Tuesday, September 29, 2026

A Note From Tim Powers

News you can use

🏡 This Week in Real Estate & Mortgage

Mortgage rates moved higher again last week, with the average 30-year fixed now around 7.53%. Rates remain volatile, reminding us how quickly buying power—and monthly payments—can change.

The good news? Buyers are still buying. Available inventory is giving buyers more choices and, in many markets, more negotiating leverage than they had during the ultra-competitive years.

💡 This Week's Opportunity for Agents

Don't wait for rates to fall to reconnect with your database.

Call 10–20 past clients or older leads this week and keep the conversation simple:

"Just checking in—have your real estate plans changed at all? If you were thinking about buying, selling or investing in the next 6–12 months, I'd be happy to help you put a plan together."

You don't need everyone to be ready today. You need to find the one or two people who are.

🤝 Let’s Create Some Business Together

Have a buyer sitting on the fence because of rates or affordability? Send them my way. I'll run the numbers, look at multiple financing strategies and help determine what it would take to make the purchase work.

Have a listing that's sitting? Let's look at seller concessions, temporary buydowns or financing incentives that could make the home more attractive without immediately resorting to another price reduction.

More conversations → more opportunities → more closings.

— Tim Powers | The Powers Team

These are national average rates as of September 28, 2026. The 30-year fixed is at 7.81% — up 0.28% from last week, and VA at 7.16%. For exact rates tailored to your buyers, reach out to your loan officer directly.

From Your Lending Partner

Self-Employed Buyers Aren't Unbankable — They Just Need the Right Lender

Self-employed clients are one of the most overlooked buyer pools in real estate. Agents assume they're too hard to finance. That's not true — they just need a lender who knows the right programs. Traditional bank statement loans let us qualify buyers using 12–24 months of personal or business deposits instead of tax returns. This is a game changer for the business owner who writes off everything and shows minimal taxable income on paper. I've closed buyers who showed $40K in net income on their return but had $18K per month flowing through their accounts. We qualified them at the deposit level. There are also P&L-only programs, asset depletion loans, and 1099-based approvals. None of these are exotic — they're just less commonly offered. If you have a self-employed buyer who's been told "no" by their bank, send them my way before they give up. I can usually find a path forward within 48 hours.

Send me your self-employed buyer. I'll find the right program and pre-approve them fast.

Mortgage News Daily

New Home Sales Back in The Range After Uncommonly Big Bounce

The new home market returned to the longer-term range last month, with sales seeing their 4th biggest rebound in 4 years.  Sales of new single-family homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000 in August, up 6.4% from July's revised 643,000 but 2.0% below the same month last year. The increase puts sales back above the 600,000 mark after July's pullback, although the broader tr

HousingWire

The ‘choice market’ arrives as sellers face growing price pressure

Austin, Houston buyers gain choices as sellers cut prices

Mortgage News Daily

Pending Sales Rebound Slightly as Regional Results Diverge

Pending home sales edged higher in August as gains in the South and West offset declines in the Northeast and Midwest. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), which tracks signed contracts on existing homes, increased 0.3% from July but was down 4.7% from a year earlier. The modest increase came despite another period of elevated mortgage rates. NAR Chief Econo

Did You Know?

Construction-to-Perm Loans

One loan from groundbreak to move-in.

For buyers building new, a construction-to-perm loan funds the build and converts to a permanent mortgage at completion — one application, one appraisal, one closing. No need to re-qualify when the home is done.

Share With Your Buyers

Preparing for Appraisal

Tip of the Week

If you're self-employed, keeping clean financial records for two years makes mortgage qualification much smoother.

Your Mortgage Advisor