Hey, Mortgage Fans!
On my 50th birthday, I learned that I had been calling pound cake ‘palm cake’ my entire life. The waiter called me out on it, and the people at my table had a good laugh. Wisdom is good. As I have gone through life, there are other things I’ve learned over the years that debunked my earlier thinking. I know now it doesn’t take 7 years for swallowed gum to digest (my high school history teacher told me that when he was asked to settle a bet between my friend and I. Years later at a reunion I reminded him of his misinformation that cost me $10, to which he laughed and said, “I taught history, not digestion.), I know Twinkies don’t last forever, I know calamari isn’t what my mother called Chicago Onion Rings (she told me this in effort to get me to eat more things as a kid). After I had kids I learned that yes – there is bad tasting pizza. (see: Chuck E Cheese). After 24 years in this industry I know that rates won’t stay in the 6s and 7s forever – they will drop, Mortgage Fans. More about that below, right now it’s time to learn…
Learning Quote of the Day: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin
Did’ja Know: The 2000s ushered in a new way for us to pay for things: mobile payment technology like Venmo, PayPal, etc. Approximately 25% of the people worldwide use mobile and digital wallets, ahead of credit cards (22.4%), debit cards (22.3%), and cash (20.5%). Globally, the mobile-payment market was worth $1.97 trillion last year, up almost 28% from the year prior.
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 our hero Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaking (as well as tomorrow), on Thursday we’ve got Pending Home Sales and Jobless Claims, and then on Friday a handful of inflation reports. Circling back to the Fed, it would be nice if they pointed out how much progress has been made with their war on inflation. A year ago at this time it was at 8.58% (after spiking at 9.1%), and today it’s around 4.05%.
Interest Rate Update: Today we find a 30yr conforming fixed rate (*$726k or less) ranging all the way from 6.375% to 6.99%, and a Jumbo 30yr fixed (*over $726k) in the high-6s/low-7s. As usual rates will vary based on type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you like mass hysteria
Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance 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 animal lovers that can use this gift!
Possible Game Show Answer: The annual number of worldwide shark bites is 10 times less than the number of people bitten by other people in New York.
Learning Quote of the Day 2: “The only thing I learned in math is that I hate math.” – My son in 7th grade.
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats on those who guessed Chris Pratt last week.
Want to be entered into a drawing to win a 1980s Barbie Jigsaw Puzzle. Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “It’s my birthday today and I’ll celebrate by eating some fruit that is usually red and well, at my age I shouldn’t be eating anything fried but screw it – gotta enjoy life. Hey, do you know that my last name sounds like something you would use to catch fish? The author of this blog ranks my 1990 movie as one of his top 10 favorite nail-biters, although I’d say Paul Sheldon is a better writer than Mr. King. Final hint: I received my fourth Academy Award nomination for my 2019 movie about the Olympics. Well… sort of.”
