By: DebraSavage dsavage@railey.com 301-616-4085 March 10th, 2009 Category: Deep Creek Lake Buyer Info, Interest Rates and Loans, Obtaining a Mortgage

Many potential home buyers here at Deep Creek Lake and in Garrett County frequently ask me - “When is the best time to lock in my interest rate?” I posed this question to one of our local mortgage experts- Jerry Merrick of BB&T Bank and below is his most informative response;

I always advise my clients to lock in their interest rate at the earliest opportunity. Gambling with a client’s interest rate is never advisable. In my business, I have a standardized system in place that we adhere to for all of our clientele.

A mortgage loan cannot be closed without locking in a rate and there are two main elements to take into consideration:

Interest Rate
Length of lock

Locking in a rate does not obligate the client to commit to the loan until the appraisal is ordered and costs are incurred. The lock simply eliminates any risk of the borrower being exposed to market volatility. It provides the security of having time to complete the mortgage and real estate transaction with some sense of order.

My team and I let our clients know that interest rates fluctuate daily and do not want them to fall victim to, I wish I would have locked and now I’m stuck with the higher rate. We try to lock in a rate when we receive the application to minimize excessive volatility and allow the borrower to focus on paint colors and not interest rates.

We advise our clients to lock rates that are conducive with their transaction. For instance a 30 day lock is less expensive than a 45 day lock. There are lenders out there that compete on price alone and do not disclose the difference in the rate is because of the shorter lock period.

So there you have it - as with most things in life - the answer in a nutshell is it all depends on your situation and comfort level. I highly urge and recommend anyone looking to borrow money to purchase a house that they consult at least 2 or 3 of our local lenders to get all your questions answered.

By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 February 10th, 2009 Category: Deep Creek Lake Buyer Info, Deep Creek Lake Real Estate, Interest Rates and Loans, Obtaining a Mortgage, Uncategorized

This afternoon I had a conversation with local mortgage lender Jerry Merrick of BB&T Bank.  He had mentioned that refinance interest rates in the Deep Creek Lake and Garrett County areas are actually higher than purchase rates and no one seems to be noticing this. Conforming mortgage rates on a home  purchase are still below 5%! I questioned why the discrepancy in rates and below is his response.

While interest rates remain historically low some lenders are raising their rates to control the flow of refinance applications. The typical 30 year fixed rate refinance loan is priced at 5.125% today on any loan amount under $417,000. The matter is simply supply and demand, meaning that lenders are offering very low rates but they are typically understaffed and lack the support necessary to get these deals to closing prior to the rate lock expiration dates.

Consumers should be leary of using lenders that they are unfamiliar with who may be offering lower than market rates. The first item to address is how long is my rate guaranteed to be locked in for, and what are my options if the rate does expire prior to settlement? Ask yourself the question what good is a below market rate if you never go to settlement. At BB&T our clients are locked in for 60 days in order to ensure the integrity of their lock. Those terms are disclosed upfront in the form of a signed rate lock disclosure.

The flipside represents the purchase market which finds lenders still very aggressively priced. Purchase loans are priced today at 4.875% on 30 year fixed rate products. That’s a solid .250% below what the refinance transaction costs. The difference is purchase money transactions are moving faster and have priority in underwriting, because unlike the refinance these loans are new loans for the lender and the refinance transactions are already homeowners.

 With so many variables affecting the market, it’s more important than ever to have an advise -based strategy when structuring your loan, I appreciate you trusting me with this role. 

Jerry Merrick

Deep Creek Lake’s #1 Lender

Vice President

BB&T Mortgage

Mortgage Loan Consultant

301-387-3219 Phone

301-387-5393 Fax

301-616-0037 Mobile

21287 Garrett Hwy suite 500

Oakland, MD  21550

www.bbt.com/mlo/jmerrick

By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 December 17th, 2008 Category: Deep Creek Lake Real Estate, Interest Rates and Loans, Obtaining a Mortgage

John Simson, a local mortgage broker in Garrett County with Sweitzer Simson of Spectra Funding, announced that mortgage rates have come down substantially as of today. Here are some current interest rates you could lock today if you were thinking about possibly buying real estate, a second home, or resort property at Deep Creek Lake or in Garrett County Maryland.

Here is the note from John;

Rates are the best I have seen in a long time possibly ever!!

They are inverse from what they follow typically, but we can do:

Up to $417,000

    15 year fixed  4.75%

    20 year fixed 4.625%

    30 year fixed 4.5%

Above $417,000

    Balloons

        30/15  6.00%

        30/10  5.75%

        30/5    5.5%

        3/1      5.125%

        5/1      6.00%

Pricing is subject to Loan to value, credit scores, & income ratios.

No one can say for sure that interest rates will stay this low or come down any more in the next few days or weeks to come but one thing is for sure - today’s rates on conforming loans (or those loans less than $417,000) are quite possibly the lowest  anyone has seen in decades.  Jumbo rates (or those loans more than $417,000) have improved over the past few weeks but with the spread it still probably makes sense to try and finance $417,000 or less when purchasing a home or piece of land.  It may be an excellent time for those who may be on the fence deciding whether or not to buy real estate right now to take advantage of these low rates. Give us a call or drop us an e-mail - there are certainly some good properties for sale in our market right now.

By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 February 16th, 2008 Category: Deep Creek Lake Real Estate, Interest Rates and Loans

In order to stimulate the economy and the national housing market, President Bush recently signed House Bill HR 5140 - which may raise the conforming loan limit to as high as $729,750. This new bill could quite possibly have an impact in our local real estate market here at Deep Creek Lake in the near future.

 The current conforming loan limit is $417,000 - if you borrow over that amount you the wind up in what lenders will usually call a Jumbo Loan - and to balance out risk for these lenders - Jumbo Loans usually have interest rates 0.50% to 0.75% higher than conforming loans.

This stimulus package gives HUD the ability to raise the conforming loan amount within the next 30 days to as high as $729,750….and the ability to implement the new limit in certain markets - the big questions yet to be answered are “how much” and “where”. 

Hopefully these higher loan limits will be enacted here in the Garrett County and the Deep Creek Lake areas. If so interest rates will drastically improve for those financing vacation and second homes in our market. Most of our lake access homes right now are priced between $500,000 and $1,000,000 - and most of our lake front homes are priced over $1,000,000.  These higher loan limits will surely give those shopping for vacation homes in our market better financing options than what they had before - better financing options will more than likely spur on a few more potential buyers who may have been sitting on the fence - more potential buyers will surely stimulate our number of vacation home sales this year.

According to the article there is still a lot of grey area to be worked out - hopefully it works in the favor of those thinking about buying a vacation or second home this year.