Premier American enters Surfside

Premier American Bank said it has opened a branch at 9526 Harding Ave., in Surfside.

The office is the second for Premier American, whose headquarters is at 5900 Bird Road, in Miami.

Officials of the bank have scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony for 5:30 p.m., Wednesday.

Until June, the site was a branch of SouthTrust Bank, which was based in Birmingham, Ala.

Wachovia Bank, which bought SouthTrust, closed that branch and 21 others in South Florida and moved deposits and other business to branches it kept open.

Several of the staff at Premier American's new branch previously worked for SouthTrust at the site.

"The Surfside branch gives us the opportunity to better serve customers located east of the Intracoastal Waterway," Premier American President William Herrera said.

The branch is part of Premier American's long-term growth plan, which includes adding "few, but select, high-impact branches," Herrera said.

Premier American's new office, located less than a block from Surfside's boundary with Bal Harbour, fits that profile.

The office is on a two-block stretch of Harding Avenue that includes about a half-dozen bank branches that compete for deposits and loans from businesses and affluent consumers.

Premier American, which opened in 2001, had $184 million in assets on Sept. 30, according to its report to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.