WORDS I LIKE — Focus on what you can control
You have a 3% mortgage.
Moving means trading it for mid-6’s.
So you stay. That feels smart.
But staying has a price tag too.
Nobody ran that math for you.
Here’s the part most people miss
Rate lock-in is real. Moving up on today’s typical Denver purchase means $1,500 to $2,000 more per month. That number is hard to argue with.
Denver’s new listing count dropped 17.47% year-over-year in May. That’s not a supply problem — it’s a stuck problem. Homeowners are frozen, and the market is thin because of it.
But staying isn’t free either. Renovate with a home equity line of credit and you’re borrowing at 8–9%. Add contractor costs on top. That’s a different kind of expensive — just one nobody calculates out loud.
The move-up gap breaks down like this: $918 of that monthly increase comes from today’s mid-6% rate range. The other $714 is price appreciation. And there’s no rate relief on the horizon — the Fed held in June and signaled more of the same.
Two expensive options. Most people are picking one without seeing the numbers on either.
THIS WEEK'S TAKEAWAY
Staying isn’t free. Moving isn’t reckless. Run the math on both before the decision makes itself
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PS
If you’re sitting on a 3% rate and wondering whether staying still makes sense, reply with “math” and I’ll show you how to think through it.
No spam. No sales pitches. Just clarity.
— Neil Christiansen, Certified Mortgage Advisor
