Well… here we are on this day of love which is less than a week after the Super Bowl, and I’m wondering if my Bears will ever play in this game again in my lifetime. If I was married to the Bears, all my friends and family would be saying, “What are you still doing with her? She doesn’t try to get better, she always lets you down, why do you take the same abuse year after year?” I’ll be happy to answer that right now: It’s because of a little thing called love, Mortgage Fans. I love them more than Swiftie loves Travis, more than my dog loves bacon (regular, not Canadian), and more than you all love low interest rates. It’s an unconditional love that only tortured sports fans will understand. Speaking of low rates, you know who else gives us unconditional love? The Fed. Sometimes they raise rates but it’s only for our own good (that’s what we tell ourselves regardless if we believe it or not), and now they’ve come down over a point since last summer (despite the February speed bump we’ve hit) – and that was without the Fed lowering them at all! Just imagine where they will go once they start to lower rates which I think will be in July, only time will tell.
Love Quote of the Day: “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” – Charles M. Schulz
Possible Game Show Answer: Green Eggs and Ham was banned in China from 1965 to 1991 for its portrayal of early Marxism.
Wuss’up This Week: In honor of VD there are no reports being released today (*Valentine’s Day, not Venereal Diseases; and also, I just made that up – economic reports have no ties to Valentine’s Day. Or venereal diseases.) but tomorrow we’ve got a bunch: Jobless Claims, U.S. Retail Sales, Home Builder Confidence Index, Capacity Utilization, and the Import Price Index, and then on Friday we’ve got Housing Starts, Building Permits, and a handful of inflation reports. If these all come in better than expected we’ll see rates tick up, and vice versa if the numbers disappoint.
Interest Rate Update: Its been two weeks since Punxsutawney Phil predicted rates would drop but we’re off to a bad start, Mortgage Fans. Rates have been on a 2-week journey headed the wrong direction. For loans at $250k or less we find the conforming 30yr fixed rate at around 6.50%, and $251k-$766k they are in the mid-to-upper 6s. Jumbo 30yr fixed (*over $766k) can be found around 7.50% for a 30yr fixed and about a point lower for ARMs!! As usual rates will vary based on credit score, type of home, equity in the home, and if the home contains unusual architecture
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 people that can fall asleep in two minutes that can use this gift.
Love Quote of the Day 2: “If love is the answer, can you please rephrase the question.” – Lily Tomlin
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed Seth Meyers!
Want to be entered into a drawing to win an Ancient Rock T-shirt? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “It’s my birthday in two days and I’m getting up there in age. I know what you’re thinking: What? You can’t be serious? But it’s true, we all get older and I was past my prime somewhere around the age of 30 which meant my days were limited in my first occupation. Today being Valentine’s Day it makes me think of love which in my first job was usually really good or really bad, depending on what side of love you were on. Never had I ever thought I would find the 2nd half of my life filled with TV gigs, but I’m really enjoying it. I hosted a game show in 2002 whose title may make you think of death row inmates. Fifteen years later they finally made a movie about me, the guy that played me had to transform himself into me which was cool.”
