Fire Quote of the Day: “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” – Ferdinand Foch (*this guy was a French general in WWI and won a ton of awards and medals during his military career, but all I can think about is how the kids in school must have constantly teased him about his last name.)
Today in Economic History: It was on this date in 1848 the New York Herald issued an announcement about the California Gold Rush. The original discovery happened in January but it wasn’t until this day that the rest of the population found out about it. Many people traveled west to California in hopes of hitting it big. Here are ten fun facts about the gold rush, and I will add one more: One of my all-time favorite gum as a kid was inspired by the gold rush.
“Greed is good.” – Gordon Gecco, Wall Street, 1987. Apparently the folks at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been inspired by this movie. Last week they instituted a 50-basis point price change to rates due to “higher risks and costs” on refis, not purchases. Wait, what? How can someone who is refinancing to a lower rate – which means a lower payment – be a higher risk?? BTW – Freddie earned $1.8 billion last quarter and Fannie earned $2.5 billion, yet they decided to punish the borrower – you – because they aren’t making enough money. Disgusting. Their recent move basically pushed rates up .125-.25% and added average costs of $1,400 per deal during a pandemic. Still… rates are really low, Mortgage Fans.
A 30-year fixed conforming loan (*that’s any loan at $510k or less) can be found in the mid/high-2s-to-low-3s, and 15yr fixed in the low-to-mid 2s. Jumbo mortgages (*over $510k) can be found in the low-to-mid 3s. As usual rates will vary on four different factors – purchase or refinance, type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you’re entertained by the Top 10 most controversial talk show moments..
Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance loan that closes with me I will waive $575 of lender fees (and more for essential workers. *Note to my friend Paul: even though you are a candy salesman – which I consider essential – you are technically not an essential worker). Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or people who want to sleep in a Blockbuster video store that can use this gift!
Fire Quote of the Day 2: “A neat thing about 2020 is that enough stuff happens every month to fill an entire verse of ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire.’” – @TragicAllyHere
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed David Bowie. Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Ruth Bader Ginsburg Magnetic Playset? (Hang with me, Mortgage Fans, next week’s prize will be better) Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “Tomorrow is my birthday and an anagram for my name is mama’s day – a day I get to celebrate every year since my daughter was born in 2010. In the mid-90s I worked in musical theater which probably helped me with my first major success as a leading lady in a 2007 movie where I played a cheerful princess. A couple years prior to that movie I received my first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in an independent comedy-drama whose one-word title has nothing to do with summer months or something Orkin would spray for. Glenn Close holds the record for Academy Award nominations without winning (7), I am only one behind her. Many thought I should’ve won for my 2013 movie which I got rave reviews for but I hated my costar (Christian Bale) who was hard on me and made me cry frequently.”
