Dad uses Facebook to teach daughter a lesson

Dad uses Facebook to teach daughter a lesson: A 15-year-old puts up a Facebook post bashing her parents for making her work too hard, dad reacts by posting a video response to her grievances on her Facebook page.

HOA Associations new laws

Homeowners in HOAs now have a few more property rights by Texas Association of REALTORS® February 4, 2012 Thanks to the last Texas Legislature and efforts by the Texas Association of REALTORS®, property owners in homeowners associations are now guaranteed the right to place religious displays on their front doors; fly the U.S., state, and military flags; and install rain barrels and solar panels on their property. Other recent legislative changes will make HOA meetings and records more accessible to all HOA members and will prevent HOAs from using nonjudicial foreclosures powers. Shy Shinalt Keller Williams Tyler www.shyshinalt.com

Tyler Homes for sale

Mortgage rates plunged to new all-time lows this week as investors in bonds that fund most home loans reacted to news that the economy grew more slowly than expected during the last three months of 2011. Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.87 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending Feb. 2, down from 3.98 percent last week and 4.81 percent a year ago. That's a new all-time low in Freddie Mac survey records dating to 1971. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate loans averaged 3.14 percent with an average 0.8 point, down from 3.24 percent last week and 4.08 percent a year ago. Rates on 15-year loans have never been lower since Freddie Mac began tracking them in 1991. For five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans, rates averaged 2.8 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from 2.85 percent last week and 3.69 percent a year ago. That's a new low in records dating to 2005. Rates on one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.76 percent with an average 0.6 point, up slightly from last week's record low of 2.74 percent. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 3.26 percent. "Most mortgage rates eased to all-time record lows this week as fourth-quarter growth in the economy fell short of market projections," said Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft in a statement. "The gross domestic product rose 2.8 percent in the final three months of 2011, below the market consensus forecast of 3 percent, while consumer spending in December was flat. One bright spot, however, was that fixed residential investment increased for the third consecutive quarter and residential construction spending rebounded in December, rising 0.7 percent." Shy Shinalt Keller Williams Tyler www.shyshinalt.com