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American Morning
Minding Your Business: Is it Too Late to Refinance?
Aired August 26, 2003 - 07:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Mortgage rates keep rising. So, does it mean that the party is over as far as the housing boom is concerned?
Andy Serwer is off today, but Gerri Willis is here "Minding Your Business."
Hey, Gerri. Good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: Good morning. Good to see you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And good to see you wearing the same outfit I'm wearing today.
WILLIS: We're Bobbsey (ph) twins.
O'BRIEN: Exactly. I like that. You have excellent taste.
WILLIS: Of course.
O'BRIEN: Housing market, the mortgage rates, a huge, huge increase.
WILLIS: That's right. You know, a big increase. Look at those 30-year rates today at 6.35 percent, at the low, low 5.28 percent. People are worried. Is it over? Can I not get a good rate? And they don't keep in mind that guess what? If you look at the long-term average, about 8.4 percent, this is still historically low. So, you really need to jump in there.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk a little bit about tips for dealing with mortgage rates right now. How would you advise people to jump in and still take advantage?
WILLIS: Job No. 1, fix that credit rating. If you have a poor credit rating, 750 or lower, you're going to pay more for your mortgage loan. So, go fix that. Check it out. Check any errors. You can contact them directly on the Web. It's Equifax, Experian, TransUnion.
And No. 2, shop around. You know, you can find great interest rates on the Web. And if you don't want to get your loan from an online vendor, you can always take that to your bricks and mortar banker and tell them that you can get this loan, and they'll probably match it. Shop around, and get pre-approved, not just pre-qualified. A lot of people go get pre-qualified, but if you actually get pre-approved, give them your data, give them your numbers.
O'BRIEN: It gives you a lot more leverage.
WILLIS: It sure does.
O'BRIEN: Gerri Willis, thanks for filling in for Andy. Nice to see you, as always. We'll check back in with you a little bit later in the show.
WILLIS: Nice to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired August 26, 2003 - 07:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Mortgage rates keep rising. So, does it mean that the party is over as far as the housing boom is concerned?
Andy Serwer is off today, but Gerri Willis is here "Minding Your Business."
Hey, Gerri. Good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: Good morning. Good to see you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And good to see you wearing the same outfit I'm wearing today.
WILLIS: We're Bobbsey (ph) twins.
O'BRIEN: Exactly. I like that. You have excellent taste.
WILLIS: Of course.
O'BRIEN: Housing market, the mortgage rates, a huge, huge increase.
WILLIS: That's right. You know, a big increase. Look at those 30-year rates today at 6.35 percent, at the low, low 5.28 percent. People are worried. Is it over? Can I not get a good rate? And they don't keep in mind that guess what? If you look at the long-term average, about 8.4 percent, this is still historically low. So, you really need to jump in there.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk a little bit about tips for dealing with mortgage rates right now. How would you advise people to jump in and still take advantage?
WILLIS: Job No. 1, fix that credit rating. If you have a poor credit rating, 750 or lower, you're going to pay more for your mortgage loan. So, go fix that. Check it out. Check any errors. You can contact them directly on the Web. It's Equifax, Experian, TransUnion.
And No. 2, shop around. You know, you can find great interest rates on the Web. And if you don't want to get your loan from an online vendor, you can always take that to your bricks and mortar banker and tell them that you can get this loan, and they'll probably match it. Shop around, and get pre-approved, not just pre-qualified. A lot of people go get pre-qualified, but if you actually get pre-approved, give them your data, give them your numbers.
O'BRIEN: It gives you a lot more leverage.
WILLIS: It sure does.
O'BRIEN: Gerri Willis, thanks for filling in for Andy. Nice to see you, as always. We'll check back in with you a little bit later in the show.
WILLIS: Nice to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
