When I was in the 4th grade our school tried to get us to learn the Metric System, I hated it. I came home and was complaining to my sister – who was in 8th grade at the time. She said, “I know, it’s so confusing – we learned today that in Canada a perfect game in bowling is 306 instead of 300 – all because of metrics.” I had no reason to think my own sister would screw with me like that, and I believed this lie until I was a freshman in high school when I bet this kid named Bruno that a Canadian bowler’s perfect score was 306. Bruno was the biggest drug addict in my high school, which meant he knew more about the metric system than anyone. It was a sucker bet – the hardest $50 I’ve ever had to part with combined with Bruno and his friends making fun of me for the rest of the year. And that, Mortgage Fans, leads us into the quotes of the day for the blog…
Bowling Quote of the Day: “If you could see the insides of bowling ball holes, nobody would ever bowl again.” – Author Unknown
Today in Economic History: It was on this day in 1845 that President James Polk gave the okay to buy New Mexico and California from Mexico, but the Mexicans refused, eventually starting a war. (*I know geographically it doesn’t work but I think if he would’ve thrown in New Hampshire and $500 bucks it probably would’ve prevented the war from happening).
Wuss’up This Week: Every day reports about our economy are released into the wild, and it’s these reports that can sway interest rates in either direction. Today we’ve got Wholesale Inventories, tomorrow Jobless Claims, and on Friday the Producer Price Index (*this is an index that measures the average changes in prices received by domestic producers. The PPI is also one of the oldest continuous systems of statistical data used by the Federal Government – and it started way back in 1891. That’s the same year the Wrigley Company started, so in this cold December here are 10 fun facts about Wrigley Field to give you hopes that summer will be here again).
Interest rates took a very small dip at the beginning of this week but still relatively the same. Today you’ll find a 30yr fixed (*that’s for any loan at or lower than the new conforming loan limit of $548k) at 2.625% to 3.125%, and jumbo rates (*over $548k) in the high-2s to low-3s. As usual rates will vary based on if it’s a purchase or refinance, type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you’ve taken a stray cat around the world.
Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance loan that closes with me I will waive $575 in closing costs (*and more for essential workers!). Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or people that collect interesting things that can use this gift!
Bowling Quote of the Day 2: “I always knew I’d end up drunk in a gutter. I just didn’t expect everyone around me to keep bowling.” – @xplodingUnicorn
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed Mariah Carey. Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Giant Twinkie Pan? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “It’s my birthday today and all I can think about for the last month and a half are songs by The Who (1969), Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973) and George Michael (1990). Yeah…… Definitely not a Johnny Cash song (1957). I graduated from New York University – my parents were so proud (for real). You might remember me from my 2004-2012 series that starred a former Knotts Landing actress, a former Melrose Place actress, and of course an actress who was spectacular on a Seinfeld episode. My husband is a Hollywood guy too and he’s not ashamed to be married to me. You might remember him from Wild Hogs (2007) and Jurassic Park 3 (2001). I know, I didn’t see those either – but I know you remember how hard it was for him to sell cars in North Dakota.”
