Mortgage rates were largely unchanged today. The most aggressive conventional and FHA 30 year fixed mortgage rates remain in the 4.375% to 4.625% range. The "best execution" 30 year fixed rate mortgage is 4.375% plus one point for a very well-qualified borrower. If your loan pricing is subject to minimal "risk based" loan level pricing adjustments, a few lenders are offering 4.25% for less than two points at closing.

The official Employment Situation report is slated to be released this Friday at 8:30am eastern. This event holds the most potential to move mortgage rates in the day's ahead.  At the moment, conditions in the secondary market are not supportive of mortgage rates moving any lower. This implies anyone  floating their loan on a short timeline, as in less than 20 days to closing, should strongly consider locking in as their is much more to lose than to gain.  Anyone closing on a 30 day timeline is less sensitive to this data but should still consider the idea of locking as loan pricing is generally as aggressive as it's ever been in my lifetime. 45-day floaters are O.K. to continue fencesitting. Just make sure you pay attention for lock alerts. READ MORE ABOUT JOBS DATA

CAN MORTGAGE RATES GO ANY LOWER: READ MORE

Best Lock/Float Advice MND Can Offer Consumers: READ MORE

The "best executed" lock/float strategy comes down to  finding an originator who knows the loan market, studies underwriting guidelines, and just plain old gets the J.O.B done. You have to let the loan officer earn their commission. That's how you "ride the float boat" in this environment...make sure you have a damn good skipper. Plain and Simple.