The Accunet Mortgage and Realty Show: Rate Hikes, Rock Solid Offers, and a Maternity Leave Curveball

Rates ticked up this week thanks to renewed tension in the Strait of Hormuz, so Brian Wickert and Tim Holdmann tackle the question every buyer eventually asks: lock now, or float and hope? Their answer comes down to one simple gut-check question that cuts through the anxiety.

From there, Brian shares a live, in-progress deal: a first-time buyer in her 50s, a giant down payment, and a scramble to out-position a big bank’s lackluster pre-approval with an appraisal waiver and a Rock Solid Guaranteed Pre-Approval — all before an open house the next morning.

Tim brings the drama with a maternity-leave-to-part-time employment switch that nearly torpedoed a closing, plus an update on the VA buyer navigating a marital settlement agreement deadline to get his offer in before the weekend.

Along the way: why “the same big bank downtown” isn’t always the flex your accountant buddy thinks it is, why asking a client the same question twice is a cardinal sin, and why sometimes you just have to move forward without 100% certainty — because houses don’t wait.