Well you've heard my take on the Golf Course section of Irish Creek, here's my take on the neighborhood itself.

This neighborhood is being developed by one of the premier development companies IN THE WORLD in Castle and Cooke. This is a company that's been around since the 1850's and developed some of the top rated resort neighborhoods everywhere from Hawaii to California, just to name a few.

The homes are being built by some of the areas most reputable builders, many who I have personally dealt with, and have proven themselves to be honest, intelligent, thoughtful people who take real pride in what they do. And I don't mean the pride of a national firm who thinks it deserves an award because they try to return your call within 24 hours when you have an emergency. I mean real personal service, hands-on builders who don't accept anything less than perfect. I mean personal service when you go to SELL the home years after you bought it. I'm talking about Zande, Hughes, and Lopez among others. These are the builders largely responsible for making Lake Norman area neighborhoods as desirable as they are today.

The neighborhood will include Golf Course front, Lake front (Lake Kannapolis), and interior lots with a 10 year build-out plan through multiple phases. Prices as they stand now in Phase 1 range from the $800's for homes around 4,000 sq ft to about $1.3M for the larger more elaborate homes with lots sizes edging over the 1 acre mark. Later phases are slated to range across the board from the $400's up and will include a variety of living situations including "patio home type lots," and possibly townhomes.

Located just 5 miles from the Research park, this neighborhood will be one of the very few options the high paid scientists will have as they move in the area so there is no doubt it will be a success.

For the week of Sep 22, 2008 --- Vol. 6, Issue 39

Last Week in Review  FYI, the gas update Thursday was this- a friend of mine who is in the gas business said the colonial pipe that delivers our gas from the Gulf should be up at full speed by Wednesday.  This should alleviate our shortage.

"THE PATH TO SUCCESS IS TO TAKE MASSIVE, DETERMINED ACTION." Anthony Robbins. And success in stabilizing the markets and the economy is exactly what the government is hoping will happen as a result of the massive, determined actions they took late last week in response to unprecedented happenings in the financial markets. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced that the US government will guarantee money market funds, after panic led to a "run on the bank" type of environment. A whopping $180 Billion was withdrawn from market funds on Thursday alone. And the fear was so great that a premium to put money into Treasury securities was paid, which actually exceeded the rate of return. So effectively, the return was negative! People were actually paying for a place to put their money that would be safe because they had fears of losing principal. The government guarantee helped to ease these fears and stabilize the markets. The Fed announced plans to create a market place for illiquid mortgage debt. This should do a lot of long-term good to help the housing and lending environment. As if that weren't enough, the Securities and Exchange Commission also placed a temporary ban on the short selling of 799 different financially related stocks. What prompted these dramatic actions? Very dramatic happenings earlier in the week. After 158 years in existence, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy last Monday due to overexposure of high-risk loans in the mortgage arena. Then, the Fed gave insurance giant AIG an $85 Billion lifeline to keep it from going into bankruptcy, after initially stating it would not intervene. Then it was announced that Merrill Lynch is being acquired by Bank of America, which will save them from the same fate as Lehman Brothers, and now troubled bank Washington Mutual is looking for a buyer as well. Also playing a role was the fact that the Fed left its benchmark Fed Funds Rate (the rate banks charge each other for overnight lending) unchanged on Tuesday, not wanting to counter the recent improvements the US economy has made in the way of inflation. While this benefited Bonds and home loan rates earlier in the week, Stocks felt heavy selling pressure on the news...which added to the reasons for the actions taken late last week. The government's announcements on Friday are great news for the overall health of our financial system, though they did cause Bonds and home loan rates to move away from their best levels of the week. All in all, Bonds and home loan ended the week slightly worse than where they began. Additionally, stocks had their most volatile week in history - but ended the week almost exactly where they started. THE PATH TO SMART SPENDING DEFINITELY INVOLVES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF GREAT DEALS! CHECK OUT THIS WEEK'S MORTGAGE MARKET VIEW FOR FIVE FANTASTIC FREEBIES...AND A LINK TO TWENTY-FIVE MORE!

The Charlotte Observer reports a variety of events that are going on in Charlotte and the surrounding area which may be of interest if you are looking for something to do this week end.

Fall Butterfly Festival - Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens September 27th through November 9th 9am -5pm. New South Hope Rd, Belmont, member free all others $9       704-825-4490

Denver Days Fall Festival - Marshall Tucker Band is featured September 26th. Hours are 4-11 pm Friday September 26 and 10am to 11pm Saturday September 27th . NC HWY 16 in Triangle Circle. Admission is free.

Charlotte Shout - A culinary experience in downtown Charlotte located at 801 W Trade St. Hours are today 5-10pm and Saturday 12-9pm. 704-332-2227

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre - Mary j Blige September 27 at 7:30 707-Pavilion Blvd 704-549-5555 for ticket information.

Bank of America Stadium - Panthers play the Atlanta Falcons at 1pm tickets $51 - $90 go to www. panthers.com

Scarowinds - Open today from 7pm to midnight and Saturday 7pm to Midnight. Cost is $41.99 or $36.99 if ticket is bought in advance. www.scarowinds.com 

 

"THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH CHANGE, IF IT IS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION." Winston Churchill. And the housing and mortgage industries experienced a great change in the right direction last week, as the Federal government moved to support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, causing Bonds and home loan rates to improve significantly and we now have the 30yr rate at 5.5%!! Without being told you probably would not know it.  Bank failures, takeovers and diving stocks actually help mortgage interest rates.  Why?  Money is traded as an investment and value is built on confidence.  As the news shakes out, investors believe that their purchase of mortgage backed securities (MBS) will pay off as they have not done in 2 years.  The investor's belief that it would not pay off is what caused Fannie and Freddie's situation as investors were no longer purchasing MBS.  As weaker banks lose and stronger banks grow, the mortgage interest rates look to benefit.  Overall, the good inflation news and the Fed's decision about Fannie and Freddie should lead to improving Bond prices and home loan rates in the long-term. With home loan rates at such low levels, it's a great time to review your mortgage situation and make sure you have the rate and program that best suits your current financial needs. I'd be glad to do a quick review for you - and your friends, family members, neighbors or coworkers as well.  I look forward to hearing from you!

 Brad is nationally ranked as one of the top FHA mortgage originators and #1 in the Carolinas:http://209.196.57.44/Media/MediaManager/FHA-VA.pdf

The new Irish Creek Neighborhood and Golf Course I finally had the pleasure to play the new Irish Creek Golf Course in Kannapolis, NC this week and I can't help but write about my experience. Davis Love III did one phenomenal job with the design and renovation of this course and it is no wonder to me why it is being considered as one of the top renovations in the country for 2008. Formerly know as the Kannapolis Country Club, this course renovation is part of the billionaire David Murdock's transformation of the city of Kannapolis from a struggling mill town that recently saw the largest number lay-offs in NC history, to a booming town based around a multi-billion dollar research facility based on Bio-technology and health/nutrician. But back to the course. Over a million dollars was spent soley on new sod! 6 new holes were added and none were left original. The greens are excruciatingly misleading to all but those of you with the keenest of eyes but roll so true. Bent grass, when maintained at this level is a beautiful thing. The athestics of the course are maximized by utilizing every possible inch of shoreline along Lake Kannapolis and what a gorgeous view it is. Set up in the link style of Old European courses Irish Creek also incorporates the painfully long grass of the likes of St. Andrews. What fun! You will be sure to remember the two back to back 530 yard (from the blue tees) par 5's. Great challenge. More later on the neighborhood.

The Mooresville Tribune announced Iredell County is offering to residents their annual Fall Household Harzardous Waste Collection Day on September 27th. The location is the Iredell County Solid Waste Facility at 354 Twin Oaks Rd in Statesville. Items eligible include: acids, medications, mercury thermostats, thermometers, paint stains and thinners. These products if not disposed of properly they can be dangerous to your health and environment. Materials should never be poured down the drain, on the ground or put in the trash. Look for labels that read: Danger, Warning, Caution, Toxic, Corrosive, Flammable, or Poisonous. This will help you identify what is considered hazardous. In addition free paper shredding will be available. For more information call 704-928-2023.  

Good Monday Morning

While there was never any doubt that the Federal Government would stand behind the obligations of both entities and assure availability of mortgage financing, the fact that they jumped in this weekend was somewhat unusual considering both have recently reported acceptable equity positions.

The sooner than later approach is very likely due to two equally compelling reasons.

First, both have a history of overstating value and under estimating immediate contingent liabilities. Our guess is that the Feds who have a lot of experience doing the same thing, looked past the rose colored glasses and discovered the additional pot holes.

Second, and most compelling reason, is both are stock companies that have experienced a 90% drop in stock price in the last year. They were having problems attracting new capital for new lending at A+ quality rates.  Both continued tightening underwriting guidelines and charging higher fees for new loans.  This of course would lead to a reduction in qualified buyers and higher costs to buy a home.  Just as consumer confidence jumps purchases of products, this move is still deemed to be an investor confidence issue to attract the hesitant investors back to the MBS market.

So what is the likely results of this move?

Mortgage money will continue to be available and good for the housing market.
Rates may jump a bit to begin with but we should see an overall drop in the coming months.
Depending on how the government handles it, investors in both stocks, just lost a lot of money.
The overall stock market will view this as very positive.
Because the Federal Government does not like Mortgage Brokers, Mortgage Bankers like FM Lending and Banks will probably be given additional lending advantages.
While the takeover is being treated like a bankruptcy reorganization, the Feds and Congress could convert both to a government agency rather than a restructured stock company.

This move is good for housing and the economy and as we begin to rebound new higher quality mortgages will begin to offset the non performing part of FNMA/FHLMC portfolio and return them to a self sustaining entity.

Looking for Good News?  Here is Great News.see the blue below

Today we opened at 6.25% on the 30 yr fixed with the 15 yr at 5.75%.  Jumbo mortgage rates are far superior with the 3yr/5yrArms starting at 5.5% to 5.875%.  FHA/VA sit in the low to mid 6%.

There has been a lot of talk the Fed will increase rates to stem inflation, most believe the Fed will increase rates early in 2009; we do not see it likely though. We are not looking for any increase in the Fed funds rate anytime in the next six to nine months. The US economy is weak, inflation concerns are waning as commodity prices fall and the dollar gains more strength. In Europe and Asia the economies are slowing at an increased pace; the ECB is likely to cut its base lending rate within the next few months.

Mortgage rates are likely to decline at a more rapid pace than treasuries in the months ahead. The spread (difference) between the 10 yr note and 30 yr mortgages is about 270 basis points, about 100 basis points wider than the historical norm (this is why the adjustable rate loans are not much better than the 30yr fixed right now). Not likely to happen quickly, but we expect MBS securities will slowly gain momentum as investors shrug off the acrid taste of the sub prime mess. Investing in MBSs securitized in the past year should increase in appeal as the housing markets finally hit bottom in mid-2009. There is nothing wrong with mortgages originated these days, and the yield spread is very attractive. We are also not too worried about the appraisals and values declining, most markets are close to a bottom now and even if values decline a little more that shouldn't deter investors. The more savvy investors already have their feet in the water.

Content from the Shirmeyer Rate Market Report from Sigma Research, INC.