I have been waiting for the big decline in May and the rates are going up instead. What's the word from the master?

Clark, now that rates have not reached your prediction of the 3's without discount points (which you problably do not recommend), don't you think it might be time to stop trying to time the bottom and encourage people to refinance soon -- rates over the last week have actually gone up...not down. The problem with the rates not being in the 3's is that the Fed is currently not buying Mortgage Backed Security Coupon's for 3 - 3.25%. The coupons they have been purchasing have been around 4% and above, which is equivalent to a 4.75% - 4.875% 30 yr fixed rate. Unless the Fed starts buying coupons in the low 3's, we will not see rates get as low as you predicted. On a final note, the only time you know the market has reached the actual bottom is when the market is moving up --- an then it's too late.

Sorry Clark. Your prediction of rates in the 3's never occured!

$4500 to $5000 are the quotes Ive been getting for Refi $90,000 on home and 25,000 on second .Can anyone recommand a mortage company that chages no more than 2% total closing cost ?

Anyone else out their have a good lender and rates to look into for GA?

I have bookmarked acuonline.org-Thanks Gina. Their 15 yr fixed is at 4.5% right now, 30 yr fixed 4.875.

I think Clark may be eating crow in two weeks but I sure hope not.

Can you please post the websites of credit unions where you can get low mortgage rates.. My credit union is offering 5.0 with 0 points for conventional 30 year; 80-20 mortgage

The NACA requires a memebership fee: $50 per month for five to ten years
This payment occurs once you purchase through NACA and is part of your mortgage payment. This is a required payment as a NACA Homeowner Member. This comes to $3,000 for 5 years and $5,000 for 10 years. Seems alittle pricey to me.

Associated Credit Union - Just received my good faith estimate - 4.5% on a 15 yr, 2% closing costs. Check current rates at acuonline.org.

After reading this I went online and googled and got a link to 4 morgage companies that offered 4.75 with no points closing. I believe that was Weds. and no calls or emails yet. Does someone have a good positive lender to call with a low no points loan, thanks.

I have a 10 yr mortgage @ 6.375. I put 125,000 down on a 185,000 home. I owe 58,000. I also had my house on the market all last year, w/ no luck. I took it off the MLS, & want to refi, but am being told I have to have home off the merket for 6 months! ...if I have to wait 3 more months, I'll probably end up being late on payments by then. There is NOTHING in Obamas plan that allows people that are in hardships(no work), to refinance to a lower rate if they've had their home on the market. I am distressed over NO options! Clark, is there any way for me to refi?

are there any programs out there to refi. the remaining l0 yrs. of a 15 year mort. financed at 4.75 and a line of credit. after being downsized, layed off 2 times and failing health all in 15 months. i'm totally tapped out and barely making it. i do not qualify for the fannie mae or freddie mac loans refi options. help, help help.

As noted before, I am a GA closing attorney and while Clark may be correct in May, I think it's foolish to wait. I am seeing rates around 4.75% right now for 30-year fixed. You can wait to save less than $100/month or so or you can GET OUT of that loan that's over 5.5%. Please note his story said FIFTEEN year rates will be in the 3's; 30 years at 4.25%. With a $100,000 loan, at 4.75% the P&I would be $521.65 per calculator at Bankrate.com. For 4.25% it drops to 491.94. Is it worth waiting to see if it drops, or should you go for a 'sure thing' and lock in today and pay the extra $30/month? I'd go for it as things are so uncertain right now (will your bank be there when you are ready? will your job be there? will something else happen?). If rates end up dropping a point again (3.75??) then refi again!

Gina-intangible tax in GA is $3/1000 of loan amount if over 36 months.

Mike-you know nothing about Wendy's life, how can you say that? ARMs can be a useful tool; unfortunately some programs were not that great...

Several comments were made about lower equity in their homes, go to makinghomeaffordable.gov-you may qualify.

Final shot-online lenders scare me-they offer great rates but quite often cannot deliver the service. Be careful, choose wisely! Cheers, Bo

Best rates I have seen in metro Atlanta are 4.5 for 30 year and somewhat lower for 15 year rates. Several of you have comments that I could probably help with. I would be happy to give my opinion. email kenjr@chalkerclosing.com

Just received a quote on a 30 yr refi mortgage. The rate is 4.875 and closing costs were 3.21% of the total loan amount. Clark may be right on this one.

My credit union (Metro One) only does 15 yrs. loans; however I might be able to get an equity line with them...my other one will be closed out with a refi.

I am trying to figure out if I should refinance a loan at 7.0 with no PMI to a 5.0 loan with PMI. Will only pay about $150 less in my mortgage payment. Will save in overall interest payment. I have 780 credit scores or higher and good pay. The problem is my loan to value ratio which is at %95 since I have only owned the house for about 2 years. My agent is waiting to see if the Governments plan will no longer require PMI for high loan to value ratios. Your thoughts?

Just closed on a 4.25% 30yr. fixed refinance yesterday.

Anyone know anything about a Georgia fee (stamp tax?) on mortgage loans over 3 years? We want to loan our kids the money to buy a house. Any restrictions on family loans (other than the federal minimum rate)?

I bought a home in Jan/2009 $410,000 with $200,000 down and an Fico score of 803 30 year fixed for 4.75 no points and little closing cost. It is out there you just have to work hard to find it.

google Credit Unions - some of them have great rates. It my understanding that companies pay to be included on BankRate.com- good luch

I do feel for you, but if you signed up for an adjustable rate mortgage, you should have seen this coming. I've lived in my $125K condo instead of a $200K ARM because I couldn't afford it. What were your thoughts at signing? Did you think you could refi?

Just opened an e-mail from my banker, who has advised me to hold tight for rates in the 4.3s, no points, this week, possibly even better. Obviously, I'm taking my chance just like you folks are. Good luck to us all. Julie, sorry about your predicament.

With my home's reduced value, I no longer have enough equity to refi. I've done all the right things, great credit score, paid on time and pre-paid, and I'm stuck with an ARM that'll adjust in 2010. Something is wrong with this picture.

I have been working with upfront mortgage broker and the best rate I got so far is 4.625 (FICA 830). I just saw a post from JB and 30 yr no points rate was 4.375. Your brokers contact info would help lot of folks.

If Clark is right, the system will be glutted even more than it is now. You may be able to lock the rate, but if you can't close it, your rate is gone. The rate don't matter if the loan don't close. If you can get high 4s to 5.0 right now, lock it in and beat the rush.

Just an observation as a closing attorney and 'wanna be' economist: Stop waiting for the bottom! Lock in under 5% and move on. Why? Rates MAY drop, but there are still uncertainties in the marketplace. Yes, they are printing money for all this, so INFLATION is coming. Don't wait. Anything under 6% is better than a decade ago, but anything under 5% is awesome. In the last 3 months the lowest 30 year I closed for someone was 4.5%. My 2 cents...

i'm still hanging in there for "the bottom"...refi 6.3 for 3? definitely!

My wages declined 15%; EFFECTIVE 4/1; cancelled paper, garbage, club fees; now looking at ReFi; I have 879 credit score; I want to get best rate and Clark said go to True Credit.com; it costs $10; but I see it costs $14.95; do I trust this site to give me best rate with my credit?

Jim Cramer thinks they go as low as 4% and that we will see a housing bottom in 105 days

Where are you people getting these low rates? My score is 800 and I am only finding 4.875 for thirty years.

Article from WSJ Mar 20-just FYI

Under 5%, Mortgages May Be Near The Bottom

By JAMES R. HAGERTY
The Federal Reserve is going to extraordinary lengths to push down long-term interest rates, including home-mortgage rates. But those hoping mortgage rates will fall sharply from current levels, already historically low, may be disappointed.

Mortgage firms Thursday were quoting rates averaging 4.75% on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, according to Zillow.com, a real-estate information service. That is down from more than 5% two days ago and about 6% in mid-November. But further big declines will be hard to achieve, partly because the mortgage-lending market has grown less competitive in the past year as hundreds of small banks and independent mortgage lenders have collapsed. The big banks that dominate the market are eager to boost their profits margins, not give deeper bargains to consumers.
Rates for borrowers with the strongest credit are likely to be in a range of roughly 4.5% to 4.75% for the rest of this year, says Mahesh Swaminathan, a mortgage strategist at Credit Suisse in New York.

Others say that is too optimistic. Assuming no big change in government policy, Walter Schmidt, an analyst at FTN Financial Capital Markets, sees a range of 4.75% to 5.5% for most of this year.
The Fed began driving mortgage rates down in late November when it announced plans to buy as much as $500 billion of mortgage securities this year. On Wednesday, the Fed expanded that program, saying it will spend as much as $1.25 trillion on such securities in 2009. That is enough to provide funding for more than half of all home-mortgage loans likely to be made in the U.S. this year.

The Fed also is buying long-term Treasury bonds to drive down rates on those securities, whose pricing affects mortgage rates.

By historical standards, rates look incredibly low. Until recently, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hadn't been below 5% since the 1950s. For the past couple of months, rates have been bobbing between about 5% and 5.25%. The 30-year rate averaged 4.98% in the week ended March 19, down from 5.03% the prior week, according to Freddie Mac's survey. Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.61%, down from 4.64%.

One reason mortgage rates often tick back up after a decline is that a rush of people seeking to refinance quickly causes backlogs at lenders, which frequently don't have enough employees to process all of the applications.

"If lenders are working people overtime to close loans, they don't have an incentive to compete too hard on price," says Arthur Frank, who heads research on mortgage securities at Deutsche Bank in New York.

The situation highlights a conundrum for the government. It wants low rates to spur the housing market, but also wants the banks to make profits on loans so they can return to financial health.......CONTINUE ARTICLE ON THE WSJ WEBSITE FOR MAR 20

Telling people to wait until after May 1st to refinance is a horrible idea. They are only a few Lenders left, when they have too much demand they raise the Interst rates to slow demand regardless of the Market, also, as the stimulous money hits the economy it will drive interest rates higher. Interest Rtaes are at their lowest levels ever recorded, take your savings now and dont get greedy, because if rates increase and you miss this opportunity you will have cost yourself Thousands of ddollars over the life of the loan. The Government does not dictate Interest Rates the Market and the Major Lenders have a bigger impact than the Government does. If you can save $150-$250.00 per month ors horten yur term to pay off your mortgage, DO IT NOW..Rates may ge at 6.0% levels in May..

I have a 811 credit score and was offered a 4-1/2%, no points on a 30 year.
Should I take it or go for 4-1/4?

JB where are they 4.375? I've heard 4.875, but I also have a higher (super conforming) loan, so maybe that's the prob. Thanks.

The rates today 3/19/09 witha credit score of 835 are for a 30 year loan no points. 4.375! That is amazing. I can't wait to lock. No need being greedy waiting on a rate in the 3;s.