Mortgage rates up for first time in 4 weeks

[Arnold]

Mortgage rates up for first time in 4 weeks
by Julie Haviv

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage rates rose for the first time in four weeks but remained below 5 percent, a key level that may spur home loan demand and help the hard-hit U.S. housing market recover.

Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.92 percent for the week ending October 15, up from the previous week's 4.87 percent, according to a survey released on Thursday by home funding company Freddie Mac.

Mortgage rates were below 5 percent, widely viewed as a key psychological level, for a third straight week.

"Homeowners are taking advantage of these low rates to refinance their current balances," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement.

The mortgage rate is still significantly higher than the record low of 4.78 percent set in the week ended April 2. Freddie Mac started the survey in 1971.

Mortgage rates are linked to both Treasury and MBS yields.

"People are attempting to take advantage of refinancing opportunities, if they qualify," said Ellen Bitton, chief executive of Park Avenue Mortgage in New York.

"Little by little, higher-end mortgage programs are reappearing," she said.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said home loan demand dipped last week.

Freddie Mac said the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.37 percent in the latest week, up from 4.33 percent the prior week.

One-year adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, were 4.60 percent, up from 4.53 percent last week. Freddie Mac said the "5/1" ARM, set at a fixed rate for five years and adjustable each year following, was 4.38 percent, compared with 4.35 percent a week earlier.

A year ago, 30-year mortgage rates averaged 6.46 percent, 15-year mortgages 6.14 percent and the one-year ARM 5.16 percent. A year ago, the 5/1 ARM averaged 6.14 percent.

Freddie Mac (FRE.P)(FRE.N) and its larger sibling, Fannie Mae (FNM.P)(FNM.N), were placed under government conservatorship in early September, 2008.

Freddie Mac is a mortgage finance company chartered by Congress that buys mortgages from lenders and packages them into securities to sell to investors or to hold in its own portfolio.

source

 

[Arnold]

I am happy that I got my 30 year fixed at 4.25%!

 

[Jodi]

We just refi'd both our houses as well. Plus I just rented mine out again.

 

[Doublebase]

I am happy that I got my 30 year fixed at 4.25%!

you pay any points for that great rate?

 

[Arnold]

you pay any points for that great rate?

we locked that rate in 7 months ago when it was at 4.50%, so yes 1/4 point was bought, however the builder of our new house paid ALL closing costs including that 1/4 point, which ended up being almost $10k total, plus we got them to come down $50k on the price of the house.

 

[Arnold]

We just refi'd both our houses as well. Plus I just rented mine out again.

we own a luxury condo and could not sell it so we ended up having to rent it out.

 

[Jodi]

we own a luxury condo and could not sell it so we ended up having to rent it out.

Did you do it yourself or through a property mgmt company. I'm on my 3rd renter and we just put ads in Craigslist and did it ourselves.

 

[Arnold]

Did you do it yourself or through a property mgmt company. I'm on my 3rd renter and we just put ads in Craigslist and did it ourselves.

I know we could have done it ourselves because the first people that came to look at it rented it that day. However we went with a property management company because we just did not want to deal with anything, the condo is 35 miles from our new house, also if it comes down to an eviction the management company does it all and pays for everything. And they direct deposit the rent into my checking account each month, it's nice!

 

[Arnold]

btw, I heard that the housing market is the worst in Arizona and Nevada right now, is that true? is that why you're renting them?

 

[Doublebase]

we locked that rate in 7 months ago when it was at 4.50%, so yes 1/4 point was bought, however the builder of our new house paid ALL closing costs including that 1/4 point, which ended up being almost $10k total, plus we got them to come down $50k on the price of the house.

That's awesome. I just put an offer in on a home. 30k less then what they were asking + 10k towards closing. It's new construction. Really surprised they didn't take it. They came back 15k higher with no seller assist. The builder is bankrupt so its bank owned. Thought they would just be willing to get rid of it for cheap. I'm actually kind of relieved. The plan was to buy that house and rent mine out. I was really worried about renting my current place out.

 

[Jodi]

I live only 6 miles from my house that I'm renting so it wasn't a big deal. Plus I had it built and moved out 2 years later so I wasn't worried about repairs.

As far as AZ being hit worse.....I'm not really sure. I hear its just as bad everywhere.

 

[Arnold]

I live only 6 miles from my house that I'm renting so it wasn't a big deal. Plus I had it built and moved out 2 years later so I wasn't worried about repairs.

Same here, we bought the condo brand new 1 1/2 years ago; we just did not want to have to deal with collecting rent or having them call us if anything happened, this way we are completely out of it, it comes with a price though, 10% of the rent each month.

Also, I hear that if you end up having to evict it can be a real pain in the butt.

 

[Arnold]

That's awesome. I just put an offer in on a home. 30k less then what they were asking + 10k towards closing. It's new construction. Really surprised they didn't take it. They came back 15k higher with no seller assist. The builder is bankrupt so its bank owned. Thought they would just be willing to get rid of it for cheap. I'm actually kind of relieved. The plan was to buy that house and rent mine out. I was really worried about renting my current place out.

we did not want to rent, we tried selling our condo for several months, but since there are still new ones being built right behind us we could not compete with the builder, we would have had to dropped the price quite a bit, so we figured we would rent it out until the new condos were complete, then try and sell again.

 

[Jodi]

Same here, we bought the condo brand new 1 1/2 years ago; we just did not want to have to deal with collecting rent or having them call us if anything happened, this way we are completely out of it, it comes with a price though, 10% of the rent each month.

Also, I hear that if you end up having to evict it can be a real pain in the butt.

Fortunately I haven't had to do that. I do pay for a credit check, employment verification etc. So that helps but it doesn't guarantee a good renter but so far so good!

 

[Arnold]

Fortunately I haven't had to do that. I do pay for a credit check, employment verification etc. So that helps but it doesn't guarantee a good renter but so far so good!

they say it can take around 6 weeks to evict someone, and even longer if you don't have any experience doing it.

initially we were going to do it ourselves, I found a website that does all of the checks (background, criminal, credit, eviction history, etc.) it was around $40 or $50.

 

[Doublebase]

they say it can take around 6 weeks to evict someone, and even longer if you don't have any experience doing it.

initially we were going to do it ourselves, I found a website that does all of the checks (background, criminal, credit, eviction history, etc.) it was around $40 or $50.

Try more like 6 months here in PA. Squatters rights.

I think if you get someone with good credit, income you should be ok. What else can you do. Its risky no matter what.

 

[Jodi]

That's how we saw it too. Decent credit and employment. Its not like the property mgmt company can do anymore than that to ensure a good renter. You do pay for the convenience of not having to handle that all on your own though. If an eviction needs to happen you still won't get your rent money no matter if they do it for you or you do it yourself. I use this site to help with all the legal matters: Landlord Sites

I've reviewed the state laws and my leases have all the updated state laws in them. There is an Evict clause in them that says I have 30 days to give them to Quit or Pay and if they don't pay they must leave. At that point I can change the locks etc.

I'm sure there is more to it but like I said, I've been careful of who I select and so far its been great and I just signed my third tenant this past Monday.

 

[Arnold]

Try more like 6 months here in PA. Squatters rights.

I think if you get someone with good credit, income you should be ok. What else can you do. Its risky no matter what.

6 months?

that is so fucked up for the owners, you could end up foreclosing on the property.

 

[Dale Mabry]

I just put an offer in on a home. 30k less then what they were asking + 10k towards closing. It's new construction. Really surprised they didn't take it. They came back 15k higher with no seller assist. The builder is bankrupt so its bank owned. Thought they would just be willing to get rid of it for cheap.

The banks are being backed by your tax dollars, they don't need to come down because the gov't will bail them out. Lousy fuckers.

 

[maniclion]

Also, I hear that if you end up having to evict it can be a real pain in the butt.

It's harder for the common landlord to toss a loser out on their head for missing a couple month's rent than it is for financial institutions to toss out a family who paid 80% of their mortgage and are having small problems making their payments.....