Americans refinancing into today's low mortgage rates would do well to watch this I Love Lucy video.  It's an (imperfect) metaphor for what's about to happen in mortgage underwriting offices all around the country.

While you're watching the video, think of:

• Lucy and Ethel as mortgage underwriters
• Chocolates as mortgage applications

As the pace of chocolates picks up, the girls in the Wrapping Department get overwhelmed quickly.  Two people can only do so much.

Relating to mortgages, for every day that rates stay at these low levels, more applications are going to find their way onto the underwriting conveyor belt.  Before long, underwriters will completely backed up and won't be able to approve anything.

So, if you've locked a new mortgage rate since last Tuesday, get your appraisal finished now and your supporting documentation to your loan officer ASAP.  Because most people have yet to do so, if you do, your application will be more like the first chocolate on the belt and less like the last.

Dan Green is an active loan officer. Email or call 513-443-2020. Dan is on Twitter at @mortgagereports.