A recent opinion piece in Investment News said "For young couples, renting may be a better option."

I hate headlines like that – they are designed to get your attention, but since most people don't read the whole article they remember the headline in a sort  of "everybody knows" kind of way that says nothing about their particular situation.

So, should young couples rent or buy? Right now, with the $8,000 tax credit, the low interest rates, and comparatively low home prices, most people should consider buying.

If you're planning to move in less than three years or haven’t been stable in your employment for the last few years, don't buy now. Otherwise, what are you waiting for?

You can find a million reasons to buy or to hold off buying a home. Separate the facts from the headlines. Consult with an independent professional and let them guide you through a sound decision-making process. Evaluate your choices in light of your unique circumstances.

Here's a Rent vs Buy Calculator to help you see the differences between continuing to rent and buying a house. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, but it is a good starting point to add some facts to a highly emotional decision.

If you have an FHA mortgage, the Streamline Refinance is about to be taken away from you. This program is a great way to lower your interest expense with very little hassle, paperwork or uncertainty.

This month, the FHA announced changes to the Streamline Refinance program that will take away this refinance option for a lot of FHA mortgage holders. The new rules are more cumbersome, so anyone who could benefit from a refinance program will need to have their lender register the refinance with the FHA before November 17. Hurry.

If you have an FHA loan at 6.0% or higher, a Streamline Refinance is worth investigating.

You don't need to work with your current lender for a Streamline Finance. Any FHA licensed lender can do this for you, and an independent mortgage lender (see article below to see what that means) may have a better solution for you.

Be sure to look at the "Total Cost" of any refinance - this is the total of the closing costs and interest you will pay over the expected life of the mortgage. If the loan officer you are talking to can't tell you the "Total Cost," he or she is not really sure if he's helping you or not -- earning a commission is more likely the focus.

More choices top one choice every time. Please give me a call.

Think of the mortgage bond market as the ocean’s tide that raises and lowers everyone’s boats.

When the tide rises, some boats don’t rise as fast as the others. If you are working with a direct lender (like a bank) you can’t jump ship unless you start all over, re-run your credit, and hope you jumped to the right ship.

Here's how it works: each day, lenders decide which loans they want to add to their portfolio. If they want a particular loan, they will attract those loans by offering lower rates. If they don’t want a loan they will increase the rates on that program to discourage people. This way, if the borrower insists on working with them, they will at least, earn a lot more profit, due to the higher rate they charged.

So how does all this work out? On October 8th, I talked with a home buyer who was able to get a 5.0% rate with no discount points. By October 16th, when he had contracted to buy a house, the mortgage bond market was 1.68% higher. This means to keep the 5.0% rate, he would have had to pay 1.68% in discount points, or 1.68% of the loan amount in added closing costs.

However, since we work with several lenders, we were able to find one lender that was only .25% higher, rather than 1.68% higher. When we locked in the interest rate, we were able to preserve the 5.0% rate with just a slight increase in closing costs.  Work with a lender that can ’jump ship’ when needed to find the lender that wants your business the most. If you are working with a direct lender, such as your local bank, your loan officer can’t offer you this critical service.

Please call me for a no-obligation mortgage strategy session.