Rates Don't Have to be a Gamble
Since the Fed's announcement last week and the ongoing . . . uneasiness surrounding a trade war with China, the markets have been a little less than settled. And that's been a very good thing for interest rates. In real estate and mortgage circles, I'm not hearing any complaining.
What we do continue to hear, though, are borrowers thinking out loud about how much lower the rates can go and whether they should act now or wait. Speaking for myself, I'm not a wizard of wall street, and I don't have a crystal ball to tell me exactly where rates will be at 10:37 a.m. on September 2, 2019, so I will admit that my GUESS about what rates will or won't do is just a guess. Now, I've been doing this long enough and surround myself with some VERY SMART people so I have experience and resources to have a fairly good idea where things are headed.
With that said, let's get back to all the financial armchair quarterbacks who are stuck in analysis paralysis. I'm going to share one thought with you that one of those very smart people I know has shared with many. It's not meant to give you any additional insight into what the market will or won't do - it's simply intended to act as a loving but resolute slap in the face and snap you out of your self-induced trance. Here it is:
"Don't fight for an extra eighth down in rate unless you're willing to lose a quarter."
We will always seek out the very best rate for you and your borrowers for obvious reasons, and we'll lock it when it's to your advantage. We've done this a couple of times before. In many cases, we have a "float down" option so that even after the rate is locked, if market conditions change favorably between the lock and when we close, we can float the rate down to take advantage of the favorable change. On the flip side, if you're trying to outguess the market and want us to hold off because you THINK it'll drop from 3.875 to 3.75, that may not end the way you hope it will - the market, like a three-year-old, is unpredictable. Let us do a little babysitting for you so you can enjoy the experience of buying a home!