Jeremiah Phillips of First Mutual Corp

The one thing that sticks out to everyone is Falling Interest Rates… With all the termoil in the mortage industry rates are doing very well.  A lot of people are now qualifying for rates in the 5’s…  That includes some FHA canidates.

With the changes in the mortgage industry there are currently things that affect the rate you will receive that have not been around before.  Credit score hits are the #1 thing that are determining you to get the lowest rate, but not the only thing.  If your rate is over 6.5% or an adjustable now is the time to see what you qualify for to get that mortgage payment down to a rate and payment you will not have to touch for a very long time…

When people hear the Fed is dropping the prime rate people automatically assume the Fed is lowering rates on regular 30 year fixed mortgage rates.  Well in partial that may be true but the Prime Rate affects other types of loans such as a Home Equity Line of Credit that you may have on your home as a second mortgage that you can draw against.  

 30 year fixed rates are directly affected to the 10yr T-Bill.  That is your best barometer of whether or not rates that day are going to be getting better or worse.  This only really comes into play when you will be closing on a mortgage in the next 30 days.  That is the standard time a rate is locked for.  So if you are still looking for a home to purchase and do not have a closing date scheduled then that would not be the time to watch every click on the 10 year T-Bill changing.  

Happy Holidays!

These late spring months are making it feel like summer is already here.  It’s another beautiful day to take the top down on those convertibles and let your hair down.  But what is happening to today’s interest rates? 

For the most part in the early part of this year rates weren’t moving to much staying in a general area and depending what you qualified for relatively low.   Things are changing - rates are starting to rise.  Not big jumps but definitely moving in the upward direction.  

What you need to do if you are in any of these situations: 

• If you had to take a higher interest rate due to credit at the time you purchased or cashed out on your property take a look if you can fit into a more conventional rate and do it quickly while you can still save a lot of money. 

• If you are in a Negative Amortization loan such as a COSI - COFI or any pick a payment loan.  If your long term plans are staying in the house - look into getting that rate fixed into a lower rate.  Most people don’t understand they might be making a payment from any where 1% - 4% but the actual rate of interest you are accruing is in the 8’s- call me and I will show you where to look on your mortgage documents.  I know because I just had one and by refinancing saved almost $1000 a month in negative amortization.  

• If you are in an Adjustable Rate Mortgage and the term for it is going to be coming up in the next 12 to 24 months.  When things start to go up it is better to be safe then sorry. 

Please feel free to call or email me if you are in these situations or maybe you want to just discuss your current options.  Stay cool it’s going to be a hot one today.