Bridger is in Washington DC, and Sterling is in sleepaway camp for a few nights. Being sans kids is always a little off, but it’s so peaceful, man. The silence, it’s almost loud, know what I mean? Anyway, not complaining. I’ll take it. Bridger and I have been texting a bunch, and I enjoy that. We can’t get “tones” with each other, so there’s never any attitude, and the conversations are so much smoother.
Plus, I don’t have to fret about my vegan dinners with them away. I did eat some chocolate muffins the other day. I thought they were vegan. Well, I thought the first one I ate was vegan, then I realized they weren’t. But they were delicious, so I ate another one knowing it wasn’t vegan. But I’m giving myself grace. We all gotta do more of that.
The new Florida house is coming together so well. We need to get a pool person, handyman, cleaner, lawn company- it’s a lot. This has certainly been a learning process. If anyone is interested in getting their own Airbnb property, I’m happy to talk with you about it. Please, learn from my mistakes (and wins)!
Bridger has football practice four nights a week and then a game on the weekend. Seriously? Is it me, or is that a super lot? It’s worth it if it keeps him on track and out of trouble, but it’s a ton of running around.
As for my furry child, Kamper, he got sick last week, so we took him to the vet, and he had a lower intestine infection. We got loads of meds and bland food for him; he seems to be better, which is awesome because the messes were intense.
Colorado Realtor Activity
I have four properties under contract at the moment. Two are off-market, one is a condo for a friend, and one is a listing I got because of this blog! I met him years ago, he’s a septic engineer, and he was going to help us out with a house we were going to build. But we stayed in touch, and that was basically due to this blog; he’d reach out about it and comment and all that. That’s pretty amazing.
Colorado Real Estate Market News
The market is slowing down, and the FED raised its rate by .75 percentage points this week. This only means that the rate for banks to loan money to each other is going up a bit; however, that doesn’t necessarily affect the interest rates for mortgages, so we’ll have to see what happens.
One of a colleague’s clients just got a loan at 4.99%, so that’s not bad at all. It looks like they’re leveling off a bit, and that’s a good thing.
Here’s the idea now: get a new property that you can afford at today’s rate, get an ARM (adjustable-rate mortgage) for about seven to 10 years; however, refinance as soon as you can when the rates go down.
The moral of the story is to get a house now if you can. It’s still a seller’s market, but buyers have WAY more opportunity now than they did several months ago. Now is the time for buyers to buy. We’ve got homes on the market longer, and prices are dropping, so go for it. If the plan is to live in the house for at least ten years, you have nothing to worry about. (As long as you’re confident about your income staying as-is or getting better, of course.)
Sellers, if you can wait till spring to sell, do it. Unless you have a great reason to leave or move now (like my current clients who aren’t willing to stay in Colorado through another winter), hold out until spring when your opportunity to sell increases (per historical reference).
If you’ve got enough money to buy a house to rent out now, do it! It’s an excellent time for it because rent rates aren’t going down at all.
So, I guess what you need to know is that it’s a good time to buy; selling now is fine, but you may get more money in the spring, and if you’re thinking about an investment property, I say, give it a go.
Okay, I’m off, you guys have a lovely week, and we’ll chat again soon. Can’t wait!
Mortgage Rates Lower After FED Increases Rates by 75BPS.
You might ask yourself, how can mortgage rates move lower, if you just said the FED raised interest rates… Shouldn't the increase in rates by the FED also cause mortgage rates to rise? The short answer is…No. The FED only meets eight times a year. Apart from an unscheduled or emergency meeting, this is when the FED will increase or decrease the federal funds rate. Mortgage rates are tied to the MBS Bond Coupon and trade Monday through Friday, 8 am -5 pm ET. Bond traders, who essentially set the pricing based on supply and demand, don't wait until the FED announcement. The market is ahead of the news and has already adjusted based. Therefore, mortgage rates won't "typically" change on the day of the decision. The market was already pricing in the 75BPS increase and was more interested in the press conference and what they said about future FED policy.
As we discussed, mortgage rates won't directly change on the day of the FED announcement. Still, you'll see an immediate difference in your credit card interest rates, auto loan interest rates, and home equity lines of credit interest rates, since they aren't tied to the mortgage bond market. So while mortgage rates have improved, the next question is, when will they decrease more? The crystal ball question…, and while I don't have the answer, data suggests the market is waiting for inflation to break and start falling. The FED implied they might be slowing future rate hikes yesterday, and the bond market is sending us signals of lower mortgage rates in the next 18-24 months. While this will be great for affordability, it will also increase the buyer pool again, exacerbating our record low inventory levels.
Please reach out if I can help!
Adam Renken
Loan Consultant
NMLS ID #1065772
55 Madison St Ste 525 Denver, CO 80206
C:303-521-0956
F: 833-564-9116
www.caliberhomeloans.com/
