Can anyone give us newbies a complete explanation of the forces that make interest rates move?

i would imagine that the properties must be focused in a geographical proximity that would make it easy to manage them.

I've been teaching this for 18 years and many have asked that give a brief explanation.

Thanks Galvin,Thats a good explanation.

The deal was accepted and then the owners backed out after a week with no explanation.

It seems similar to an FHA loan but minimum down payment is 3% and there is no PMI from my understanding, but you can only purchase property in certain areas.I was able to dig this explanation of it online.

Why do you think she owes you an explanation about why she does business the way she wants to do business?

Thanks for your very helpful explanation!

These loans are NOT sold off as MBS, but are instead held on the balance sheet of the originating bank.I am not a banker, so my explanation may not be picture perfect, but that is a rough idea of how that world operates.As @Chris Martin mentions, the GSE underwriting looks at ALL mortgages you are involved with of any significance, so you could potentially choose to do a couple more Fannie deals before going ahead with the portfolio route, but you can't do it the other way around.  

I'm going to check them out now.Which (geographic) areas and types of properties are you investing in?