Moving With Young Children

Moving is a highly stressful and chaotic period for any body.  For children in their preschool-age years, however, moving can be quite confusing. There are steps you can take before, during and after the move to help young kids make the transition.

Before the move

Parenting Magazine suggests in its July 2011 issue that chatting regularly about the move with your kids before it happens helps them get used to the idea. Psychologist and author of Moving With Children Tom Olkowski suggests showing the children photos of the new house, neighborhood, school, and yard ahead of time.

During the move

In this phase of the moving process, many kids are terrified of losing beloved items such as teddy bears or blankets. To help them feel more comfortable, give them a backpack for moving day filled with their favorite possessions and a snack or two.

After the move

While it is tempting to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of unpacking and decorating, it is important to remember and keep up with regular family routines.  This will help your children during the transition.
“Preschoolers adjust fairly quickly with support from parents, meeting new playmates, getting settled in a new preschool, and learning their way around a new house,” said Dr. Olkowski.

How to Ready Your Walls for Paint or Paper

Brian Santos, The Wall Wizard, gives this advice:

1. Clean the surface. Buy a 90-percent pure solution of rubbing alcohol and a self-wringing sponge mop with a scrubbing strip. Put a half gallon into a bucket and scrub the walls with an up-and-down motion. Wring the mop into an empty bucket so the solution isn’t contaminated.

Rubbing alcohol will remove dirt, fingerprints, cooking grease, nicotine stains and crayon.

2. Smooth the surface. Darken the room and put a halogen work light ($15) on the floor next to the wall. Use a wall board sanding strip to remove anything that shows up.

To fill any depression, use a vinyl surfacing compound and a drywall knife to smooth it out.

Tap in nail heads and use the compound to fill the holes and depressions made by hammer strikes.

3. Apply the first coat. Use a sealer over any remaining stains, mold, mildew, and porous surfaces, such as unpainted plaster or drywall and large areas of joint compound or patching plaster. Use a primer on all other surfaces.

If the top coat will be paint, have the primer tinted to match the finish color so you don’t have to apply a second coat.

This Week’s Market Commentary

This week brings us the release of four monthly reports for the bond market to digest, but none of them are considered to be highly important. Not that it necessarily matters of recent. As we saw last week, favorable results from what is thought to be influential economic data, apparently isn’t enough to expect bond strength and improvements in mortgage rates.

Simply put, last week was just ugly for mortgage shoppers with no clear justification for the bond sell-off and spike in mortgage pricing. I would like to say that this week is a good opportunity to recover some of those losses. Unfortunately, I don’t see anything scheduled that is likely to be that catalyst.

There is nothing of importance scheduled for release tomorrow. We saw some strength in mortgage bonds late Friday, so if your lender did not improve pricing during afternoon hours, you have an improvement of approximately .125 – .250 of a discount point awaiting tomorrow’s rate sheet. That is assuming that we don’t see a huge rally in stocks during early trading. I would like to say that the worst of the bond sell-off is well behind us, but we should proceed cautiously until there is some stabilization in the market. The fact that stocks were not able to extend their rally the latter part of the week also tells me that the sell-off in bonds was a knee-jerk reaction or some type of correction that is not likely to continue moving forward. Accordingly, I am cautiously optimistic towards mortgage rates at the moment.

The general theme of the core of this week’s economic news is housing. Three of the four reports that are scheduled give us different insights into the housing sector. They begin early Tuesday morning when February’s Housing Starts will be posted. This report tracks construction starts of new housing. It doesn’t usually cause much movement in mortgage rates and is considered one of the less important reports we see each month. It is expected to show an increase of less than 1% in housing starts, indicating slight growth in the housing sector. Good news for the bond market and mortgage rates would be a sizable decline in new starts. Also Tuesday is the first of four lectures that Fed Chairman Bernanke will make at the George Washington School of Business. The second is Thursday while the remaining two are scheduled for next week. I doubt they will lead to movement in the markets or changes to mortgage rates, but we will be watching the first one at 12:45 PM Tuesday for any impact his words may have.

February’s Existing Home Sales will be posted late Wednesday morning by the National Association of Realtors. It will also give us a measurement of housing sector strength and mortgage credit demand, but is the most likely of the three to influence mortgage rates. It is expected to reveal an increase in home resales, meaning the housing sector strengthened last month. Ideally, bond traders would prefer to see a decline in sales, pointing towards a still weakening housing sector. However, a small increase is expected, so it shouldn’t cause much alarm in the bond and mortgage markets. Bad news would be a sizable increase in sales, indicating that the housing sector is gaining momentum. That could be troublesome for the bond market and mortgage rates because housing and unemployment were the two biggest hurdles the economy had to overcome. Recent reports have some traders much more optimistic about the employment sector, so overwhelmingly strong housing news could lead to another rise in mortgage rates.

The Conference Board will post its Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) for February late Thursday morning. This index attempts to measure economic activity over the next three to six months. It is considered to be moderately important, but likely will not have a significant impact on mortgage rates. Current forecasts are calling for a 0.6% increase, meaning it is predicting that economic activity will likely expand fairly rapidly in the coming weeks. A smaller than forecasted rise, or better yet a decline would be considered good news for the bond market and mortgage rates.

Friday’s only news is the sister release to Wednesday’s Existing Home Sales report. The Commerce Department will give us February’s New Home Sales figures late Friday morning. They are expected to announce little change from January’s sales level of newly constructed homes. This report tracks a much smaller percentage of home sales than Wednesday’s report covers, so it should have a much weaker influence on the markets and mortgage pricing.

Overall, it is difficult to label one particular day as the most important of the week. The single most important report will likely be Wednesday’s Existing Home Sales, but none of the week’s data is known to be a major market mover. If the stock markets move lower, we could see gains in bonds and improvements in mortgage rates. But, if stocks move higher, pressure in bonds is possible, leading to higher mortgage pricing again. Therefore, I still recommend proceeding with caution if you are floating an interest rate, at least until some more time has passed since last week’s silliness.

This Week’s Market Commentary

This week brings us the release of five relevant economic reports along with an FOMC meeting and two Treasury auctions for the markets to digest. A couple of the week’s reports are considered highly important, as is of course the FOMC meeting. There is nothing of relevance to mortgage rates being released or taking place tomorrow, so all of the week’s events are scheduled over four days.

The first thing on the calendar will come from the Commerce Department early Tuesday morning when they post February’s Retail Sales data. This data is extremely important to the financial markets because it measures consumer spending. Since consumer spending makes up over two-thirds of the U.S. economy, data that is related usually has a big impact on the markets. This month’s report is expected to show an increase in sales of approximately 1.0%. If it reveals a larger than expected increase, the bond market will likely fall and mortgage rates will move higher as it would indicate a stronger level of economic growth than many had thought. If it reveals a much smaller than expected increase, I expect to see bond prices rise and mortgage rates improve Tuesday morning.

Also Tuesday is the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. This is a single-day meeting that will adjourn at 2:15 PM ET. It is widely believed that the Fed will make no change to key short-term interest rates at this meeting, but the post-meeting statement will be watched closely for any change in their feelings about the economy or any other moves they may make, such as QE3. Generally speaking, the bond market wants to hear that inflation is not an immediate concern and that key rates will be kept at current levels for a long time. An announcement of another round of Quantitative Easing to help keep long-term interest rates low could fuel a bond rally.

There are two Treasury auctions this week that could potentially affect mortgage rates. The first is the 10-year Treasury Note auction Tuesday and the 30-year bond sale will be held Wednesday. Results of both sales will be posted at 1:00 PM ET on the sale days. If investor demand was high, we may see bonds rally during afternoon trading as it would indicate that investors still have an appetite for longer-term securities. However, weak demand in the sale could lead to selling and an increase in mortgage rates.

Wednesday also has a speaking engagement by Fed Chairman Bernanke. He will be speaking to the Independent Community Bankers Association in Nashville at 9:00 AM ET. I don’t believe he will say anything that will be a market mover, especially the morning after the FOMC meeting. However, market participants always watch his words closely so any surprises will have an impact on the markets and possibly mortgage pricing.

The Labor Department will post February’s Producer Price Index (PPI) early Thursday morning. This important index measures inflationary pressures at the producer level of the economy. There are two portions of the index- the overall reading and the core data. The core data is more important and watched more closely because it excludes more volatile food and energy (including gasoline) prices. If the index shows a large increase, inflation concerns will rise, making long-term investments such as mortgage-related bonds less attractive to investors. This would lead to higher mortgage rates Thursday morning. Current forecasts are calling for a 0.5% increase in the overall reading and a 0.2% increase in the core data.

Friday has the remaining three economic reports scheduled. February’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be released early Friday morning, which measures inflationary pressures at the very important consumer level of the economy. Its results can definitely have a huge impact on the financial markets, especially long-term securities such as mortgage-related bonds. It is expected to show a 0.4% increase in the overall index and a 0.2% rise in the more important core data. If we see weaker than expected readings, bond prices should rise and mortgage rates would likely fall Friday.

Friday’s next report will come mid-morning when February’s Industrial Production report is posted. This report measures manufacturing sector strength by tracking output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities. It is expected to show a 0.5% increase from January’s level. A decline would be considered extremely favorable news for bonds and mortgage rates because it would indicate manufacturing sector weakness and a broader economic recovery is more difficult if manufacturing activity is slipping.

The week’s final piece of data is the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment for March just before 10:00 AM ET Friday. This index gives us a measurement of consumer willingness to spend. If confidence is rising, then consumers are more apt to make large purchases. This helps fuel consumer spending and economic growth. A drop in confidence will probably hurt the stock markets and boost bond prices, leading to lower mortgage rates, assuming the CPI matches forecasts. Bad news for bonds and mortgage rates would be rising confidence. It is expected to show a reading of 76.0, which would be an increase from February’s final reading 75.3.

Overall, look for Tuesday or Friday to be the most important day of the week due to the importance of those day’s reports and the FOMC meeting. Tomorrow will likely be the least active day for mortgage rates, but we could see plenty of movement in the markets and mortgage pricing several days this week. Therefore, please be attentive to the markets and maintain contact with your mortgage professional if still floating an interest rate.

This Week’s Market Commentary

This week has four government-compiled economic reports for the markets to digest. Only one is considered to be highly important, but it is a big one. The rest of the reports are moderately important to the markets, meaning they have the potential to affect mortgage rates but usually don’t cause a noticeable change. The most important data comes the matter part of the week, but sizable moves in stocks can impact bond trading and mortgage rates any day.

The week’s first data comes tomorrow with the release of January’s Factory Orders during late morning hours, which will give us a measurement of manufacturing sector strength. This data is similar to last week’s Durable Goods, except this report covers orders for both durable and non-durable goods. Current forecasts are calling for a drop in new orders of approximately 1.9%. A larger than expected drop would be good news for the bond market and could lead to an improvement in mortgage rates since it would point towards economic weakness.

There is nothing of relevance scheduled for Tuesday, but Wednesday has a couple of releases that are considered moderately important. The first is the revised Productivity index for the 4th Quarter of last year. The preliminary reading posted last month showed an annual growth rate of 0.7% in worker output. Analysts are expecting to see an upward revision of 0.2% to last month’s initial reading. Employee productivity is watched fairly closely because a higher level of output per hour is believed to mean that the economy can expand without inflation concerns. However, since this data is quite aged now, it likely will have little impact on Wednesday’s mortgage rates unless it shows a significant change.

Wednesday also has a couple of private sector employment-related reports due to be posted. The biggest one comes from payroll processor ADP who will announce their change in payrolls processed last month. Since it is not a government agency report, it isn’t considered to be highly important, but as with any employment-related data, it does draw some attention. This is especially true for this report because it is posted just before monthly employment figures are released by the Labor Department.

Thursday has nothing to be concerned with but Friday is a different story. The biggest news of the week comes early Friday morning when one of the single most important monthly reports we see will be posted. The Labor Department will release February’s Employment report at 8:30 AM ET Friday. Some of the important portions of the report will give us the unemployment rate, number of new jobs added or lost and the average hourly earnings reading. The best combination for the bond market and mortgage rates would be an increase in the unemployment rate, a much smaller increase in payrolls than expected and little or no increase in earnings. Current forecasts are calling for no change in the unemployment rate of 8.3% and approximately 207,000 new jobs added to the economy. Stronger than expected readings will likely fuel a stock market rally and selling bonds that would cause a sizable upward revision to mortgage rates. On the other hand, disappointing numbers would raise concerns about the economy’s ability to continue to grow at its current pace that would have an opposite impact on the markets and mortgage pricing.

January’s Goods and Services Trade Balance report will also be released early Friday morning, but it will likely draw little interest from market participants. It will give us the size of the U.S. trade deficit, but often does not directly impact mortgage rates and is the week’s least important piece of news. Current forecasts are calling for a $48.1 billion trade deficit during January, but we will need to see a large variance from this estimate and little surprise in the employment figures for this news to influence bond trading enough to affect mortgage pricing. It is highly likely that this report will be a non-factor in Friday’s pricing.

Overall, look for a fairly active week in the markets and mortgage rates. I suspect there will be some optimism leading up to Friday’s Employment report, which could lead to support in stocks and pressure in bonds as we get closer to Friday. That day is undoubtedly the biggest of the week and we can label Tuesday as the least important. Please be careful this week if still floating an interest rate, especially the latter part of the week.

5 Reasons it’s Time for a Home in 2012

It’s true that money can’t buy happiness, but knowing that the value of your assets will grow over time does give you peace of mind.

Negative press is leaving some home buyers stuck on the fence, but here are a few reasons to climb down.

1. In the long run you come out ahead; in the short run you enjoy your home. The paper value of your home won’t rise much in the next couple of years. But if you want a home where you can raise your children or retire for the rest of your life, the paper value will rise significantly, or probably double or triple during that time.

2. The recent survey by the Hartford/MIT Lab’s Home for a Lifetime survey shows that half of all homeowners prefer their current home for retirement. Another 10 percent may choose to retire there, but aren’t yet sure.

3. A home is like a savings account. Your initial costs of home buying will come back to you many times over during the life of your mortgage. Your stake in the home builds every month. You’ll have more than rent receipts in the future.

4. Mortgage payments are fixed; rental payments rise. On a fixed-rate mortgage, you know what your payment will be each month for years to come. (As inflation rises, you’ll be making those payments with less expensive dollars.)

5. Apartment rents through the third quarter of 2010 were up 2.4 percent nationwide for the year and up twice that amount in larger cities. Nice apartments were hard to find because the national vacancy rate is the lowest since 2006, according to a study by real estate research firm Reis, Inc.
There are many more reasons for having a home of your own, reasons that have little to do with the financial aspects.

Stability and community. You get to know the neighbors. Your kids won’t have to change schools. They can keep their friends. You get to know their teachers and which parks, neighborhood facilities and merchants are best for you. Studies show that as people develop positive relationships with neighbors, they have more happiness and less stress.

You get to be the boss. Dealing with a landlord and negotiating repairs are hassles you won’t have to deal with. As the boss of your own place, you can paint, renovate and redecorate as much as you want and in any color or style you want.