Behind the Buzz: We all know that interest rates are at historic lows, and that everyone’s touting “now” as the time to buy or sell a home. But what’s the real deal behind all the hype – and where can the real deals be found in the Chicagoland market? Ken Dooley, real estate agent with Conlon: A Real Estate Company, joins Ken Perlmutter, founder of PERL Mortgage to discuss buzzworthy “trends” — fact vs. fiction — in today’s market.

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Online Content: As a wide variety of relevant information flourishes through social media outlets, many real estate professionals are evaluating what’s actually bringing value to clients and associates. PERL Founder Ken Perlmutter is joined by Ken Dooley, agent with Conlon: A Real Estate Company, to discuss social media content and the best methods of sorting and disseminating relevant information.

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New Logo! Also…PERL President Ken Perlmutter discusses steps the mortgage industry has taken to restore transparency through rational underwriting, more traditional lending guidelines, and education — as well as government efforts to stimulate the homebuying market by purchasing mortgage backed securities, extending the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, and evolving oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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BBBreaking news! PERL Mortgage has received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois!

Here’s the scoop:

The BBB introduced a new ratings system (from A+ to F) for all Accredited Businesses to replace the old “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” ratings. This changeover was mandated by the Council of Better Business Bureaus (the BBB’s parent organization), and will be used throughout the United States and Canada.

The letter grades are calculated electronically by using a ratings formula taking 17 weighted factors into account. The largest single factor in determining a letter grade is a company’s overall complaint history with the BBB – and PERL is proud to have received a perfect score!

In an industry where reputation precedes loyalty, PERL’s honored to have both in a single basket – and we thank our loyal, longtime customers for truly making PERL Your Lender for Life!

In today’s financial climate, everyone’s becoming more informed about our nation’s markets and economic indicators.

Let’s take a look at mortgage interest rates, and a financial indicator that can help you determine whether they might move up or down.

The 10-Year Treasury
On a broad level, when the economy does poorly, interest rates go down. This is because the government, in an attempt to invite more money into the economy, lowers interest rates.

Historically, mortgage interest rates move in lockstep with the yield of the 10-year Treasury. If the yield on the 10-year treasury (i.e. the interest rate of the 10-year treasury) goes up, the price of the Treasury goes down, therefore the yield goes down and rates go up.

The 10-year Treasury yield also affects mortgage backed securities (MBS).

For a long time, the spread between the 10-year Treasury and the 30-year fixed rate mortgage was between 1.5 - 2%. So if the 10-year Treasury was at 3%, you could likely see a 30-year fixed mortgage at 5%.

However, last year, with the onset of the current global financial economic crisis, people became more concerned about investing in mortgages (and moved investments to stocks and bonds). The spread between the Treasury and interest rates widened.

So, the premium spread rose from 2-3%, causing a lack in correlation between the 10-year Treasury and mortgage interest rates — and an overall inability to accurately predict interest rate movement.

With the recent Federal intervention and injection of money into the economy, financial analysts are hoping that the margin between treasuries and mortgage interest rates will become more consistent and dependable.

The “Market Data” section of Bloomberg.com provides a great daily indicator of Treasury yields and mortgage interest rates.

For more information — and a radio interview with PERL Founder Ken Perlmutter on interest rate fluctuation, please listen to The PERL Mortgage Podcast.