Mortgage rates!? Get your CSC discount!

[Clovis]

Hi CSC,

Many of you already know me professionally or have worked with me in the past but I wanted to put this out there.


AS OF TODAY - 1/14/15 - Current mortgage rates are the best they have been in the last 2 years.

I'm one of 2 Colorado loan officers for Great Western Bank. My counterpart in Fort Collins and I handle the mortgage needs for our 20 Colorado bank branches.

I can tell you, we firmly have among the best if not THE best pricing in the country to begin with.

On top of that I can offer CSC members additional discounts.

If you have a mortgage over $200,000 (typical) I can save you thousands both in the refinance itself but also in having dramatically lower closing costs versus any other bank, broker, credit union, ect.

Great Western Bank does not charge a 1% origination fee.

Today, well qualified borrowers can have 3.5% with no points and a no-closing cost refinance is available at 3.625 to 3.875%. No-cost means the bank picks up the fees, they are NOT rolled into your loan.

Do you have a FHA, VA or USDA loan? 3.25 with 3.375% being the no-closing costs version for most people.

Folks, this is a killer deal and there's no telling how long it will be around for. Rates began coming down in October and held steady for November and most of December but the past 3 weeks have seen a non-stop rally in the bond market which is pushing rates to their late 2012 early 2013 levels. Something I never thought we would see again after rates spiked up to nearly 5% in summer 2013.

These kinds of improvements don't typically last. Rates/pricing changes daily.

I encourage you to check around. To put this in perspective, Ent Federal Credit Union is the largest originator of mortgages in Colorado Springs and by default my greatest competitor. Ent is a great credit union (I have accounts with them as well) and they tend to be very agressive in loan rates.

Ent's mortgage rates are competative with most of the compeition but we're over a half percent lower and I can get your loan completed in 2-3 weeks versus 60 days.

Today, Ent would be 3.875% with 1 point or 4.125% with no points for the exact same loan where I can give you 3.5% no points and at 3.75 to 3.875% I can do the loan for free in most cases.

Disclaimer stuff:

These rates represent an ideal mortgage pricing scenario and are only intended to provide a baseline discussion. Every borrower's situation is unique. For this reason no APR has been calculated.

Rates above assume: 740 or higher middle credit score, purchase or rate/term refinace of a primary or secondary home, a loan of $300,000 or greater and a loan to value at the maximum program allowed (95% loan to value for conventional).

About me: Finance professional. 9 years originating mortgages, over 700 closed mortgage loans.

About Great Western Bank: GWB a mid-size regional bank trading on the NYSE under the stock symbol GWB - Total assets approaching $10B. Great Western Bank has 20 branches along the Colorado front range. Interested? Questions? PM me on CSC or email/call me directly.

Contact info:
Justin Harward
Great Western Bank
Mortgage Loan Officer

121 S. Tejon Street Ste 110
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Direct: 719-325-7484
Cell: 719-201-9383
Fax: 719-466-4849 (Direct, no cover sheet required)

Justin.Harward@GreatWesternBank.com
NMLS# 909466

Apply online now! It’s easy, just click here and select my name from the Loan Officer menu.

[Vitesse304]

Just finished the online app...hope to hear from you soon...

[Ezzzzy1]

Justin is the SHIT! He is great at what he does

[WolFeYeZ]

I bought my first house through Clovis (Justin). He was great and made the process easy. He also got me a great rate at the time. Best dude to do business with!

[Ph03niX]

I'll look you up whenever I go about buying my first home!

[birchyboy]

We refinanced through Justin in July. Did a great job!

[Clovis]

Vitesse304; you've got mail! Thanks for hanging in there with me late!



Thank you everyone for the glowing recommendations!



Please do Pho3nix! I love purchase mortgages! Last year (2014) mortgages to buy a home accounted for 47% of my overall volume.



Right now, if your rate is 4.125% or higher and you have good to excellent credit, refinancing right now is a no brainier. If your rate is lower than 4.125, it's probably still worthwhile and definitely worthwhile to check with me.

It's been an interesting couple of months. The 30 year par was sailing right along 3.875% to 4% throughout late October, all of November and most of December. Things started to improve a bit towards late in the year but it's just kicked into over gear last week starting with Monday (Jan 5th)... aka the start of the first "full" and post holiday trading week. But it's really been just in the last few days where rates have really started to dip. 3.75 to 3.50% between

The bond market lost a little ground in the late afternoon trading today but still finished as the best levels in 20 months. Take advantage of it while you can!

If you weren't aware, mortgages are essentially bonds. Mortgage rates rise and fall based on the trading value of a Mortgage Backed Security or MBS. Fannie Mae in particular or "FNMA" 3.0 and 3.5 coupons.

From Mortgage News Daily regarding the current rate environment (if you're interested)

Mortgage rates back to 3.5% for some.

MBS RECAP: Bond Markets Close at Best Levels in 20 Months Despite Late

[Clovis]

Update 1/15/15.

Following a small pull back yesterday, rates this morning are at similar levels compared with yesterday.

3.5% is still the par rate for top tier borrowers (740+ fico score, 300K or higher loan amount) - but barely (it's exactly par).

What's 'par' you ask? Par is the rate interest rate without paying points to buy down or receving a lender credit.

But for most people, it's actually smarter to take an interest rate slightly higher and have the bank cover the closing costs.

Example: 3.5% is par but with 3.625% I can give a credit of .875% of the loan amount or $875 per $100,000 borrowed. This credit is used to cover closing costs.

3.75% gives back 1.625% or $1625 per $100,000 borrowed.

On a $300,000 loan this translates to a nearly $5000 credit.

Bank fees, title fees and the appraisal collectively cost about $2300-2400 which means the rest of the credit would go towards prepaid property taxes, insurance and odd-days of interest.

The prepaid taxes/insurance, which is paid at closing is used to create a NEW escrow account. As a result of your old mortgage being paid off YOU get the refund of your unused escrow balance.

So if we have a credit of $5000 and the actual closing costs are $2300-2400 and everything else is tax/insurance/interest you would pay anyways, you actually come out $3600-3700 ahead.

Your current escrow balance is usually listed on the mortgage statement. Check yours to see your balance.

Property taxes are due right around the corner. For most counties the first half is due 2/28 and the 2nd half of property taxes is due by 6/15. This means the escrow accounts are nearly full... they're about to pay out the taxes.

So if you refinance, let GWB pay the taxes/insurance and you can pocket your old escrow balance.

Plus, skip at least 1 payment but in many cases 2. (If you want to skip 2 payments, let me know and I'll structure it accordingly. Basically to skip 2 payments you have to either close at the very very end of the month OR close before the 9th (in the case of Februrary). For other months, this cut off date usually falls on the 10th.

[birchyboy]

We refinanced through Justin in July. Did a great job!

FYI - we refinanced $236k or so and went from a 5.5% loan to 3.875%. Our mortgage payment dropped just over $300/month. We banked the 2 payments we were able to skip as well. It well worth it.

[Half LLive]

I will keep this in mind, if everything goes to plan, I hope to buy my first house this year.

[salsashark]

If anyone's thinking about getting into the real estate market in Denver, I just had a first hand experience at what it's doing out there...

I listed my townhouse in Aurora last night and we're finalizing full asking contract now... crazy times.

[Aaron]

Since you won't answer my texts Clovis (Well, the text to be fair), my loan holder right now informed me I'm at the loan-value ratio where I can drop my PMI. They notified me, but want to charge $500 for them to use their appraiser to make sure my home's value hasn't dropped. Is this typical? Is there anyway I can get around it? There's no way my home's value has dropped, and even if so certainly not enough to be out of the L-V range they need since I've given it a few months.

First, I think 500 is a rip off. Obviously they're banking on this, especially since they probably use their own in house appraiser. Hell he probably does it from his house. Second, I'm afraid they'll appraise low, to charge me 500 and then be able to again in another year.

Your thoughts?

[Drano]

Since you won't answer my texts Clovis (Well, the text to be fair), my loan holder right now informed me I'm at the loan-value ratio where I can drop my PMI. They notified me, but want to charge $500 for them to use their appraiser to make sure my home's value hasn't dropped. Is this typical? Is there anyway I can get around it? There's no way my home's value has dropped, and even if so certainly not enough to be out of the L-V range they need since I've given it a few months.

First, I think 500 is a rip off. Obviously they're banking on this, especially since they probably use their own in house appraiser. Hell he probably does it from his house. Second, I'm afraid they'll appraise low, to charge me 500 and then be able to again in another year.

Your thoughts?

Maybe he blocked you...

[#1Townie]

Maybe he blocked you...

Blaaaaahahahahahaha.

[I`m Batman]

Since you won't answer my texts Clovis (Well, the text to be fair), my loan holder right now informed me I'm at the loan-value ratio where I can drop my PMI. They notified me, but want to charge $500 for them to use their appraiser to make sure my home's value hasn't dropped. Is this typical? Is there anyway I can get around it? There's no way my home's value has dropped, and even if so certainly not enough to be out of the L-V range they need since I've given it a few months.

First, I think 500 is a rip off. Obviously they're banking on this, especially since they probably use their own in house appraiser. Hell he probably does it from his house. Second, I'm afraid they'll appraise low, to charge me 500 and then be able to again in another year.

Your thoughts?

Yes, that is normal. Someone will come out to your house and do an actual appraisal.

[Clovis]

Sorry, I haven't been by my phone but I didn't see a text from you.

This is the normal process however; need to do an appraisal to confirm the loan to value. Might not be $500; appraisals are usually $400-450.

Since you won't answer my texts Clovis (Well, the text to be fair), my loan holder right now informed me I'm at the loan-value ratio where I can drop my PMI. They notified me, but want to charge $500 for them to use their appraiser to make sure my home's value hasn't dropped. Is this typical? Is there anyway I can get around it? There's no way my home's value has dropped, and even if so certainly not enough to be out of the L-V range they need since I've given it a few months.

First, I think 500 is a rip off. Obviously they're banking on this, especially since they probably use their own in house appraiser. Hell he probably does it from his house. Second, I'm afraid they'll appraise low, to charge me 500 and then be able to again in another year.

Your thoughts?

[Vitesse]

Just another public thank you to Justin. I asked about a possible refinance last month and less than 4 weeks later we closed at 3.875% saving us over $200/month, lowering PMI (almost able to drop it completely), banking 2 skipped payments, and refund of our escrow! Thanks for making the process quick and easy Justin!

[Clovis]

Thank you for the public recognition and thank you for your business Patrick!

Just another public thank you to Justin. I asked about a possible refinance last month and less than 4 weeks later we closed at 3.875% saving us over $200/month, lowering PMI (almost able to drop it completely), banking 2 skipped payments, and refund of our escrow! Thanks for making the process quick and easy Justin!

[#1Townie]

Blaaaaahahahahahaha.

Nope

[texlurch]

Another thanks to Justin.. also found some issues with the previous company that I had used. Stand up guy.

[Clovis]

Thanks Jim!