MortgagesUndressed

It is a new year with new goals and resolutions for us all. Did you buy a house for new years? If so don’t lock today. Get a feel for what is going on. Let’s play the down down lock game. It is a serious endeavor, picking when to lock. Almost always I suggest you lock when you start your loan application. The difference today is that we went through the typical sluggish December. Rates went up about 1/4 per cent and without any real economic reason. So if you bought over the weekend I would propose you see if they settle back down.

This is your responsibility to decide; not mine. It is also not your loan officers. I voice my opinion only for teaching purposes. In my mortgage career it has been common for people to desire to float for a better rate. Again it makes me nervous in those conditions, so I found it a valuable service to offer a daily call around 10AM when rates are usually posted.

The purpose of the call: to determine what rates are for the day. I suggested that if rates went down they consider locking, but if they chose to float another day, to call tomorrow and go through the same process. Then, the day rates go up, lock. It isn’t a foolproof concept but has seemed to satisfy the urge to float.

So lets play that today. Today we float, tomorrow an update. Larry Cragun