The 4.5% rate is here!

It’s elusive, but available to the patient amongst us. Twice in the last six weeks – once on December 17, and again yesterday – rates dipped down low enough to snag 4.5% with only a 1% origination fee. They only stayed there for a couple of hours each time before rapidly climbing back up again, but I see us hugging this 4.5-5% range very closely over the next 5 1/2 months while the Treasury completes its $500 billion mortgage bond buying program. At today’s close, a 4.5% rate comes at a cost of about 1.75%. That adds a few thousand dollars to your closing costs, but depending on how long you plan to be in the home – it might still be worth it.

I’ve been advising my clients, friends, family members, dogs, and cats to get their complete application to me ASAP so on days when we have these truly historic lows I’m all ready to pull the trigger and lock a rate for you. Literally, my window yesterday was only about 2 1/2 hours long before lenders started repricing for the worst. But preparing an application, pulling credit, running comps on the subject property, and prequalifying a client takes up to a couple of hours in itself to do it right. All that must be done before I can lock the interest rate. So if you’re interested in knowing if a refinance is right for you at this juncture, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me immediately. I’m keeping my cell phone charged and with me all day long, seven days a week. As I’m writing this in fact, on Friday night at 8:55PM, I’ve talked to three people just since 5:00. Please do not feel bashful about giving me a call in the evenings or on the weekends. I love what I do, and I love talking to new people about financing. Yeah, sometimes I’m going to be doing stuff with my family or whatever but if I’m not able to chat right then I’ll just arrange a time to call you back that works for both of us. There’s just such a huge opportunity cost to missing the boat with these rates that I don’t want anybody to have missed it on my watch.

In fact, if you’re ready to jump in that boat now you could log on to my online application page to formally apply for your new loan. Please just send me a text message (503.515.6187) or e-mail (greg@portlandmortgagebroker.net) letting me know when you’re done, and I’ll immediately head to my computer and start crunching the numbers for you.

Thanks to all the clients I worked with in 2008, and here’s to a killer 2009 for all of us!