There's a mortgage company advertising online with this deceptive headline: "Fed Slashes Interest Rate by a Half-Point!  Refi & Save Today!"

How is this deceptive? What this mortgage company isn't telling you: the Federal Reserve Board doesn't control mortgage rates at all...it regulates the short-term interest rate that banks use to lend money to each other overnight. In fact, when the Fed acts to change the overnight rate, the effects are unknown until six months to a year later.

Since the Fed lowered their rate on September 18th, the 30yr fixed mortgage rate actually climbed .25%. Why is that? The simple answer is that the fixed rate is connected more closely to long-term investments, such as the 10yr Treasury Bond.

Will refinancing save you money? That depends. It's not about interest rate only. Other factors, such as how long you will be in the home and your credit, will have an impact on that. Patrion Mortgage, for example, was able to lower their shorter term portfolio ARMs. Today's basic rates on these, for example, are:

• 5.375% for a 3/1 LIBOR ARM
• 5.625% for a 5/1 LIBOR ARM
• 5.875% for a 7/1 LIBOR ARM

These loan rates may or may not be useful to you. It takes a residential home loan consultant that cares to make sense of this.

So remember:

• Don't believe everything that you read.
• The Fed doesn't control mortgage rates
• Work with someone that is trustworthy...and local.

Joey Aszterbaum is the Hemet Home Loan Guy and an active affiliate of the Hemet-San Jacinto Association of Realtors. To schedule an appointment to refinance or purchase real estate in Hemet or anywhere in California, email joey@joeyloans.com or call (951) 571-5751.

Patrion Mortgage is a division of Altura Credit Union, formerly Riverside County's Credit Union, and is a local, direct lender.