The stock market is the gift that just keeps on giving, having dumped another 500 points yesterday.  Everybody’s locked in on the stock market right now.  And few know what it means.

I used to be a stock broker.  While I love the flashing numbers on the screen and the art of picking the right stock and building a beautiful portfolio for a client, I couldn’t sit at a desk for that long.  I love being outside.  I did learn what to watch for.  I managed against the dot.com bomb.  The market lost 80% and my clients on an average lost 2%.  That’s right.  I beat the market by 78%.  9/11 pretty much put a fork in my fledging stockbroker career.  It was fun while it lasted.

We’re seeing something very interesting right now.  Generally when stocks rise, yields on bonds go down and vice versa.  When bond yields are down, so are mortgages.  Not so right now.  Stocks are down and bonds are down too.  And mortgages are ridiculous.

Bankrate.com has the overnight low for a 30 year fixed at 4.19% last night.  That’s obscene.  If I believed in refinancing, I’d refinance.  They are giving money away right now.  It is far cheaper to buy than to rent in most of the Bay Area.

Yesterday a client of mine, who is a seller said “Yeah but nobody can qualify for a loan.”  Actually they can.  Lenders have relaxed the idiotic standards they put into place in 2008 and normal people can get a loan.  By “normal” I mean people like you and me.  People who have families.  People who work hard, take care of their families and save their money.  Normal people.  The only problems I’ve had with a client’s credit had to do with divorces that didn’t have formal separation agreements or weren’t finalized.  If your credit score is over 580, there’s a good chance you can buy a house.  If you’re on the fence, it’s a good time to get off.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling right now, click over to the contact page and give me a shout.  Even if I don’t work in your area, I have a massive referral network and will find you a qualified professional in your area to answer your questions.