Blog Category: interest rate

February 21st, 2014

February 21st, 2014

220 Year History of Interest Rates

A while back, I published a chart of interest rates that went back about 40 years. I did this in an attempt to show that the recent increase in interest rates, as well as future interest rate increases, is not a major event when put into historical context. Interest rate history is almost as important as current interest rates.

I want to put this into a larger perspective. How about looking at a 220-year history of interest rates? Read More

Categories: interest rates, history of rates, interest rate, interest rates 1 Comment »

January 2nd, 2014

Interest Rates Going Up by Rules, Not by Market

There are increases coming to mortgage interest rates due to several rule changes. One change is a proposed increase in the guarantee fees. This is also called the g-fees. This fee will increase 10 basis points, which is equal to 1/10th%. There are also increases coming to what I call add-ons. Add-ons are fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Add-ons vary depending on credit score and down payment of each mortgage borrower. Read More

Categories: Government, interest rates, Loan Process, Fannie Mae, FHFA, Freddie Mac, interest rate, interest rate increase

January 4th, 2013

Interest Rates Went Up This Week, About 1/4%!

Interest rates went up this week about 0.25% to 0.375%, depending on the type of loan. Below are some details from a bond market service I use called MBSQuoteLine. They sends me news on the bond market, which is the biggest driver of the direction of interest rates. Read More

Categories: interest rates, bond market, interest rate, mortgage rates

February 10th, 2023

Mortgage Interest Rate Lock-In Information

You would think locking-in an interest rate for your mortgage is a very simple process. What is there to think about? You are given your choices, and you pick one and lock-in. Right? Not much to it?! It’s amazing what the average consumer doesn’t know, and what they should be thinking about. Read below to learn about what will be important for your next mortgage application and interest rate lock-in. Read More

Categories: interest rates, Loan Process, mortgage, Refinance, interest rate, lock-in, mortgage process, rate lock-in

February 27th, 2014

February 27th, 2014

PMI versus LPMI versus 1st trust/2nd trust Combo Loan

Everyone likes to think PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) is evil. People like to think they should not have to pay it, and want to find a way around paying it. There are ways to work around PMI. But like all things in life, there are trade-offs. A person really needs to look at all the options and trades-offs, and consider how long they think they are likely to spend in their new home. Then everyone needs to consider paying PMI! What do I mean? Read More

Categories: Loan Types, Uncategorized, Combo loan, interest rate, interest rates, LMPI, loan process, loan types, PMI 2 Comments »

January 21st, 2014

January 21st, 2014

The Refinance Boom is not Over? Refinance Your ARM to a Fixed Rate!

Actually, the refinance boom is over. However, there are a fair amount of people that still need to refinance. The problem is that the people that have not refinanced when rates were low simply don’t realize that they should still refinance. The people that obviously needed to refinance have already refinanced, in some cases multiple times. There are many people left that can refinance.

Categories: interest rates, Loan Types, Refinance, ARM, ARM loans, Fixed rate, interest rate, refinance, Refinance boom

January 23rd, 2014

The Refinance Boom is not Over? Refinance Your HELOC!

Actually, the refinance boom is indeed over. However, there are a fair amount of people that still need to refinance. There are a stunning amount of home equity lines (HELOCs) outstanding and most people will need to refinance those. Most HELOCs were set up so that the first ten years of the loan only require interest only payments and no principal is due. Then, in year 11, the principal would start to amortize. And it amortizes over 20 years, not 30. This is a problem because Read More

Categories: interest rates, Loan Process, Loan Types, Refinance, HELOC, interest rate, refinance

July 16th, 2012

They Go Down Forever!

Rates appear to be going down forever. There is no end to how low they can go, is there? Of course there is. And I find consumers have gotten used to not only low rates, but the fact that they will keep dropping. So they procrastinate and put off refinancing because rates will be lower tomorrow. But they may not. Rates can only go so low. We are at the lowest point for rates in our country. But the weak economy not only produces low rates, it produces doubt and fear.

Categories: interest rates, interest rate, mortgage rates, the future of interest rates