Dancing Quote of the Day: “Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Possible Game Show Answer: More than half of our bodies are not human. Bacterial cells outnumber the number of human cells in our bodies. Research has found that the average human is around 56% bacteria. (*FYI - being a germ freak I’m always washing my hands. With that fact I think I probably land around 47% bacteria, and most loan officers are around 58% bacteria - think about that next time you’re deciding whether you want to hire me or one of my competitors.)
Today in History: It was on this date in 1961 when the Soviets launched Sputnik V, the heaviest satellite to date at 7.1 tons. (*it always amazes me what mankind can accomplish. I sometimes think to myself, If the world was made up of all Barry Schwartzs we wouldn’t even have paperclips.)
Wuss’up This Week: The first week of any month is always key for rates as we’ve got a decent number of reports about jobs. Today the ADP Employment Report is released, tomorrow Jobless Claims, and the biggie on Friday the US Employment Report for January (expected: 175k new jobs with the unemployment rate expected to stay at 4.1%). If these come in good for the economy, you’ll see rates tick up, and vice versa if the numbers come in lower than expected.
Interest Rate Update: Here were the Fannie Mae average rates (*these include paying partial points) on this date in 2021: 2.80%, 2022: 3.68%, 2023: 6.17%, 2024: 6.75%, and 2025: 7.05%. Yeeesh. It will take another pandemic for rates to fall to Covid levels but I do think that rates between 7.0%-7.375% will be our high for the year and then we’ll see a nice steady decline. Patience, Mortgage Fans, patience. In the meantime, a conforming 30yr fixed for a loan at $250k or less is around 6.75%, between $251k-$806k at 7.125%. As usual rates will vary based on if you’re a first time home buyer, type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you’ve ever wondered if astronauts do laundry in space.
Don’t forget to Remember: Any purchase that closes with me I will waive $450 in lender fees (and sometimes more on refinances)! Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to any friends, family, coworkers, or people that like mice art who can use this gift.
Dancing Quote of the Day 2: “Sometimes it looks like I’m dancing, but it’s just that I walked into a spider web.” – Demetri Martin
Timeout for Trivia: Congrats to those who guessed Heather Graham last week! Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Get off My Lawn T-shirt? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “My show debuted on CBS on this date in 2007 and ran for seven years. Mediocre show but this blog writer thinks while I’m very funny, most of my TV and movie appearances are not laugh out loud. Like a lot of comedians I got my start as a writer and cast member at SNL from 1990-1996, and then left to make a couple of movies with another SNL alum who is in heaven right now and probably hanging out in his car. Well, not car – what’s a bigger vehicle? In 2010 I made another comedy with two more SNL alums plus one guy whose sitcom could be renamed Ruler of a NY Borough. Last hint: My sister-in-law – who had the same last name as me - was one of the most famous fashion designers in the world before her untimely death in 2018.”
The Adieu Mortgage Haiku:
The rates are dancing
A slow up and down tango
Keep dancing down, rates!
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