By Matthew D. Valera, Owner, Bay Area Notary:

Although the economy has not improved to this point as it was once predicted, there is still opportunities for notary signing agents.. Notaries are still fighting to survive and the strong, motivated, and business savvy notaries are still plugging away. Some are even growing their revenues. My business, Bay Area Notary located in the San Francisco Bay operating under the name www.BayAreaNotary.com has been thriving due to important steps taken within the last six to nine months. I have increased my budget and energy toward advertising to capitalize on the fact that many notaries are getting out of the business.

In business the saying goes if your not growing your shrinking. Your business is a living breathing entity that has to change with the times and economic climate. Entrepreneurs will always say you should never just stay where you are. When times are slow the automatic natural reaction is to pull back or slow growth. I believe you should do the opposite. By increasing your advertising you can quickly gain market share on competitors who are afraid of the uncertainty the future brings. You have to make and seize your opportunities. And when the economy finally turns around you will have put yourself in a better situation to take advantage.

Right now interest rates are still historically low even though the rates have risen within the last couple of months. This has kept refinancing consistent however with the credit crunch still occurring, lenders are still very hesitant to lend money making it even harder for borrowers to qualify. The trick is to obtain jobs from many lenders, not just one or two. By spreading your work around you will keep consistently busy. Simply apply the adage of not putting all your eggs in one basket. Foreclosures are still spurring purchases. Whether it's first time buyers taking advantage of tax credits and rebates or investors looking to capitalize on depressed prices, houses are moving. You just have to position yourself to be involved in these transactions. Stay focused and keep soliciting local title and escrow companies.

You also have to be extra creative in this market, by putting your notary commission to work in other "out of the box" ways. Try getting into employee verifications or DMV car verifications. A growing need for people to get electronic credentials has created a need for notaries. Employees are being required to be verified by a third party representative such as a notary to obtain these credentials and the National Notary Association has started a program to take advantage of this increased need. Read more at the NNA's site at http://www.nationalnotary.org to find out more information. Also DMV registrations on sales of used cars are needing verification of their VIN numbers. This is another niche to capitalize on.

There are many new ways to use your notary license to increase your revenue. You need to keep at it and continue to think of new trends and ways people are using notaries. Even though it is tough, there is work out there.

By Pete Carey - San Jose Mercury News

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A strengthening economy has pushed mortgage rates higher than 5 percent for the first time since May, and experts said they'll likely stay in that range for the rest of this year.

The good news: While the extraordinary low rates of the past year are unlikely to return, the recent increase is unlikely to dampen the fragile housing market.

"These are still fantastic interest rates," said Cathy Warshawsky of Bay Area Loans, who is also treasurer of the Silicon Valley chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals.

But, those in the real estate industry say that what's really vital to get the housing market going again is economic growth and, more important, jobs.

"What we need is a balance between attractive rates and the ability and willingness of prospective homebuyers to take the plunge," said Greg McBride, a financial analyst with Bankrate.com. "We're getting closer."

"Mortgage rates were at record lows in the fourth quarter of last year," McBride noted, "but not enough people could take advantage. "

Joe Adamson of Mortgage Magic in San Jose said rising rates "might weaken demand a bit," but he thinks rates will stay between 5 percent and 5.5 percent for at least the next six months.

The increase doesn't have borrowers leaping off the fence to buy a home before rates go higher, according to valley mortgage brokers.

And for those who are, there are still a lot of obstacles as lenders toughened standards after the collapse of the housing market.

After spending four years to find her dream home, Rebecca McConnell, a San Jose area school administrative assistant, and her partner, Gregory Thomson, locked in a 5 percent rate Thursday on the purchase of their first home, a four-bedroom ranch house in Almaden Valley. She said she would have bought the home even if rates had been higher.

"We wished it could have been a little better, but that's the best you can get. And we're going to live in it for the rest of our lives," McConnell said.

The couple made a 20 percent down payment and patiently worked through the lender's vetting process.

"It seems like there was a lot of verification," McConnell said. "They really want to make sure we were real people and we were who we said we were." At one point, the bank asked for her phone bill. "There were a lot of strange requests," she said.

More than three in four recent homebuyers surveyed by MortgageMatch.com reported that getting a mortgage was more difficult than they expected. Nine percent reported being asked for inappropriate information, rising to 11.7 percent of female borrowers, according to the survey, which was released this week.

Twenty percent said waiting to hear whether their mortgage was approved was more stressful than waiting to hear if they got a job, according to MortgageMatch, which is part of the Move online real estate network.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that interest rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage have jumped to 5.02 percent in the western region of the country after remaining in the 4 percent range for more than nine months.

A variety of factors combined to push mortgage rates up this week, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie. Positive economic reports, a drop in the unemployment rate and a year of high business productivity each provided a nudge.

The increase in rates has affected another part of the market: Refinancing has already slowed. Many California homeowners are underwater on their mortgages and can't qualify for a refinance, said Dustin Hobbs of the California Mortgage Bankers Association. And after a couple of years of really good rates and terms, there aren't that many qualified borrowers who haven't already refinanced, he said.

NEW YORK – The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage edged up this week as bond yields increased.

Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate rose to 4.81 percent this week from 4.80 percent the previous week. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November.

The average rate on the 15-year loan slipped to 4.08 percent from 4.09 percent. It reached 3.57 percent in November, the lowest level on records starting in 1991.

Rates have been little changed this year after spiking more than half a percentage point in the last two months of 2010. Investors sold off Treasury bonds during that time, driving yields lower. Mortgage rates tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note.

High foreclosures, job worries and expectations that home prices will fall further have kept many potential homebuyers on the sidelines. Historically low mortgage rates haven't been enough to jumpstart the housing market.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac collects rates from lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a single day.

The average rate on a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 3.69 percent from 3.70 percent. The five-year hit 3.25 percent last month, the lowest rate on records dating back to January 2005.

The average rate on one-year adjustable-rate home loans was unchanged at 3.26 percent.

The rates do not include add-on fees, known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount. The average fee for the 30-year and 15-year loan in Freddie Mac's survey was 0.8 point. The average fee for the five-year ARM was 0.7 point, and the fee for the 1-year ARM was 0.6 point.

Either way, walking away can sink your credit score and come with an extra tax burden, not to mention the potential of a court suit.

The survey, conducted May 11 to May 31, queried 2,967 adults and found more than one-in-five homeowners (21 percent) say they owe more on their mortgages than their home is worth.

The "underwater" situation compels some homeowners to stop making their mortgage payments and let the bank foreclose on their homes.

Many homeowners, who can afford a mortgage payment, have nevertheless stopped making payments in what's called a "strategic default" and that's caused mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae, reeling from mounting losses, to sue them.

Alternatives to walking away, say a short sale, mortgage modification, a refinance (if possible), even an outright sale for less then the home is worth, are probably better ideas.

According to RealtyTrac.com, in August, lenders foreclosed on 95,364 U.S. properties in August, the highest monthly total in the half-decade history of the report.

Nearly half (48 percent) of all homeowners say the value of their home declined during the recession, and as a group they were more likely than those whose home did not lose value to say it's acceptable to bail out on a mortgage (20 percent vs. 14 percent).

The study also found:

• Twenty-five percent of renters said it was okay to walk away.

• Nearly one-in-four adults (24 percent) who say their families are just able to pay their monthly bills or can't meet expenses said it's okay to stop paying a mortgage, compared with 14 percent of those who say they "live comfortably."

• Eighteen percent of homeowners who say their homes are worth less than what they owe, vs. 17 percent those who would break even or make money on a sale said it's okay to stop mortgage payments.

• Among ethnic groups, 24 percent of all Hispanics say it's acceptable to abandon a mortgage, compared with 17 percent of whites and 21 percent of blacks. However, roughly similar majorities of Hispanics (58 percent), blacks (56 percent) and whites (61 percent) say abandoning a mortgage is wrong.

• More liberal Democrats were about twice as likely as more conservative Republicans to say it is acceptable to walk away (23 percent vs. 11 percent).

• Black homeowners vs. whites (35 percent vs. 18 percent); lower-income homeowners vs. upper-income homeowners (33 percent vs. 15 percent) and middle-aged homeowners vs. younger or older homeowners were more likely to be underwater.

By Gary Richards

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Your California driver's license is getting a new look -- and even a new feel.   In the first such change since 2001, the Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday unveiled new licenses and identification cards designed to make them more secure.   The initial reaction: much more positive than not.   "I like it," said Adam Bishop, 28, of San Carlos, a project manager for a landscape construction company. "Seems a little clearer than the older versions (and) easier to read."   Added Jim Barnes, 57, of Los Gatos: "I'm all for anything that will make it more difficult for them to be misused."   Information on the new cards remains the same. But they come equipped with several features to protect them against fraud, tampering and counterfeiting. That led DMV Director George Valverde to call them "one of the most secure identification documents in the country."   Two years ago the DMV, working with the FBI and Highway Patrol, formed a license card security task force to identify which features needed to be added to the new card. A spokesman said the agency believes the new features will be extremely difficult to counterfeit for many years to come.   The most noticeable change is for persons younger than 21 -- a vertical instead of a horizontal layout. On all documents, the cardholder's date of birth and signature can be felt by touch; some images can be seen only with the use of ultraviolet lights; and a two-dimensional bar code on the back replicates and verifies information on the front.   "We definitely like the new driver's licenses," said Sgt. Rick Sung of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, adding that they are "more detail-oriented both front and back, which means it's more difficult to forge."   The DMV issues more than 8.25 million driver's license and identification cards to Californians a year, and there are 23.7 million licensed drivers in the state. The new cards will cost about $5 million more a year, costing $1.38 each to produce, compared with 75 cents for the older version.   There's no need to rush down to the DMV to get the new card. Existing identification or driver's license cardholders are not required to get new ones until their current cards need to be renewed.   A drawback, said Lt. Chris Monahan of the San Jose Police Department, is that licenses look just like identification cards, the only difference being the words "DRIVER LICENSE" instead of "IDENTIFICATION CARD" at the top right.   "I would like something that easily identifies the card as a license vs. an ID card," Monahan said.   It'll be 2015 before all old cards have been replaced, causing Fremont Officer John Flynn to say, "Unfortunately, they always phase these in, and it is always a little confusing when you have different versions out there that are valid."   For parents, perhaps the most popular change is the vertical look to licenses issued to drivers younger than 21, which is the legal drinking age.   "The vertical format," Flynn said, "will be great for bouncers at the bar to identify minors."