The free snow is at Capital Deals at 710 Smith Ave. St. Paul, MN. They had to close the store last Monday because of the snow. I drove by this yesterday and no one has taken them up on their generous offer. The snow is still there.
Month: December 2010
Rates went up
Mortgage rates went up last week and have hit a six month high, 4.84%. I never had a shot at an interest rate that low. When I last purchased a home I would have been thrilled with a rate in the 6% range.
The rates went from 4.66% to 4.875%, and applications for new mortgages declined by 5%. Rates were higher were right around 5% on Thursday but went back down again. The Mortgages Bankers Association is reporting that applications for new mortgages decreased because of the rate increase. The up and down happened so fast I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that it did not reach the radar of many potential home buyers.
I think they decreased because of the holiday season, the economy and possibly the weather. One weeks worth of mortgage application data really isn’t enough to make a news story.
dissatisfied with satisfaction surveys
It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. A couple of years ago I wrote a post about customer service, and I wrote it on a Friday even though Fridays are for fun and customer service is never fun. It used to be about pressing #1 for sales or #6 for support and being put on hold. Have you ever noticed that talking to a sales representative is almost always number 1 on the menu unless there is a billing department option?
Customer service has not changed much but now they have added a new feature the customer service survey. My guess is that it is supposed to improve customers service which I am learning is very different from customer satisfaction and has nothing to do with me or any products or services that I have purchased. Even if they can’t help me they can and will send a survey.
Did you know that your call may be monitored for quality purposes? I am sure you did.
Calling customer service is about an automated phone system that requires pressing every number on my phone at least once because “our options have changed”.
When a human being comes on, if there is one, I am asked to recite a 25 digit serial number that is printed in .0005 font on the bottom of something that can not be lifted or turned over and then recite my name, email address, phone number, account number, the shoe size of my first born, the last four digits of my social security number, the middle 6 digits of a credit card number, my mothers maiden name and the color of my socks before I can be transfered to another department after I am put on hold again so that I can be asked the same questions all over again.
After I am done with the call and all hope of getting help has been crushed they annoy me with a customer service survey.
The questions on the survey never address any of the issues that are important to me like the fact that I had to call for service or that the serial number is in .0005 font or that I have to answer too many questions so the company can collect additional data to better serve me which is really about selling me more products that may need customer service so they can send me more surveys.
This week I found an online form that was so difficult to fill out that I gave up after only an hour and called for help. They could not help me but agreed to send me a packet of paper forms to fill out and then sent a link to a costumer service survey. I can’t fill out the survey but I won’t bother asking for customer service because there is no serial number on the form and without a serial number there is no customer service but probably another survey.
Did you know that your call is important? I am sure that you did.
Please don’t give me any more customer service. I know that my call is important to you but you will need to get over it and move on because I am not going to bother calling again. Find someone else to send your surveys to.
Oh and Happy Holidays
Bank of America, J. P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are freezing all foreclosure evictions on the mortgage loans they own or back from Dec. 20 through Jan. 3
That means that if the home is occupied they won’t throw you out during the holidays.
Happy Holidays!
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The storage problem
downtown
The snow along the streets downtown is car high. Bus benches and parking meters are buried. Some of the local roads are much narrower because of the snow banks. The schools have been closed because many of the children are not yet tall enough and could easily get lost in the snow banks.
We continue to remove snow from the roads and walkways but there isn’t any place to put it. Volunteers and employees will be removing snow from the TCF Bank stadium so that the Vikings can play but there isn’t any place to put the snow. There is more snow on the way and it is time to get creative. There has to be someplace to put the snow.
Note: I have looked at the weather map and am well aware of the fact that it is warmer in other parts of the country.
Seven Years of good luck
Home Sweet Home
Some of the people who have gone through foreclosure in the last few years are thinking about their next home. They will be able to buy again but as a rule they will have to wait seven years.
The credit score will have to come up too. At a minimum it will need to be in the 620 to 640 range but 700 or above would be much better for getting a decent interest rate. That is how things are now which isn’t to say they couldn’t change.
If you have been foreclosed upon the first priority should be lowering debt and paying bills on time. The second priority should be putting some money aside for a down payment. A few years ago it was relatively easy to buy a home using little or no cash but that isn’t the case today.
The minimum down payment for most borrowers is 3.5% and that is on an FHA loan. For the average home in St. Paul at todays prices about $5500 is needed in cash. There are down payment assistance programs but they are not available to everyone.
Renting is not always a waste of money especially in cases when shorter term housing is needed. Renting offers more flexibility than ownership does. It isn’t a waste of money when the goal is to save money, pay off bills and save up to purchase a home.