Rates Steady After Iran Resolution News
Rich Sircone — now broadcasting as the rebranded Highlands Mortgage — opens on a week that started rough, with the 10-year Treasury parked in the mid-440s, but recovered after credible news of a resolution to the Iran conflict pushed yields down into the low 430s. Mortgage rates eased in response: the average 30-year fixed is now sitting around 6.25–6.38%, with first-time homebuyers in a perfect scenario still able to land in the high 5s on FHA, while those without ideal credit or down payment can find themselves deeper into the 6s. His takeaway is steady-as-she-goes: rates are holding despite the geopolitical noise, and spring is here — it’s time to buy.
Buyers Have the Bully Pulpit
Jaime breaks down what he’s seeing on the buyer side: if you’ve got money saved and you’re shopping, the spring market is a real opportunity because remedy requests are firmly back in vogue — you can negotiate the price up front rather than wading into the COVID-era frenzy of two dozen offers. Multiple offers haven’t disappeared (multifamily is still drawing them, and so are select single families), but for most listings a buyer’s agent can press for credits and repairs that would have been laughed off a few years ago. He’s watching the same dynamic mirror on the listing side, with sellers more willing to fix issues to close — a small but welcome reset that puts genuine leverage back in buyers’ hands as the spring market warms up.
The 50-Gallon Drum Defense
Dave gets into the personal economy of gas: he’s paying $3.25 a gallon at Kroger with Plus-card credits — a dollar under what the rest of the team is hitting — and his backyard 50-gallon drums are already topped up with pre-Iran-conflict fuel for the lawnmowers and equipment. The crew unpacks top-tier gasoline (Shell, Marathon, and yes — Costco have it; Sheetz reportedly does not), then pivots to Sheetz’s redeeming feature: ethanol-free fuel on the outside red-handle pumps, the secret to keeping power washers and snowblowers from carburetor death. There’s a long aside on Speedway points and 300,000-point roller hot dogs, Bethel 600 bar crawls, and the trick of starting a pull-start engine with an electric drill and a three-quarter-inch socket — funny on its face and quietly reinforcing the “we actually know this stuff” brand.
4,607 Listings, 28 Median Days
Jaysen pulls up the live Columbus metro numbers: 4,607 active listings today (lower than the 6,000 he was expecting) and average days on market down to 82 from 104 in March. The median days on market is just 28 — a steep drop from 77 back in February’s snowstorm. Price decreases ticked up slightly in the last two weeks (gas prices, Iran headlines, interest-rate fatigue all probably contributing), but the market is still strong for sellers. His honest read: this is no longer the COVID-era “stick a sign in the yard, get 28 offers, look like a genius” market — it takes real skill to navigate remedies, manage appraisal gaps, and close cleanly. That’s exactly where the Sell for 1 Percent team’s combined 50 years of experience earns its keep, especially with rainy Sunday Mother’s Day looking like a perfect day to skip planting flowers and tour homes instead.
