If you’ve got an iPhone, you can now search through homes for sale via an app by Realtor.com!

The app, called Home Search, was launched on Wednesday and uses GPS to provide a map of houses for sale near you — a map you can refine based on distance, type of house, price range, as well as other criteria. It also lets you make notes on houses and give them a star rating, so you can keep track of the ones you love.

Although another app, Trulia, purports to do the same thing, Home Search’s results are more up to date, which is key for getting the real info on recent price drops on houses.

This is a great tool for getting the “lay of the land” when searching for a house, but your realtor is still going to be your most important asset, as very often they’ve seen the houses firsthand, can give you access to them and “translate” the information in the listing. If you need an Austin realtor, drop me a line and I’ll point you in the direction of several excellent ones.

In the meantime, go here to download the app: http://www.realtor.com/iphone

But before you start your home search in earnest … we all know it’s easy to get caught up in the thrill of the hunt, but you don’t want to fall in love with a house that you can’t afford. This is even more pertinent today, as banks loaning practices have changed dramatically and are much stricter. Avoid the heartbreak by touching base with me first — I’ll examine your income, assets and credit score to determine what price tier you can confidently pursue.

Hope you have a great weekend and happy home searching!

D. Stephen Steakley, Jr.
Austin, Texas Home Loan Expert
512-577-8898 ph

UA website - Austin Texas Home Loans
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Happy Friday!!!!

Here are today’s rates:
30yr fixed- 4.625% 0+1
15yr fixed- 4.125% 0+1
FHA/VA 30yr- 4.875% 0+0
USDA 100% financing 4.875% 0+0

Have a great weekend everyone and call or email with any questions.

D. Stephen Steakley, Jr.
Austin, Texas Home Loan Expert
512-577-8898 ph
Austin, TX Home Loan – Quick Application

What a great day! Here are your closing day rates for today. Call me ASAP if you want to lock on these:

30yr fixed 4.625% 0+1
15yr fixed 4.125% 0+1
5yr ARM 30yr- 3.75% 0+0

You can’t beat days like this. Call or email me now to get these locked in.

D. Stephen Steakley, Jr.
Austin, Texas Home Loan Expert
512-577-8898 ph
Austin, TX Home Loan – Quick Application

Happy Friday!

The market has turned nicely for us today and rates have eased down .125%

30yr fixed – 4.625% 0+1
15yr fixed – 4.125% 0+1
5yr ARM – 3.75%

Larry Bear Market Specialist:
“Trading volume in the mortgage market so far today has been light and sporadic — with the few transactions that are being completed drawing higher prices for the underlying security.

There is really not much to talk about in terms of economic news — even though some media sources are trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill with their breathless announcement that the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell four (4) percentage points in October. Hmmm, let’s see, I wonder if the fact the national jobless rate jumped to a 26-year high during the month might have bummed consumers out just a bit. I have yet to see one mainstream media report that drills down into the data deep enough to discover that while the index fell back to about the level seen in July and August — it remains comfortably above its cyclical lows.

Take today’s consumer sentiment report with a grain-of-salt. Mortgage investors are generally far more interested in what the consumer is actually doing — as opposed to how they say they are feeling during a telephone interview. Consumers’ true underlying sentiment will be abundantly clear when the Commerce Department releases the October Retail Sales figures Monday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Interestingly enough, the headline number is expected to have posted a 0.9% gain — a handsome recovery from September’s 1.5% slump. The ex. auto component of the report is expected to have matched September’s 0.5% improvement. Not bad for the supposedly crestfallen consumer most media sources would have you believe currently dominates the retail marketplace.”

Things are good right now. Enjoy your weekend!

D. Stephen Steakley, Jr.
Austin, Texas Home Loan Expert
512-577-8898 ph
Austin, TX Home Loan – Quick Application

Hello, Friends

It happened! The DOW took a 93pt dive today which did cause investors to move into the security of bonds between 3pm and 5pm today. This erases the small loss from the poorly bid treasury auction. This is great news as we should have nice rates tomorrow (Friday).

Mortgage market is fun, right?

Have a great evening,

D. Stephen Steakley, Jr.
Austin, Texas Home Loan Expert
512-577-8898 ph
Austin, TX Home Loan – Quick Application