Hey, Mortgage Fans!
Ironic Quote of the Day: “The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.” – Robert A Heinlein
This Week in Economic History: It was on this date in 1878 when one of the most instrumental items in the modern economy was invented in Dayton, Ohio. That item was a cash register.
Possible Game Show Answer: Female bats give birth while hanging upside down, catching the baby in their wings as it drops. (*sort of related story: my freshman year in high school I bet my friend I could catch the Twix bar falling from the top row of the vending machine before it hit the bottom, which I was able to but then went through a solid 20-second panic of not being able to get my arm out of the bottom part of the machine. I still have some PTSD when I pass vending machines.)
Wuss’up This Week: Big big big week for employment, Mortgage Fans – three reports coming out that can shake up rates! That’s my teaser sentence with a little bit of a lie built in because, truthfully, today’s ADP Employment Report and tomorrow’s Initial Jobless Claims are not earth-shattering – more a precursor to Friday’s biggie, the New Jobs for October/Unemployment Rate Report. Also, let’s not forget that today Fed Chairman Powell will announce if they are raising interest rates or not. (*Spoiler alert: they won’t. Actually, they’d better not!)
Interest Rate Update: Before we talk about rates I should mention that the conforming loan limit is projected to raised from $726k to $750k. How long have I been doing this job? When I started this job in 1999 it was $227,150. When Fannie/Freddie started this whole ‘limit’ thing it was $93,750 – that was way back in 1980 when I was just a young punk trying to figure out how to attract the opposite sex while sporting braces and an afro that was way too big for my head. Okay, enough of the history lesson – today we find 30yr fixed conforming rates in the mid-7s for loans that are $250k or less, and from $250k-$726k they are in the super-high 7s/ low-8s. For jumbo 30yr fixed loans (*over $726k) they are in the mid-8s, but for jumbo ARMs in the high 7s. As usual rates will vary based on type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if your kid has a creative Halloween costume.
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 name along to any friends, family, coworkers, or people that own the most expensive home in their state that can use this gift!
Ironic Quote of the Day 2: “Most irons aren’t made from iron, which is ironically is both ironic and unironic.” – @TheTweetOfGod
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who last week guessed Taylor Swift!
Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Lord Potato T-shirt? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “My show premiered on this date in 2019 with a friend of mine and did pretty well, although only a 65% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – wake up, America – it’s a good show! My first name sounds like a candy maker, my last name is a combo of decay/fading and something you’d find in your kitchen. We are just a couple of months away from an election year which always makes me happy, and seeing my appearance as Greta on the Simpsons makes this blog writer happy. What else can I tell you? Oh, my birthday is in March, but I played in June. Had you told me when I was growing up in New Orleans that I’d be able to make money by acting in movies, I would’ve told you that’s wild!”
