chris401 said:Navy Federal Credit Union?

For primary residences only. Rates quoted below require a 0.75% loan origination fee. The origination fee may be waived for a 0.25% increase in the interest rate. All Veterans Choice and HomeBuyers Choice loans are subject to a funding fee of up to 1.50% of the loan amount. Active Duty Choice loans are subject to a funding fee of 1.00% for purchases. Veterans Choice and HomeBuyers Choice are eligible for Limited Cash out only; Cash Back may not exceed 2% of the loan amount or $2,000. Veterans Choice, HomeBuyers Choice and Active Duty Choice loans are not eligible for streamline refinances. All VA loans are subject to a funding fee of up to 3.30% of the loan amount.

Shahhere

boobinson said:Pun said:subhasha31 said:INGDirect is another good one for ARM. 5/1 is currently at 5.75 with $895 for closing.

Last few days, the rate has gone up 1/8 of a point. Does anyone think that the rate will drop a little in the next few days? Thanks!!!!

Read this guy's commentary: Link

Thanks Boobinson,
How long does it take for fed cut to actually effect the mortgage rate?

Pun said:boobinson said:Pun said:subhasha31 said:INGDirect is another good one for ARM. 5/1 is currently at 5.75 with $895 for closing.

Last few days, the rate has gone up 1/8 of a point. Does anyone think that the rate will drop a little in the next few days? Thanks!!!!

Read this guy's commentary: Link

Thanks Boobinson,
How long does it take for fed cut to actually effect the mortgage rate?

The Fed Rate cut is not always directly related to a mortgage cut. There are other aspects that affect the mortgage rate as well such as the 10 year treasury and others as well.

When the Fed's cut the rate by a 1/4 point last time mortgage rates did not drop per say. End of last week and this week the rates creped up and people think it has to do with the Employment numbers and the Rate freeze as well.

The best rates I have seen for the 30 year fixed was 5.5% and so if the rates goes down below that say maybe around 5.25% then I think that would be a pretty solid 30 year rate.

Penfed’s 5/5 rate did go down to 5.125% at one point when the 30 year rates were near the 6% mark.

Shahhere

I find it interesting that PenFed raises the rate on their 5/5 the day before the rate cut is announced. It's almost like they were padding the rate so that when it 'drops' they'd have a better margin. I'm hoping the rate will come back to about 5.25 before I close on the 3rd.

chris401 said:Shahhere,

You seem to have followed these things for a while (longer than me at least); what would you say is a good realistic rate on a jumbo in the near future?

LOL, I joined FW a few years back and it has opened a whole new world of information and education to me. One of the things I have learned is that if you do not know something doesn’t just sit there thinking you do not know it. Ask enough questions and you will get the right answers.

Sorry to go off on a tangent with my FW mantra but all I was saying is that since I knew I was getting the mortgage I tried to do as much HW as I can despite the fact that I have no financial background.

That being said I haven’t followed the Jumbo rate since I am not borrowing toward that amount. Is there a way you can get your loan amount right below the Jumbo rate? That would be my first suggestion because from looking at most of the vendors it seems to be at least .25% higher.

I can only state you my best guess on the 30 year fixed NON Jumbo rate and I guess based on that you can decide the best Jumbo rate. I was hoping that with so much volatility the mortgage rate would come down close to 5.375% for the 30 year fixed market and was hoping for the 5.25% rate. With the rate freeze that the government applied as well as stricter lending policies being set in 2008 I am not sure if the rates will drop to the rates I am expecting.

What rate are you getting or locked in at? I locked in for the 30 year fixed from the builder’s lender at 5.875% with no closing costs. So if you can find a Jumbo for close to 6% or 6.125% I’d think that would be a fair deal.

Again I have financial education and what I state above is purely based on what my understanding of the current market is and where I see it going and could be totally wrong.

Shahhere

I thought they'd already decided NOT to raise the conforming loan limit for 2008.

I can't remember where I read that. Anyone have a citation?

Edit: Fannie Mae press release

shahhere said:chris401 said:Shahhere,

You seem to have followed these things for a while (longer than me at least); what would you say is a good realistic rate on a jumbo in the near future?

LOL, I joined FW a few years back and it has opened a whole new world of information and education to me. One of the things I have learned is that if you do not know something doesn’t just sit there thinking you do not know it. Ask enough questions and you will get the right answers.

Sorry to go off on a tangent with my FW mantra but all I was saying is that since I knew I was getting the mortgage I tried to do as much HW as I can despite the fact that I have no financial background.

That being said I haven’t followed the Jumbo rate since I am not borrowing toward that amount. Is there a way you can get your loan amount right below the Jumbo rate? That would be my first suggestion because from looking at most of the vendors it seems to be at least .25% higher.

I can only state you my best guess on the 30 year fixed NON Jumbo rate and I guess based on that you can decide the best Jumbo rate. I was hoping that with so much volatility the mortgage rate would come down close to 5.375% for the 30 year fixed market and was hoping for the 5.25% rate. With the rate freeze that the government applied as well as stricter lending policies being set in 2008 I am not sure if the rates will drop to the rates I am expecting.

What rate are you getting or locked in at? I locked in for the 30 year fixed from the builder’s lender at 5.875% with no closing costs. So if you can find a Jumbo for close to 6% or 6.125% I’d think that would be a fair deal.

Again I have financial education and what I state above is purely based on what my understanding of the current market is and where I see it going and could be totally wrong.

Shahhere

The best rate I have found to lock in is the advertised rate at PenFed: 6.325% this morning. Although, I haven't gotten all the way through the application process, and as obeseme pointed out, the rate might be different after going through the application. A mortgage broker I talked to isn't seeing any rate that low; bankrate doesn't seem to quote anything lower than 6.5% (but even then I think there are some partial points involved).

Unfortunately, I can't get my loan amount into conforming territory; we are already under contract at this price and I don't want to dip too far into savings in order to make the borrowed amount any lower (I am at 20% equity exactly).

Another option would be to go with a 5/1 jumbo; the rate is the same for conforming/non-conforming on those at places like ING Direct and at PenFed. (5.75% and 5.625%, respectively). I am just nervous that in five years when I go to refinance the rates will not be close to this low. (This is a historical low for rates, right? I remember rates in the 80s at 13-14%. Do they actually get much lower than 5.5%?)

Thank you for your help, Shahhere et al. Its a good discussion. The above link to Daily Market Commentary was helpful; looks like we should expect some more movement after tomorrow's news (Spending Report and Producer Price Index). Whether that movement is up or down in rates is too difficult for someone with my experience to tell.

glxpass said:chris401 said:The best rate I have found to lock in is the advertised rate at PenFed: 6.325% this morning. Although, I haven't gotten all the way through the application process, and as obeseme pointed out, the rate might be different after going through the application. A mortgage broker I talked to isn't seeing any rate that low; bankrate doesn't seem to quote anything lower than 6.5% (but even then I think there are some partial points involved).

Unfortunately, I can't get my loan amount into conforming territory; we are already under contract at this price and I don't want to dip too far into savings in order to make the borrowed amount any lower (I am at 20% equity exactly).

Another option would be to go with a 5/1 jumbo; the rate is the same for conforming/non-conforming on those at places like ING Direct and at PenFed. (5.75% and 5.625%, respectively). I am just nervous that in five years when I go to refinance the rates will not be close to this low. (This is a historical low for rates, right? I remember rates in the 80s at 13-14%. Do they actually get much lower than 5.5%?)

Thank you for your help, Shahhere et al. Its a good discussion. The above link to Daily Market Commentary was helpful; looks like we should expect some more movement after tomorrow's news (Spending Report and Producer Price Index). Whether that movement is up or down in rates is too difficult for someone with my experience to tell.
You probably already realize this, but unless you've a prepayment penalty or some other compelling reason, you don't have to wait five years to refinance. My own strategy was to recently get a low-cost PenFed 5/5 ARM (the APR was at 5.25%), saving more than $400/month compared the my previous mortgage loan. I'll then refinance with a 30yr fixed jumbo when those rates decrease. I could pay down the mortgage in order to re-fi with a conforming 30yr fixed, but that's a worst-case scenario.

Wow. I never really looked into this 5/5 business until now; seems like a great solution, and it brings the rate in line with conforming rates. The buy down on that is cheaper too, and can get it 5.375% for a half point. (I am getting a credit to closing costs from my realtor that would exceed the closing costs without points, so I figure I might as well buy down with points to use the full credit). I checked out the other thread on these . . . very helpful. The spreadsheet for the 5/5 comparison was great. Thanks . . . now to decide whether to lock today or not.

Hello,

What do you guys think is the best rate available now for non jumbo loan with 10% down and excellent credit score??

Thanks for the replies,

WalStMonky said:obeseme said: PenFed's application process was not very user friendly and once the application was started, the rates and fees were MUCH higher than the website so I cancelled the application.

Perhaps you were confused when they listed potential third party closing costs such as hazard insurance which they are inclined to overstate. Anyway, I got my current mortgage with PenFed, disagree that the application process isn't user friendly, and had all terms delivered precisely as advertised on the website. The only deviation being that they thought that I might need to pay more for items such as hazard insurance, which they thought should cost $2000 when really closer to $800. That's irrelevent to the cost of the loan regardless.

I agree with Monky. The application process was an absolute breeze. I couldn't believe they gave you all the docs right away. If I recall correctly, the original GFE that the online process gives you was higher than the GFE I received in the mail from the loan officer. I think it's because they make generalizations at first and then analyze your information to give you a more accurate cost. So far my biggest complaint against PenFed is that their rate won't go down for me to lock. But hopefully with this inflation talk it will drive down the 10-yr which I think their rates are based on. I have about 12 days to lock though, so I should be ok.