I’m a Personal Finance Writer: Here’s How I Beat High Mortgage Rates When Buying My House

By U.S. News & World Report
May 26, 2026 | 8:00 PM

Mortgage rates were high when I bought my house in 2025. It wasn’t my first time shopping for a mortgage, though it was my first time doing so with nearly 10 years of personal finance writing experience. I knew rates weren’t ideal, but the timing was right for my family and finances.

Rather than waiting for better rates while home prices kept climbing, I focused on my borrower profile, loan term and compared lender offers. I chose a 15-year mortgage, negotiated loan offers and picked a lender with competitive terms and a low-cost rate modification that I can use if rates drop.

[Read: Best Mortgage Lenders]

How to Lower Your Mortgage Rate: Focusing on What You Can Control

When I bought my house, Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage data showed 30-year fixed rates around 6.9% and 15-year fixed rates closer to 6% — compared with slightly lower rates of around 6.4% for 30-year loans and 5.7% for 15-year loans today. My mortgage rate came in at 5.75%, which wasn’t a pandemic-era bargain but was competitive for the market I bought in.

I couldn’t control the rate environment, so I shifted attention to the six factors I could influence in my mortgage application:

— Purchase price

— Credit score

— Debt

— Down payment

— Loan term

— Lender choice

I applied for a mortgage with 20% down, excellent credit and little overall debt aside from a car payment and credit cards I pay off each month.

I chose a home that was well within my budget and aggressively negotiated the price. That helped keep my debt-to-income ratio down and improved the loan-to-value ratio because the appraisal came in over the purchase price.

“You don’t get a vote on what the market is doing, but your credit, your debt, how much you put down, who you borrow from, what fees you agree to, all of that is on you,” says Mike Garrett, founder and senior loan advisor with Strategic Mortgage Advisors in Powder Springs, Georgia. “I’ve had borrowers sit around waiting for rates to drop when they could’ve spent that same time paying down a credit card and picking up a better offer. Work on your file. That’s where the money is.”

15-Year vs. 30-Year Mortgage: Is a Shorter Loan Term Worth It?

One way I got a lower mortgage rate was by opting for a 15-year mortgage instead of a 30-year loan. Rates were significantly lower for 15-year mortgages than 30-year mortgages when I bought my house, and I’ll pay less interest overall with a shorter loan term.

Before I shopped for homes, I considered the monthly payment amount I was comfortable with on a 15-year mortgage and used that to set my homebuying budget. A 15-year mortgage isn’t always the best choice if it stretches your budget or leaves too little room for savings, emergencies or home repairs.

“The rate is usually lower, and you’re knocking down principal hard from month one, which is huge when rates are elevated,” says Garrett. “But you’re locked into that payment.”

If you’re nervous about a higher payment, you can get a 30-year loan and make extra payments. That gives you more monthly flexibility while paying the loan down faster when you have room in your budget.

[See: Best Mortgage Lenders for First-Time Homebuyers]

How to Compare Loan Estimates and Negotiate Lender Fees

I didn’t accept the first mortgage quote I received. I compared multiple lender offers and narrowed my options down to the two with the best rates and fees — a local credit union and the lender my real estate agent recommended. I made sure I wasn’t leaving any savings on the table and asked the lenders whether they could adjust their offers to help me choose between them.

The lenders matched rates after I asked, but one had higher fees than the other. That made my decision easy.

The lowest advertised rate isn’t always the lowest-cost loan, because a lender may have a lower rate but higher origination fees, discount points or closing costs. Or another may have a higher rate but lower up-front costs or more flexible loan features.

“Make sure you are obtaining an actual loan estimate from each lender so that you can compare the quotes side by side,” says Matthew Locke, national mortgage sales manager at UMB Bank in Kansas City, Missouri. “In some cases, lenders may quote a lower interest rate but increase the fees or points substantially, making it difficult for the consumer to compare quotes from different lenders.”

Mortgage Rate Modification vs. Refinance: A Hidden Cost-Saving Feature

The lender I chose had the best rate and fees, but what sealed the deal was a low-cost rate modification option. If rates drop during my loan term, the loan modification gives me the flexibility to lower my rate.

Instead of doing a full refinance, I can request a lower rate during the loan term for a $500 fee, as long as I reduce the term of the loan by at least a year. I haven’t used that option yet because my rate is still lower than my lender’s currently advertised 15-year rate, but I’ll keep watching to modify my loan when the time is right.

The rate modification option wasn’t made clear to me until I started asking questions about terms. It’s worth asking lenders about features that offer flexibility beyond the initial rate.

“Once you get past the data, you should really understand all the features and restrictions of your loan,” says Michelle White, national mortgage expert at The CE Shop, an online educational institution for real estate professionals in Denver. She advises asking about prepayment penalties, whether you can make biweekly payments and if a loan modification is available if the rate goes down.

[Read: Best Mortgage Refinance Lenders.]

Checklist: How Homebuyers Can Shop for a Mortgage While Rates Are High

When navigating the housing market during a time of elevated mortgage rates, maximize your savings by following these guidelines:

— Check your credit. The biggest lever buyers can have is their creditworthiness. Check your credit reports, pay down revolving debt if possible and avoid taking on new debt. Lenders price for risk, and you can become a more attractive borrower with a stronger credit profile, lower DTI and larger down payment.

— Tally the true cost. When you shop for a mortgage, look first at the interest rate, but don’t stop there. Get loan estimates from multiple lenders to compare the rate, points, lender fees, closing costs and lender credits. A lower rate may not be the best deal. Always look at the bottom line and your monthly payment.

— Widen your lender search. Consider lenders beyond big banks, including credit unions, local lenders and mortgage brokers, which may offer lower fees or flexible features that matter over time.

— Ask lenders about rate drop features. “Some lenders will let you reset your rate later for a few hundred bucks if the market drops, which is a whole lot easier and cheaper than a full refi,” says Garrett. “Ask the question and get the answer in writing before you close.”

More from U.S. News

From Bidding Wars to Buyer Leverage: Why First-Time Homebuyers Shouldn’t Give Up in 2026

What a Recession Would Mean for Mortgage Rates in 2026

Kevin Warsh Set to Lead the Fed: Why a Trump-Backed Chair Doesn’t Guarantee Lower Mortgage Rates

I’m a Personal Finance Writer: Here’s How I Beat High Mortgage Rates When Buying My House originally appeared on usnews.com

Asia’s next great gourmet destination? Inside Indonesia’s fine-dining revolution

By CNN
August 11, 2026 | 5:44 AM

More than 120 years ago, Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, National Geographic magazine’s first female writer, photographer and board member, chronicled her travels through colonial Indonesia in her book “Java: The Garden of the East.”She was particularly fascinated by a feast known as the rijsttafel (rice table), a multi-dish banquet that was served in the grand Hotel de Nederlanden in Batavia, as Jakarta was known then.Scidmore vividly recalled a “conglomerate mountain” of food, including bits of fish, duck, chicken, beef, omelettes and onions piled alongside steaks, salads, curries, chutneys, spices and tropical fruits.The sumptuous spread had something to satisfy everyone amongst the 100 or so guests that filled the grand dining hall — even the “squeamish folk, unseasoned tourists and well-starched Britons with a small sense of humor.”Like Scidmore, most early Western documentation of Indonesia’s flavors focused on the opulent colonial feast. Little else was known about the diverse and rich flavors found across the enormous archipelago, in spite of it being home to the fabled Spice Islands, which sparked a 16th- and 17th-century “spice rush” for cloves, nutmeg and mace by Portuguese, Dutch and British traders.In more recent decades, the world has become better acquainted with some of the beloved humble foods found in Indonesian homes and warungs (street-side eateries), with satay, nasi goreng and beef rendang among the most familiar dishes beloved by travelers.But now, there’s a rising number of contemporary chefs who are elevating the national cuisine on the global stage by reimagining its famous spices into fine-dining experiences, while sharing the sophisticated stories of Indonesian flavor through a different lens.Made up of thousands of islands dotted across two oceans, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic country. It would be an understatement to say the country’s cuisine is wildly varied.As a result, “the existing understanding of Indonesian food culture is very shallow,” says William Wongso, an Indonesian culinary expert and author.Boasting an enviable array of regional ingredients and flavors, the country’s chefs have been working to educate international gourmets — and even locals — about the beauty of Indonesian cuisine.And Jakarta, its capital city, has become a breeding ground for the movement. Wongso compares it to the dining scenes in New York or Shanghai, which draw talent from all over their respective countries. “Everybody wants to come here to make a thing,” he says. “So people from different regions bring flavors and food cultures.”Some open humble warungs and serve their home cooking. A few look beyond recipes and focus on elements that make Indonesian cuisine unique for a wider audience, reinventing the whole experience.A modern, fine-dining blueprintEnter August, which opened in 2021 inside a gleaming skyscraper in Jakarta’s central business district.The duo behind the concept, Jakartan Hans Christian and Budi Cahyadi from the Indonesian island of Lombok, were definitely not the first people to promote Indonesian flavors — Christian emphasizes figures like Wongso, for example, who have been championing gastro-diplomacy abroad for decades.But August has spearheaded a new format and standard for the country’s fine-dining restaurants: a modern, Indonesia-inspired tasting menu operating at a world-class level of culinary execution and service.The industry has already noticed. August became one of the few Indonesian restaurants to achieve international recognition, placing 42nd on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 and earning accolades at The Best Chef Awards.“When I came back to Jakarta, you either had classic French fine dining or very casual bistros, mostly run by expat chefs,” says Christian, who sharpened his skills in Malaysia and the United States before returning to Jakarta in 2016.“There were no locally grown chefs doing their own thing with their own roots or interpretations. For me, August is about the pride of telling our own story … and a responsibility to not only embrace our roots, but also relearn them.”Cahyadi, with more than a decade of hospitality experience in a luxury hotel, agrees. He currently helms the front of house in August’s dining room.“In Jakarta, you either had to pick a place where the food was good but the service was lousy, or a casual place where service was bad but food was decent. When I met Hans, I knew it was time for a place where food is excellent and hospitality is delivered at the exact same time,” he says.In 2019, the two started August as a private kitchen concept before turning it into the current restaurant in 2021.Inside August’s intimate dining room — warmly lit with dark wood accents and a bright, open stainless-steel kitchen at the end of the dining room — the restaurant’s two tasting menus blend familiar Indonesian flavor profiles into completely unexpected forms.Their daikon dish is inspired by the format of Japanese agedashi tofu — silken tofu coated in starch, deep-fried until golden brown and traditionally dressed in dashi sauce.August’s version is served with a cuko sauce — a sweet and sour reduction made with tamarind and palm sugar featuring a tangy umami taste.It reminds locals of eating pempek, the Indonesian fishcake. A drizzle of andaliman pepper oil, Indonesia’s version of Sichuan peppercorns, gives the dish a unique, numbing spicy kick.Another highlight features Japanese Kimendai fish cooked by pouring hot oil over the scales until it crisps up while keeping the flesh tender. It sits in a kuah garang asem (yellow sour curry sauce) from the Central Java region.The sourness comes from a native green fruit called belimbing wuluh (or bilimbi), which looks like an oblong tomato but tastes extremely acidic, while ginger flowers provide a touch of freshness.The curry base is made from a yellow bumbu — made of aromatics such as turmeric and lemongrass. Often compared with France’s mother sauces (a group of five master sauces, such as Béchamel and Hollandaise, that are said to be the foundation of classical French cooking), Indonesian bumbu are spiced sauces that take hours to caramelize and form the base of many different dishes.Christian says that August has slowly evolved over the years, with more Indonesian flavors being incorporated into his menu as the team gains confidence and the demand grows.“In the beginning, our menu leaned more towards classic European because that was my formal training. When more international guests came, they expected more Indonesian flavor,” says Christian.Now, with half of their guests coming from overseas, the team tries to find the balance carefully without being intimidating.“Finding that balance was crucial — doing modern Indonesian cooking in a way that’s exciting for locals without just putting expensive ingredients in a traditional dish. We want to start from a product or a cooking method and create something new out of that idea,” says Christian.The founders admit that Jakarta has few fine dining concepts compared to fellow Southeast Asian cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Manila and Bangkok.“We knew we were a few years behind, but we are in progress to catch up. Over the years, the interest from people who want to learn and taste the flavor of Indonesia is growing,” says Christian. “For the past five to six years, we’ve been on a mission to prove people wrong.”It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t just about the menus, but the operation.They were the first restaurant to impose a reservation fee for diners in Jakarta. It also took a few years to educate their diners to be punctual for the tasting menu so the table could start the menu together – an often tricky feat in Jakarta traffic.But August’s success helped set new operational benchmarks for the city, proving that local diners were ready to enjoy high-end tasting menus.In the years since, Jakarta’s fine-dining community has expanded rapidly.ESA, opened in 2023, proudly offers a menu called New Jakarta Cuisine. Kindling, which opened the following year, blends Indonesian-Chinese dishes with French technique. Selera, newly opened this year in the Keraton at the Plaza hotel, emphasizes the nation’s culinary heritage with local ingredients.Outside the capital, things are changing, too, particularly in the country’s tourist hotspots. Bali, for example, has evolved to offer more than just fine resort dining and Western restaurants catering to visitors.Locavore NXT, helmed by Dutch-Indonesian duo Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Adriansyah, serves a tasting menu that highlights local ingredients. The independent concept also has a farm, laboratory and store.Meanwhile, young, local and independent concepts are slowly increasing elsewhere in the country.Overlooking the historical Prambanan Temple and Mount Merapi, Suwatu in Yogyakarta, the royal cultural heart of Java, is an upscale hillside restaurant with a menu packed with local dishes cooked by local villagers.In Bandung, both MMBS (Mari Merangkai Bunga Seroja) and Plataran Bandung serve local Sundanese cuisine, with hyper-seasonal tasting menus featuring a creative twist.Not just about the price tagAt the same time, classic Indonesian restaurants are reexamining the stories they would like to tell.For a long time, the 1945 Restaurant inside the Fairmont Jakarta has been regarded as the city’s only high-end Indonesian restaurant in a five-star hotel.Taking over as the chef de cuisine this year, Yopi Tumeru has been determined to inject fresh ideas into the 11-year-old establishment — and he was inspired by the traditional rijsttafel concept.His vision of the legendary feast isn’t only a sumptuous buffet but an educational exploration of Indonesian cuisine.“For many years, Indonesian food was presented either as home cooking, street food or part of a hotel buffet… Our Rijsttafel was designed as a culinary journey through the archipelago. We preserve the generous and communal character of the traditional experience while refining the portions, presentation and sequence,” Tumeru says.The menu includes dishes such as wagyu beef rendang, duck leg confit with sambal madura, tuna collar rica-rica (rahang tuna), tempe nachos and es teler cheesecake — all created to shine new light onto old dishes.For chefs like Tumeru, presenting Indonesian cuisine in a haute gastronomic format isn’t just about slapping on higher price tags and using expensive ingredients.They are proudly showcasing the often undervalued Indonesian cuisine — from the ingredients, the knowledge and the labor to the cultural heritage.“Rendang, for example, is not simply beef cooked in coconut milk. It requires patience, careful control of the heat, and an understanding of how the spices develop over time,” says Tumeru, who feels chefs have a responsibility to help guests appreciate that complexity.Despite giving Indonesian cuisine an upscale makeover, all of the chefs insist their roots and hearts remain with the humble, family-run warung. They encourage diners to ask for street-food tips, which might otherwise feel intimidating without a local guide.The movement isn’t about replacing affordable neighborhood joints. It’s about broadening how the world sees Indonesian food, using fine dining as a welcoming gateway into their country’s vast culinary heritage.“There is still a mindset that Indonesian food cannot be expensive — that is not true,” says Wongso.“These high-end restaurants, if they’re doing it right, they’re quite helpful in changing people’s mindsets. Indonesian food cannot be cheap. It takes immense labor and skill. A single sauce or spice paste takes hours of balancing and preparation. You can Google many things, but you can’t Google taste.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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