Mortgage rates are very low

[Front Row]

I'm at a flat 5% on a 5 year ARM. It's one year old now.

 

We finance through Union Savings and for a flat $50 you can refi anytime the rates drop if your a customer.

That is one sweet deal , they have any branches national?

 

5.1 on a 30 yr fixed here today.

Edited December 4, 2008 by Front Row

[justin]

I think I'm going to refi tomorrow.

[Rebellab]

For all you mortgage finance guys, will this Fed 4.5% 30 year fixed deal go thru. I am going to make an offer on a house on Sat. and don't know if I should lock in the interest rate on Monday or not. What say you?

[wiegie]

For all you mortgage finance guys, will this Fed 4.5% 30 year fixed deal go thru. I am going to make an offer on a house on Sat. and don't know if I should lock in the interest rate on Monday or not. What say you?

I wish I could tell you. (I am actually sitting here right now about 90% sure that I am going to pull the trigger this afternoon to lock in at 5.125% for 30 years. It might go lower, but right now long-term treasury bonds are up slightly on the day, so I am a little concerned about waiting.)

 

[Cunning Runt]

What's a 10yr fixed at these days?

 

I have 13yrs 5 mos left on my mortgage at 6.375%

 

I'd refinance to a 10yr term if I could keep my payments the same.

[detlef]

What's a 10yr fixed at these days?

 

I have 13yrs 5 mos left on my mortgage at 6.375%

 

I'd refinance to a 10yr term if I could keep my payments the same.

My guess is that it's low enough to look into. I would be surprised to hear them being any higher than 5%.

 

That said, not knowing what you still owe on the house, it would be hard to get it as low.

 

For instance, if you still owe $75K on it, paying for 10 years @ 5% is 795 per month vs paying for 13.5 years at 6.375% being only 691.

 

Of course, there's plenty of reasons why that calculation is an approximation at best. None the less, essentially eliminating nearly 1/3 of the payments you were going to make without having to ramp up each payment at all is a pretty ambitious goal.

[General Itals]

I locked at 5.5% on November 26th. Don't regret it as I needed to close before the end of November.

 

For anyone looking to refinance, I would recommend waiting as signs point to dramatic drops, perhaps as low as 4.5-4.75% in the next few months. For those looking to buy immediately, and playing the number game from day to day, don't be dumb, pull the trigger now.

[sundaynfl]

Some information on the Treasuries plans...

 

Treasury Mortgage Rate Plan Criticized for Refi Exclusion

December 5, 2008

American Banker

By Steven Sloan and Cheyenne Hopkins

WASHINGTON — Before the Treasury Department has even announced its plan for lowering mortgage rates, a growing chorus claims it is too narrow to work. The Treasury is expected within weeks to announce a plan to use the government-sponsored enterprises to lower mortgage rates to 4.5% for any new-home purchase. But by excluding refinancings, critics claim the Treasury would be doing little to help existing homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments. "It still ignores the basic problem. There are a lot of people losing their homes and unable to pay their mortgages," said V. Gerard Comizio, a partner at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP. "You can keep throwing money until doomsday, but people keep losing their jobs and can't pay their credit card bills. That's going to continue a downward spiral." Under the still-developing plan, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would buy securities that finance newly issued mortgages and encourage lenders to set the interest rate at 4.5%. The basic idea would be to stabilize the housing market by bringing in new borrowers. The plan is substantially similar to one pushed by the National Association of Realtors, which has been aggressively pushing the idea in newspaper ads and in meetings with members of Congress. Jerry Giovaniello, senior vice president of government affairs for the Realtor group, said it makes sense to limit the plan to new-home purchases. "It would have a huge impact on stabilizing housing prices and getting people to buy who want to buy," he said. He said the program would complement a plan pushed by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair to spur loan modifications on existing loans. But Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been resistant to Ms. Bair's idea because it would drain funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Analysts said focusing on interest rates for new mortgages and ignoring distressed ones would be a mistake. "There would be a certain irony for it to be just new mortgages given that so much of the talk in Washington is on distressed homeowners," said Fred Cannon, an analyst at KBW Inc.'s Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. But some observers said the plan could have an indirect effect on stressed homeowners. "If it helps stabilize existing prices it makes the decision to modify than to foreclose an easier decision," said Laurence Platt, a partner at K&L Gates. Keith Leggett, an economist for the American Bankers Association, said the plan would help boost overall house values. "By focusing on new mortgages, what you will precipitate is the lower interest rate will be capitalized in the value of the house, and that will help stop this spiral with regard to downward housing values," he said. But Brian Chappelle, a partner at Potomac Partners, said the Treasury cannot leave out refinancing in the plan. "That does nothing to address the fundamental problem of people underwater on their mortgages and the constricting of the economy," he said. "I think it has to do both" — refinancings and new mortgages. Until the housing problem is resolved, "the economy is not going to recover. For that you have to have house prices stabilizing and deal with foreclosures." Lawmakers also expressed frustration that Mr. Paulson has not done enough to help struggling homeowners. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said the Treasury chief is willfully ignoring two of lawmakers' key goals of the bailout — to increase lending and reduce foreclosures. The Massachusetts Democrat threatened more conditions on the Treasury if Mr. Paulson asks for the second $350 billion installment from the bailout package. "At the very least he'd have to agree that some of that money was going to be used for foreclosure relief," he told reporters on Thursday. In a speech to the Consumer Federation of America, Rep. Frank charged the Treasury with effectively turning a blind eye to whether banks are actually using Tarp funds to support lending. "What Treasury has told the banks is, 'We want you to lend more money, but we'll never know whether you did anything,' " he said. As industry observers spent Thursday picking apart the Treasury's next potential move, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke was offering suggestions on how current programs to help troubled borrowers might be altered. He said Congress could make the Hope for Homeowners program, which calls on the Federal Housing Administration to do more refinancings for troubled borrowers, more attractive by lowering the insurance premiums lenders pay. "Congress might consider making the terms of H4H loans more attractive by reducing the up-front insurance premium paid by the lender, currently set in at 3% of the principal value, as well as the annual premium paid by the borrower, currently set at 1.5%," he said. "The Congress might also grant the FHA the flexibility to tailor these premiums to individual risk characteristics rather than forcing the FHA to charge the same premium to all borrowers." The Fed chief also noted the FDIC's plan to modify loans., saying it could include more of a role for the government. "For example, a servicers could initiate a modification and bear the costs of reducing the mortgage payment to 38% of income, after which the government could bear a portion of the incremental cost of reducing the mortgage payments beyond the 38%, say to 31%, of income," he said. "This approach would increase the incentive of servicers to be aggressive in reducing monthly payments, which would improve the prospects for sustainability." He acknowledged that such a plan would put "greater operational burden on the government" but said it "could leverage existing modification frameworks, such as the FDIC/IndyMac and Hope Now streamlined protocols, and in this respect would build on, rather than crowd out, private-sector initiatives."

[Grimm74]

I refinanced my mortgage into a HELOC at the beginning of the summer cost me $400. After the 15th it will most likely be at 2.85% it is currently 3.85%. I will refi long term next spring or sell(if possible) and buy new on a long term. If we were not in a deflating times and considering the tax write off I probably would be borrowing for free.

[wiegie]

I just locked. If rates do indeed fall to 4.5% (which I am obviously not certain that they will) I'll refinance again. But in the end, I figured it was better to take what I could get now and not wait.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

So what kind of credit score would you need to have to get today's lowest rates, or the potential 4.5% for that matter? Would a first time home buyer have to have any kind of down payment? I'm still renting and paying off other things right now so the timing isn't entirely right, but that 4.5% rate sure looks enticing, not to mention the huge number of discounted homes on the market...

[theeohiostate]

I refinanced my mortgage into a HELOC at the beginning of the summer cost me $400. After the 15th it will most likely be at 2.85% it is currently 3.85%. I will refi long term next spring or sell(if possible) and buy new on a long term. If we were not in a deflating times and considering the tax write off I probably would be borrowing for free.

 

I went with Third Ferderal prime -1.01. My rate is at 2.99% now. I pulled 70K from it and it's only costing my around $188 in interest a month.

[theeohiostate]

So what kind of credit score would you need to have to get today's lowest rates, or the potential 4.5% for that matter? Would a first time home buyer have to have any kind of down payment? I'm still renting and paying off other things right now so the timing isn't entirely right, but that 4.5% rate sure looks enticing, not to mention the huge number of discounted homes on the market...

 

 

 

Nothing is set , but there was mention that it would be like similar programs that require a 720 credit score , new homes only , not for a refi , and possibly quite a bit down. Seems too limited to really make a big dent. They need to allow us current good standing borrowers to refi for that rate.

 

This is all about the home builders who have been lobbying hard to get it's own form of a bailout.

[wiegie]

This is all about the home builders who have been lobbying hard to get it's own form of a bailout.

and real estate agents

[muck]

Someone lmk if/when any of this stuff applies to jumbo mortgages...

[Rebellab]

Just got back from the bank. We locked in 4.75% for a 30 year mortgage. From the time I left the office to go to the bank, it went down 1/8%. We are very pleased.

[wiegie]

Just got back from the bank. We locked in 4.75% for a 30 year mortgage. From the time I left the office to go to the bank, it went down 1/8%. We are very pleased.

that is ridiculously low--what were your closing costs (and did you pay any points)?

[untateve]

I've got about 10 years to go until my house is paid off and I'm at 5.25 interest rate. I'm not sure where to look but is there any chance of getting a 4 to 4.25 rate for a 10 year mortgage?

[MrTed46]

I purchased my home 17 months ago...I am locked in at 6.375% (Jumbo Loan). If I can shave 1% off of interest I would re-fi.

[Perchoutofwater]

I refinanced about a month ago. If a 30 year does go to 4.5% I will be refinancing again.

[Missoula Griz]

I just called Countrywide directly and shopped for rates.

 

They offered me 4.5% with 1 point on a 30 year fixed, or 4.75% with no points.

 

Credit score above 730.

[wiegie]

What are their fees?

[Rebellab]

My wife works for the bank so they waive the fees. We did not buy any points. They just called ten minutes ago and you can't get a mortgage with any of the companies that the bank works with. THey are locked out until they get a rate, and it sounded like it was going up. We are locked in at 4.75% with no appraisal.

[Missoula Griz]

What are their fees?

 

 

I did not get into that with the loan officer. I was just amazed rates were so much lower than what I can offer through the major banks we sell to.

[MrTed46]

I did not get into that with the loan officer. I was just amazed rates were so much lower than what I can offer through the major banks we sell to.

Jumbo or conforming?