The Fed raised rates last week.
Mortgage rates are near 7%.
The 10-year Treasury is around 5%.
And for many tech professionals considering real estate, the instinct is understandable:
“Maybe I should just wait.”
Wait for mortgage rates to fall.
Wait for the Fed to change direction.
Wait for a “better” time to buy.
But waiting has a cost, too.
What Changed?
On September 16, the Federal Reserve raised its target range by 25 basis points to 3.75% – 4.00%.
The Fed also said economic activity continues to expand at a “solid pace,” while inflation remains elevated.
→ Federal Reserve – September FOMC statement
Meanwhile:
30-year fixed mortgage: 6.95% 10-year Treasury yield: 5.01% on September 18
→ Freddie Mac mortgage-rate data
→ Federal Reserve Treasury data
For tech professionals building wealth outside their salary, RSUs and 401(k), this creates an important question:
Do you wait for cheaper rates or evaluate what makes sense with today’s numbers?
BricksFolios Insights
1. Don’t try to outguess the Fed.
Nobody knows exactly where rates will be 6 or 12 months from now.
Your wealth strategy shouldn’t require you to predict the next Fed move correctly.
2. Underwrite for today’s reality.
At today’s borrowing costs, there is less room for mediocre real estate.
Price. Rent. Vacancy. Taxes. Insurance. Maintenance.
The investment needs to make sense without wishful thinking.
3. Don’t make refinancing the strategy.
Rates may eventually decline.
If they do, refinancing could create additional upside.
But the investment shouldn’t require a future refinance to justify buying it today.
4. Focus on the asset, not just the mortgage rate.
Instead of asking:
“Is 6.95% too high?”
Ask:
“Is this the right asset, in the right market, at the right price at 6.95%?”
Because a great mortgage rate won’t fix a bad asset.
And a higher rate doesn’t automatically make a strong asset a bad investment.
5. Remember: waiting has a cost, too.
Tech professionals are trained to optimize.
The compensation package.
The RSU vest.
The stock entry point.
The mortgage rate.
But sometimes optimizing for the perfect number means overlooking the most valuable variable:
Time.
Time you could have been building equity.
Time tenants could have been helping pay down debt.
Time a well-selected asset could have been compounding.
And time spent keeping more of your wealth concentrated in your career, employer equity and public markets.
The Bigger Picture
The goal isn’t to buy real estate because rates are high.
And it isn’t to sit on the sidelines simply because rates are high.
It’s to evaluate whether the right opportunity makes sense today.
At BricksFolios, we help busy tech professionals evaluate real estate using today’s numbers and long-term fundamentals not predictions about the next Fed meeting.
Because rates will change again.
The better question is: What will you own when they do?
→ Book your private strategy session with BricksFolios Founders, Vinod Sharma and Jo Dixit.
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