Hey, Mortgage Fans!
The 1970s were a wild time. I don’t know if parents could pull off a stunt like this today, but when I was five years old I had two surgeries at the same time: the removal of my tonsils as well as having a hernia fixed. My parents never told me about the hernia part, I think they didn’t want me to freak out about the surgical double-header. When I woke up from the anesthesia, I felt the pain in my groin, looked down at the scar, and thought, “Man, I had no idea my tonsils were all the way down there!” Most surgeries start with a cut – the very first step to get something working again. Maybe the Fed can learn from doctors, the best way to fix rates is to cut them – more on that below, Mortgage Fans…
Surgery Quote of the Day: “An incompetent teacher is even worse than an incompetent surgeon because a surgeon can only cut up one person at a time.” – Ernest L. Boyer
Possible Game Show Answer: The word astronaut comes from the Greek words meaning ‘star’ and ‘sailor’.
Today in Economic History: It was on this day in 1903 when the Dow dropped to 42.15. The stocks of industrial companies dropped to single digits and a financial crisis ensued for the rest of the year. This drop in the market was later coined the “Rich Man’s Panic.” (*sidenote: Every month like clockwork, when my Visa bill arrives, I suffer from Poor Man’s Panic.)
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. This week it’s all about the Fed Chairs speaking, starting with three today (Lisa Cook who is a Fed Governor, KC Fed President Jeff Schmid, Michael Barr, and Philip Jefferson), tomorrow Fed Chair Jerome Powell will be on panel at the IMF (*that stands for International Monetary Fund. When Powell was raising interest rates I was calling him two of those letters), and on Friday the Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan speaks as well as Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic. That’s a lot of Fed speakers giving their opinions on how things should be, and usually that doesn’t help interest rates. We’ll see….
Interest Rate Update: A little rally last week/this week as today we find a conforming 30yr fixed in the high-6s/low-to-mid-7s for any loan at $250k or less, and mid-7s when between $250k-$726k. For Jumbo loans (*over $726k) still in the high-7s/low-8s depending on whether you’re looking at ARMs or fixed rates. As usual rates will vary based on type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you like to see watermelons explode in slow motion
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 winter wonderland photography that can use this gift.
Surgery Quote of the Day 2: “A good rule to remember for life is that when it comes to plastic surgery and sushi, never be attracted by a bargain.” Graham Norton
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed Reese Witherspoon!
Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Planters Cheez Balls T-shirt? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck:“It’s my birthday today and I’m getting up there in age! One day I’ll be up in heaven, while here on earth I am in hell and famous for it. An anagram for my name is ‘A Random Gyros’ and yeah, I guess that makes sense. I love TV – I made an appearance on The Simpsons in 2011, and in 2017 I also appeared on New Girl. I have never appeared on South Park but I bet you can guess my favorite character. I share my first name with a Charlotte Hornets player as well as a Denver Nuggets player (who uses it as a last name), and my last name sounds just like a brand of condoms that was invented in 1926.”
