Benefits of Home Refinancing

Imagine a scenario where you can have access to extra cash, while simultaneously lowering your monthly mortgage payment. This dream can become a reality through mortgage refinancing.

A house is the largest asset you may ever own. Likewise, your mortgage payment may be the largest expense you'll have in your monthly budget. Wouldn't it be great to use this asset to reduce your monthly payment and put extra cash in your pocket? When you refinance your mortgage, you can take advantage of the equity in your home and enable this to take place.

When you purchased your dream home, the financial environment dictated interest rates. Interest rates fluctuate and when the Fed enters a rate-cuttng period, the prevailing rates may become significantly lower than when you originally purchased your home. By refinancing your mortgage when interest rates are lower, you can exchange a higher interest rate for a lower one, which, in turn, will lower your monthly payment.

Our mortgage specialists are here to help answer any questions you may have on refnancing. Contact Travis Torgerson at our Watertown location 886-6000; Gail Olson-Duck at our Hartford location 528-4000; or Pat Biederstedt at our Hayti location 783-3616 for more assistance.

News Coverage Shallow & Unfair

Acting on fears that international financial markets were becoming dysfunctional, Congress & the Bush Administration hurriedly passed the TARP legislation that pumped $350 million into bank balance sheets. I am not a big fan of this program and even had a radio ad running boasting that Reliabank did not need or want any of the TARP money. But I feel compelled to chastise the news media for their misleading reports on the use of TARP money. Their coverage is a good example of sensational journalism that misrepresents the facts. A word of explanation--TARP money is put on to the liability side of a bank balance sheet costing the banks 5% to 7%, sort of like a preferred stock offering. The simple theory behind the TARP program was that banks with bad loans (toxic assets) would have the ability to charge off these loans and have sufficient capital to continue making loans to credit worthy customers, so that the entire world economy would continue to function. For those that don't deal with bank balance sheets, liabilities includes the following kinds of money: a) customer deposits, b) borrowings from the Federal Reserve Bank or Federal Home Loan Bank, c) Traditional Capital , which consists of stockholder's investment in the bank, and in some cases d) Preferred Stock which usually carries a stated interest rate but no voting rights. The Asset side of the balance sheet includes a) loans to borrowers, b) investments in municipal or US Government bonds, c) bank buildings and property. So the news media has questioned the banks who have received TARP money and asked, "What did the bank do with the money?" Banks have refused to answer because there is no answer. The money was not ear-tagged when it was invested in the banks and is now blended with customers deposits and other monies that flow through a bank. So in reality a small portion of TARP money is every new loan a bank makes, every bond it buys and every operating expense that it paid. It would be like taking 5000 gallons of water and dumping it in Hidewood township near Pee Monkey Run and later asking how much of that water ended up in Sioux City? Maybe you could guess at that answer if you were told the question was going to be asked before the water got dumped. Everyone is looking for scapegoats to blame as jobs are lost, homes are foreclosed and people suffer financially. Some big banks will be tagged for their contribution to residential mortgage mess, but just because they accepted TARP money and now can't tell an inexperienced reporter how those funds were used is not a reason to see them as a villain.
David W. Johnson, CEO

Making Things Better - It's what we do!

Reliabank has always been known for it's motto "making things better" and since 1920 our bank has stuck with this mantra and given our customer's what they want.

RESPECT * FRIENDLINESS * STABLITY * KNOWLEDGE

We are a locally owned bank with decisions made at home, not in New York, Montana, San Francisco or anywhere else. What does that mean for you? We make loans into our local economy, not to Wall Street or into subprime, mortgage or credit card markets. We know our customers have personal and unique financial needs, and a family-owned bank means we treat your business like our own family, safely and with high touch.

In this world of uncertainty you can be sure that Reliabank will be here to serve your needs now and well into the future. We thank you for your business, and if you aren't yet a customer of ours, we invite you to stop in at any of our six locations and get to know us better!

As we ring in 2009, we are excited to also be venturing into the world of blogging. What began as ideas being tossed around as to how we can reach all generations, has turned into us being "professional bloggers". Well, perhaps not professionals yet, but we hope to keep you informed, up to date and yes, even entertained! We wanted a space on our website to share industry information, personal experiences and insight, and make it an informal forum for sharing information in our very digital age. We invite you to check our blog often, as we will inform you on what we know best -

BANKING and our local communities.

As a locally owned community bank for over 88 years,
we have proven we are strong, stable, and secure.
Happy New Year!