5 Tips to Get the Best Deal on Your Refinance

1.   Apply NOW: Apply for your loan (i.e. forward paperwork to your broker/banker) in the next two weeks. If possible, do it this week.  Don't wait to see if rates go lower because "the economy is terrible" and  your  ____________ (fill in the blank) "knows" they will.  Apply now and see below for a resolution of the potential lower rate problem.   You need to apply, because as the New York Lottery says, "You Need to Be In It To Win It." And you are not in it until you start the refinance process even though you believe you are since you are "monitoring" rates. ...

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A Small Refinance Window.

With the turmoil in the world now after the events in the Middle-East and Japan, the stock market is dropping and investors are flocking to safety. This means that there is a big run on US Treasury securities.  Correspondingly, the increase in purchases in these US Treasury securities result in lower interest rates being paid on the securities.  The result of all of this is lower interest rates for mortgages.  As of this morning, we were able to offer 30 year fixed rate loans at 0 points up to $729,000 at 4.75%.  In addition, we have 15 year fixed rate loans at ...

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The Loan Motel

The mortgage industry is awash in refinances due to the extraordinarily low rates with ARMs and 15 year fixed loans in  the 3s and 30 year fixed loans  in the low 4s.  So compared to the past few years and as recently as this past spring, the loan volume and lenders/brokers pipelines are up significantly.  This is despite the many people who would like to refinance but can't due to (i) a decline in their home value, (ii) joblessness (or underemployment) and (iii) lower credit scores due to the economy causing late payments and increased reliance on credit cards. So, ...

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Housing Sales Are Down 27% and Economists were “Surprised” again (though I wasn’t)

The definition of an economist is "someone who will tell you tomorrow why the things they predicted yesterday did not occur."  These guys are relied on by all financial reporters for accuracy but have a MUCH worse record than even our weather forecasters.   For example, the durable goods report today showed an increase of .3%.  However, the 75 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.com predicted increases ranging from 1.2% to 6.8% with a median of 3%.  That is correct, 0 of the 75 economists came within 1% of the actual number and the average was off by a whopping 3.3% ...

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Continued Low Rates and Extension of Homebuyer Credit Do Not Help Housing Market

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We are seeing historically low interest rates.  But, these are neither (i) causing a new refinance boom or (ii) spurring on the housing market.  The lack of substantial refinancings are not for lack of interest by borrowers.  Rather, many people would refinance but are unable to due to tighter lending guidelines.  While traditionally, the fall-out rate (i.e. loans applied for but not closed) was in the 10-20% range, it is not somewhere between 30-50%.  This is the result, mostly, of decreasing home values which cause the appraisals to be too low to refinance.  In ...

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I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. - Marilyn Monroe

30 Year Fixed Rates Below 5%!

lowmortgagerates
30 year fixed-4.875% (up to $417,000)/5.25% (from $417,000-$729,000) 15 year fixed-4.375% (up to $417,000)/4.625% (from $417,000-$1,000,000) 5/1 ARM-3.875% (up to $500,000)/4.0%(from $500,000-$850,000)/4.125%(from $850,000-$1,500,000) 7/1 ARM-4.375% (up to $500,000)/4.625% (from $500,000-$1,500,000) 10/1 ARM-5.0% (up to $1,500,000)

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Slow Housing Activity

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Traditionally, February is the slowest month for house purchases.  I am not sure if it is the lull after the holiday season or the anticipation for the spring buying season, but there are never a lot of transactions during this month.  This year is certainly no exception to that trend. However, what has changed is the nature of the buyer.   The housing market as it exists right now is basically limited to first time homebuyers and those "movers up" purchasing low-to-mid end homes (for purposes of NY metropolitan area I am referring to those with prices up to $700,000 ...

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Rates Holding Steady At Start of 2010

As we all wait to see what 2010 brings for the economy, I am happy to report that interest rates are still low to start off the year.  We are seeing conventional 30 year loans in the low 5s and 15 year loans in the upper 4s.  The ARM rates have not changed at all and are still available in the low to upper 4s depending on product and loan size. Most experts expect rates to stay low for most of 2010, though a little higher than they are now.  I agree with that assertion unless the employment market starts to improve.  An improving employment market will be the one ...

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Year End Rate Trend

As 2009 comes to a close, interest rates are continuing to rise.  Over the past 3 weeks they have increased by over .50% as the economy continues to improve.  They show no sign of abating unless some negative economic news is reported.  However, they are unlikely to increase too much over the next couple of months until it is clear that the economy truly is improving.  With a weak outlook for residential real estate for the first quarter of 2010, look for relatively low interest rates for the next few months.

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