Should You Wait for Mortgage Rates to Drop Before Buying in Frisco and Collin County?

Should you wait for mortgage rates to drop before you buy in Frisco or anywhere in Collin County? Not if the payment already works for you, because nobody can tell you where rates will go. The better question is whether today's payment fits your budget, and what your plan is if rates move either way.

If you find the right home and the payment fits, waiting may cost you the home. If the payment does not fit, waiting can make sense. I'm Omega Mejia, a real estate agent with Simply Great Real Estate Group at OnDemand Realty, and I walk every buyer through that choice with real numbers from a lender, not a prediction. The short answer also lives on my FAQ page.

Today's rates are on my mortgage rates page, where my preferred lender, Clarity Home Lending, keeps a live rate sheet. Rates change often, so a number printed in an article goes stale fast.

These are market rates, not a quote or an offer to lend.

Those are market rates, not a quote or an offer to lend. The rate you are offered depends on your loan type, your credit, the loan amount and the day you lock. Your own number shows up on the Loan Estimate a lender gives you.

Rates move for many reasons, and they can go up, down or sideways between the day you start looking and the day you close. A rate sheet can change from one week to the next.

Waiting for a drop is a bet on something no one controls. If you buy and rates fall later, many buyers look at refinancing at that point. Whether it makes sense depends on your loan, your costs and your plans.

Waiting costs you the home, the market's movement and another month of your current housing payment. Those costs are easy to miss because they do not show up on a rate sheet.

• The home itself. The home that fits you may not be there next season.
• Prices and options can move too. Home prices can rise or fall, and they differ by city, price range and condition. I look at the closest recent sales for your target street, not a county average.
• Your current housing cost. Every month you keep renting or keep your current place is a month of that payment.

None of this means you should buy now. It means waiting should be a decision you make on purpose, with numbers on both sides.

If you rent today, the real comparison is your rent against the payment at today's rate, not today's rate against a rate you hope for. Every month you wait is another month of rent.

So I start your search with three numbers from a lender: your payment at today's rate, your payment at a higher rate and your payment at a lower one. If today's payment works and you plan to stay a while, buying can make sense now. If it only works when rates drop, we slow down and rebuild the plan together. My getting pre-approved guide walks through the first step.

Decide on the payment, not the headline rate. Here is what I have the lender run for you before we decide:

• Your monthly payment at today's rate, and at a higher and a lower one.
• How long you can lock, what a lock costs and what happens if closing moves.
• What refinancing would involve if rates fall later.

Comparing more than one lender costs you nothing but a little time. A preapproval letter does not commit you to a lender, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and comparing Loan Estimates side by side is the clearest way to see the rate and costs on offer to you.

A rate lock keeps your interest rate from changing between your loan offer and closing, as long as you close within the lock period and your application does not change. Without a lock, your rate can change at any time. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, locks are typically available for 30, 45 or 60 days, sometimes longer, and policies vary by lender.

A lock has trade-offs. It can keep you from getting a lower rate if rates fall after your offer, and extending a lock may be expensive. If you are building a new home, the timeline is longer, so lock options come up early in the conversation. My page on buying new construction covers how I handle that.

Collin County is many small markets. Frisco, McKinney, Plano, Allen, Prosper and Celina each have different price ranges, different ages of homes and different supply. The city pages for Frisco, McKinney and Plano are a good place to start.

Inventory and days on market change often, so I pull fresh recent sales from the local MLS near the exact address you like, for each client.

My job is to make the timing decision clear, not to push you to buy. Here is how I work with a buyer who is unsure about timing, using the CLEAR Real Estate Method:

1. We clarify your goal, including how long you plan to stay.
2. A lender runs your payment at today's rate and at a range of rates.
3. We look at recent sales for the homes you would buy.
4. We build a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C, such as buy now, keep searching with a set trigger, or pause until a specific change in your life or budget.

I bought my first rental property in 2005 and have been licensed since 2022. I bring 30+ years of fitness instruction, coaching, sales and education to every client, which is why I explain the why behind every number. Start at how buying works, or send me a note on the contact page.

This is general information about the home buying process, not legal, tax, financial or insurance advice.