Florida mortgage rates increasing!
Hold on to your hats, Florida mortgage rates are increasing faster than a speeding bullet! If you are one of the countless home buyers and prospective refinance candidates kicking themselves for letting such awesome low rates and amazing opportunity escape their grasps, all hope is not lost. Before you hang up the loan application and home search for good, read these simple tips and see if you can salvage your summer of home buying or refinancing.
What should I do?
Be ready to lock your loan
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been getting hundreds of calls from customers looking to lock in a new mortgage rate. So, what’s the problem? They never actually filled out an official home loan application! We can’t lock in an interest rate until we have all of your information and make sure you are placed in the correct loan program.
See, most consumers do not realize that when their rate is locked on their loan, that block of money is held so as not to be issued to anyone other customer. If you do not close on your loan, then that money was held for no reason and the bank loses money, hence the reluctance to lock every Tom, Dick and Harry that isn’t really serious about getting a new home loan.
Okay, so how do we make sure we are ready to have our loan locked? Make sure you fill out a complete loan application as soon as possible and communicate your goals and time frames with your mortgage professional.
Adjust your thinking
With the mortgage meltdown just a few years removed, we are all a little sore on adjustable rate mortgages. I can tell you from experience though that the adjustable loan is a wonderful tool that could possibly save you tons of money….if used correctly! For example, let’s say you are buying your first home for you and your family; a starter home you plan on living in for only a few years. You are currently beginning a new career and it is a reasonable assumption that your income will be greater in years to come. Because you have an increasing income and only plan on keeping the home for a few years, you may be a good candidate for an adjustable loan.
An adjustable loan will almost always have a considerably lower interest rate than a fixed loan and typically has a fixed period to start. For instance, a 5 year ARM (adjustable rate mortgage) is actually fixed (doesn’t change) for 5 years and then adjusts afterwards. So, if you sell or refinance your home within the first 5 years, you win!
Everyone’s situation is different, but you should ask your mortgage professional to explore every available program to ensure you are getting the very best fit for you and your family.
The bottom line: Don’t freak out just because rates are increasing. Get a game plan together with your mortgage officer and you can still accomplish your homeownership goals. In my opinion, Florida mortgage rates will never come back down to where they were just recently. Combined with the fact that home prices seem to keep appreciating, and you have yourselves a very compelling argument to stop reading this article right now and go buy a home before it’s too late!
What are you waiting for?!?! Get started here!
