Issaquah Undressed

Will Mortgage Rates Go Even Lower?

Mortgage

Originally uploaded by Rev Dan Catt

Some of you may have picked up on the fact we are in the mortgage business. This has been a roller coaster type ride for us. At the peak we had 100 loan officers and were one of the largest brokerages in the state. It was fun. It was stressful.

We and a few of our favorite loan officers are now a branch of Loan Network LLC. Kathleen and I manage our branch and direct those in need to one of our skilled loan officers. Which one depends on your needs.

I offer this as a preamble to the question, will mortgage rates go even lower?

Yesterday one of my favorite competitors Rhonda Porter quoted under 5%. Yep, that is where it is headed - down baby down.

I am fortunate to get daily information from some pretty sophisticated economy and market experts. People I respect as they are often right on.

Their belief seems to be that the answer is yes. They believe the market is headed for 4% for a 30 year fixed rate.

Unbelievable eh? Contact me if you want to be emailed when rates hit a specific number.

New lending policies have changed things for locking rates. You must be ready to move to capture a rate. Locks must be done on real deals. If a loan officer locks the loan he or she is expected to deliver. A fax request won’t lock a loan. The file must be electronically input into the system to lock. That means you must have selected a lender that has your complete data.

You won’t need the appraisal completed, but you may find your loan officer won’t lock the loan without the appraisal. So that could leave you rushing to get that part completed.

These are trying times. Many have people in the industry are gone. Volume for many was less than half this year over last year. We just experienced a surge. In times like these you should be working with full time, hard working, well connected loan officers.

Fortunately for you, that is about all that are left.