Mortgage Rates
Rates seem to be in a pretty flat trending right now. Bond traders are content on what is happening in North Korea, indicating that unless “rocket man” does something really wild, like a atmospheric test of a bomb, they are going to keep trade at status quo.
And with the potential of the tax reform getting bogged down, that is causing status quo as well. Thus we are trading in a pretty narrow range, just waiting for something to happen.
On the US economic front, all the numbers are looking pretty darn good:
- Consumer Sentiment, (base line is 50), 101.1 vs est. of 95.00, AMAZING number.
- Retail Sales, 1.0% vs est. of .3%, another huge number.
- Weekly Jobless claims 243K vs est. 251K, 40+ year low, showing pretty much full employment.
- Factory orders 1.25% vs est. of 1.0%, huge number, again.
These US economic numbers are showing that the US economy is ticking along quite nicely, so much so, that the Feds are coming out and all but saying there is a 100% chance of them raising the Federal Reserve rate in December. Which might have a little effect on our interest rate, but should be too much. And if you look back, mortgage rates actually dropped when the Federal Reserve dropped rates in December in 2016 and 2015.
Although we do not feel that rates are going to drop much more, a betting man may prove to be a winner. Our overall consensus is lock them when you can, and be happy.
Credit Freezes vs. Fraud Alert:
With the most recent round of hacking, specifically with EquiFax, may people are calling and wondering about Credit Freezes and Fraud Alert on credit report, and how it affects mortgage, well let me explain!
Credit freeze is the most drastic of the 2, this means that a borrower has called into one of the credit bureaus, and put a freeze on their credit report account. So when a lender pulls the credit report, all we get is a report with no numbers, no accounts and no FICO scores. It also indicates that there is a freeze on the account. The borrower has to them call into the credit bureaus, and release that freeze, we typically tell them for 45 days. Then we can go back in, access the information.
Credit Freezing causes some pain and hassle, but overally is the best way to protect.
Putting a Fraud Alert on your credit report is a little less secure. It still allows anyone to access your credit report, but it put bolded letter at the top of the report, indicating to the lender that there is issue. The lender then has to double check identity, and ensure that the person applying for credit is truly the person associated with the credit report.
Fraud Alert is as secure and still allow access to credit information on the credit report.
The biggest difference for a lender is that a Credit Freeze will just cause some delays in getting credit reports, thus delaying files, but it is definitely the way to go.
Top 10
And now the top 10 items Loan Officers don’t want to here at closing: (4 words or less)
-Got divorced/married over weekend.
-Like my new Truck/ATV/Boat?
-RC Willey weekend Sale.
-It’s a small balance.
-What child support order?
-Parents want to see.
-IRS Tax lien.
-I quit/changed my job.
-It said no payments.
-Went to Las Vegas.
Bonus one:
-Wife has to sign?