency will be releasing a large-scale, streamlined, standardized process for expediting short sales, which he said will give lenders flexibility and tools like principal forbearance that they can’t easily use right now.But Lockhart made it clear that the bulk of the problem isn’t with Fannie and Freddie loans, but debt in what the financial services industry calls private-label securities, the Wall Street loans, many of them subprime, that are held by investors all over the world. The streamlined short sale process his agency will be announcing soon—he didn’t give a time line—could go a long way to focusing the minds of lenders on the problem. But ultimately the problem won’t go way until interest rates come down, buyers start streaming back into the market again, and prices firm up, he suggested. —Robert FreedmanRealtor Magazine

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