Markets In A Minute

Please enjoy this quick update on what happened this week in the housing and financial markets.

Global economic weakness and falling oil prices continue to pressure stocks and support bonds. Bond market improvement supports lower mortgage rates.
Jobless claims rose to a six-month high last week but were still below the 300,000 mark. Some suggest this could be a loss of momentum for the labor market.
Weakness in stocks and recent economic reports will likely be considered at the Fed's meeting next week. It is expected the Fed will leave policy rates unchanged.

Home builders expect new home sales to continue to increase in 2016. New home sales rose almost 15% in 2015, peaking in November.
Housing starts were down slightly in December, but were still strong. It was the 9th straight month that starts were above 1 million units, the longest run since 2007.
Building permits were down slightly after two months of hefty gains. However, permits for construction of single-family homes rose 1.8%.

A man walks into a bar and orders a drink. Then he notices there are pieces of meat nailed to the ceiling of the bar, so he asks the barman what they are for. The barman replies, "If you can jump up and pull one of them down, you get free beer all night. If you fail, you have to pay the bar $100. Do you want to have a go?" 

 

The man thinks about it for a minute before saying, "Nah, the steaks are too high!"  

Rate movements and volatility are based on published, aggregate national averages and measured from the previous to the most recent midweek daily reporting period. These rate trends can differ from our own and are subject to change at any time.

Rodney Long
Mortgage Investors Group
Loan Officer Assistant
NMLS #411959; TN Lic #126825; GA Lic #47508
(423) 899-2887 x 303
rodney.long@migonline.com
www.migonline.com/rodney.long

Terry Barnette
REALTOR, Broker, ABR, SFR, BPOR, e-Pro
Crye-Leike REALTORS
Office: 423-473-9545x217
Direct/Text: 423-463-0024
TheBarnetteTeam.com
KM4HDV
licensed in Tennessee

Markets In A Minute

From Terry Barnette, Please enjoy this quick update on what happened this week in the housing and financial markets. Stocks have started the year off with the worst performance ever, causing traders to seek safety in bonds, including mortgage bonds. This has helped rates. Concerns over the world's second largest economy, China, have contributed to poor stock performance. China's economic struggles support low mortgage rates. Dropping oil prices have also been a factor. Poised to fall below $30 a barrel, declining oil prices are disinflationary and contribute to stock market weakening. Buying a house on Amazon? Companies like Ten-X are looking to help brokers offer real estate investors the ability to buy properties with the click of a mouse. NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, expects 2016 home sales to improve over 2015 by 1-3%. 2015 was the best year for housing in nearly a decade. Mortgage purchase applications soared, up 74% over the previous week. Purchase applications were also 19% higher than during the same week in 2015. As two college students sat talking, their conversation drifted to cooking.  "I got a cookbook once," said one, "but I could never do anything with it."  "Too much fancy work in it, eh?" asked the other.  "You said it. Every one of the recipes began the same way...'Take a clean dish.'"     Rate movements and volatility are based on published, aggregate national averages and measured from the previous to the most recent midweek daily reporting period. These rate trends can differ from our own and are subject to change at any time.

Information brought to you by Rodney Long

Mortgage Investors Group
Loan Officer Assistant
NMLS #411959; TN Lic #126825; GA Lic #47508
(423) 899-2887 x 303
rodney.long@migonline.com
www.migonline.com/rodney.long

Terry L Barnette 
REALTOR®, Broker, ABR, e-Pro, SFR, BPOR
Crye-Leike REALTORS®
Direct/Text: 423-463-0024
Fax: 423-370-1999
Office: 423-473-9545 x217

Download My Mobile APP Here! 

KM4HDV
TN Lic# 00291120 Firm Lic# 005463 

 

Maintaining Your Credit Health & Healthcare Expenses

TIPS FROM 

By Rebecca Lake View all articles by Rebecca Lake

Health care doesn't come cheap these days and while insurance is now mandatory, it doesn't always cover every expense. If you're left with some substantial medical bills following a major surgery or serious illness, figuring out how to pay for it can be overwhelming. Slapping it all on a credit card just to stop the calls from doctor's offices or collection agencies is tempting but it shouldn't be your first choice. Here's a look at why pulling out the plastic right away is a bad idea.

1. You can't negotiate once you've paid medical bills

If you've got a large medical bill, accepting the amount due at face value is a big mistake. Before you pay anything, you should contact both your health insurance provider and your doctor's office or the hospital to see if any of the charges can be haggled down. Even if you're only getting a few dollars shaved off the bill, that's less money you're going to have to pay in the long run.

The first step in negotiating is asking for an itemized statement of all the charges. Once you have it, you'll need to go over it carefully to look for errors or charges that seem unusually high. Using a site like Healthcare Blue Book, you can look up each expense to see if the price is fair and comparable to what other doctors are charging in your area. You also need to be on the lookout for charges for services or medications that you didn't receive.

At the same time, you should be comparing what your insurer is willing to pay to what's covered under your policy. If you find something that you know is covered but is being billed to you directly, don't waste any time in calling up the insurance company to make sure that you're not the one who bears the cost. If you wait to do any of these things until after you've paid the bill with a credit card, the odds are good that you're going to have a much harder time recouping any of the money you've already spent.

2. Payment plans for medical bills are typically cheaper

Whether you owe a few hundred dollars or a few thousand, most doctors and hospitals are willing to work with you to establish a payment plan. In most cases, these plans are interest-free and you'll have an extended time to pay so there's not an unnecessary strain on your budget.

When you're putting a medical bill on a credit card, you're going to pay interest on it until the balance is paid off. Unless you're able to make extra payments beyond the minimum each month, that's just going to make the debt more expensive. You may be able to sidestep the interest temporarily by using a card with a 0 percent interest rate but these promotions don't last forever. If the 0 percent rate is only good for a certain amount of time and you're not able to pay the balance off by the deadline, interest will apply on whatever you still owe.

If you're in a particularly hard spot financially, some hospitals also offer charity care programs that are worth looking into. Typically, these plans only apply to people who are at the lower end of the income spectrum but if you qualify, you may be able to have your bill significantly reduced or eliminated altogether. Once the bill has been transferred to a credit card, your creditor's going to expect you to pay, regardless of whatever may be going on with your finances.

3. It may put your credit at risk

A good credit score is essential, especially if you're planning on making a major purchase like a car or a new home. While your payment history accounts for the biggest piece of your credit score pie, the balances you're carrying and the different types of debt you owe also comes into play.

Your credit utilization ratio is the amount you owe versus how much credit you have total. Most financial experts recommend keeping this ratio at 30 percent or less. If you have several thousand dollars worth of medical debt, shifting it onto a credit card can eat away at your available credit and cause your utilization ratio to go up. The end result is that your score suffers and you look more financially overburdened than you really are to lenders.

While allowing a medical bill go to collections isn't an ideal choice, it may be less damaging to your score than maxing out your credit cards to cover the cost if you're strapped for cash. Thanks to some changes in the FICO scoring model, medical bills that have been sold to a collection agency don't have as much of a negative impact as they previously did if you eventually pay them off.

4. You don't have any other safety net

Personal finance experts agree that a healthy emergency fund is a must but studies show that about 1 in 4 people have no emergency savings at all. When the car breaks down or you get temporarily laid off, having money set aside keeps you swimming instead of sinking but what do you do when you don't have any extra cash?

In that situation, turning to a credit card to cover the gap isn't the perfect solution but it may be the only thing that keeps your lights on and a roof over your head. If you've maxed out all of your credit cards because you've used them to pay off your medical bills, however, your options for covering your other expenses suddenly become much narrower.

You could take out a bank loan but if your credit utilization ratio isn't that great, getting approved can be tough. Borrowing money from friends or family is an alternative but not everyone has that kind of support system in place. That leaves either selling your stuff on eBay or taking out a payday or title loan, which is the easiest way to set yourself on the path towards financial disaster.

If your credit card serves as your emergency fund in a pinch, you'll benefit more from leaving it untouched until you actually need it. Setting your medical bills up on a reasonable payment plan is the better choice, especially if it leaves you with a few extra dollars that you can use to save for rainy days.

Terry L Barnette
REALTOR®, Broker, ABR, e-Pro, SFR, BPOR
Crye-Leike REALTORS®
Direct/Text: 423-463-0024
Fax: 423-370-1999
Office: 423-473-9545 x217

Download My Mobile APP Here! 

KM4HDV
TN Lic# 00291120 Firm Lic# 005463 

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Terry Barnette, REALTOR Broker, ABR, SFR,BPOR, e-Pro

Direct/Text 423-463-0024

Terry@TerryBarnette.com  TheBarnetteTeam.com

Crye-LeikeREALTORS®

4627 N Lee Hwy

Cleveland, TN 37312

423-473-9545 x217

TN Lic# 00291120

Firm Lic# 00256455

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Markets In A Minute

	For the Week Ending January 15, 2016
	From Terry Barnette, Please enjoy this quick update on what happened this week in the housing and financial markets. Stocks have started the year off with the worst performance ever, causing traders to seek safety in bonds, including mortgage bonds. This has helped rates. Concerns over the world's second largest economy, China, have contributed to poor stock performance. China's economic struggles support low mortgage rates. Dropping oil prices have also been a factor. Poised to fall below $30 a barrel, declining oil prices are disinflationary and contribute to stock market weakening. Buying a house on Amazon? Companies like Ten-X are looking to help brokers offer real estate investors the ability to buy properties with the click of a mouse. NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, expects 2016 home sales to improve over 2015 by 1-3%. 2015 was the best year for housing in nearly a decade. Mortgage purchase applications soared, up 74% over the previous week. Purchase applications were also 19% higher than during the same week in 2015. As two college students sat talking, their conversation drifted to cooking.  "I got a cookbook once," said one, "but I could never do anything with it."  "Too much fancy work in it, eh?" asked the other.  "You said it. Every one of the recipes began the same way...'Take a clean dish.'"     Rate movements and volatility are based on published, aggregate national averages and measured from the previous to the most recent midweek daily reporting period. These rate trends can differ from our own and are subject to change at any time.

Information brought to you by Rodney Long

Mortgage Investors Group
Loan Officer Assistant
NMLS #411959; TN Lic #126825; GA Lic #47508
(423) 899-2887 x 303
rodney.long@migonline.com
www.migonline.com/rodney.long

Terry L Barnette
REALTOR®, Broker, ABR, e-Pro, SFR, BPOR
Crye-Leike REALTORS®
Direct/Text: 423-463-0024
Fax: 423-370-1999
Office: 423-473-9545 x217

Download My Mobile APP Here! 

KM4HDV
TN Lic# 00291120 Firm Lic# 005463 

The Markets In A Minute

	For the Week Ending January 8, 2016
	From Terry Barnette, Please enjoy this quick update on what happened this week in the housing and financial markets. Concerns over severe weakness in the Chinese economy have contributed to the worst 3-day start for Wall Street since 2008. The unrest supports low rates. Oil prices continue to drop, now to the lowest prices since April 2004. Cheap oil also hurts stocks, supplying support for mortgage bonds and low mortgage rates. Minutes from the Fed's last meeting revealed concern over low inflation. While the Fed would like to see 2% inflation, low inflation is supportive of low rates. Construction spending was down slightly in November, but still up 10.5% year-over-year. Residential construction was actually up slightly though. The Case-Shiller Index indicates that the housing market is continuing to rebound. Home values are up 36% since reaching a bottom in 2012. First-time homebuyers made up about 30% of the market in 2015. It is expected that number will increase in 2016 with more renters entering the market. What's a foot long and slippery? A slipper.     Rate movements and volatility are based on published, aggregate national averages and measured from the previous to the most recent midweek daily reporting period. These rate trends can differ from our own and are subject to change at any time.

Rodney Long
Mortgage Investors Group
Loan Officer Assistant
NMLS #411959; TN Lic #126825; GA Lic #47508
(423) 899-2887 x 303
rodney.long@migonline.com
www.migonline.com/rodney.long

Terry L Barnette
REALTOR®, Broker, ABR, e-Pro, SFR, BPOR
Crye-

​Leike 

REALTORS®
Direct/Text: 423-463-0024
Fax: 423-370-1999
Office: 423-473-9545 x217

Download My Mobile APP Here! 

KM4HDV
TN Lic# 00291120 Firm Lic# 005463