Stop timing the rate. Size the payment.

Quick update from last week: rates didn't hold steady — they went up.

6.71% on a 30-year loan as of September 3, up from 6.66% a week earlier and above the 6.50% of a year ago. It's bounced between 6.65% and 6.71% since early August. Nobody, me included, can tell you where it goes next.

Which is the real point. If your plan is "buy when rates drop," you're waiting on something no one controls, while Cook County prices climbed 8.6% over the past year.

A more useful plan: figure out the monthly payment you're genuinely comfortable with at today's rate. If a home works at 6.71%, it works. If it only works at 5.5%, that's your answer too.

Want help running your actual numbers? Just ask — no pressure.