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We keep clutching our pearls waiting for the next rate drop. Then we get insulted. A zero point two five ‘drop’?? Behind some heavy mahogany door, wealthy men are laughing. That’s the picture I have in MY head.

I did a quick check of a 400K home price (which reflects a first time buyer price here in the Triangle). At a THREE PERCENT interest rate, thirty year mortgage, zero down, the principle and interest payment would still be $1687. That does not include taxes, insurance and HOA. My advice? Download a loan calculator and LOOK at what your payment will be (approximately, but close).

The problem is overly inflated house prices! The days of frantic buying are over. I heard we’re 6 months (cognitively) behind reality. We are watching more and more inventory being flooded into a stagnant market, listings sitting longer and longer, prices dropping and dropping, and buyers languishing while shopping, with no sense of urgency. My goodness, what will it take for reality to settle in? We are still ‘whistling past the graveyard’.

Builders are offering rate buy downs? That’s the same as an adjustable rate mortgage folks, and one day that rate will ADJUST to a number you may very well not be able to pay. The wording is different, the result is the same…as in 2008. Ask questions: What will my payment be if the rate goes to 7%? See how you like THAT number.

Buyers, I’m saying this: You now have leverage. Finally, you are not over a barrel. Use your leverage, and as one YouTube creator said, “Be careful not to catch a falling knife”. An adjustable rate mortgage is not always a bad thing, unless you do not understand it inside and out. My first mortgage was an adjustable rate, but at a time when rates were in the stratosphere. Nowhere to go but down. AND I could refinance anytime after the first year, BEFORE the rate adjusted, at no cost to me. Use your mind and your leverage.

Want to chat about it? It’s free to call me. I’m Brenda with Premier Advantage Realty.