Phone: 803.831.5550 Fax: 803.831.5591
Great Rates! But for how long?
Wendy Sweet, President I received an email from an Account Executive who had some pretty good points to make on what is going on in the world of mortgages. Many people are waiting for the rates to continue to go down. No one knows when and if that will really happen. Anyone who has the guts to predict anything at this point is a fool. This is new ground for all of us. The bottom line is, “if the deal you can get now works for what you need, than take it.” I have several clients that have been waiting for the rates to even lower, only to find out that the programs are not available anymore. My AE mentioned the following: Do you know what par the pricing of a 30 year Fixed Conforming was 6 months ago? 6.125% was par 6 months ago. Do you know what today's par is? 5.625% is par on today's rate sheet! That is a ½ percentage point less today then when the Fed started cutting rates. A mortgage broker wrote about a client. "She won't make an offer on a property until she can get a fixed rate of 5.5 percent, she said." Are you kidding me? As I stated above par rates today are at 5.625%. Do you know the difference in payment from a 5.625% rate on a $300k loan amount from a 5.5% rate? $23 to be exact, and while she waits like a child throwing a tantrum because the candy store did not have the flavor lollipop she wanted, what's going to happen to value of the house she wants to buy? Let's focus on refinances, "Standard & Poor's of New York predicts U.S. home prices may decline as much as 20 percent by the end of 2008 from their peak in 2006". People have to understand that once the value of homes stops decreasing, the rates will directly start increasing. This reminds me of my grandfathers old saying "You don't know how much or how long the rain will last until it's over!" Everyone can estimate, but no one knows for sure. So home values will fall 20% from their highs in 2006, haven't they already done this? I know in Florida they have. If the buyer decides to wait until the housing value gets 2- 5% lower, the rates will have started to increase costing them money. If the refinance borrower waits to until the rates may dip a little lower, their house value may decrease, making the loan to value higher, causing additional hits to the rate, also costing them money. If the deal works for you now, take it. It might not be available tomorrow. If you have any questions or would like to see what you would qualify for contact Wendy Sweet at 803/831-5550 or wendy@southstreetloans.com.
South Street Mortgage
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I need to highly recommend Wendy Sweet of South Street Mortgage in Charlotte. She has been a regular speaker at our local meetings, and was formerly with Financial Help Services. Now she has her own office and is just awesome. She understands complicated deals and has been working tirelessly for me. She has a great attitude and a great mind!
"Mindy Beller