A new spin on Interest Only Rates

In the last year or two, the 30 Year Fixed Interest Only programs have risen in popularity. These are 30 year loans that have an introductory Interest Only payment for 10 or 15 years before the loan amortizes to a fixed payment schedule.

Confused? Don’t be.

Basically, it’s one loan split into two:

The first loan is an interest only loan for the first 10 or 15 years. So if you took out at $250,000 first mortgage with a rate of 6.5%, the first loan has an interest only payment of $1354.

The second loan is a fully amortized loan for the next 20 or 15 years. So if you only pay interest during the first 10 or 15 years, your principal balance will stay at $250,000. Your second loan will have payments of $1864 (20 year amortization) or $2178 (15 year amortization).

The Real Estate Journal (Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate section) has an article on this loan, called New Type of Mortgage Surges in Popularity.

Amerasians

Amerasian is a term that once stood for a person fathered abroad by U.S. servicemen to women of Asian nationalities. World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War spawned many American and Asian children. Today, the term has been altered to include anyone of American and Asian parents regardless of the circumstances.

Being Amerasian, I can spot them pretty quickly. Previously I posted about Charmaine Hunt, who’s half-Filipino and Rob “Deuce Bigalow” Schneider who’s also half-Filipino. Some of the more famous Amerasians include:

What are rates doing?

I get asked “What are rates doing?” more than any other question. Here’s what bankrate.com has to say about rates this week:

Rate: 6.56 percent (30-year fixed) Average Points: 0.39
Worries about inflation and interest rates pushed fixed mortgage rates higher for the third week in a row. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 6.56 percent, the highest since the week of June 26, 2002. The average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage popular for refinancing stepped up to 6.21 percent. On larger loans, the average jumbo 30-year fixed rate jumped from 6.68 percent to 6.73 percent. Adjustable-rate mortgages were also higher, with the average 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage rising from 6.17 percent to 6.25 percent and the average one-year ARM notching higher from 5.83 percent to 5.89 percent. News about the tight labor market and rising prices for commodities like oil and gold are fueling inflation worries and the resulting uncertainty about further Fed rate hikes. Together, these are the forces helping lift bond yields and mortgage rates higher. Fixed mortgage rates are closely related to yields on long-term government bonds.

Suze Orman has some competition!

The Denver Post has a syndicated article by Michelle Singletary every Sunday in the business section. Her bio from NPR:

Michelle Singletary is the personal finance guru for NPR’s Day to Day, filing commentaries that can be heard every Tuesday. In conjunction with her work for NPR, Singletary writes the award-winning, syndicated “The Color of Money” column for the Washington Post and is a regular contributor to Howard University’s evening news radio program, Insight, on which she discusses personal finance issues.

Her financial advice has more substance than style. More soul, less conjecture. In other words, her article is worth reading. It also looks like Michelle Singletary has her own show. Looks like Suze Orman has some competition!

Real World: Denver

When I was in college I used to watch the Real World on MTV. At first, it was a unique concept – get seven strangers to live together and see what happens. Along the way the show got stale.

For the next installment, they’re coming to Denver:

A new reality for Denver: MTV’s “Real World” coming
By Ricardo Baca
Denver Post Pop Music Critic

“The Real World” – a true story of seven strangers picked to move into a house, work together and have their lives taped – is going to change things, Denver. read more…

CBS Weighs in on Mortgage Regulation

Mortgage regulation in Colorado isn’t just fodder for the business section in the Sunday newspaper anymore. CBS, channel 4 in Denver, reported on the need for mortgage broker regulation in Colorado.

CBS4 Investigates Mortgage Brokers’ Regulation


Alaska and Colorado are the only two states that don’t require a license for mortgage brokers. What’s really scary is that you need a license to cut hair in Colorado!

Nigerian Email Conference

According to most surveys, mortgage spam is considered the worst. The spam that cracks me up the most are the ones where an African prince or chieftain needs my bank account info so that he can deposit $1,000,000 in African funds.

My friend Darrin came across this site on the web. It’s satire on a fictional Nigerian Email Conference that shows email spammers how to earn more money. It’s hysterical! Just look at what the conference serves for breakfast:

Breakfast Kickoff Session:
Your choice: A hard boiled egg, or two slices of white bread and a cricket.

Life is short

A few days ago I was watching the NCAA Final Four for both men and women. Florida plowed through the Men’s tourney beating UCLA in the champtionship game. They’re only challenge came from Georgetown University in the Sweet Sixteen. The women’s finals was more exciting as the Lady Terps from Maryland charged back from 13 down to beat Duke.

Tragedy struck a few days later. Maggie Dixon, the head coach for Army’s female basketball team passed away suddenly.

Today all you hear about in sports are the fools. It’s odd when players don’t act the fool instead of represent class and sportsmanship. I was really happy to see that ESPN has two stories devoted to Maggie Dixon, a person who represented class and sportsmanship.

Denver running amok with foreclosures?

Today’s Denver papers have prominent articles on foreclosures:

From the Denver Post:

Foreclosures push inventory close to a record
Prices are expected to fall as the regular spring rise in sites for sale also puts pressure on metro sellers. read more

From the Rocky Mountain News:

Glut of unsold homes
Metro supply swells to near-record level as foreclosures rise. read more

Opening Day

Sadly baseball is here. Despite playing little league as a kid, baseball has become my least favorite sport. As an adult I tried softball but I found it to be pretty lame.

Let me define pretty lame, drinking beer after each game was great, the actual game was awful.

I’m a decent hitter, yet I always batted 6th or 7th in front of a slow hitter. Each game was like the movie Groundhog Day, I’d step to the plate, see the first pitch then hit the second pitch up the middle. The next batter would ALWAYS ground to shortstop. Out at 2nd and out at first. As I’d jaunt back to the dugout the batter would always yell, “you need to take out the 2nd baseman” to which i’d respond “with your running ability you should have no problem beating out the throw.” Sarcasm at it’s finest!

I like to run so I didn’t mind playing outfield. However, it always seemed like nothing was ever hit to whatever position I played. My mind would wander a lot. I remember playing in right field one night and everyone was screeming, when I looked up the ball was over my head. That night, everyone got a kick out of my misplay instead of lamenting on our 15-5 drubbing.

I never hit a homerun in softball.

I never scored the winning run.

I never drove in the game winning run.

I hit a homerun that was a foot foul.

I never tore up a knee playing softball.

I never grounded into a double play.

My softball career ended in 2000. RIP!