Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas

Decorating on a dime, or have a bit of budget to spend?  Today’s blog will inspire you to start decorating today for the big feast on Thursday.  Even if you’re not hosting, you can still enjoy the warm glow of seeing decorations in your home.  Additionally, some of these ideas could be a great host(ess) gift.

Things to Make Yourself

Transform a serving platter into a mini chalkboard using special paint you can find in most craft stores.  Write the menu, or cocktails, or even a warm greeting for your guests in colorful chalk.  You could transform a thrift store find into a great present for the less than $20 (the cost of the paint, a brush, a pack of chalk, and the platter).  For a video showing how to do this, click here.  (warning, there are ads before and after, and the video starts playing right away)
Take a basket, some leaves from outside, some fruit or some leftover pumpkins, and you’ve got a centerpiece.  Apples and grapefruit in an antique tin can be a country kitchen replacement for the cornucopia.   For 20 inspiring ideas, click here. (it’s a slideshow)
And for the individuals, here’s ideas for place cards and napkin rings.  It’s also a slideshow.

From Casual

Host a Casual Thanksgiving Brunch slideshow
Fun and silly ideas slideshow.  Our favorite was using plastic wishbones for a napkin ring so everyone can make a wish.

To Formal

Tips for setting a formal Thanksgiving table
Martha Stewart recommendations for Thanksgiving decorating.  And here’s how she recommends a variety of table settings.

And Don’t Forget The Kids

LilSugar shows how to make paper turkey place cards, and has additional recommendations to make the kids table fun.
About.com recommends adding in little favors such as stickers, stencils, coloring books and age appropriate jigsaw puzzles to keep the kids occupied.
Keep it fun for you so you enjoy your home.  Don’t get caught up in needing to be perfect so that it becomes stressful.
Do you have regular decorations you bring out each year?  Have you brought your Christmas decorations out too, or do you wait until after Thanksgiving?

Now Cheaper To Buy Than To Rent

It is now considerably cheaper to own a home than to rent that same home, something unheard of since 2008.

This and other promising information about the housing market was recently released by Harvard in their annual “State of the Nation’s Housing,” an in-depth study performed by The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

Because of historically low mortgage rates and low home prices post-recession, it is a perfect time to buy.
On the other hand, rent prices are soaring, especially in the Bay Area. According to Trulia, San Francisco and Oakland saw the biggest jumps in rent in the United States over the last year, with increases of 14.7 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively.

“With rents up, home prices sharply down, and mortgage interest rates at record lows, mortgage costs relative to monthly rents haven’t been this favorable since the early 1970s,” said Eric S. Belsky, managing director for the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard.

The report also noted that today, mortgage payments for the median priced US home are roughly half of what they were in 1990. The study showed that mortgage payments are now 23% less than rent payments for the median priced home.

This means that it is a fantastic time to be a home buyer, and to get off of the fence if you’ve been waiting for the market to turn around.

Take a look at the entire Harvard study here:
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research/state_nations_housing.

If you are interested in seeing if you qualify to purchase a home, please don't hesitate to contact me!

New Outdoor Furniture Is Stylish, Comfortable

Outdoor living is moving beyond the concrete slab or generic deck. Many people are expanding their outdoor living spaces, says decorator Sally Falk Nancrede.
Whether they have added grill islands, pergolas or beam roofs, a whole industry is developing for the growth of outdoor living. People want comfy, plush, upholstered or slipcovered chairs that rock or recline, and they want easy-care sofas they can stretch out in.

Store furniture buyers say the products are a lot more consumer-friendly than in previous years. Cushions have drain-through features. Many tables are made with cast-aluminum frames and have composite stone or Corona tops that don’t break. They look nicer and are made heavier so they don’t blow over in the wind.
Easy-care Adirondack chairs made in the United States are colorful and formed from recycled plastic. They are durable, comfortable and are zero-maintenance. They never have to be painted or touched up.

In past decades, Adirondacks were brown and red brown. This year, some are taupe, gray, blue or green.
This is the year people are happy to improve their outdoor living features, and improving curb appeal can increase your home’s value.

Consumer Confidence Is Rising

Consumer confidence at the end of March reached the second-highest level in four years.

Lower interest rates on mortgages and credit cards were one reason for the more positive view. According to a USA Today analysis, American households paid an average of $8,731 for mortgage interest in 2007. For 2011, the average interest was $5,633.

Low interest rates mean more cash in your pocket.
Three-fourths of the interest savings were from falling interest rates, the rest were from debt reduction.
For the three-week period ending on March 25, The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index showed more than 30 percent of households said they had a favorable view of the buying climate. It was the longest stretch since early 2008.

The economic gain for borrowers is greater than other stimulus efforts or even high gas prices. A cut in the Social Security payroll tax, for example, saves households an average of about $70 a month.

Job and income growth are providing consumers with the means to withstand higher fuel costs and are the basis for sales of cars and other expensive items. Economists at the National Automobile Association say even if people aren’t paying attention to their falling interest rates, the money builds up in their checking accounts and especially benefits big-ticket items like cars.

The favorable reduction in household debt shows that many responsible Americans are using the extra cash to pay down credit card balances, which is always a wise move.

Consumer spending is a big factor in U.S. economic growth, so if you need a car or a fridge and can afford it, you’ll perk the economy if you go ahead and buy it.

Common First Time Homebuyer Mistakes

Many first-time homebuyers make simple and common mistakes that are easily avoidable.
They face multiple challenges anyway, such as finding the right home, the right agent, getting approved for a mortgage, and staying within their budget. By avoiding these common mistakes, the process of buying a home can be much less stressful.

1. Overlooking extra costs of homeownership
While some see themselves as ready for homeownership once they can afford a mortgage payment, it is important to remember the other fees that come along with owning a home. Property taxes, home owners association fees, maintenance, higher water and electrical bills, and property insurance are among the extra costs of owning a home, and should be calculated into your budget.

2. Not getting preapproved
It is very important to get preapproved for a loan before you go out searching for the perfect place. That way, you will be making financially sound decisions versus unrealistic emotional ones as to what you can afford.

3. Spending your entire savings on your down payment
This is one of the most common mistakes first time homebuyers make. Homebuyers who put 20 percent or more down don’t have to pay for mortgage insurance when getting a conventional mortgage, which often translates into substantial savings on the monthly payment. However, it is smarter to keep your rainy day savings intact instead.
photo credit: opensourceway

Financial Fitness

This article about being financially fit has great advice for small, inexpensive ways to save more money over time with your home.
Several tips that stand out are:

1. Be fire ready – Check that your fire extinguishers are functioning and easily available, and check your smoke detectors as well.

2. Prevent shocks – Outlets near water, such as in the bathroom or kitchen, should have a ground fault circuit to prevent shocks and electrocution. An inexpensive tool can alleviate this worry.
The major takeaway from this is that by making small investments in your home, you save yourself more in the long-run and protect the value of your property.

Full article here.

This Week’s Market Commentary

Happy New Year Everyone!
This week bring us the release of only three monthly reports that are relevant to the bond market and mortgage rates, but two of them are considered to be highly important.

In addition to those three reports, we also will get the minutes from the last FOMC meeting that may influence the markets and possibly mortgage rates. The financial markets are closed today due to the New Year’s Day holiday.

The first report is the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index for December late tomorrow morning. This highly important index measures manufacturer sentiment. A reading above 50 means that more surveyed manufacturing executives felt that business improved during the month than those who felt it had worsened.

That indicates manufacturing sector strength rather than contraction. Analysts are currently expecting to see a 53.4 reading in this month’s release, meaning that sentiment strengthened from November’s 52.7. A smaller reading will be good news for the bond market and mortgage shoppers, while a higher than expected reading could lead to higher mortgage rates tomorrow morning as it would point towards economic strength.

Also tomorrow is the release of the minutes from the last FOMC meeting. This will give market participants insight to the Fed’s thinking and concerns regarding the economy, inflation and monetary policy. It is one of those pieces of information that may cause a great deal of volatility in the markets or be a non-factor, depending on what the minutes show. They will be released at 2:00 PM ET, so they won’t affect the markets or mortgage rates until afternoon hours.

The Commerce Department will post November’s Factory Orders data late Wednesday morning. This data gives us a fairly important measurement of manufacturing sector strength. It is similar to the Durable Goods Orders release that was posted late last week, except this report includes orders for both durable and non-durable goods. Durable goods are items that are expected to last three or more years such as electronics and autos. Examples of non-durable goods are food and clothing. Analysts are expecting to see an increase of 2.1% in new orders. This report generally does not have a huge impact on the bond market or mortgage rates, but it can influence bond trading enough to create a minor change in rates. The smaller the increase, the better the news for mortgage rates.

The final report of the week comes Friday morning when the Labor Department will post December’s employment figures. The Employment report is arguably the most important monthly release we see. It gives us the national unemployment rate, the number of jobs added or lost during the month and average hourly earnings, which is a key measure of wage inflation. Rising unemployment, a decline in payrolls and earnings would be ideal news for the bond market.

Current forecasts call for a 0.1% rise from November’s unemployment rate of 8.6%, 150,000 new jobs added to the economy and an increase in earnings of 0.2%. If we see weaker than expected results, mortgage rates should improve Friday. However, stronger than expected readings will likely raise optimism about the economy, pushing mortgage rates sharply higher.

Overall, the key data of the week will be Friday’s Employment report, but look for tomorrow and Wednesday to be active due to the economic data and FOMC minutes scheduled. If they give us favorable results, mortgage rates will likely move lower for the week. But if not, we can expect to see mortgage rates move higher on the week.