Timothy Brown

11/22/2024

The "Homebuyer Privacy Protection Act of 2024" is legislation that mortgage and real estate professionals must support. The bill aims to ban the use of "trigger leads," which are generated by the credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian) after a borrower's credit is pulled. These bureaus sell borrowers' credit scores, Social Security numbers, and contact information to other mortgage companies, who often contact borrowers within minutes. This practice not only invades privacy but also creates confusion, as borrowers may wrongly assume their lender has shared their personal information, undermining trust in an era of frequent data breaches. Contact your representatives in Washington to let them know you support this bill.

11/22/2024

Trigger leads, the long-debated and controversial lead generation strategy, may disappear next year under a nationwide ban after the U.S. Senate bill, “The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act of 2024,” was incorporated into the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Given that...

09/26/2024

Mortgage rates continue their slow descent and are on the precipice of breaking 6% before year-end. This is the lowest the 30 year fixed rate has been since September 2022. As a painful reminder, the average 30 yr rate a year ago was 7.31%. Ouch! With the Federal Reserve likely to cut rates two more times by year-end we should see a continuation of this trend. Here is the link to the Freddie Mac weekly survey of interest rates. https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms

Stay up to date with mortgage rates and the market!

09/01/2024

Inflation continues to cool as expected, meaning the Federal Reserve will almost certainly cut the federal funds rate in its September 18th meeting. The only question is the size of the cut. Current mortgage rates have already assumed a .25% rate cut, but there is a chance the Fed may cut the rate by .5% which would likely lead to further improvement in mortgage rates.

08/01/2024

If the trendline in this graph was of your investment portfolio, you would be on the phone with your financial advisor wondering if they took a large position in the latest crypto currency...but alas this is the trendline of the 10 year treasury note, the benchmark for the 30 year fixed rate mortgage. With the Fed expected to cut the Prime Rate by the end of September, investors are more confident mortgage rates are heading lower which is the reason for the downward trendline. This is great news for home buyers who have been sitting on the sideline while interest rates were at or near 20 year highs. 😊

02/05/2024

Mortgage rates continue to hold steady near 5-month lows even after the Federal Reserve tamped down expectation of a March cut in the federal funds rate (currently at 5.5%). The Fed is waiting for more evidence that inflation remains in check prior to making its first rate cut since March 2020 when the rate was reduced to .25% as we entered the Global Pandemic. Fortunately, mortgage rates have been minimally impacted by this news.

12/20/2023

Congratulations to Rick and Marketta Sumlin the purchase of their new! Cheers!!

11/28/2023

The even better news is the yield on the 10 year Treasury Note dropped to 4.33% today. Interest rates on the 30 year mortgage tend to follow direction of the treasury yield so we should an improvement in rates. The treasury yields were responding to comments by the Federal Reserve Board that slowing inflation could induce them to cut the prime rate which now stands at 8.5%.