Townstone Financial

Townstone has the mortgage products to help you qualify! Fill out a free consultation request at https://townstone.com/consultation-request/ to see if you're eligible for our self-employed bank statement mortgage or one of our other many products and programs.

Affordable Purchase Programs are here at Townstone! Fill out a free consultation request at https://townstone.com/consultation-request/ to see if you qualify for this or one of our other many products and programs.

Affordable Purchase Programs are here at Townstone! Fill out a free consultation at https://townstone.com/consultation-request/ to see if you qualify for this or one of our other many products and programs.

Did you complete your annual mortgage and financial check-in? If now, set up an appointment today at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/ We will help you with your home purchase, refinance, cash-out, debt-consolidation, and movie recommendations! Starting with some good news: Mortgage rates start the year at their lowest point in the last 6 months! But the bad news: Insurance for home and autos is becoming the new “pain-point” for consumers as insurance companies are increasing premiums and even canceling renewals outright! Many home and car buyers don’t even consider their insurance cost when making their purchases, but that will be changing quickly. Boeing is in the news again as the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered airlines to ground dozens of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for urgent inspections. This order comes after a door plug blew out in the middle of a flight on Friday when the nearly brand-new aircraft was flying at around 16,000 feet. Fortunately, no person was hurt, but we ca

Let’s start with some facts: 1. Interest Payments - Analysis from Bloomberg last month estimated that annualized interest payments on the US government debt pile topped $1 trillion. This is consistent with the $981 billion that the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported for July 1st, 2023. 2. The 2023 budget of the United States federal government has total expenditures at around $6 trillion 3. The cost of servicing US government debt is about 16% of total US government spending That 16% could be going to fixing roads and schools, providing healthcare, or anything else you want your government to be doing. Instead, it’s going towards nothing, just paying interest. If you want to look on the bright side, at least treasury debt isn’t at 100% of domestic GDP… but take that with a grain of salt. The data from the Fed for 2023 isn’t available yet, but as of 2022: total federal debt was 94% of the total GDP. The only other time it was this high was during WWII and the economic boom that followed allowed th

Yesterday (12/14/2023) was the 3rd time in a row that the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee didn’t raise rates. Did we just go from a “pause” to the official end of the tightening cycle? If Zach was a gambler, he thinks we did…. The Fed Funds rate at 5.50% is the highest level since 2001. There have been 11 rate increases during this cycle. What’s notable is that this “pause” that started a few meetings ago allowed the market to develop a hypothesis that the Fed could cut rates more aggressively in 2024. In late October, the 10Y Treasury yield touched 5% but has since moved below 4%! Some further thoughts/analysis: 1. Restarting the tightening cycle could be hard for the Fed. It’s likely we’re done increasing rates and yesterday’s statement is very “dovish.” 2. Inflation hasn’t slowed to the 2% range the Fed is seeking. This will keep the market/traders/borrowers trying to interpret what “higher for longer” means in Fed-Speak. 3. Expectations of rate cuts in 2024 were already reflected by the d

Purchase Program Rundown Here's just a TASTE of our purchase mortgage products: "ONE+" gives you a credit of up to 2% of the purchase price with NO PMI "Purchase Plus" gives you a credit up to $5,250 of the purchase price with discounted PMI pricing "HomeRady/Homepossible" gives you reduced PMI pricing along with a great base rate with only 3% downpayment required How do you know if you qualify? Well, you fill out a free consultation at townstone.com for a 1 on 1 where we discuss your scenario and options to make sure you get the best possible loan for your situation. With mortgage rates at their lowest levels since September, it might seem like a boon for upcoming homebuyers, but there's another side to that coin: Zach and Barry discuss those implications. As for this week's non-mortgage gripe: Did you know about 10% of US Government spending is for debt servicing/interest on the money it owes? Like many economists, we argue that this is simply unsustainable. So, what do we do? Cut spending? Increase

Do you know what's better than a discounted TV this Cyber Monday? A lower rate or payment on your monthly mortgage! You could save thousands of dollars over 30 years vs. the 1-time savings you get with one of these so-called deals from Amazon or Wal-Mart. Rates continue to drop as we head towards the end of the year. If you haven't checked on market rates recently, you should absolutely fill out a free consultation request at Townstone.com to see what we can do for you. As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/

So about The Beatles… Paul, John, George, and Ringo (better known as The Beatles) released a new single. Zach is unimpressed. Mortgage rates hold steady as we start the week, but there's no telling where things will go from here. Thanksgiving is coming up, but are you more excited for the sales that come the day after on black-Friday? Let us know if there's any good ones out there! Speaking of deals though, saving on your mortgage is much more important than ANY of those deals you'll find in the weeks to come. For the best deal on your mortgage or home equity line/loan, you gotta go with Townstone. As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/

Barry and Zach do a brief rundown of the variety of mortgage and equity products Townstone can offer: 1. Purchases - 1st time or 100th time 2. Rate and Term Refinances 3. Cash Out Refinances 4. Home Equity Loans 5. Home Equity Lines of Credit 6. Reverse Mortgages 7. Business Bank Statement 8. Investor/Rental Property Or just go to townstone.com and fill out a request for a FREE consultation and you'll be speaking with one of us in no time at all!

After hitting the highest levels in 20+ years, mortgage rates are easing! But would lower rates improve affordability for buyers or could there be some unintended consequences as more buyers come off the sideline to take advantage. Artificial Intelligence is coming for your job! How to mitigate the potential damage from Skynet. Realtors are feeling the heat as a federal jury ruled that the powerful National Association of Realtors and several large brokerages had conspired to artificially inflate the commissions paid to real estate agents, a decision that could radically alter the home-buying process in the United States. The almost 2 BILLION dollar ruling might only be the first domino to fall. Townstone has the best products to fit your needs: Home Equity Loans, Home Equity Lines, 1% down payment purchases, conventional, FHA, VA, reverse mortgage, and many more! We know you're a smart person and smart people use Townstone. As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consul

Cook County tax bills are out payable due 12/1/23. It seems like everyone is dealing with higher taxes, but what about the lucky few who saw their bills decrease? We know you're out there! Anecdotally, we're seeing upticks in refinance activity as people look to take advantage of their home equity to consolidate debt or build a cash-cushion for the future. Townstone offers multiple 1st and 2nd lien products to help you achieve this as we head towards the holiday season. Bonds/Mortgages hold steady as market awaits FED decision on Wednesday. No increase is expected. Also coming later this week: several key employment reports, including ADP’s employment change figures and JOLTS job openings on Wednesday, and the September jobs report on Friday. The data will give investors hints about the state of the labor market after last week’s weekly initial jobless claims suggested it may be cooling slightly. As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/

While mortgage rates are starting the week lower compared to the last, they are still near their highest levels in 20 years. But home values don’t seem to be dropping as a result. Housing inventory remains low and as long as that remains the case, we can expect a continued “stalemate” between lending rates and home prices. If you want to be optimistic, there is some evidence that the worst is over. Mortgage News Daily is reporting that “the balance of recent Fed comments suggest the Fed is done hiking rates unless inflation flares up in an unexpected way. As of Friday 10/20/23, the market saw next year's Fed Funds Rate about a quarter of a point lower.” The 10yr Treasury at 5% is an important psychological level as it becomes an attractive entry point for bond buyers, which puts resistance/a ceiling at 5% and could help prevent higher mortgage rates for borrowers. We all wish we had a magic 8-ball and could predict the future, but the FED’s future actions will be driven by economic data. The next FED rate

Happy Monday! We start the week with the stock market showing about 1% gains across the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&P 500. The 10 Year Treasury is hovering above 4.7% after closing last week at 4.6%. Tech employees continue to struggle with Microsoft-owned LinkedIn laying off nearly 700 employees. With Microsoft's recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Lululemon is set to replace them in the S&P 500 at open on 10/18. Purchase contracts are still coming in as Townstone continues to offer the best in service, products, rates, and costs. Debt-consolidation also seems to be a major need right now as high interest rate debt crushing many consumers. As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/

Mortgage rates and bond yields are higher Monday after Congress managed to avoid a government shutdown Saturday night, less than three hours before the deadline. But are we in for the same down-to-the-wire brinksmanship in 45 days when the temporary funding bill expires? Consumer spending in August 2023 was up 5.8% compared to August 2022. Per the Wall Street Journal, the "experience economy" boomed this summer, with Delta Air Lines reporting record revenue in the second quarter and Ticketmaster selling over 295 million event tickets in the first six months of 2023, up nearly 18% year-over-year. But is it truly sustainable as U.S. household credit card balances rise and their savings account balances drop? As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/

Today is National Cheeseburger Day which perfectly encapsulates the adage "penny smart, dollar foolish". Sure, you can save a couple of dollars on a cheeseburger today, but you can save $40 each month just by getting a 0.25% decrease on your mortgage rate (assuming $250,000 balance). Here at Townstone, we ENCOURAGE our customers to shop for the lowest rate! Why? Because we know we have the best in the industry. Combine that with our variety of loan products and unparalleled customer service, the only reason you wouldn't use Townstone is Zach's insistence on wearing black every day.... As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/

Mortgage Rates are straddling a range around 7%-7.25% according to Mortgage News Daily and homebuyers are scrambling to find properties before winter. Inflation Watch: The producer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in August, higher than the 0.4% estimate. However, excluding food and energy, core PPI rose 0.2%, in line with the estimate. The European Central Bank increased their rate another .25%. What does that mean for Americans watching the Federal Reserve? Average credit card balances continue to increase, is the consumer spending boom over? To those who celebrate Rosh Hashanah: Wishing you and your families a sweet and happy new year! As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/

Mortgage rates started the week higher on Tuesday, but we're seeing some softening in the days since. Lots of purchase activity as the summer ends, are buyers settling or are more sellers coming to the table? We need to correct one of the biggest misconceptions about the current market: underwriting guidelines have NOT gotten stricter for residential mortgages. Commercial loans are another thing entirely... Future of the Fed? While 93% of traders are pricing in a rate pause at September’s Fed meeting, futures hikes aren’t off the table. Expectations for an additional increase in November have risen to 45%, according to the CME Fed Watch tool. As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/

With 30 year mortgage rates hitting almost 8% for some borrowers, relief for borrowers might be in sight! It's a big week for economic data with ADP payroll and Q2 GDP set to report on Wednesday followed by ISM Manufacturing on Friday. Inflation expectations are around 2% month-over-month, but the FED seems hesitant to signal anything to the market. As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/

The last two weeks have been UGLY for the mortgage market. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage hit 7.48%, according to Mortgage News Daily. But lack of inventory and rising rents are keeping home prices steady. It's still a seller's market here in the Midwest. But it's not only mortgage rates that are higher. Credit card debt is reaching record highs with many rates exceeding 20%! Here at Townstone, we're seeing a ton of activity with our fixed-rate home equity loan program that lets you take advantage of the equity in your home to help you consolidate your debt, lower your payments, make home improvements, etc... Purchases, refinances, home equity lines/loans, reverse mortgage, we have it all! As always, FREE 1 on 1 consultations available at: https://townstone.com/consultation-request/ Have a great week!