JVM’s Blog

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Woohoo! It Crashed! Your Grandma’s SEO No Longer Works!

We get as much as 50% of our business from online leads – thanks to the thousands of hours of work from our exceptional marketing team. And…much of that work was rendered null and void over the...

April 17, 2026 3 min read
Older woman with glasses and a white polka dot blouse smiling while typing on a laptop in a modern café.

Proof We’ll See AI Bubble Pop; $2/Gallon Gas; And 5% Rates!

Allbirds was a SHOE company that went public in 2021 with much fanfare. It then fell 99% from its peak (turns out their “sustainable” shoes, made from wool, sugarcane, and unicorn feathers,...

April 16, 2026 3 min read
Three professionals standing in a modern open-concept office space, reviewing documents and a tablet together. The workspace features large windows with natural light, exposed concrete ceilings, Edison-style pendant bulbs, wooden tables, and a mix of casual seating areas in the background where other colleagues are working on laptops

Rates Fall Back to the Sweet Spot After Oil Crash

Oil Prices (WTI) Plummeted To $92 Per Barrel From $104 Per Barrel On Monday. Interest rates followed and are now almost 3/8% LOWER than they were a few weeks ago. This unprecedented plunge in...

April 15, 2026 3 min read
Aerial photo of an American neighborhood.

5 Key Pieces Of Investment/Life Advice I Stole From 5,000 Podcasts (#5 Is The Most Important)

Man, do we have a lot to be angry about! The Iran war pushed up oil prices, inflation, and rates – putting a massive damper on our springtime real estate boom. Excess regulations make every...

April 13, 2026 4 min read
man looking at his laptop in anticipation of the latest news regarding the economy and recent events.

2019 vs. 2026 Housing Inventory; So Many Interesting Takeaways!

In 1985, when I was motorcycling across America, I stopped at a dive bar in West Virginia for lunch because it was the only place around. It had that depressing, all-too-quiet,...

April 10, 2026 4 min read
Classic American modern house with siding trim and garage.

Uh Oh…Oil’s Up; Credit Scores – A Brief, Fascinating History – Pointing To Where We’re Going

Oil was way up this morning, as were gold prices – and I was very worried about the ceasefire collapsing! But… oil prices just fell again, suggesting that something is signaling to oil traders...

April 9, 2026 4 min read
Credit Scores – A Brief, Fascinating History – Pointing To Where We’re Going.

Ceasefire Pushes Rates Way Down; Will It Hold? Ask The Markets, NOT The Pundits

It was an amazing thing to behold! I watched the 10-year Treasury yield fall almost 15 basis points or 0.15% (a huge drop) very quickly when the ceasefire was announced yesterday. I also watched oil...

April 8, 2026 2 min read
Aerial view of a suburban residential neighborhood with single-family homes, driveways, green lawns, and tree-lined streets, representing the housing market, suburban real estate development, property values, and homeownership trends.

Why We Could See 9% Rates By June

Uh oh… There is a real risk we could see 8%+ mortgage rates over the next few months. Economist Steve Hanke is on the warpath, sharing post after post about the enormity of the threats to the...

April 6, 2026 3 min read
Large oil refinery and industrial processing plant with pipelines, storage tanks, and smokestacks producing energy, representing global oil production, energy industry infrastructure, fuel supply, and economic impact on inflation and interest rates.

$839K Listing Sells For $300K Over; Provides Two Great Appraisal Lessons!

Per our client’s agent, there were 22 offers – and our client’s $1,150,000 offer was not even in the running. So, we’re assuming the home sold for close to $1,200,000, but we won’t know...

April 3, 2026 3 min read
House appraisal of a 839k listing.

Trump’s Speech to Calm The Markets, Roiled Markets

On Friday of last week, JVM sent commandos into all of CrossCountry Mortgage’s offices in the SF Bay Area. The raid was very successful, as we shut down all of CrossCountry’s Bay Area...

April 2, 2026 3 min read
Trump affecting the roiled markets from his speech.

30% Down Requires No Appraisal Contingency Or Shortfall Funds, UNLESS…

This is a reminder that appraisal contingencies and/or proof of funds to cover appraisal shortfalls are unnecessary with large down payments. This is because lenders can easily shift financing from...

April 1, 2026 2 min read
Real estate agent showing a modern home interior to a young couple during a property viewing, discussing features and layout near large windows, representing home buying, house tour, property inspection, and real estate investment decisions.

Can Non-Citizens Still Get Mortgages?

Oil prices – which have been sparking inflation fears and driving rates higher – rose again over the weekend. But rates fell sharply today in the face of rising oil prices. Rates fell because the...

March 30, 2026 2 min read
Charming single-family suburban home with front porch, landscaped garden, and walkway leading to the entrance, representing homeownership, residential real estate, mortgage financing, and the housing market.

The Real (Much Bigger) War Behind The Scenes; Why Gold Crashed & It’s Good News!

Economies can’t handle interest rate shocks (the mortgage industry is a case in point), and the repercussions put politicians in deep peril. So, it is a certainty that nobody is freaking out...

March 27, 2026 4 min read
photo depicting gold price crash.

“I Make $30,000 Per Month, But My Credit Score’s 560; Can I Get A Mortgage?”

There are companies in college towns that make their money by renting apartments to college kids and keeping their security deposits when the kids move out – no matter what. It is an incredibly...

March 26, 2026 4 min read
A man with low credit score get's approved for a mortgage loan and purchases a house.
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