Choicelend.com » Home Purchase

Are Costco Mortgage Rates Better?

Art Bermudez — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:46:45 +0000

Costco is known for their excellent products and prices but what about their new mortgage service? Costco has partnered with several lenders and make use of a real time pricing engine powered by Nylx to deliver real time quotes.
The pitch is that the lender fee will not cost over $600. Does Costco have the lowest rate and fees?
We ran a loan scenario this morning and compared it to the rates offered in real-time on our own website.
The results? A little surprising… The surprise is the disclaimer where Costco mortgage partners bury “other fees” in the disclaimer. The other surprise is that Costco mortgage service is not even close to what we can offer. See below:
For the loan scenario we ran Costco lenders best rate costs over $3K while Choicelend.com costs ZERO.

Choicelend.com originates home loans in California only.

End of Low Mortgage Rates?

Art Bermudez — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:42:26 +0000

Choicelend.com – Yesterday the 10 yr note closed above its 20 day average for the first time since April 15th, although it is up some this morning it hasn’t been able to push back below its 20 day on the yield chart. The 9 day relative strength index is back above 50 on the 10 yield, slightly bearish. We continue to hold our bullish near term outlook for now but the foundation is not as firm now as it has been over the past month.
Yesterday and so far this morning lenders are not pricing directly to what the Mortgage Backed Securities market is doing, most all lenders are worsening price more than what markets are doing. Waiting for lower rates is not worth the risk, if you have a benefit you can secure, lock now.

Mortgage Rates Improve Over China News and Unemployment Applications

Art Bermudez — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:53:37 +0000

Choicelend.com – News China continues to slow down hit the stock market hard sending investors into the safety of treasuries helping to improve mortgage rates. Spain was downgraded (again), Libya continues it’s civil war and our own citizens continue to struggle in finding jobs. This pullback will test our lows, great time to lock.

Mortgage Rates Tugged Between New Oil Prices and Bond Demand

Art Bermudez — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:17:02 +0000

Today, the Treasury will auction $29 billion of 7 yr notes, yesterday’s and Tuesday’s 5 yr and 2 yr auctions were not the best in terms of demand. Some are beginning to question whether foreign investors are backing away from US debt; if today’s 7 yr suffers weaker demand look for that question to gain more attention. On the other hand, the situation in the Middle East has some investors fleeing to the safety of bonds however weaker than expected demand may confirm the loss of confidence in the US. Two great potential forces at play here, which one will prevail only time will tell. In the meantime we are still in a rising interest rate environment. Lock now and don’t risk it.

Mortgage Rates Improve on Safety Moves

Art Bermudez — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:58:23 +0000

Choicelend.com – The turmoil in the Middle East has driven investors into the safety of US Treasuries improving mortgage rates at least temporarily. If you have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for rates to go down this is your chance. We have been saying all along that rates are on an uptrend and will stick to that. This improvement is a chance to catch a dip. Move fast and don’t hesitate, lock now.

A Rebound for Mortgage Rates?

Art Bermudez — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:45:15 +0000

Choicelend.com – We have seen rates increase steadily for the past few months with a few minor pullbacks. Markets are technically a bit oversold and we may see that pullback today. We still hold to the belief rates will head upward therefore any improvement should be used to lock a better rate. No time to gamble, mortgage rates are still going up.

Fannie and Freddie to Raise Fees

Art Bermudez — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:54:21 +0000

Choicelend.com – The GSEs announced they will soon be using “risk based pricing”. What this means is for example, if your Fico score is less than 740 and you are putting less than 25% downpayment, Fannie and Freddie will assess you a penalty fee. Different “tiers” of risk (fees) for even lower scores will also be assessed. For home buyers waiting for lower prices they may get them but they will also have higher rates and higher fees. Don’t wait, any drop in prices will be more than offset by higher rates and fees. Make your move now.

30 Year Fixed at 5.5% in 2011?

Art Bermudez — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:40:23 +0000

Choicelend.com – We are forecasting the 30 year fixed mortgage rate up to 5.5% in 2011. The media and financial analyst gurus are creating the frenzy. It’s their job to fan the flames, it’s how they make their money. Big money will flee from safety into equities and other investment instruments. People hoping for a return to lower rates will keep waiting while mortgage rates increase. Hope is not a plan. Don’t gamble, you can still lock at 4.75% with marginal cost.

Weak Jobs Report Good for Mortgage Rates?

Art Bermudez — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:29:07 +0000

Mortgage Rates improved as investors looked for some safety. If you are considering a refinance pulling the trigger on the lower rates resulting from the 9.8% unemployment report may be your opportunity.
A Huge miss on estimates from analysts and economists on the unemployment data has the market digesting our current state of affairs. A jobless economic recovery? Really?
If you can save some money to reposition your mortgage either to increase your cash flow or reduce your term is not only a good idea but a great idea. You never know when you may be one of the 14.8 million americans who are unemployed.

“Lost your lock” with a different lender?

Art Bermudez — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 20:10:07 +0000

“I was working with another lender and we lost our lock”.
We normally receive these type of calls several time a week. I suppose with the sudden increase in mortgage rates we will be swamped by people who were told the rate they thought they had was “lost”. The truth is that a good percentage of lenders do not lock the interest rate for the client even though the they lead them to believe they did. They “float the rate” to secure a larger fee. Floating the rate means the client is at risk if the rates go up and the lender benefits if the rates go down. In either case the client is on the potential losing end.
At Choicelend.com we do not float the rate unless a client requests it. Once we settle on a rate / fee combination we proceed to lock. If we quote you an interest rate, that is what we deliver. We have never “lost a lock”. See Today’s Mortgage Rates here