With the recent raising of the debt ceiling and the resulting turmoil in the stock market we’ve seen interest rates do some crazy things over the last few days. While the good news is that the 30 year fixed at one point got as low as 3.875% with no points, the bad news is that it didn’t stay there very long. With so much volatility in the markets and interest rates going up and down several times a day, it’s not uncommon to find that the rate you may have been quoted this morning, is different than the one available in the afternoon.

You would probably love to take advantage of the very narrow window to save money on your mortgage if only you knew when was the right time to lock. I’ve attached a pdf to the bottom of this video where you can find your “auto lock wishlist form”. Simply print it out, then fax or email it back to me with your desired rate and loan program, and I will continue to watch the rates closely for you and when the rate you want is available, I’ll get it locked in for you and you’ll be happy that I was looking out for you. Isn’t it nice to have a friend in the business that you can trust and feel comfortable introducing the people you care about to? so please feel comfortable sharing this video with them too so I can help them as well. Thanks for your time. You keep watching my videos, and I’ll keep watching for opportunities to save you money.

With almost 2 million homes facing foreclosure in the US, and an ever mounting inventory of homes not even on the market yet, banks have found a way to get rid of them. They’re not waiting for buyers, they’re waiting for bulldozers. Figuring it is cheaper to demolish a home than to try to maintain it, B of A has already demolished homes in Detroit and Cleveland, and donated the land back to local government authorities. But they’re not alone. Wells Fargo & Chase are also following the pattern of writing off the donations. Maybe this is a good thing. I mean no one wants a dilapidated home dragging down property values in their neighborhood, and we certainly need to reduce some of that shadow inventory.

More than 450,000 former Countrywide borrowers who were overcharged when they fell behind on their payments will be getting what they deserve according to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. Between 2005-2008, when borrowers began to default, Countrywide instead of hiring local contractors to maintain the landscaping on these properties, hired an exclusive company and overinflated the cost of the services. He says “Countrywide’s behavior harmed American consumers on a massive scale and we are proud to be getting every single dollar back to hundreds of thousands of struggling consumers who got kicked out of their houses”. All $240 to each homeowner (well $161 after the 33% attorney fee).

Interest rates dropped this week to the lowest they have been in 15 years, and if you have a loan between 417k-729k, the month of August might be your last opportunity to see if you can lower your rate. Because soon, your loan will not longer be a conforming loan, but a jumbo one, and those rates are quite higher than what you might be able to get now. So shoot me an email or give me a call and let’s have a 5 minute conversation to see if I can help you save money before it’s too late. Thanks for watching, I’ll see you next time.