Homeowners say they’ve waited years for mortgage relief
By Erika Gonzalez
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MIAMI (WFOR) — They bought homes with big dreams, and even bigger mortgage payments, hoping to refinance once rates dropped. But with interest rates still hovering near 6%, real relief hasn’t arrived.
When Eddie Capote and Beatriz Lora bought their first home together in Miami in 2023, interest rates were climbing, but so was their dream of finding a place to start a family.
“It was a full rehab project for the both of us, but now I think we’ve little by little we’ve started to make it more beautiful as the months go by,” Lora said.
But fixing up their new home was just part of the challenge. What’s been harder to rebuild is their budget.
“We’ve been waiting for rates to come down for two years,” Capote said. “Obviously, we were expecting that when we purchased they would come down sooner.”
Melinda Payne with The Truth About Lending said she’s hearing that same frustration from many of her clients stuck in refinancing limbo.
“There’s a tremendous amount of demand that is going on right now, even with the slight decreases we’ve seen over the last several months in interest rates,” Payne said.
Payne said for some homeowners who bought when rates peaked around October 2023, refinancing could finally make sense.
“We see that there are clients out there that have interest rates in the high sevens, maybe even in the low eights,” she said. “So right now, with interest rates being in the high fives to the low sixes, it’s a significant savings for them.”
Even as rates inch lower, experts say homeowners need to crunch the numbers before they refinance, factoring in the new rate, closing costs and how long they plan to stay in their home.
Payne said it’s not a one-size-fits-all decision.
“A perfect example is we have a client who owns a house right now that’s at a much higher interest rate, but he’s moving, he’s selling,” she said. “So even though he may have a 7.8% interest rate, the closing costs that he would pay just don’t make sense for him to refinance right now.”
For now, Payne said the best strategy isn’t rushing to refinance, it’s getting ready for when the right moment comes by paying down other debt, keeping your credit score high and building equity.
“What’s that magic number if it were to drop, what do we need to have? What papers do we need to have in place to to be able to refi?” Lora said.
Mortgage rates are determined by several factors, including the 10-year treasury bond yield, federal reserve policy, investment activity and other economic conditions. But this fall, many experts say the jobs market and inflation will be the top influencers on where mortgage rates head next.
As for Capote and Lora, they’re just waiting for rates to hit their goal and they hope it happens soon.
“Like a 5, 5.25%, we’re, gonna pull the trigger. I mean that’d be like $1,000 a month in savings,” Capote said. “Who wouldn’t want to do that?”
One piece of advice Payne gives her clients who are still house hunting: make sure you’re comfortable with the payment at today’s rate, not the rate you hope to get later. Because while refinancing may save you money down the line, it shouldn’t be the only plan keeping that dream home within reach.
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