Mike Lesmeister - CMG Financial - Houston, Texas

The end of the First-Time Homebuyer tax credit has had a significant effect on the local real estate markets. I spoke with a number of agents here in the Houston area who were writing contracts up until Midnight on April 30th. Others wrote more than a dozen contracts over the course of the last w...

That’s right, a social network abuser.  By this, I don’t mean someone who is spending four hours a day tweeting and posting photos to Facebook. What I mean is someone who is trying to use social network media purely as an advertising platform. I have a few REALTOR® acquaintances who fall into thi...

Roughly 25% of the U.S. population lives in the rual areas that represent 98% of our country's land mass. For many homeonwers in these areas, the USDA's Guaranteed Rural Housing Program has provided the path to homeownership with up to 100% financing for needy families looking to become homeowner...

Join us for a FREE Workshop Thursday, February 18th at 9:30am or Wednesday, March 3rd at 10:00am    Open Houses are one of the most cost effective ways to generate leads. However, most agents don't structure and market their events to maximize attendance and increase their network. If you are dis...

By now, you've heard, whether here or somewhere else, about the proposed changes to FHA policies that affect down payment requirements, up-front mortgage insurance premiums, allowable seller concessions, and stepped-up enforcement of FHA lenders. These policies are now set to go into effect with ...

A recent survey of Houston, TX-area real estate investors shows that they are generally optimistic about the local housing market. Overall, 81% of the respondents, 74% of whom are experienced real estate investors with at least two investment properties, felt optimistic about the prospects for th...

FHA has just announced their policy changes affecting FHA mortgage financing. You might recall we talked about possible options in an earlier posting, but now we have something concrete. First, as expected, FHA will be increasing their up-front mortgage insurance premium by .50% to 2.25% on a pur...

Just as maybe, kinda, you were thinking the housing markets were beginning to stabilize....BOOM! Fitch Ratings, an investment rating service today warned that $47 Billion in interest-only (IO) mortgages are due to reset before the end of 2010, and another $130 Billion in Prime, Alt-A, and Subprim...

It is 2010. You're a first time, or maybe even a second-time, homebuyer and you still aren't sure if buying a home is the right thing to do now. Maybe you won't qualify for a mortgage.  What if home prices haven't quite bottomed out yet? Perhaps, you don't know where to start.  After all, buying ...

Since we have now thankfully placed 2009 in the rear view mirror, it is time to ask ourselves, "will 2010 be any better?" Being a bit of an amateur prognosticator, I have put together my own list of real estate-related predictions for 2010. Remember, I can't be proven wrong for another year, and ...