Everybody has an opinion on where rates are headed. Here is how we would actually think about it if we were the ones buying this fall.
Start With the Payment, Not the Rate
The rate is a number on a page. The payment is what leaves your account every month. At 6.76% on a $313,500 loan, principal and interest is about $2,035. Add Montgomery County property taxes and insurance and the real number is meaningfully higher than that.
That full number is the one you should be making decisions on, and it is the first thing we build with you. Not the rate, and not a pre-qualification letter somebody generated in four minutes.
Waiting Costs Something Too
Rates have bounced around the mid-to-high sixes for about a year now. Everybody who decided to wait for a five has been waiting a long time. Meanwhile the house you want has a price, and with 5.3 months of inventory sitting on the market you have some leverage on that price today.
If rates fall later, you refinance. If they do not, you already own the house and everyone else is still waiting.
And worth repeating, because the headlines this week will blur it: the Fed’s move does not automatically push your 30-year fixed up. Those are two different rates driven by two different things. We broke that down here.
Ask About a Buydown Before You Ask for a Price Cut
This is the most underused tool out there right now. A 2-1 buydown drops your rate two full points the first year and one point the second before settling at your note rate. Sellers will often fund it as a concession, and dollar for dollar it usually helps your monthly payment more than an equivalent price reduction.
Get Pre-Approved Before You Tour
Not pre-qualified. Pre-approved. It means we have actually looked at your income, your credit, and your assets, and we know what works. It makes your offer stronger when you find the one, and it keeps you from falling in love with a house that was never in range to begin with.