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08-11-2008 at 1:53 PM
EstherK
Not Ranked
Joined on 03-25-2006
Minneapolis
1,762 Points
EstherK is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 7:25 PMNewbie

Are you floating or locking?

I finally decided on a mortgage lender and my loan officer keeps wanting me to lock even though we are more than 30 days out (we close on 9/18). Do your mortgage lenders encourage you to lock as soon as you've signed on with them? For those of you who are in the same boat, what are you doing or what did you do?
 
08-11-2008 at 3:05 PM
Mrs.Sully
Not Ranked
Joined on 03-22-2007
Telluride, CO
13,550 Points
Mrs.Sully is not online. Last active: 12-02-2008, 9:13 PMBronze

A good site to follow to see what is going on with rates: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/consumer.asp

 


M + S | June 30, 2007
 
08-11-2008 at 4:42 PM
EstherK
Not Ranked
Joined on 03-25-2006
Minneapolis
1,762 Points
EstherK is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 7:25 PMNewbie
I am aware of the website. I just wondered what those of you who are waiting to close are doing.
 
08-11-2008 at 8:29 PM
dstceo41
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Joined on 06-09-2004
2,409 Points
dstceo41 is not online. Last active: 12-02-2008, 10:11 AMNewbie

We locked a few weeks ago at 6.875 when we were 30 days out.  Here is how we made our decision:

 1. We intially budgeted based on the rates going as high as 7%.  Since we were able to lock at less than 7%  we did not want to risk it since some banks such as B of A were already quoting 7% rates

2. Our loan officer who has more than 20 years experience did not believe rates would go down to the original 6.25% quote we were initially working with when we started building in Feb

3. We can always refinance with no prepayment penalty at a later date if rates go down. 

I forget what the exact amount is, but there is a certain dollar amount in interest you save per 1/8 of a percentage point.  To us, since we would probably not see 6.25% any time soon, assuming that MAYBE the rates went down to 6.5%, the money saved per month was not worth the risk to us.  Also, if your credit scores are good, but not quite 720, you will not get the best rate available. 

 This information is based on a $300k home with 5% down.

 
08-11-2008 at 9:20 PM
sarahgcapecod
Not Ranked
Joined on 01-30-2003
Cape Cod, MA
11,082 Points
sarahgcapecod is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 7:24 PMNewbie

I am floating until sometime later this week. I SHOULD have locked on Friday when it was 6.31.....but I stupidly followed a freakin' blog (listed above).  Obviously there are no guarantees but the rates are about 6.5 now so I'm going to see what they do this week and most likely lock then.  We are closing on 8/29.

 

 





M/C 7.31.05
DS #1 8.10.06
M/C 11.20.07
DS #2 10.7.08 
08-11-2008 at 9:22 PM
ekegan
Not Ranked
Joined on 10-08-2004
Anchorage, Alaska
5,000 Points
ekegan is not online. Last active: 12-03-2008, 9:25 PMNewbie
We watched rates for a little bit and then locked when rates went down. We were more than 30 days out when we locked, but our broker didn't pressure us at all.  We told them when we wanted to lock.
 
08-12-2008 at 10:18 PM
beth41908
Not Ranked
Joined on 08-04-2007
Omaha, NE
15,094 Points
beth41908 is online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 7:38 PMBronze

We just locked in our rate this morning, at 6.5%, and we aren't closing until 9/19, so we locked in for 45 days.

When we first started looking in June, rates were at 6.5% and our estimate was based on that.  We met with our loan officer this morning and the rates were at 6.75% when she first checked, and they went down to 6.5% when she checked again.

We were happy with that, and our lender didn't pressure us.  She said we could wait but told us that things had never been more uncertain in the market, so it was up to us.  I'm happy now to be locked in and not have to check the rates every day :)


 

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