VIDEO: Winning With Increasing Interest Rates

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There are a lot of terrifying financial news headlines out there. A quick glance at any news web site would have you believe the economic sky is falling. While the economy is changing and the real estate market is changing, there are also some real opportunities out there.

Here are a couple tips for those of you in the market to buy a home:

Number one. Strike while the iron’s hot. Remember at the start of the Plague Times? There was this two to three month period where everybody was freaking out. Most people were trying to figure out how they were going to work from home, where they were going to buy toilet paper, and how to keep kids still and focused in front of Zoom for 93 hours/week. But a few people were like… While everybody else was distracted and the competition was focused elsewhere, they were out there buying houses.

You have the same opportunity now. Mortgage applications are down across the board. Some buyers are freaking out because of changing interest rates and doom-and-gloom in the headlines. But you have an opportunity to jump in there and buy a house while a lot of your competition is looking the other way.

Number two. Catch interest rates on the downswing. Rates are extremely volatile right now. We are seeing huge swings from day to day. We might see 5.0% on Wednesday, 4.75% on Friday, and 5.5% the following Monday. I don’t think that will last. Rates will settle.

In the meantime, you can win by planning your interest rate lock accordingly. If rates are doing this… You want to lock when they’re here. So it’s super important to work with a loan officer who understands how interest rates are behaving and why they are behaving that way. And someone who has the tools and the skills to know the best time to lock your rate.

Realize that if you get a loan estimate or a pre-approval letter with a specific interest rate listed – whether you think it’s too high or too low – it’s just an estimate. You are not going to lock in an interest rate until you have a fully executed purchase contract and a closing date that is 30 to 45 days away. So the actual interest rate that you end up with could very well be different than what is listed on that estimate.

You can benefit when interest rates are rising. And you can win when the market is changing. We can show you how. My contact information is on my web site. You can also text me at 360-301-7575.

My name is Emily Caryl Ingram. I lead a team of Mortgage Loan Specialists at New American Funding in Port Townsend, WA.