Mortgage refi-- where to start?

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Wow, I am so thankful I was able to close so quickly on my refinance. I first went to the place that had my mortgage (PNC) to try and refinance but they said they were so backed up it would take 8 weeks. so I went with a local broker and was able to close in a little less than 4 weeks, got a better rate, and had to bring less money for closing costs.

 

[JDUCKY]

Our mortgage is apparently owned by Fanny Mae. My husband has contacted our current lender but they never get back to us. I am wary of our own bank (Wells Fargo) because they weren't helpful when we tried to get our original mortgage. We might call up USAA and see if they can help.

It's such a big "purchase'" I'd hate to make a mistake somewhere!

Curious, are you or your husband military (or retired military)? If so, look into a VA IRRL or consider a place like Navy Federal Credit Union and their mortgage options.

 

[MBusch]

We just recently closed an FHA Streamline in Illinois. Lender locked and closed the loan in 26 days. Only thing I needed tio provide was an ID and a bank statement to establish a new escrow account - money in old escrow accoutn was refunded in 2 weeks so it was sort of a catch 22. Real easy loan and I am saving $400 a month!

 

[dex08]

HARP is a government program so you could call any bank you want to refi and they should be able to do it. I would deal directly with a lender to avoid any type of broker fees.

Some banks aren't doing HARP refi unless your loan is currently with them. I made MANY calls before we went through the entire HARP refi process with Wells Fargo. We were told we were approved and were going to have settlement the next week and then we got a call from them that they were denying us after they told us we were approved.

Banks have what they call "overlays" and it's their own set of rules. So even though we qualified under the government's HARP2 guidelines, we did not meet Wells Fargo overlays - our CLTV exceeded their maximum. I had to fight with them to get our $500 application fee back! It was a nightmare and we ended up wasting many months working with Wells Fargo but we did get our app fee back.

 

[si-am]

Curious, are you or your husband military (or retired military)? If so, look into a VA IRRL or consider a place like Navy Federal Credit Union and their mortgage options.

No, we're not. I have USAA through my father who was in the military during Vietnam.

 

[Plumeria9]

Check out where you can get a deal. I refi'd about two years ago. Quicken had a deal w/ one of our prof. Memberships, and they were excellent. I also checked w/ USAA, we have most insurance through them, their rate was terrible. Also looked at B of A, since that was who our original mortgage was thru, too high and too many costs. Good luck!

 

[JDUCKY]

FWIW, mortgage rates should be dipping nicely after today's move by the Fed. Rates should be dropping enough to counteract the increase in pricing due to Fannie/Freddie guarantee fee increases.

3.375% with no points and even 3.25% with no points should or could be very possible if not now then very soon.

 

[maxaroni]

We just refi'd with the HARP program. Our lender sent us a letter, we responded, no out of pocket costs at all. From start to finish it was 2.5 weeks. My boss did the same and could not stop praising it. It was so easy...no docs to send or anything and we will save $529 per month.

 

[kkmcan]

We just closed on our 3 step streamlined refi a couple of weeks ago. We already had our mortgage with Wells Fargo so I gave them a call and asked what we qualified for and the streamlined refi was it. I spent about 10 min on the phone answering questions to get our application started. They sent us a form to verify dh's employment. No fees, no closing costs and no appraisal.

We closed about 4 weeks later. Just had to take the closing docs to the bank to get notarized. Then mailed them back in.

We went from a 4.65 30 yr to a 3.375 20 yr. And we signed up for the auto payment bi weekly plan and threw in an additional $100 month which brings our new mortgage down to 14 years! Whohoo!

We were 3 years into a 30 yr on our original mortage so this is so awesome! We are now on schedule to having our home paid off when dh retires.