With the amount of people who seemed to think rates were going to drop out of the sky on Jan 13th, due to "the roll", I thought it would be a good idea for us to share how we use the information that we get here.

I check the blog several times a day to read everything written there.  This gives me a good overview of where the crew thinks rates are headed and why.  I may miss some of the subtleties if I am busy, but I get the big picture relatively quickly.

I use MBS Live to help me make my daily lock decisions.  I don't want to lock if it looks as though we may see reprices for the better and I definately want to lock before we see reprices for the worse.  I get at least a 20 minute window before the most aggressive lenders reprice, just by clicking over and seeing the graphs provided.

Unless there is some information that rates should change significantly in 2-3 weeks or that rates would increase significantly in 2-3 days, I tend to recommend floating to a refi customer until I have all of their documents and their appraisal.  Since many of my lenders are putting floating files on the backburner and not underwriting them for weeks due to high volume, I am recommending locking to speed up the process.  During the few days it takes to get everything ready to submit, I will follow the pricing and lock when it is most advantageous.  This gives me a competative advantage as most of my files are closing within 2-3 weeks, even while other lenders wouldn't even be able to get me a conditional approval in that time frame.  I am lucky to have competatively priced lenders with great turn times.  If the customer is on the bubble for DTI or benefit, I use all of the information to manage the risk and time our rate lock to best benefit the customer.  Finally, there are some customers that need/want a specific rate to accomplish their goals.  The tools and information allow me to get the application as we near the desired rate and lock when we hit that point.

For purchases it is pretty much the same process, but these files get underwriting priority, so I tend to recommend floating longer if the market warrants it.  My customers are well protected due to the information that I have access to.

Hopefully by sharing our strategies, people new to the site can learn how others use the information and we won't get as many who think that they should read a snipit and make a lock/float decision based solely on that information.

Thanks for the good info Big Mik.  We have a mega-post on the exact same topic coming shortly.  The

Grand Unified Theory of Floating or Locking Origination Pipelines, aka GUT-FLOP

Kent should do my marketing.  To all consumers reading this, I do the same as Kent.

I think the biggest problem many LOs have is quoting a rate that is not available and floating in the hopes that the market will hit that rate.  If you educate your customers, you will have the advantage over your competition because of the insight you gain from following the blog and using MBS Live.  I guess unless you are competing against someone else on this site.. then it comes down to points and post count.. lol