Going On About Pajamas, Rates, and Funerals Gone Wrong!
Happy New year, Mortgage Fans! My question to you: How’re y’all doing? (*not sure why I just turned into a southern Waffle House waitress with that last sentence, please ignore and let’s move forward). You want to know how I’m doing? Glad you asked, I’m doing great because last year I set a goal of losing 14 pounds and I nailed it!! Absolutely crushed my goal! There is no better feeling than making a resolution, staying focused, and never losing sight of…. Wait a minute… hang on…. I’m being told that was a typo. Sorry about that, it was actually 1.4 pounds. But hey, hitting 10% of a goal is still something, right? My old coach used to say, “Are you going to hit your goals this year, or are you just going?” I don’t even know if that’s how the quote finished, it was hard to hear him when I was sitting at the end of the bench. I do know that I’m going to start the blog now…
Going Quote of the Day: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
This Week in Economic History: It was on January 11th, 1757 when Alexander Hamilton, patriot, author, first Secretary of the Treasury, and future rapping actor was born.
Possible Game Show Answer: President Jefferson hated formal affairs so much that he would often greet foreign dignitaries while wearing pajamas. (*if wearing pajamas is a requirement for President then I’d like to announce I’m officially running in 2024. I have a lot of experience with this since I started working from home during Covid.)
Wuss’up This Week: Not a ton of reports being released this week that can impact interest rates. Today we’ve got Wholesale Inventories, tomorrow four inflation reports, and on Friday PPI and Core PPI (two more inflation reports — woohooo!). If the reports on inflation come in with bad numbers we’ll see rates tick up, and vice versa if they show a decrease.
Interest Rate Update: This is the first blog rate announcement using the new conforming loan limit of $766,550 – how ‘bout them apples, Mortgage Fans. When I first started in this industry the conforming loan limit was $227k, and I’m thinking at this pace the limit will be over a million before I retire. (*Please note that my financial planner told me at the rate I save I’ll be able to retire when I’m 104). Today’s 30yr fixed for a loan at $250k or less is at around 6.25%, and over that amount 6.50%-6.75%. For a jumbo 30yr fixed (*over $766k) the fixed rate is still super-high (7.875%) but I have some good ARM rates in the low-6s. As usual rates will vary based on type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you’re interested in funerals gone wrong
Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance that closes with me I will waive $450 in fees. Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or people that learned 100 things in 2023 that can use this gift.
Going Quote of the Day 2: “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.” – Yogi Berra
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who guessed Jonah Hill on the last question.
Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Girl Riding Alligator T-shirt? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck:“It was on this date in 1999 when the show I was on premiered on HBO. What’s that, you didn’t like this show? That’s okay, maybe instead of watching it you’d like to be swimming with the fishes. Just kidding, I hate swimming and I’m not that tough – but I’m not “little” either – I stand almost 6-feet tall. As a teenager I was involved in a car accident where my head went through the windshield. To cover up the scars it left me I started wearing hats and bandanas – two things that are part of my signature look. Hey, speaking of cars, part of my last name (*or middle name, this blog writer doesn’t know the answer, if you know let me know in your guess) is a mode of transportation. And as I mentioned earlier, I’m not gonna swim, and I’m not a fan of cars. I was born to…. Hmmm, well, do something else besides acting.”
