|
July 2, 1993
Mortgage rates hit another new low today, again by a thin margin, and show every sign of going lower.
Economic data were horrible. June Non-Farm Payrolls gained only 13,000 jobs. The Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 48.3 from 51.1, Leading Indicators slid .3%, Factory Orders dropped 1.4%, New Home Sales fell a spectacular 21%, and Consumer Confidence hit an eight month low.
Glorious holidays!
Fourth of July weekend. Memorial Day, Labor day. These summertime ones break up the heat, and announce the beginning and end of news-deprived Silly Season.
They also bring terror to the heart of the mortgage practitioner who likes to sell reliability to Realtors and civilian consumers, alike.
All long weekends are just as frightening, Christmas included (and often swiped by the Bureaucrat Grinch).
Most dangerous of all are long weekends at the end of any month. This year, the last day in May and the last Friday of the month fell on the day before Memorial Day weekend. Ah, there were memorable disasters that day.
The end of the month problem is an old one, traceable to non-proration of government loan payoffs, rents paid in advance through the end of months, expiring leases, low interim interest costs for buyers in cash trouble, people who are too tidy about calendars, and salespeople who want to jam as many closings into a given month as possible.
The Friday problem is permanent: your average home buyer would like to move on a weekend.
Holidays add the real spice to mortgage work.
For example, if you have a deal closing July 7, you have the whole first week of July to finish preparations.
Not hardly: you really have one day, the first. Today, the second, you can hear people all over the country tuning out, saying to themselves "I think I'll take care of this on Tuesday."
But Tuesday is no better. Everybody's back, but they are angry about it. They would rather be wherever they were.
The Friday-before-long-weekend nightmare goes like this. I've got to have an answer from Gertrude-the-underwriter today. Early morning call, polite: "She's busy right now, but promises to get your file done." Noon call: "I think she's working on it now."
2:00 PM: "She's got all your messages. We'll be sure to call." 3:00 PM: "She'll be back at her desk in a minute."
3:30 PM: "You have reached the automated message system of Megamortgage. In honor of our nation's independence, we have closed early todayŠ."
Push "pound sign" if you would like to shoot yourself.
|
