Lowest Mortgage Rates in HISTORY!

In Freddie Mac's results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, the average fixed mortgage rates were largely unchanged helping to keep homebuyer affordability high for those in the market to purchase or looking to refinance. Both the 30-year fixed and 15-year fixed rate mortgages matched their all-time record lows.

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.66 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 28, 2012, the same as last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.51 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged 2.94 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.95 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.69 percent.

5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.79 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.77. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.22 percent.

1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.74 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, the same as last week. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.97 percent. According to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac: "Mortgage rates were virtually unchanged this week hovering at or near record lows and should further help to support a recovering housing market. Both the S&P/Case Shiller® 20-city composite and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's house price indexes showed over a 0.5 percent monthly increase in April. Meanwhile, pending existing home sales rebounded in May by 5.9 percent to match a two year high and new home sales jumped 7.6 percent to its fastest pace since April 2010."

It's Summer so Lets Go to the Coast!!! Texas Coast that is!

Vacation on the Beach... Rockport/Fulton & Port Aransas Beaches.


Rockport Beach is Texas' first Blue Wave Beach and one of only four on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Rockport Beach Information

There is a daily $5 or $15 annual vehicle parking fee. There is no charge to enter by foot, bicycle, or if you are towing a boat or boat trailer to go to the public boat ramp. No dogs allowed inside the beach since it is a bird sanctuary.

There are 61 individual picnic sites spread throughout the Rockport Beach. Each site has a covered picnic table with barbeque grill. These sites are first come/first serve.

No, overnight camping is not permitted in the Rockport Beach.

Fishing is permitted just about anywhere, including a popular 800 foot pier at the North end of the beach. Two off-limit fishing sites are the boat dock and the Saltwater pool.

Rockport Little Bay WATER SAFETY

All boats/personal watercraft pulling skiers within Little Bay must have an observer 13 years of age or older on board and facing rearward.

All traffic in the ski basin is one-way and must travel in a counterclockwise direction.

No motor vehicles or personal watercraft are allowed in restricted areas (shallow areas of Little Bay) marked by signs.

No sailing in the ski basin.

No airboats in the ski basin.
Port Aransas

Beach Parking Permit Information

1. The City of Port Aransas requires a $12.00 permit to park along the beaches. This includes the area from Marker (0) to Marker (62) except in the free parking area.

2. Free Parking areas include between the Jetties and Horace Caldwell Pier and between Markers 52-58
3. RV, tent and other types of camping are permitted on the beach.
4. There is a three (3) night limit for camping during any three (3) week period.
5. Small fires no larger than 3 ft. x 3 ft. are permitted on the beach.
BEACH SAFETY

• Check the beach at the water line for any marine life that has washed ashore, please DO NOT TOUCH! They can still be venomous even though they are not in the water.
• If there are Jelly Fish or Man -O- War washed ashore, be careful when getting into the water, and try not to make contact with them.

When walking in the water, shuffle your feet. This will frighten the stingray, causing it to move out of the way, and lessen your chance of stepping on them.

Jelly Fish
Their bodies are hemispherical in shape, that are tough and thick, white, milky, or bluish in color. Their tentacles are short and fused into a tight bundle that contains a poison that will also cause a stinging sensation.
Portuguese Man -O- War
Also called the bluebottle, can be found in the Gulf of Mexico. The Man -O- War has a gas-filled chamber that is used like a sail to propel it through the water. The Man -O- War is iridescent blue, with long tentacles that can reach up 180 ft in length. The tentacles contain a poison, which causes the stinging sensation.
TREATMENT

1. Immediately get away from the creature as they can sting many times.
2. Protecting your hands with a towel scrape the tentacles and/or slimy deposits from the skin.
3. Packing the area with wet sand, and then wash it away with water (repeat as needed) will also help remove the remnants of the jellyfish from your skin.
4. Make a paste from Unseasoned Meat Tenderizer and rubbing alcohol, and then apply the mixture to the affected area. Unless affected area is the genital area, then use water to make the paste instead of rubbing alcohol.

The meat tenderizer applied to the affected area detoxifies the effects of the venom. Once the pain has subsided, wash away the paste, and treat area, as you would sunburn.
...call 911 if there is an allergic reaction...


For more in information about Rockport Beach visit http://www.rockportbeach-texas.com/
Port Aransas Beach visit http://www.cityofportaransas.org/Port_Aransas_Beach.cfm

TEXAS PASSES NEW HOA LAWS!!!

Nearly 20% of Texans live in neighborhoods that have homeowners associations (HOAs), and new laws that went into effect earlier this year have provided more rights to those property owners regarding the use of their property.
Here are five property-related upgrades or additions that HOAs can no longer prevent homeowners from doing:

1. Install a solar-energy device on the property.
2. Install and use rain-harvesting devices.
3. Display certain religious items on the entry of the property.
4. Install roof shingles that are wind and/or hail resistant, energy efficient, or solar generating.
5. Fly the U.S., Texas, or a branch of the U.S. armed forces flag.

Each of these rights apply to condos as well. It’s important to note that a homeowners association may place some parameters on these rights.

Austin is #2 place in US to buy a HOME!!!

Buying a home is not a decision to be taken lightly. Personal finance gurus warn against purchasing unless you plan to keep it for a minimum of five years and, since the housing bubble burst, many say it’s best to buy only if it fits your lifestyle – not your investing portfolio.
For first-time home buyers shopping for a permanent, full-time residence, it’s advice to heed. But say you do simply want a place to park some of your hard-earned money, perhaps a fixer-upper you could occupy for a few years or maybe a house you believe you could rent out right away and easily oversee?
See full story: The Best Cities To Buy A Home Right Now

You wouldn’t be alone: investment-homes sales jumped 64.5% from 2010 to 2011, with investors making up 27% of all single-family, condo and co-op purchases last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. And it’s no wonder why. Home affordability is at the highest level ever in the 42 years that NAR has been tracking it. Nationally, home prices are down more than 30% from their 2006 peak. Mortgage rates hover near all-time lows, with 30-year fixed loans just under 4%. And while the 10-year Treasury note yields around 2% and a 1-year CD an even stingier 1% or less, housing investments, specifically homes purchased as rental properties, return a 6.3% yield on average, according to Goldman Sachs.
So you have cash or financing to make a purchase, you’re aware of the responsibilities that come with homeownership, and despite the woes continuing to hinder a full-on housing market recovery, you believe in brick and mortar investments. Now comes the tricky part: where to buy that house.
“A lot of what we read is national but you have to take housing down to the local level and look at the reasons why a market may be turning around, may be a good place to buy,” says Steve Berkowitz, chief executive of Realtor.com, a Campbell, Calif.-based home listing site.
To determine the best places to invest in a real estate purchase now, Realtor.com created a list which sorted through February housing and jobs data for 146 Metropolitan Areas and Metropolitan Divisions (cities and their neighboring suburbs) across the U.S. The company, which boasts millions of home listings filtered from over 900 Multiple Listing Services, looked at listing price data, sales data and inventory trends such as the amount of homes available in each market and number of days on market. Realtor.com also utilized the peak-to-trough home price index from Fiserv Case-Shiller, which tracks how much home prices have fallen in the past five years and can serve as an indicator of whether they have bottomed. Lastly, unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were factored into the rankings, since jobs (or lack thereof) are a leading indicator of housing demand.If you want to buy low, foreclosure-riddled Tucson, Ariz., may be just the place. It ranks No. 1 on this list.“In the case of Tucson, you are looking at foreclosures dropping back quite a bit coupled with a stable employment market,saysBerkowitz. The area has a 7.8% unemployment rate, a tad lower than the national average of 8.2%, helped by the presence of sizable employers in the recession-resistant education and government sectors, including the University of Arizona, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the U.S. Army Intelligence Center. All of this suggests Tucson’s housing market may be bottoming.
Here are the top 5 cities to buy a home:
5. Fort Worth, TX
2.Baltimore, MD
3. Kansas City, MO
2. Austin, TX
Photo: Don Klumpp/Getty Images
Median List Price: $229,500 (up 12% y-o-y)Inventory Level: 8,329 homes for sale (down 19% y-o-y)Median Days On Market: 77 (down 21% y-o-y)Price Drop From Peak: 2.9%Unemployment Rate: 6.1%

1. Tucson, AZ
Median List Price: $170,000 (up 3% y-o-y)Inventory Level: 6,600 homes for sale (down 23% y-o-y)Median Days On Market: 86 (down 12% y-o-y)Price Drop From Peak: 45.1%Unemployment Rate: 7.8%

In pictures: The Best Cities To Buy A Home Right Now

Did you ever think to look for? The top 5 details most home buyers miss.

When you’re looking for a new home, you probably have a list of “wants” and “needs”, like the distance from your work, the school district and the home size. It’s easy to overlook the details…those little things that can make a home wonderful or a nightmare once you settle in. Sure, most of the little things can be fixed, but that can make living in your new home more of a project than you might want. Here’s a list of 5 things home shoppers forget to check out before they buy.
Electrical outlets – Some homes seem to have been built with the idea that “less is more” should apply to electrical outlets. That means you’ll have to run extension cords, add multi-plugs or daisy-chain cords. All dangerous choices, especially if your home includes pets, children or the elderly. Ideally, there should be at least one outlet per wall in bedrooms and two per wall in public rooms like family rooms and dens, plus one double outlet per section of kitchen counter.
Cable access – Most homeowners expect to have some way to connect to cable or satellite TV and Internet. If the only access is in the living room, you may be looking at big costs to add additional outlets in bedrooms, your home office or the kitchen. Consider where you are most likely to watch TV or locate a home computer to determine if the wiring works for you.
Nighttime noise – It’s easy to get distracted by daytime noise when you’re house-hunting. But what does the neighborhood sound like when you’re trying to relax on your porch or get a good night’s sleep. Before you place a offer, drive over to the new neighborhood, roll down your windows and listen. You may hear road or business noise that would become an issue once you’re in the home.
Soil – Whether you like to garden, or just want to have beautiful landscaping, the quality of the soil matters. Look at the existing plants and lawn. Is it thriving? Or are you seeing dry, cracked ground or hard clay soil? That could mean big expenses ahead when you need to have good soil delivered to your new home before you can plant.
Privacy – If you have children or other family members at home, or if you often have overnight guests, consider how the layout of the house would impact your privacy. Do you share adjoining walls? Share a bathroom? It some houses you may have to walk through one room to get to another…no problem when you’re using it as a craft room, but when Great-Aunt Bertha comes to visit, it could become a major issue.

45,000 NEW JOBS IN AUSTIN IN 2 YEARS...WOW!!!

http://bit.ly/zH4BZc
Economist: Austin area to add 45,000 new jobs in next two years
By Kirk LadendorfAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, Feb. 24, 2012

Austin's puny job recovery over the past two years will accelerate into faster job growth this year and next, economist Angelos Angelou said in his 26th annual forecast event Thursday.

The CEO of Angelou Economics forecast 45,000 new jobs will be added to Austin's five-county metro area in 2012 and 2013, more than doubling the job expansion of the past two years.

Austin added 12,800 jobs last year, and its growth rate of 1.7 percent trailed other major cities in Texas and the state as a whole, which expanded jobs by 2.3 percent.

The drivers for a stronger economy, Angelou said, will be venture-backed startups, a resurgence of established tech companies, an increase in new residents moving into the region from elsewhere and a stronger real estate development sector.

Austin's economy, Angelou said, is getting its groove back.

"I am optimistic about the forecast because I believe we had a significant recovery in the high-tech sector last year, which will continue. We had a 7 percent increase in our number of high-tech workers, expanding to 101,000 last year," Angelou said. "That is substantial. Those increased payrolls are going to kick in this year and next."

"Venture capital seems to be doing fairly well, and if those trends continue, we should see more small companies being formed. And people are continuing to move to Austin. Population growth last year generated about $1.1 billion to our total personal income."

Those new jobs, Angelou predicts, will drive the local unemployment rate down to 5.6 percent in 2013 from its current rate of 6.3 percent. He forecasts the population will expand during the two years by 88,000 to reach 1.84 million by the end of 2013.

The forecast calls for 14,500 single-family home starts during 2012-13 along with the construction of 8,000 new apartment units. It also calls for increased construction of office space, industrial space and retail space as occupancy rates continue to rise.

Angelou also is bullish on the rise in Austin's entertainment events, including continued growth for the South by Southwest festivals, the Austin City Limits music festival and the city's first Formula One auto race, which is scheduled for November.

"We are going back to being a high-tech town, a fun place to be and a great place to live and do business," he said. "Formula One is going to provide a lot to this region over time, and it will be very successful."

The eventual impact of Formula One could reach $500 million a year to the local economy, Angelou estimated.

Angelou, who runs an economic development consulting business, has been giving Austin economic forecasts since he was hired as an economist with the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce in 1984.

Angelou's forecast usually has tracked the economy fairly closely over the years. He missed in 2009, the worst year of the latest recession, when he forecast weak growth of just over 2,000 jobs, and Austin instead recorded a net loss of more than 16,000 jobs.

While Angelou was upbeat about the local outlook, Jay Bryson, managing director and global economist for Wells Fargo Securities, gave a more guarded outlook about the national economy.

Low interest rates and strong business balance sheets in the United States should promote more growth, but the economy may be constrained by consumers' focus on paying down their debts, Bryson said.

Wells Fargo expects the nation's gross national product adjusted for inflation will expand by 2 percent this year, which is slightly better than the 1.7 percent growth recorded last year.

Continued low interest rates and strong business balance sheets will enable growth, but the key remains how much of their income consumers devote to spending versus paying down past debts.

Bryson said the United States faces a few big risks, including rising oil prices, which could slow down consumer spending, and the deep problems of dealing with heavy government deficits both in Europe and this country.

The European financial crisis still poses a substantial threat to banks in Europe, he said. If the European debt situation is not worked out, it could cause a "major disruption" for the European financial system, which could lead to tighter credit in the U.S.

"Europe is not over yet and is not going to be over for awhile," Bryson said.

Continued heavy deficit spending in the United States probably won't create an economic crisis in this country this year, but he said the issue needs to be addressed by politicians in the next 18 months or risks could rise dramatically.

Business people who are expanding, Bryson said, should consider not only the best-case economic scenario, but how well their business plans would hold up against those major economic risks.

"Caution is well-advised," he said.

kladendorf@statesman.com; 445-3622

Predicted job growth, 2012-13
Industry New jobs % growth
Education/health services 7,200 7.9%

Leisure and hospitality 7,000 8.1%

Retail trade 6,900 8.2%

Professional services 5,700 5.2%

Construction 4,400 11.3%

Other services 2,800 8.1%

Financial activities 2,800 6.5%

Manufacturing 2,600 5.4%

Government 1,700 1.0%

Wholesale trade 1,700 4.2%

Transportation 1,200 9.2%

Information 900 4.7%

Source: Angelou Economics

Tax Breaks for Homebuyers!!!

Technically speaking, April 15th is tax day. But for Americans who expect a refund - including many homeowners who want to cash in on real estate-related tax perks - filing sooner holds the promise of getting that check in hand, stat. If you count yourself in that number, here’s a handy guide for 9 pieces of paper you should be sure to round up as you prepare to file, in order to reap every penny of the tax rewards you’ve earned by virtue of owning a home.

1.Mortgage Interest Statement - IRS Form 1098. The meatiest real estate tax deduction on the books is the one that allows you to deduct 100 percent of the mortgage interest you paid in a year - including prepaid interest or points you might have paid at close of escrow, if you bought a home last year. By now, you should have received in the mail a Form 1098 from your mortgage lender that reports how much that interest totaled up to in 2011. If you itemize your taxes and claim a mortgage interest deduction, you must include this form with your tax form when you file.(If you haven’t received yours yet, most lenders that have online account management services also post the form digitally in your secure account on the web. Just login like you would to make your monthly payment, and look for a notice that says you can now download your 2011 Form 1098.)

2.Property Tax Statements. In addition to deducting your mortgage interest, if you own a home you are eligible to deduct the property taxes you pay to your local city, county and/or state. You are not allowed to deduct some of the other miscellaneous expenses that some localities bundle up with the taxes they collect, like waste management and local assessments for things like street lighting, libraries and sidewalk construction. To get this deduction right, the best practice is to have your property tax statements at hand and make sure you’re only deducting what’s allowed.If you bought your home this year, it’s highly possible that you might not even have received a property tax statement yet - if that’s the case, look to #3, below.
3.Uniform Settlement Statement (HUD-1). If you bought or sold a home last year, right after closing you should have received a form called the HUD-1 Settlement Statement (hint: it’s usually on legal-sized paper and contains an accounting of credits and debits for you and your home’s buyer or seller). That form documents a number of line items which might help you out at tax time, including prepaid interest, the prorated property taxes you paid at closing, and closing costs like original fees and discount points. Some states offer tax credits for buying a foreclosure; check with your tax pro to find out if any such credits apply to you. If so, this statement might be your ticket to lower taxes.
And here’s another handy hint - if you can’t find your copy, you might have gotten it on a disk - and you can always email your real estate or escrow agent for a copy, as well.
4.Moving Expense Receipts. Moving expenses are tax deductible, if your move is closely related, both in time and in place, to the start of work at a new or changed job location and you meet the IRS’ time and distance tests. Long story short, your new home must be at least 50 miles farther from your new workplace than your old home was from your prior place of work, and you must work essentially full-time. So, if you bought or sold a home and moved in 2011, you’ll need to include receipts from expenses you incurred making the move (meals not included) in your tax prep paperwork.

5.Cancellation of Debt Statement - IRS Form 1099. Homeowners who lost a home to foreclosure, or divested of one by negotiating a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure with their lender might receive some version of Form 1099 from their lenders, charging them with income in the amount of the mortgage debt that has been cancelled. You see, if you borrow money from someone, then they cancel the debt, that money you originally borrowed becomes income in the eyes of the IRS - and income is, as you know, taxable.

6.Utility statements for home office. For the average everyday homeowner who works at their employer’s place of business, utilities are not deductible (sorry!). But if there is a part of your home that is “regularly and exclusively” used for business, you might be able to claim that portion of your home as a home office, and deduct some portion of your home utilities and costs of painting and repairs, as a result.Talk with your tax provider about what expenses are allowable to be claimed under your home office deduction, and whether or not you should take it.

7.Income and Expense statements from rental properties. Some of you have elevated the art of home ownership to a business! If you are a landlord, your tax situation is more complicated than that of the average bear; you’ll need to have complete income and expense statements when you put your tax returns together. It might actually behoove you to consult with a tax professional to make sure you are appropriately depreciating the property over time and not taking deductions that will expose you to the risk of audits, as well as to begin cultivating a long-term tax strategy for your real estate portfolio.

8.Contractor receipts from energy efficient home improvements. Under the Nonbusiness Energy Tax Credit, homeowners who have made improvements to their homes that fall within a list of energy efficient upgrades might be eligible to claim tax credits. If, during 2011, you installed energy efficient improvements such as insulation, new dual-paned windows and furnaces, you might be eligible for a tax credit of 10 percent of the cost of these upgrades, up to $500 - only $200 of which may be used to offset the cost of windows.

9.Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC). If you own a home you bought in the last few years using a Mortgage Credit Certificate issued by a local housing authority, that Certificate may entitle you to a pretty hefty tax credit, based on a percentage of the mortgage interest you paid - on top of your mortgage interest deduction. MCCs apply as long as you live in the home and have a mortgage on it, but they only apply to defray taxes you actually owe - you can’t use them to get a refund. In any event, your mortgage credit certificate, if you have one, is a must-have document as you start putting your tax prep plan in play.

No matter what your tax situation is, if you own a home, it absolutely cannot hurt to get some professional help and advice to make sure you maximize your deductions, while minimizing your exposure to audit. And you should always consult with a tax attorney or certified public accountant regarding your tax liabilities and implications when you buy, sell, short sell or lose a home to foreclosure.