Category: Business

The Latest Trends in the Mortgage Industry

Many people wonder about the current trends in the mortgage industry, especially since the opinions of the experts can be a bit contradictory at times… A recent study reveals some interesting facts and prepares us for what is to come.

Among the new trends already announced, there is one that grew fast, during the pandemic, and is expected to continue: many people who opt for a mortgage to buy a house are looking for houses with dedicated office spaces, as many want to continue working from home, at least occasionally. This is normal, after almost 2 years of the pandemic.

Also, an increase in the prices for the houses that will be constructed and finished in the next 2 years is announced, due to the increase in the prices of materials, but also to the delays in deliveries.

Denver home loan

The 10 trends already identified or announced on this year’s real estate market

  1. The interest rate on mortgages progressively increases
  2. The accessibility of purchasing homes through credit decreases
  3. Young buyers, at their first purchase, will be the most affected
  4. New constructions are still preferred
  5. The increase in demand for apartments will slow down
  6. The demand for vacant land and houses with land remains high as a result of the prolongation of the pandemic and buyers’ preferences for quiet residential areas, with low population density, in a green environment
  7. The prices demanded for the houses that will be completed in the next 2 years are increasing at a pretty fast pace due to the increase in material prices, but also due to the delay in deliveries
  8. The existing offer in the secondary market decreases
  9. Buyers no longer sell the properties they already own and turn them into an investment property, or pass them on to family members
  10. Many people are looking for houses with a dedicated office space, because they want to continue working from home, at least now and then.

Mortgages are rising: how a real estate bubble breaks out in real time

The increase in the key interest rate always affects the loans of households and businesses, respectively people`s personal finances. After a decade of artificially low interest rates applied by central banks, a record consumer debt has been now reached.

The raising of interest rates is the pawn that makes real estate bubbles explode. The faster and higher the interest rate, the faster the bubble will explode.

In the US, the key interest rate increase began in March this year. In real time, we see the negative effects on the real estate market. Denver home loan mortgage rates have seen the biggest increase in 35 years, as inflation and interest rates rise, threatening to leave many first-time buyers out of the way. The average interest rate on a 30-year mortgage jumped by more than half a percentage point to 5.78%, the highest level since November 2008, according to mortgage specialists.

The rapid acceleration has threatened to cool down a strong real estate market because Americans — many of them working from home during the coronavirus pandemic — have taken advantage of lower mortgage rates to buy homes, thus taking the prices to record levels.

But the recent rise in Denver home loan mortgage rates threatens this accessibility, slowing down the demand for housing.

Where Can a Small Business Look to Get good IT Support?

Excited employees engaged company good IT support

Most small business owners are aware of the importance of having top-notch IT support, provided by knowledgeable experts, but many of these small businesses put up with inadequate monitoring and protection protocols because they think that professional IT support is out of reach for them from a financial point of view. While the budgets of many small companies do not allow for hiring a single in-house IT specialist, let alone an entire team, fortunately, high-quality IT support services are today available from many specialized providers for very affordable rates. Here are some tips to find the right provider of managed IT tasks.

Know What You Want

Take a look at the size and type of your infrastructure, including the number of your workstations, servers and peripheries, make a list with the most common issues that you are faced with and with the potential threats that you need protection from. Having all the features of your system collected will give you a better idea of the types of services that you need and will make your search for the right IT support company easier.

Look for a Local Company

When you know what you want, you can start looking for the right company. You can turn to friends and other business owners for advice and for recommendation and you can also carry out some online research to identify local companies. While most types of managed IT services can be provided over the internet, working with a local company gives you the additional benefit of having an expert team by your side with problems that cannot be solved remotely, such as the setting-up of physical networks or the installation of power surge protectors.

The Other Features to Look for with Your IT Support Company

Here are some other features that are essential for having a good collaboration with the managed Denver IT company of choice:

  • A wide range of services – check the websites of the IT support companies around you for the services they provide. Look for a company whose services range covers all the activities that you need as well as services that you don’t need now, but might be necessary in the future;
  • References, testimonials and endorsements – good IT companies usually provide information related to their client portfolio on their websites. Check that section and take the time to read the testimonials you fin, too. You can also look for reviews and rating to get a better idea about how others evaluate the company’s services;
  • Look for a company that works only with in-house technicians – it is usually easier and more efficient to work with a company that is able to handle all the tasks they are in charge of using their own teams, without outsourcing any of the tasks to subcontractors;
  • Look for a company that provides a clear fee structure – most companies charge a one-time set-up fee and then they bill their clients on a monthly basis. Look for a company that works for flat monthly rates, not for an hourly rate, that way you can be sure that your IT partner is interested in doing a good job the first time and is not interested in dragging of time.

What Do I Ask A Potential Executive Recruiter?

executive recruiter

The best, safest and most efficient way to find the most suitable candidate for your top-level job opening is to outsource the task to an experienced and qualified executive recruiter. This means that the first thing that you need to take care of is to find an executive recruiter who has the experience and the industry knowledge to identify and recruit that great employee for you. With so many recruiting agencies around, the task of identifying the best service provider might be hard, so here are a few tips to help you.

Identify Companies Using Various Resources

Some of the best sources of information about local recruiters include your network of industry colleagues and online platforms. Talking to other business owners who have used such recruiting services or even to your own top-level employees who have been recruited by an executive headhunter are great ways to get first-hand information about local companies. You can also obtain information from employment-oriented online platforms and on the websites of executive recruiters.

Questions to Ask Potential Recruiting Partners

You should find out all you can about the recruiter’s relevant experience with companies from your industry segment. The recruiter’s knowledge of your industry and their personal network in your segment are essential for success, so ask the recruiters about their successes and challenges in recruiting executives for companies similar to yours.

The recruitment processes and strategies used by the recruiter are also very important. Ask questions about how the recruiter identifies candidates, about the methods they use for approaching those candidates as well as about the processes used for conducting preliminary interviews and for performing background checks. Ideally, your recruiter should search among active job seekers as well as among passive candidates who are currently employed, but might be interested in new challenges. The verification is also an important part of the recruitment process – the resumes submitted by the candidates should be checked meticulously for any gaps and discrepancies and the candidates’ employment and education history also needs to be verified.

The next important topic to ask your potential recruiter about is the interviewing processes they use with candidates. Ask the executive recruiter how many rounds they will conduct and how they participate in the final decision making. Ideally, your recruiter should assist you all the way to the signing of the contract with your new employee, including the discussions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

It is a good idea to ask recruiters about the additional services they provide. Finding the best candidate for your position is the most important deliverable, but not the only one – your recruiter might provide assistance by reviewing the job description that you have provided, preparing detailed, written evaluations of the candidates or status information.

The last set of questions that you should ask refers to your own role as a client. Make it easy for your recruiter to ask for additional information about your needs and requirement as an employer – there might be important issues that you have overlooked or that need clarifications.