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Shopping for mortgage interest rates now? Look for these 3 things
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If you’re a homebuyer who has been patiently waiting for mortgage interest rates to fall — or a homeowner saddled with a high rate looking to refinance — the wait for relief may soon be over. The Federal Reserve is set to issue its first interest rate cut since 2020 this week and while that may not match up with a direct cut to mortgage rates, it will help move them in a downward direction. Combined with additional cuts to the federal funds rate likely for November, December and possibly even into 2025, both buyers and owners are now positioned to secure significant financial relief.
One of the best ways to find a lower mortgage interest rate is to shop around to compare rates and lenders. It’s easy to do so with rates listed both on lender websites and multiple offers listed in one location via online marketplaces. But when you’re shopping for mortgage interest rates it’s critical to know exactly what you’re looking at to accurately complete a lender comparison. So what should you be keeping an eye out for, specifically? Below, we’ll detail three things to look for when shopping for mortgage interest rates in today’s climate.
See what mortgage rate you’d be eligible for here now.
What to look for when shopping for mortgage interest rates
While the mortgage interest rates you see listed online now and later this week may appear low, there are some things you should check to help verify what’s listed. Specifically, look for:
Mortgage points
Mortgage points serve as a fee the borrower pays to the lender to secure a below-average interest rate. These can be pricey (often 1% of the total mortgage loan) but can still be advantageous in the right scenario. That said, some lenders may have already preemptively included mortgage points in the rate they list on their website, thus making their offers appear lower than they are. You’ll need to agree to pay these points to get that offer. So be sure to look for any fine print or disclosures listed when shopping around to determine if this is the case. If so, the rate without the points included could be significantly higher than what you see.
You can shop for rates and lenders in one spot online today.
Lender profile
Another factor to consider when shopping for mortgage interest rates is the presumed lender profile the bank has for those doing their research. In other words, the rate you see listed may be for those with the most attractive lender profile possible. If you don’t have a clean credit profile and a score in the 800 range, then, what you see being offered may not be what you can get. So don’t be surprised if the rate you’re ultimately offered is significantly higher than what you saw listed online. And don’t hesitate to start working on your credit now so that you can better position yourself to secure more attractive rates and terms
The time the rate was posted
Mortgage interest rates change daily, except for weekends and holidays, so it’s critical to monitor them often. When you do, however, try to see if you can determine the exact time the rate was posted. For example, if you check mortgage interest rates on Thursday before an interest rate decision is formally announced, you may not be seeing a rate reflective of that adjustment. In this case, waiting to see how that cut has reverberated through the market could be worthwhile (in which case rate offers on Friday may be timelier – and lower).
The bottom line
Mortgage rate shopping is a critical component of the homebuying process but it’s equally important to complete a thorough and accurate search. This means understanding that the rates you see listed may not be what you’re ultimately offered as the public-facing rates often account for mortgage points and a specific lender profile. They’re also reflective of a specific time and date. This may not apply to all lenders, especially in today’s dynamic rate climate. But it’s something to look for to improve your chances of securing the most cost-effective rate and term available, particularly now with rate cuts looming.
Have more mortgage rate questions? Learn more here.
Four large asteroids will make their closest approaches to Earth on Thursday, each passing by the planet within a 24-hour time frame.
Two had already zipped past early in the morning, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But the remaining celestial objects on track to follow suit were set to make their appearances — albeit not literally, at least from the viewpoints of skywatchers on the ground — later on in the day. Although Thursday’s routes do mark the closest recorded Earth approaches to date for these asteroids, their paths are still quite far away, too distant for any human to spot one of them zooming through space overhead.
NASA scientists flag locations along these objects paths as close approaches when they are slated to arrive at points within 4.6 million miles from the Earth’s surface, which equates to roughly 19.5 times the distance between the moon and the planet, reads a description on the agency’s asteroid watch dashboard. The average distance from the surface of the planet to its satellite is 239,000 miles although the exact length varies at different points in the moon’s orbit.
When an asteroid is larger than about 150 meters, or about 490 feet, across and skims past Earth within this area deemed close range, scientists consider it a “potentially hazardous object.” That’s about the size of a building, and one of the asteroids passing Earth Thursday exceeds that size threshold. The asteroid, named 2002 NV16 after the year it was discovered, measures about 177 meters or 580 feet across — around the same height as a 50-story skyscraper.
The skyscraper-sized rock will travel by the planet from a point 2.8 million miles away, NASA said. A diagram shows its orbit around Earth, the sun and several other planets nearer the sun in the Solar System.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA tracks close approaches and calculates the odds of those space rocks — including asteroids, meteors and meteorites — impacting Earth.
“The majority of near-Earth objects have orbits that don’t bring them very close to Earth, and therefore pose no risk of impact, but a small fraction of them – called potentially hazardous asteroids – require more attention,” according to the website of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the center dedicated to studying near-Earth objects for NASA.
All three of the other large asteroids that have passed or will pass Earth on Thursday are considerably smaller than 2002 NV16. Their sizes range from 23 to 52 meters, or 76 to 176 feet, which NASA classifies as generally similar to the size of an airplane. The most miniature among them makes its closest approach to Earth relative to the rest, at about 1.5 million miles from the surface.
A fifth asteroid will also move past Earth on Thursday, but it’s much smaller. At just 16 feet across, that one is about the size of a typical SUV. Its closest approach will happen 184,000 miles from the planet.
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