We were talking in the car, the other day and my wife admitted to me that she was glad she listened to me a few years ago. We had refinanced our mortgage, and I wanted a variable loan, and she wanted a fixed rate loan.
The fixed rate seemed conservative, as the rates seemed likely to go back up. Our first loan was at 17%, so 7% seemed rather desirable. Currently our variable loan rate is in the low 4’s.
Speaking to my loan broker, Brian McNamara, -hmbloans @ aol.com- rates may be at an historic low in January. This coupled with the low cost of housing, the best I have seen in 20 years, makes the next few months look like an historic opportunity for buyers.
Brian tells me, “Rates for loans above $417,000k to 729,750k are very close in rate to the conforming loans below 417k”, but he says that qualifying is much tighter then the “bad” old days. “lenders want to see income and taxes, and minimum credit scores are higher”.
Still I wouldn’t own a house today, if I hadn’t taken the plunge, so long ago, i.e. 17%. And variable rate loans and “negative amortization” still hold a fond place in my heart.
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