Don Grimes's (dgrimes) Blog

This week is packed with economic releases and major events that will likely lead to a fair amount of volatility in the markets and mortgage pricing. There are seven reports scheduled for release along with another FOMC meeting. There is no relevant data due tomorrow, so all seven reports come ov...

Even if you could "time the market," that strategy would most benefit first-time buyers.You see, people who already have a home usually need to sell it in order to come up with the down payment for their next home.  Even if they don't, they would have to carry the debt and obligations on two home...

This week brings us the release of very few economic reports for the markets to digest. There are only three monthly reports scheduled for release that are likely to affect mortgage rates, but one of them is arguably the most influential single piece of data that we see each month. This is a shor...

Until recently, there were two main ways to get cash from your home. You would have to move or you could borrow against your home. If you borrowed against your home, you would have to make monthly loan repayments.Now there is a third way of getting money from your home that does not require you t...

This week will likely prove to be very active in terms of mortgage rate movement due to the economic data and other events that are scheduled. There are seven economic reports scheduled for release, but in addition to the data, another Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting will be held thi...

1031 exchange, also known as a real estate exchange or a tax-deferred exchange, was created by the I.R.S. in 1990.   A 1031 exchange is the sale of one investment for the purchase of another investment.  In terms of mortgage, when a homeowner sells one investment property to buy another, like pro...

The annual percentage rate, or APR, is a measure used to determine the true cost of a loan.  Instead of a bank or lender telling that your rate is 6.5% with fees of $8,000, they'll just say the annual percentage rate is 6.87% with those fees included. The annual percentage rate was essentially cr...

Amortization is defined as the reduction of debt by regular payments of interest and principal sufficient to pay off a loan by maturity.  In simple terms, it's the way your mortgage payments are distributed on a monthly basis, detailing how much interest and principal will be paid off each month ...