I wish I could save this post for Valentines Day! Earlier this month, fresh from Inman NY, Brian announced that he is going to start posting tidbits of rate info on Twitter. If you subscribe to Brian’s Twitter, Mortgage Report, you’ll be notified if he feels you should be locking or floating…this is similiar to what I receive by investing my subscription to Mortgage Market Guide (bond quotes). However, this service is free and priceless!
Here are the alerts I received from Brian just today (which was an exceptional day):
- 5:10 a.m. Stock futures are down 5%. Good for mtg bonds and rates – FLOAT long purchases, LOCK all others – update later
- 5:48 a.m. Emergency Fed Cut
- 7:05 a.m. Mortgage bonds up close to half a point. Expect lenders to offer 30YFRM below 5.5% today (conforming limit)
- 1:37 p.m. FYI: I locked a 30YFRM at 5.25% with 1 point for a 5.53% apr today. Expect ARMS to drop this week
- 6:11 p.m. FLOAT loans closing >15 days, LOCK loans closing <15 days. Wild day today, tomorrow promises to be as nuts. You will hear it here 1st
This is simply a brilliant idea and a huge commitment from Brian Brady of Mortgage Rates Report and Bloodhound Blog. If you can’t wait until the end of the work week for “Friday’s Rates”, subscribe out Brian’s Twitter! You’ll be twitterpated. 😉
Thanks, Rhonda. I usually tweet at the close of the day but today was a big day.
Yesterday was a big day…today should be interesting too! If I followed your example and provided rate lock advice using Twitter…I’d be saying lock, lock, lock…I lean towards locking and prefer not to float. I was very impressed that you pulled off all of those updates considering how busy it was yesterday.
I know this is not related to this blog, but wanted to throw the question out as we all consider the refi situation and I was discussiing with a friend.
The talk was should we do a 30 year or a 15 year fixed. As of today I can afford both. So I was thinking of this options and remember hearing somewhere
Get a 30 year loan, but keep paying off extra amount in principal every month as if it is a 15 year loan, while cash flow is good in household budget. If I ever fall in hard times, I can always revert to the regular 30 year payment. Excecpt the fact that 15 year apr will be less than 30 year, any other thing I am missing ?
Does the loan get recalculated as we payoff the principal or since the amortization schedule is set in the begining, so does it just stay the same?
srini, I did a post on that a while ago: http://www.raincityguide.com/2007/02/19/15-year-mortgage-too-pricey-for-normal-people/
It sounds like you pretty much have it figured out. I prefer the 30 year over the 15 only because of the flexibility as you mention. You can also effectively convert your 30 into a 15; however the reverse is not true.
Another busy day for me…I’ll try to pop by RCG later.
srini,
go to bankrate.com, generate amortization tables for both 15-yr and 30-yr terms, look at the total amount of interest paid for each. Then let me know what you think.
srini,
check out this calc that shows you the break even point for refinancing: http://www.finance.cch.com/sohoApplets/MortgageRefinance.asp (you’ll have to install Java though).
Play with both 15-yr and 30-yr terms for the new loan.
yinyang and srini, this is way off topic…and perhaps should be discussed on the other post I referrenced? What ever mortgage product a person selects should fit into their financial picture and suit their long and short term goals. There is no one right mortgage for all.