The skunks won the fight. People living in the city have to worry about rats, in the ‘burbs it’s skunks – and I’ve got a family of them that want to live under my porch. For the past 3 years I’ve called exterminators, spread orange juice (they hate citrus, even if they didn’t brush their teeth first), ammonia, mothballs, and even coyote urine (*fun fact – you can buy this online! When the Amazon driver dropped it off, I tore open the package like it was Christmas morning). The skunks left for about four months, and I thought I had won the battle but yesterday morning they were back, and this time with three cute little babies that were burrowing under the dirt. I didn’t see them at first, it was my dog that saw them, chased them, and got sprayed. Last night I was giving my dog a bath and my wife was looking at me – knowing how frustrated I was – and just patted me on the back and gave me the Good Will Hunting ‘It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault’. I did want to break down and cry, but I didn’t because that’s exactly what the skunks want me to do. I will continue the fight, Mortgage Fans – I won’t let you down! In the meantime, let’s start the blog with a few inspirational fighting quotes:
Fight Quote of the Day: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” – Mark Twain
Today in Economic History: It was on this date in 1845 President James Polk gave the okay to buy New Mexico and California from Mexico. However, the Mexicans refused which eventually started a war. Personally, I think we should’ve just asked for Tijuana and it would have gone a lot smoother.
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 a new one called ‘Job Quits’ – this is just what it sounds like. The estimate is at 4.4 million who will tell their boss to take this job and shove it. Tomorrow we’ve got Jobless Claims which show the number of people looking for jobs after they told their bosses to take their job and shove it and on Friday the Consumer Price Index and the Core Inflation report. I know you guys are sick about hearing about inflation, so am I, but I thought CBS Sunday Morning did a good job explaining it, let’s hope rates don’t go back up to 18%. If these reports come out with better-than-expected numbers you’ll see rates tick up, and vice versa if the numbers disappoint.
Interest Rate Update: First, exciting news last week. We thought the new conforming loan limit would be $625k but in fact, it was raised to $648k. I don’t want to say I’m getting old but in my first year in this industry (1998) the limit was $227,150. Today we find 30-year fixed conforming rates at 3.25% with Jumbo rates (*that’s anything over $648k) a shade less. Other rates to note: 15yr fixed conforming in the middle-2s. Also, jumbo ARMs range from low-to-mid-to-upper 2s. As usual, rates will vary based on if it’s a purchase or refinance, type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you’re scared of bears.
Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance loan that closes with me I will waive $575 in lender fees! Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or people that appreciate cool architecture that can use this gift.
Fight Quote of the Day 2: “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight. Also, no outside food, they are so strict about that.” – @meganamram
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed Ariana Grande. Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Fresh Prince Poster? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “My film was released on this day in 1978 and I was nominated for an Oscar but didn’t win. Then, in ’82 my movie was also released on this date and I did win the Oscar – the judges made the right choice! Most of you reading this probably weren’t alive back then so let me give you some more recent clues. Do you remember the 2008 film where I was nominated for a Grammy? It was inspired by an acronym group. Then in 2011, I starred in a movie whose title sounds like I could be the superhero girlfriend to Robert Downey Jr. What else can I tell you? Oh, the anagram for my name is ‘Try Eel Sperm’ (which I would never do, I’m not your typical Hollywood floozy). Okay, that should be enough hints, it’s not that complicated.”
