Feb 5, 2016, 09:20 AM by User Not Found

Shopping for a mortgage is no one's idea of fun, but doing it right can save you thousands of dollars over the years – and perhaps tens of thousands. This might be a good time to take out a new mortgage or refinance an old one, as many experts expect rates to rise. Of course, they might not – or not so soon. In December, the Federal Reserve made headlines by increasing its short-term federal funds rate for the first time in nearly 10 years. But it didn't raise rates again when it met at the end of January, and now it looks like the sluggish world economy may help keep U.S. mortgage rates down for some time. While the Fed controls some very short-term rates, long-term rates that guide fixed-rate mortgages are governed by investors' views about future conditions.