Five! Four Score! 50 States!

**Five Quote of the Day: **“Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for a ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair.” – Sam Ewing

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Today in History: It was on this date in 1860 when Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the Unites States. And while we’re talking about Lincoln, does anyone know what ‘Four score and seven years ago' means? A “score” is 20 so this sentence meant 87 years. FYI – he would’ve made a lousy football announcer ("Cardinals beat the Bears last week by a score of score plus 9 to score minus 11.")

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Possible Game Show Answer: In 2009, a team of scientists searched Scotland’s Loch Ness for evidence of Nessie. They did not find the monster, but they did recover more than 100,000 golf balls.

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Wuss’up This Week: I’ve been a mortgage broker for 25 years and it takes a lot to surprise me when it comes to this market. Last week was a surprise. The Employment report for October showed 12k new jobs were created, estimates hovered around 100k that were supposed to be created. A report like that 999 out of 1,000 times would drive interest rates sharply lower. What happened on Friday? The rates got worse. A Boeing strike and hurricanes were to blame for the bad numbers but truthfully, I think everyone is just waiting for things to return to normal now that the election is over. For now, what can help rates is Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his rate cut of about a quarter on Thursday (fingers and toes crossed). Outside of that, the only news that will help rates this week is the Consumer Sentiment Report which is released Friday at 10am.

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Interest Rate Update: Up almost a full point in October, it’s time for a November rally, Mortgage Fans! But for now here’s what we’ve got: a conforming 30yr fixed rate at $250k or less are around 6.50% for first time homebuyers, at $251k-$766k we find rates in the high-6s/low-7s. For Jumbo loans (*over $766k) they’re around 6.625% for 30yr fixed loans and about a quarter lower for ARMs. As usual rates will vary based on type of home, equity in the home, your credit score, and if you’ve ever wondered how all 50 states got their name.

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Don’t Forget to Remember: Any purchase or refinance that closes with me I will waive $450 in lender fees! Grab yourself a cup of instant karma and pass my info along to friends, family, coworkers, or people that like Presidential Facts

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Five Quote of the Day 2: “My grandmother said, come over here. I said why? She said just come over here. So I went over. She said here’s $5, don’ t tell your mother I gave it to you. I said, it’ll cost you more than that”” – Louis CK

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Congrats to those who last week guessed Henry Winkler! Want to be entered into a drawing to win a Ramen Noodle Soup blanket? Simply email me the answer to this week’s Who Am I? question. Good luck: “It’s my birthday tomorrow, and I’m getting up there in age although I feel like in just the last ten years I’ve gone from boyhood to where I am now. Can I do Shakespeare? Hell yeah, see my 2000 movie. Can I write? Well, before you tell me my book didn’t do well, and before you tell me I should stick to acting, I will tell you that I received a screenwriting Oscar nomination in 2004. This blog’s author likes my 2013 horror movie that could be retitled The Removal. Final hint: In ’94 my first wife had a famous dance scene with a Grease star.”

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The Adieu Mortgage Haiku:

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November’s first blog

And rates are at summer highs

Rate cut tomorrow?