My Lock Advice for Today:
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would...
- Float if my closing was taking place within 7 days
- Float if my closing was taking place within 8 and 20 days
- Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days
- Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now
This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
Interest rates are based on numerous economic, financial and credit based factors that adjust daily. In addition, lenders can vary on qualification criteria from program to program. If you like the rate today, the safe bet is to lock. Even if rates improve, they wouldn't improve enough in the short term to make you cry about it. But if you are an ardent market bear, and accept the risk of negative mortgage headlines, and believe the economy will just get more bad news next week, and you have the money to risk, you may benefit from floating. Just remember, it always seems more painful to have not locked when you should have as opposed to locking and then watching rates get a little better.
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Lew Corcoran |
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Just remember, it always seems more painful to have not locked when you should have as opposed to locking and then watching rates get a little better.
Lewis, just curious, you said that you would float even if you were closing in 7 days but then your sentence above sounds like it might be better to lock?
The market is so unpredictable these days, it is a crap shoot.
What I said is "... if you like the rate today, the safe bet is to lock. Even if rates improve, they wouldn't improve enough in the short term to make you cry about it. But if you are an ardent market bear, and accept the risk of negative mortgage headlines, and believe the economy will just get more bad news next week, and you have the money to risk, you may benefit from floating."
I expect mortgage interest rates to go down. Thus, my float recommendation. However, for some who have been watching the markets or are fearful of what may happen next in the economy, they may feel better if they lock in now - especially if closing is in the next few days. While I expect rates to drop, they won't drop much in the near short term to make much of a difference.