It seems many people are under the impression interest rates are going to drop to 4.0% or lower. I know I hear references to this on the radio news every once in a while. I just want to warn you that if rates do go below 4.5% we are going to be flooded with refinance applications. Currently there is not much staffing in the mortgage industry. Most lenders are operating on skeleton staffs. Many appraisers and loan officers have quit the business due to the lack of business. This lack of staffing will create a bottleneck that will make it so that borrowers will wait months to get their loans done. I remember that during the refi craze a few years ago we had to wait over a month just to get an appraisal. This time it will likely be worse.
My advice is to start now by getting an application in to your loan officer, get the file as ready as it can be, then when rates hit your target range, order that appraisal asap if you have not already ordered it. Appraisals have shelf life of about 4 months. Specifically, they need to be not older than 120 days at the time the loan funds. Given the loan takes a month, that means it has about a 3 month window before the loan even starts. Meanwhile, you can be confident your property is losing value each and every month. You might seriously consider getting your appraisal done soon.
Interest rates hit 4.5% (APR 4.650%) on a 30 year fixed rate loan last month. They have bounced around between that and 4.75% (APR 4.932%) ever since. Hopefully they will land back at the 4.5% soon, and that might be your cue to act.
Mack Ransom can be reached at PAR Mortgage or 541.821.1304 or at his website www.mackransom.com
