Haiku shout out to my parents on this special day: To my Mom and Dad. Happy Anniversary! Sixty-one years – wow!
Working from home has given me more time to help out with the laundry, and I have to say – is there anything more satisfying than removing a thick coat of lint from the lint trap? If there were a full-time job removing lint I would change occupations in a heartbeat, and in a short period of time, you’d see my name on a plaque as Employee of the Month hanging above the lint-removal assembly line. I know what you’re thinking, Mortgage Fans, “Does Barry have any more stupid thoughts on lint?” Stupid thoughts? No, but I do have a stupid story. During my freshman year at the University of Kansas a group of people in my dorm bet me $50 I wouldn’t eat the lint from the trap. It was the easiest $50 I have ever made in my life, but here’s the worst part of the story and I don’t even know why I’m confessing this: I was completely sober at the time. Onto the blog….
Laundry Quote of the Day: “Before you buy a treadmill, bring a pile of laundry to the store and see how you like hanging clothes on it.” – @LizHackett
This Week in Economic History: It was on September 8th, 2003 The Recording Industry Association of America filed lawsuits against 251 people across the country accusing them of illegal sharing of copyrighted music online. Maybe a week or so before this happened I illegally downloaded Wannabe (thank you, Napster), and then when this news about the lawsuits hit I laid awake in bed for many nights thinking I was going to go to jail because of that stupid Spice Girls song.
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 Job Openings (previous: 5.9 million), tomorrow Jobless Claims, and on Friday the Consumer Price Index (previous 0.6%). FYI on the CPI – it’s a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for goods and services like utilities, food, fuel, etc.
Interest rates bumped up last week for a variety of reasons, mainly the fact that they always get worse before a three-day weekend. Why you ask? I have no clue, but that has been the trend since I got into this business many moons ago. What – you want moon facts now? Okay, here you go. For now, you will find 30yr fixed rates anywhere from 2.75% to 3.375% for a conforming loan (*that’s any loan at $510k or less) and jumbo loans (*over $510k) you’ll find in the low-3s. As usual, rates will vary based on a purchase or refinance, type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you’re interested in bizarre Elvis concert appearances.
Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance loan that closes with me I will waive $575 in lender fees (and more for essential workers!). Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or co-slackers that can use this gift!
Laundry Quote of the Day 2: “Marriage is when ‘Take your pants off’ becomes ‘Take your pants off. I’m doing the laundry.’” = @LizHacket
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed Sandra Bullock. Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Pac-Man Colorized Pint Glass? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “It’s my birthday today and an anagram for my name is Sad Alderman – but really I’m a happy actor! My career started pretty much around 1987 as an extra in a small handful of episodes on the # 1 sitcom where the star of it is now in jail. Later on, I was hired to be an SNL writer and soon joined the cast – remember my famous song? The writer of this blog thinks I am so talented but made three of the worst comedies ever made – one of them the title of a children’s limerick, the other two you would think had nothing to do with children. Listen, not all comedies are gonna be hits which is why I’ve taken on dramatic roles as well; including a critically acclaimed movie last year whose title could double as an adult film about not getting circumcised.”
