Hey, Mortgage Fans!
Standing Quote of the Day: “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” – Rabindranath Tagore
Possible Game Show Answer: Like casinos, shopping malls are intentionally designed to disorient visitors. The feeling of losing track of time and geography inside a mall is called the Gruen Transfer.
Possible Game Show Answer: At one time, George Washington was the nation’s largest whiskey producer. He made 11,000 gallons in 1799.
This Week in Economic History: It was on October 3rd, 1776 when Congress – needing funds to finance the American Revolution – approved a $5 million dollar loan with a 4% interest rate. This was the first-ever loan taken out by the fledgling nation. (*I pride myself in writing this blog without any help, but have to admit I plagiarized that last sentence from Econolink.org, those who know me know I have no clue what ‘fledgling’ means.)
Wuss’up This Week: Big, big, big week as it’s the beginning of the month, and you know what that means, Mortgage Fans. What, you don’t? My colonoscopy! Not sure how much the results of that will impact interest rates, but the employment reports coming out definitely will. Today we’ve got ADP Employment, tomorrow Jobless Claims, and Friday’s biggie, the US Employment Report/Unemployment Rate from September. If these reports come out good for the economy, you’ll see rates tick up, and vice versa if the numbers disappoint.
Interest Rate Update: If this were 1980s I’d be telling you rates are FANTASTIC!! It’s not though but this is a good lesson that simple physics tells us what goes up must come down. (side note: According to my high school report card, there is no such thing as ‘simple’ physics). Next year will be better, but ion the meantime – historically – rates aren’t horrible. Today we find a conforming 30yr fixed rate in the low 7s for loans at $250k or less, and high-7s for loans between $250k-$726k. For jumbo loans (*over $726k) they are in the very high-7s on a 30yr fixed and low-7s for ARMs. As usual rates will vary based on type of home, equity in the home, if your home is an architectural gem and your credit score.
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 like memes of historic paintings
Standing Quote of the Day 2: “That really wasn’t nice of Dorothy to say, “I’ll miss you most of all” to Scarecrow with Lion & Tin Man standing right there.” – @sixthformpoet
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who correctly guessed Avril Lavigne last week!
Want to be entered into a drawing to win An Elmer’s Glue T-shirt? (*I know, these prizes are getting better, right!?). Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “It was this week back in 2015 when I announced to the world I had a disease. No worries, a friend helped me out with part of her body. That was probably the worst thing that ever happened to me, but the author of this blog will say the worst thing was starting my career on Barney & Friends. After that I had a good run with my series on the Disney Channel although that show was not everything what it seemed like. I’m not just a Disney person, I’ve got a series that started in 2021 and still going, it stars me, and two other dudes – one who has hosted SNL a bunch of times, the other who was an SNL cast member in the mid-80s, and the title makes it sound scary, but it’s all comedy. I can sing too – I’ve had three # 1 albums which is really rare!”
