Bugs! Rate Prediction! Life Hacks!

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Welcome, Mortgage Fans, to the first blog of 2025. I’m happy to announce there are a number of new and exciting changes I have made to the blog this year!! Just kidding, it’s the same crappy stuff but I want to thank you all for being loyal readers and will do my best to keep you entertained on all the latest from the world of mortgages, non-mortgage news, and most importantly – I will do my best not to bug you.

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Bug Quote of the Day: “Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug.” – John Lithgow

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Possible Game Show Answer: Wendy's founder Dave Thomas dropped out of high school but picked up his GED in 1993. His GED class voted him Most Likely to Succeed.

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Wuss’up This Week: Reports about our economy are released into the wild every day, and it’s these reports that can sway interest rates in either direction. This week it’s all about jobs as today we lead off with the ADP Employment Report, tomorrow Jobless Claims, and Friday’s biggie the U.S. Employment Report for December (expected: 155k new jobs with the unemployment rate expected to stay at 4.2% - which is exactly double my high school GPA). If these numbers come in better than expected we’ll see rates tick up, and vice versa if the numbers disappoint.

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Interest Rate Update: We start the year with a new conforming loan limit of $806,500 – crazy good! But let’s start this update for first time homebuyers with loan amounts at $250k or less – those 30yr fixed rates can be found in the mid-6s, and for loans at $251k-$806k they can be found in the high-6s/low-7s. For jumbo loans (*over $806k) they are sitting around 6.75% for a 30yr fixed and maybe a quarter lower for ARMs. Many people, including myself, think rates will at some point in 2025 dip into the high-5s. As usual rates will vary based on type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you like these healthy life hacks.

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Don’t forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance loan that closes with me I will waive $450 in lender fees! Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or people that like big things that can use this gift.

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Bug Quote of the Day 2: “Some interesting facts I learned at the children's museum: lightning bugs are actually beetles and I hate children.” - @roughdiction

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Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who guessed Billie Eilish on the last 2024 blog. Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Sunnydale ’99 High School Sweatshirt (*90s TV ‘buffs’ will know this one)? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck:“It was on this date in 2014 when the show I appear in premiered on NBC – I did this for three seasons which is enough for District 21, right? Preceding this show I starred in another show from 2003-2012 that could be retitled Single Evergreen Mound. My first name is the same as an actress who on TV was married to a guy after he was married with children. My last name is the same as a U.S. President. Or Presidents?? I was married from 2005-2006 and again from 2022-2023, and now I’m with a woman but I don’t wish for all men to die – just one if you’re referencing my 2006 movie.”

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The Adieu Mortgage Haiku:

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Happy New Year, Friends!

Rates start in the high-6s

Will end in the 5s….