The last couple of days it's been like watching an exciting auctioneer. Except he's counting backwards and no one knows when he'll stop. 6.75%...6.5%...6%....6.5%...5.0%...6.5%....4.5%...and on and on we go.
Monica Tucker told me rates were so volatile yesterday that Wells Fargo wasn't even willing to quote a rate until yesterday afternoon (Edina Realty Mortgage and Wells Fargo are affiliates).
About 5 months ago I was certain when we hit 5% on mortgage rates we just weren't going to see them that low again. This was a delicious little morsel I got to pull out of my pocket and use to taunt my husband. You see, I am in the real estate business and I am a professional. I told him it was time to look at refinancing. Our loan is currently at 6%, and it needed to be around 5% before it made sense for us to pull the trigger. He drug his feet, and it started to creep up to 5.375. Then, it continued to go up. I was convinced we missed our opportunity. I was convinced it was going to cost us an extra $30,000 over the life of our loan because he didn't act fast enough. So, for the last few months, I've taken every opportunity given to me to kindly "remind" him that his cautiousness had "cost" us money. I've used the "I told you so" and the "remember that 5%" and the "haven't you learned your lesson about listening to me?"
Finally, we've locked in on a refinance deal at 4.75%. We're going to float this lock for the next 60 days to be sure the rate doesn't go any lower. Rest assured, we'll both be watching them closely.
For each eighth of a point they go lower, this wife and real estate agent will be eating crow! Now he get's to say "Aren't you glad you listened to me?", and "the tortoise wins the race", and "told you so."
Last night he finally said to me, "You know, I was worried we lost our opportunity to jump in on a lower rate."
We both learned a few valuable lessons:
1) When the opportunity comes along, grab it. Although we're at 4.75% now, we could have been at 5% 6 months ago. It doesn't make sense to gamble the market because even if you're a real estate professional, no one can predict what will happen. It's a shame to pass up a good deal to wait for a great deal, and miss out on both.
2) Be careful about the I told you so's.
3) Always listen to your wife.
4) Crow doesn't taste too bad as long as your laughing about it.
