Port Aransas Condos

Outdoors Calendar

Several area churches have teamed up to sponsor a family event called Family Outdoor Expo scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 27 at Bill Witt Park on Yorktown Boulevard between Cimarron Boulevard and Rodd Field Road. This is a free event. Activities include archery, rock-wall climbing, remote control truck races, touch tank, classic cars, remote control airplanes, Boy Scouts adventure rope, putting green, hay rides, fly-casting and fishing demos, 3D NExt Generation Hunting Zone and more. Bring a can good to donate to the food bank. Sponsors are needed ranging from $20 to $25,000. Call 361-572-9604.

PADDLE FOR PARKINSON'S

The Paddle for Parkinson's kayak and paddle board relay is scheduled for Sept. 3 at Padre Island's Billish Park, 15601 Gypsy. This five-mile relay is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at the boat ramp next to the park. Each leg of the relay is 1.25 miles, which can be paddled solo or in teams up to four. The entry fee is $25 per paddler. The day's events start at 8 a.m. with a pancake breakfast. A golf cart poker run also is part of the fun, followed by live music, a barbecue, silent auction, raffle, vendor booths, paddling demos and more. Early registration by Aug. 28 earns you a chance for a Diablo Sup-Yak or a two-night stay at the Dunes Condo in Port Aransas. Proceeds will go to CatchTheCure, which benefits the National Parkinson Foundation. Call 361-960-9597 or email monasing@stx.rr .com. Online: www.catchthecure.org .

TPW BEAR LANE DETOUR

Road construction near the Texas Parks & Wildlife Law Enforcement office at North Padre Island Drive and Bear Lane has the usual route blocked. You must exit Old Brownsville Road and turn right. At the first street (Enterprise Parkway) turn left. This will take to a sign that prohibits through traffic. Go past this sign to 5541 Bear Lane. Call the TPW office at 361-289-5566. The 2011-12 hunting and fishing license go on sale Aug. 15.

Mortgage Rates Bounce Off All-Time Lows; The ... - Port Aransas Condos

Low mortgage rates are terrific — if you can get them.

One week after posting its lowest mortgage rate in 50 years, Freddie Mac reports that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose by an average of 7 basis points nationwide this week to 4.22%. To get the rate, you’ll pay an average of 0.7 “points”.

This week’s rise in the 30-year fixed rate mortgage pulled rates off their all-time lows so either you locked last week’s rock-bottom rates, or you missed it.

Mortgage rates are rising.

As a refinancing homeowner or home buyer in Port Aransas , rising mortgage rates are something to watch. This is because, as mortgage rates rise, so do the long-term interest costs of giving a mortgage, increasing your homeownership costs.

For example, if you failed to lock a rate last week when rates were bottomed, and then decided to lock-in only after rates had climbed 0.25 percent, at the new, higher rate, over the life of your loan, you would have responsibility for an extra $5,300 in interest costs for every $100,000 you borrowed.

Rising mortgage rates can be expensive.

For home buyers, rising mortgage rates pose a second rates. And because mortgage rates change quickly, you can sometimes feel ilke you’re racing the clock.