Quick question: What's your interest rate?
Yep. I get that one all the time. And honestly, there's a better question. In my homebuyer education classes, I teach students to ask, "How are interest rates behaving and why are they behaving that way?"
Because here's the thing: Mortgage interest rates move constantly. They rise and fall throughout the day based on the price of mortgage backed securities - kinda like the stock market. Most lenders publish rates once a day just to keep things simple. But they're still watching those micro fluctuations behind the scenes.
So what actually matters isn't what's today's interest rate. What matters is when you lock it.
Let's say you and I are both buying Microsoft stock. If you buy at 10am and I buy at 1pm, we'll pay slightly different prices. But if you bought it two weeks ago and I buy today? Totally different ball games. Same stock. Different timing. Mortgages work the same way.
Now imagine we're all selling the same birdhouse. Same wood. Same nails. Same paint.
Company A sells their birdhouse for $20. Company B sells theirs for $40. And Company C is selling a $60 birdhouse. Why?
Well maybe the $60 birdhouse comes in fancy packaging and is promoted by birdhouse influencers. And maybe the $20 birdhouse has no quality control or ships by carrier pigeon. Same birdhouse. Different business model.
It's the same with mortgages. My FHA loan is the same FHA loan you'd get from a big bank or an online lender. The difference? How the company operates. And the biggest expense in this business? The people.
Too few staff? Delays. Loans that don't close on time.
Too little training? Mistakes. Loans that get declined in underwriting.
Too high overhead? Higher interest rates.
You don't want the $20 birdhouse that falls apart. Or the $60 birdhouse in the gold-plated box. You want the $40 birdhouse. Solid. Reliable. Fairly priced.
Same goes for your lender.
So the next time you're tempted to ask, "what's your interest rate," ask a better question. Ask who's watching the market for you. Ask who's going to deliver the birdhouse - on time, with care, and built to last.
You can win when the market is changing. We can show you how. I'm Emily Caryl Ingram. I lead a team at New American Funding providing home loans throughout the Pacific Northwest. Call, text, or visit emilycaryl.com when you're ready to get started.
