By Mortgage Wizard

Shopping for a mortgage rate is like buying a new pet. It is something you will have for years so you want to make sure you are happy with it.

In a volatile mortgage market like the one we are in right now it is hard to be an average citizen/homeowner and be able to gauge what the market is doing and when a good time would be to get into a new loan.

The first thing you need to understand is that what is causing the rates to go up and down right now with the major banks may have nothing to do with the stock market or treasury yields or any of the other typical indicators that we can look at to try and follow the trends of mortgage rates.

More than 300 mortgage banks have gone out of business during this real estate and economic crisis in the last two years. The one common thread for the ones that are still around is that they have been forced to reduce their staff to skeleton versions of what they once were to try and weather the storm.

Right now mortgage rates are at an all time low. This is causing a huge increase in new mortgage applications. The banks are still running with the reduced support staff and are unable to handle the work load. With virtually no other choice many of them are being forced to increase their rates to slow down or temporarily stop new applications.

So all the indicators that we study as consumers to determine when to lock into a new mortgage rate may not apply. The market is moving up and down because of the lack of work force of the individual banks, not the change in price on the mortgage notes.

Do not try and monitor these swings on your own. Work with a mortgage company that watches these swings in real time. If you provide them with the documentation they need to qualify you for a loan they can watch for the sudden dips in the market and secure a low mortgage for you.

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