In college I wrote a paper for my philosophy class titled ‘Is Cauliflower the most overrated underrated vegetable, or the most underrated overrated vegetable?’ Really, really stupid, but that’s what happens, Mortgage Fans, when you wait until the last minute to complete an assignment. I guess if I had to re-write it today I’d come in with something like, ‘Is Inflation overrated or underrated in its relation to interest rates’ because really, even though we’ve had some bad inflation reports as of late, the rates are still too high for where they should be. Inflation was at 9.1% in June of 2022, and as of today we find it down to 3.1%, yet rates are hovering in the 6s & 7s when they should be in the 5s. More about inflation below, but in the meantime it’s time for a quote on – what I think – is the most underrated-overrated vegetable…
Cauliflower Quote of the Day: “Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.” – Mark Twain
This Week in Economic History: It was on February 25th, 1913 when the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment cleared the way for the creation of income tax. Boooooo!!! Anyway, it’s time to start procrastinating on doing your taxes, and you can start that procrastination by reading these fun tax facts
Possible Game Show Answer: Lobsters’ bladders are in their heads. (*side note: While my bladder is where it should be, there have been times in my life when I was accused of having my head stuck up a different part of my body.)
Wuss’up This Week: Today we’ve got the GDP (first revision), tomorrow Jobless claims, four inflation reports, Pending Home Sales, and four – count them – FOUR Fed Presidents speaking, and on Friday the Consumer Sentiment report as well as four more Feds speaking their minds. Inflation has once again been a hot topic that will be discussed amongst the speakers, and what they say usually has an impact on interest rates. Stay tuned…
Interest Rate Update: Today we find a conforming 30yr fixed in the mid-6s for first-time homebuyers at loans of $250k or less, high-6s-7.50% for any loan at $251k-$766k, and for Jumbo loans (*over $766k) we have 30yr fixed in the upper-7s but ARMs in the mid-6s – and as usual rates will vary based on type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you find signs humorous.
Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance loan that closes with me I will waive $450 in lender fees! Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or Oscar nominees who have competed against themselves who can use this gift.
Cauliflower Quote of the Day 2: “Use cauliflower as a substitute for mashed potatoes, rice, and any joy in your life. You have no friends now, there is only cauliflower.” – @TragicAllyHere
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed Sophie Turner!
Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Doodlebob Pencil Holder? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “My basketball movie premiered this week back in 2008, this was my second basketball movie. In the first one (1992) I was a real hustler (haha, yes – that’s a reference to my ’96 movie). Anyway, both of those movies did okay at the box office, not huge hits but still successes. And let’s all raise a glass to my first success – my 1980s TV sitcom where my first name was the same first name as the character I played (and no, I wasn’t in Toy Story). Do you remember my 2012 movie that could be retitled Starvation Tournament? Millennials reading this probably remember that movie as well as my 2014 cable series starring a guy who has had so much success I don’t know why he signed up to do car commercials. Millennials won’t know this last clue: I’m married now for the 2nd time, and I’m rich enough where I won’t take any million-dollar offers from someone to sleep with my wife.”
