Mortgage Interest Rates

Anthony: Mortgage rates are now at their highest rate since 2009. Last night, folks, they hit 5.25%. What are you doing about it? Are you on top of it? Are you aware of it? Have you been in touch with your buyers, your most active buyers, to make sure they’re getting an updated pre-approval? On your listings, are you making sure that the pre-approval that comes through is updated within the last week, five days? Even today, if you get one, I would make sure it’s updated as of yesterday. I mean, rates went up a quarter-point since Friday night. That’s significant and it has an impact on a buyer’s ability to buy.

We have to be on top of this thing. We have to be in front of it. You have to be in front of it and you’ve got to make sure you are prepared for what is going on here. We’re in a little bit of a storm. With interest rates going up, the Federal Reserve is running scared. They know they overdid it with stimulus. Now we have an inflation problem. Always remember, Federal Reserve Banks are more scared of inflation than anything else. They fear that more. They’d rather a recession. They don’t want a recession. They hope for a soft landing, but they fear inflation more than anything else. Don’t forget that so they’re going to let rates keep going up or getting wacky or whatever.

What can you do on the street level? Make sure your buyers have updated pre-approvals within a few days. Make sure on your listings you get the most updated pre-approvals possible. Make sure you’re talking to your buyers about this. Make sure the buyers are aware of the increase in costs, because now some buyers are getting knocked out of being able to buy. It’s better for you to just tell them that and realize that with them than submit an offer and have a deal fall through and then everybody’s pissed off. There’s no reason for that, okay?

Be aware of what’s going on out there. Also, for my local Massachusetts and New Hampshire Realtor friends today, at three o’clock on my own company’s Facebook page and YouTube page, I will be putting on a full quarterly real estate market update. I haven’t done one since January. I’ll be going over what’s happened in Q1, what I expect in Q2 and Q3, and also talking big picture about what is happening. Tune into that if you’d like to see it. I’ll be live. Thanks, folks. Have a great day. Happy home selling.