All Forum Posts by: Zach Wain

@Abigail Joanna - technically, Conventional loans do not allow you to get a last minute personal loan and use it for downpayment.  There are ways around this, like getting the personal loan well in advance so it is seasoned money.  But, a high interest rate on a personal loan does not make much sense.

There are a variety of downpayment assistance options that might be a better fit. Conventional loans require 3% min downpayment and FHA is 3.5%. If you have that much, I would stick with a normal downpayment.

Today's CPI Report: A big win... but rates got worse.

Core CPI came in at 0.1% this morning — well below expectations of 0.3%. Under normal circumstances, this would be a clear green light for markets: cooling inflation = potential rate cuts = optimism. But not today.

Instead of rallying, markets remain jittery as tariff concerns and trade policy fears take center stage. Mortgage rates even ticked up slightly — a counterintuitive move on what should’ve been good inflation news.  This is a clear reminder that in today’s environment, macroeconomic data doesn’t move in a vacuum. Headlines, geopolitics, and policy shifts are increasingly shaping financial sentiment — sometimes more than the data itself.

In the past week, the avg 30 yr fixed rate jumped from 6.6% to 6.97% (per MND).

📊 Key takeaway: Even when inflation cools, the market’s reaction can heat up for different reasons. Keep your eyes on the full picture — not just the numbers.  The markets are uncertain and fearful of the future impact of tariffs and as a result mortgage rates have been volatile, ignoring low inflation numbers, and have seen a steady increase the past 4-5 days.  Hang on, it will likely be a bumpy ride with plenty of ups and downs in the near future

Every scenario is different, but the vast majority of the time I believe it is better to get your own agent that is working for you, 100% on your side.  Not all agents can do a solid job representing 2 opposing parties.

JD - and with higher wages comes increased consumer demand which leads to higher prices/inflation.  This really is an economic pickle.  A severe reduction in gov't spending is the only path I see.  That, or an actual recession that causes people to take money out of equities and into the safe haven of bonds...

All of the mortgage rate forecasts are probably a little dated and the next time they update the projections will go up.  With a GOP sweep, everyone was predicting that would be bad for rates.  If spending cuts are not enough to pay for big tax cuts that will make the deficit worse, and possible tariffs/price increases.

Lets hope Elon and Vivek and have a monumental reduction in Gov't spending.  Lets debt = less Treasury issuance = less supply = lower yields

The market is in an wait and see mode.  But, when 1 party has a clean sweep that means a lot of legislation gets passed, and that spokes the markets.  

100% what Luis said. Self Sufficiency test is the important item for 3-4 unit FHA homes. If you make enough money to qualify without counting any rents, no worries. If you need rents, good luck. It is tough to pass the Self Sufficiency test right now. Conventional is a great option in those scenarios

Any lender with multiple outlets will be able to help you. VA rates have come down a lot the past few months so you should be able to snag a good deal

No this is not normal. But, the most common problem with DSCR loans is when the DSCR ratio changes from the loan officers initial estimate. If they thought the property cash flows $3,000 per month on a $2700 payment but the rent comps come back at $2,600 per month that changes EVERYTHING in the DSCR pricing world. The loan officer must have made a pricing mistake somewhere in the process.

HELOC!

We had a LOW inflation report today (7/11/24), big win!! Today's low CPI inflation report helped bring mortgage rates and bond yields lower. Headline (total) inflation for the past month was negative, -0.1%.

Core inflation (total inflation minus food and energy) was up only 0.065%, so it gets rounded to 0.1% increase. That is a great number and bond markets love it. This should open the door for the Fed to hopefully consider a couple of rate cuts this year.

We also had the lowest "shelter" reading in a long long time, of 0.3% for rents and OER. Total Shelter was 0.2% because lodging away from home dropped.

One item that is still sky rocketing, auto insurance! 19.5% increase in the past 12 months. Ouch!

This is the 3 month downtrend we have been on.  This is a 10 yr treasury chart over the past 3-4 months.  Mortgage rates do not perfectly move with the 10yr T, but its pretty dang close.  It has been slow moving trend, with ups and downs, but its encouraging to see a stable downtrend.  In mortgage rate/bond world, the next set of economic reports (Jobs, inflation, retail sales, etc) can always change the picture quickly.  But, with shelter inflation (hopefully) on the downtrend, that should help keep inflation readings low.  Hopefully, lower rates are in the near future...