Yes, you can get a mortgage in one state to buy a property in another state.

Due to the extended lockdowns, I’m more motivated than ever to relocate from San Francisco to Honolulu. I have been looking seriously at Honolulu property since 2015 and I’m finally seeing some great deals in the area.

My logic for moving is this: If I’m going to shelter-in-place for months on end in the future, why not shelter-in-place in a nice property that has plenty of land, lots of indoor space, a pool, a hot tub, a garden, good weather, and is close to the beach?

When you have kids, you crave for as much space as possible to enable them to run around and have fun. Hearing their screams of delight is so wonderful.

Given we have enough passive retirement income to sustain our lifestyle, there’s really no need to remain in expensive San Francisco.

The beauty of an economic downturn is cheap credit. After a shaky 2018 and a bullish 2019, 2020 has turned out to be a complete mess. As a result, every homeowner should be refinancing their mortgage right now as rates fall to all-time lows.

Check the latest mortgage rates online through a marketplace like Credible. They have one of the largest lending networks around. There’s no obligation and you’ll get real quotes from qualified lenders in minutes.

Refinancing can be a daunting process, but it shouldn’t be with the right representative and proper frame of mind.

I refinanced my primary residence in 4Q2019 with a 7/1 ARM at 2.625% with no costs. In 2020, I got preapproved for a 7/1 ARM at only 2.125% because interest rates declined even further! I do have relationship pricing because I’ve got over $1 million in assets with the lender. But even if I didn’t, I could get a 7/1 ARM for only 2.5% in 2020.

As someone who has refinanced over 10 mortgage loans since 2005, let me share with you my mortgage refinancing tips to help you get the best rate possible.

In early 2005, at the age of 28, I took out a $1,220,000 mortgage to buy a $1,523,000 house in San Francisco. After having bought a modest condo a couple of years earlier, I wanted to go all-in. In retrospect, this was a crazy amount of debt to take on at that age.

When the downturn really started getting nasty in 2008, I was sweating bullets. By 2009, my firm had already gone through seven rounds of layoffs. I knew numerous people from other firms who had gotten laid off.

Thankfully, I didn’t get laid off. After failing to sell the house for $1,700,000 in 2012, I tried again in 2017. It sold it for $2,745,000 to the one and only interested party. Not only did it feel amazing to walk away with a profit, it also felt great to get rid of $815,000 in mortgage debt.

When I decided to buy my current much cheaper house, I thought about taking advantage of low mortgage rates. However, I kept remembering the wonderful feeling I had when I got rid of the rental property mortgage in 2017.

Besides, I wanted to sell some stocks after a 10-year bull market and use a true all-cash offer to get a better deal. It ultimately worked through a couple real estate love letters and one breakup letter.

Ever wonder why mortgage interest rates sometimes don’t decrease when the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates and vice versa? The simple answer is that the Fed does not control mortgage interest rates.

Instead, the Federal Reserve controls the Fed Funds Rate (FFR), which is an overnight interbank lending rate. An overnight rate is the shortest lending term, which means shorter duration lending rates such as credit card interest rates and short-term car loan interest rates will be affected.

However, mortgage rates have longer duration lending terms. Therefore, longer duration U.S. Treasury bond yields have a far greater influence on mortgage interest rates than the FFR.