"Without stress, I'd get no exercise at all!" RATE LOCKS

I wish I could claim credit for the stress/exercise line, but I can't. Nonetheless, rate locks seem to be responsible for most of the stress my purchasing clients experience and, consequently, pass along to me and my staff.
Each and every time I sit with clients to sign contracts, I give them a letter designed to address issues they will face during the purchasing process. The letter includes a paragraph on "rate locks", a mortgage device which has me convinced that the banking industry is in cahoots with the drug and alcohol industries, because rate locks make us all crazy.

My letter to my clients says: "Rate Lock: You will be given the opportunity by your lender to lock your rate. Since these rate locks expire, it is imperative that you not lock your rate unless and until you are certain that you will close during the lock period".

Not only do I give this letter to my clients, I read it to them as well and emphasize the importance of NOT locking the rate too soon. Yet it seems as though the buyers run (not walk) to their lender afterwards to lock the rate! It amazes me that most buyers do understand that the typical time from contract to closing is 60-90 days, yet they still hurry to lock prematurely.

Now, that the rate has been locked too soon, we have to struggle to try to close before the rate lock expires; not an easy thing to do, especially in coop purchases where coop approval is necessary. There are so many unpredictable factors to deal with which impact on the timing of a closing, not the least of which is the seller's "agenda". Is the seller having a house built, moving to Florida or Arizona, going into a rental etc? The dynamics of a real estate deal, give a typical buyer very little "leverage" to compel a seller to close in a timely manner without the threat of litigation (not a pleasant thought).

While it's true that many lenders "offer" a rate lock extension, these extensions do not come inexpensively.

OK....so let me say it again "Don't lock the rate!" At least don't lock it knowing it will expire before we close. Or....be prepared to quietly and without objection pay the fees.

Dance Theatre Etcetera

More Client News!!!
Martha Bowers deserves to be proud of her Dance Theatre Etcetera.
Don't Forget To Reserve Your Tickets To Red Hook High
A Dance Theatre Etcetera Sneak Preview Screening and Benefit
Wednesday, July 16th
7pm-9pm
Tickets$20 advanced$25 at door
To purchase your ticketClick here
or
For reservations or more infocontact jon@dtetc.org
(718) 643-6790 ext. 113
Dance Theatre Etcetera
480 Van Brunt Street Suite 203
Brooklyn, New York 11231
(Just past the entrance to Fairway)
Tickets Are Going Fast Make your reservation now to take advantage of our special in-advance pricing.
Come for the company and the cocktails and enjoy the first ever screening of this Red Hook-based TV pilot featuring student actors from DTE arts education programs and partner programs at Bailey's Cafe/Paul Robeson High School and Hook Productions/NYC Parks & Recreation.

For more information visit http://www.dtetc.org/rhh.html

Client News: Sam Nigro...Sculptor

While everyone has heard about the "Waterfall" under the Brooklyn Bridge, much more is happening in the greatest borough:
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Guggenheim Fellow completes
The Strategic Placement of Stone
To embody the haiku,
Space ... its own place, a practiced or tactical place – their interaction
2007 Guggenheim Fellow, Samuel Nigro, completes the sculpture, The Strategic Placement of Stone. The work is a
9-ton block of granite that has been split in two and placed back together in a dynamic, sight-specific sculpture. It will
stand at the north end of Cadman Plaza Park near the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, in June 2008, and will
remain as a part of the neighborhood’s built environment until May 2009. Samuel Nigro's motivation for this piece is
to give back to the quickly changing, artistic neighborhood of DUMBO, which has been his home base since 1996.
Three years since its inception, The Strategic Placement of Stone represents the largest and most public view of Mr.
Nigro’s stonework to date. This project is fiscally sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts, selected by the
NYC Parks & Recreation Temporary Public Arts Program and partially funded by the Milton and Sally Avery Arts
Foundation. The stone came from The Rock of Ages Quarry, Barre, VT.
Samuel Nigro arrived on the New York Art scene in 1994 and was known for his endurance-based performances and
installations that combined objects, architectural structures, videos and performance – always including stone and its
breaking. He eventually separated the video and performance from the stonework as different forms of the same idea
and has been using multi-ton blocks of granite and creating videos separately since 2004. Mr. Nigro states:
“My art is singular. The activities to create it are manifold: sculpture, video, performance, drawing,
and writing. The work has always been about the break. I take stone, break it, manipulate and
study the pieces, put it all back together, and then strategically place it in a public or private setting;
or, as with my earlier work, within a video and performance context; and, now more frequently, in
my writing. The stone can be physical or symbolic; the break, real or metaphoric.”
There will be an opening for the artist on site (the intersection of Cadman Plaza East and Red Cross Place) from 6:30
to 8:00 pm, July 3rd, rain or shine, with a reception to follow at 68 Jay Street Bar (corner of Jay and Water Streets).
Mr. Nigro would like to thank those local Brooklyn groups and businesses whose donations and time helped make
The Strategic Placement of Stone possible: Community Board #2; Copyrite – 45 Washington Street; Front Street
Pizza – 80 Front Street; Heights Prime Meats, Inc. – 59 Clark Street; Peas and Pickles – 45-55 Washington Street;
Rebar – 142 Front Street; Remsen Graphics – 165 Remsen Street; 68 Jay Street Bar – 68 Jay Street; Superfine –
126 Front Street; and Two Trees Management – 45 Main Street.
Samuel Nigro,