• Tweet

• Tweet

Welcome to the latest in a new series of audio news stories from Quicken Loans Relationship Marketing Manager Mark Smith. Below, you can listen to the audio file (mp3) or if you prefer, you can read the text. If you have any topics you’d like to see covered by our audio news series, please email us at content@quickenloans.com.

Listen to the Audio file.

Intro: You’re listening to the Your Mortgage and Money Podcast, brought to you by Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online lender. Here’s your host, Mark Smith.

Mark Smith: To lock or not to lock your mortgage rate. Everyone has an opinion, but what’s the right thing to do? Well, it’s probably no surprise that there is no one magical answer.

Everyone’s situation is different, so let’s talk about some basic things everyone should consider.

When you’re going through the loan process, the time will come when you are in a 30-day window where you can decide when to lock in your mortgage rate. Don’t drive yourself crazy waiting to see if you can shave an extra eighth of a percent off. You might find you’ve waited too long and missed an opportunity.

For the United States’ median home value, which is around $220,000, that eighth of a percent off only saves you an extra twenty bucks a month.

The worst thing you can do is try to guess the financial markets. There are dozens of moving parts changing every minute that can cause interest rates to go up or down in a day or even in an hour’s time… and rates go up a lot faster than they come down.

If the current available rate gives you a monthly payment that you can afford or, in the case of a refinance, lowers your rate or monthly payment, go ahead and lock in the rate.

Since March interest rates have steadily inched up, and we all know that the price tags on just about everything we buy have gone up too.

Then there’s the Federal Reserve – the government’s authority on interest rates – who recently said inflation is becoming a concern. Translation: The Federal Reserve may decide to raise interest rates to squash that inflation.

Add it all up, and it doesn’t look like interest rates will be going down in the short term.

If the rate, terms and fees associated with the mortgage you have been offered make sense for your personal situation, and help you achieve your objectives, don’t gamble on the rate. Your best bet is to lock it in.

For Quicken Loans…I’m Mark Smith.

Related Info

• Get today’s mortgage rates from Quicken Loans.
• Learn more about buying a home or refinancing.
• Our mortgage calculators can show you great information about mortgage rates and payments.

 Printer Friendly Version