10/06/2026
I want to tell you about a family I helped a few years ago when they bought their first home… a sweet little starter house with a 2.875% rate that they were pretty darn happy about, and I get it, nobody wants to give up a rate like that! 🏡
Fast forward a few years and three kids later, and they were completely busting out of that house. The kids were sharing rooms, there was nowhere to put anything anymore, and they had reached that point where the house that had been perfect for them just didn’t fit their life anymore. They looked into doing an addition, but once we batted that around and they started getting numbers together, the cost was through the roof and it really didn’t seem to make financial sense. 💰
So when we started talking about the possibility of moving, one of the first things they asked me was, “Are we CRAZY for even thinking about giving up our 2.875% rate?” 😂 And honestly, I understood why they were asking.
Instead of focusing only on the rate, we spent the time going through everything… what staying and adding onto the house would cost, how much equity they had built, what they could comfortably afford for a new payment, how much they should put down and what options we had to structure the financing so it made sense for them!
Once we actually put all of the numbers on paper,📝 they decided to go for it! What they also realized...... they were buying at a time when a lot of other people were sitting on the sidelines because of rates. That meant they weren’t fighting through the same crazy bidding wars we have been seeing and they had some negotiating room. To help combat the higher rate we were able to structure a buydown that helped with their payment in those first years while they settled into the new house.
The part I really loved was that they did NOT buy the house assuming rates were going to come down. They bought a house they loved ❤️ and could afford at the rate available to them, and if rates come down enough to refinance later, fantastic… that becomes a bonus, not something the entire decision was based on!
I share this because I have this conversation ALL the time with people who feel almost trapped by their low mortgage rate, and believe me, I understand why. A 2.875% mortgage is an incredible asset and I would never tell someone to give that up just for the sake of moving but a mortgage rate is only one part of your financial life.
Sometimes your family grows, sometimes it gets smaller, sometimes you need more space or less space, maybe you want to be closer to your kids or grandkids, maybe the commute doesn’t work anymore or maybe, like this family, you are simply trying to make a house work that your life has already outgrown.
That is where I come in. I can sit down with you and run the REAL numbers… not just quote you an interest rate and a payment. We can look at whether a seller credit makes sense, whether a buydown makes sense, how much you should put down, what keeping more money invested might look like, and because I am able to shop your loan out as well as lend in house, I can look at it from more than one angle and figure out what actually makes sense for YOU. Often times after doing all of that, my advice may very well be… stay exactly where you are! 😊
So if you have been sitting on the fence because you have one of those beautiful 2%, 3% or 4% rates and think you would be crazy to ever give it up, call me and let’s just talk it through. No pressure, no sales pitch… just a real conversation about the numbers and whether moving would actually make your life better.
And yes… these are my words, not AI. 😂 This is me talking to you exactly the way I would if you were sitting across my kitchen table with me!