Managing Equity and Markets

Mortgage rates have had a rougher start to the new year, climbing above the 7.25% mark recently. The big question that is on everyone's mind is "where are rates headed?" Let's start off with what we do know.The Fed has two main weapons in its arsenal: manipulating rates and the monetary supply. S...

As the festive season approaches, we at Watermark Capitol wanted to take a moment to extend our heartfelt greetings to you and your loved ones.Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!We hope this season brings you joy, peace, and wonderful moments with family and friends. It's a time to reflect on the...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced 2025 Conforming Loan Limits for all conventional loans delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.What is the 2025 Conforming Loan Limit?The baseline loan amount for 2025 is as follows: 1-unit Property – $806,500 2-unit Property – $1,032,650 3-unit...

It's too early to get too far ahead of ourselves, but so far the mortgage rate market is improving dramatically in the last 72 hours. Stay tuned. This may help a lot of people. I wanted to share some insights on how election years can impact personal finances, as it's an important consideration f...

As we know, the Fed cut rates for the first time in over 4 years. It was larger than I had expected at 50bps. Since then, however, the market has bounced higher. I mentioned this would happen in a "buy the rumor, sell the news" type of event. The market aggressively priced in a rate cut, when the...

We have a big week ahead of us. We receive the last inflation reports before the Fed's interest rate decision next week. The market is betting on a 100% probability of a rate cut and the odds of a 50bp cut have been inching up slowly. With the Fed pivot about to take place, it makes sense for the...

When Chairman Powell said this in Jackson Hole it was a long time coming!“The time has come for policy to adjust,” Mr. Powell said during the Kansas City Fed’s annual conference at Jackson Hole in Wyoming. “The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on inco...

I have been closely watching rates and blogging weekly about how the Fed is making decisions and trying to figure out when they will make the cuts they promised. Well according to the revised job numbers, the reasons for most of their decisions have been based on false numbers.The U.S. economy ad...

We had two inflation reports come in last week (PPI & CPI) and all aspects of the report either came in at expectations or below them...which is good for rates. The Fed has said repeatedly that they need continued confidence that inflation is trending in the right direction. These reports help pr...

Hi Rainers,I was speaking to a long-time Realtor partner about solutions for the sale of his investment property and effective use of the funds with a lower tax consequence.  He specifically wanted information on how a buyer could use a reverse mortgage to purchase his home. After some discussion...