Who else refinanced this week?

[TheRatPack]

We've been putting this off for months....but I've got all the paperwork together and we're going by the mortgage office tomorrow to see what we can get. We want to go 15 years and we're currently at 6.375% for 30 (27 1/2 actually LOL). Just kind of worried though, we started remodeling our bathroom and we're not through, so we're worried about the appraisal....as well as the credit we've spent lately on that remodel and Christmas skewing our credit.

 

[DisBride2007]

Can anyone help me determine if we should refinance to a 15 year or a 30? We currently have a 30 year and are paying an extra $500 a month toward the principle. If we refinanced to a 15 year at current rates our monthly payment would basically be what we are paying now (including the extra $500). However if I refinanced to a 30 year at current rates it would be $300 less than I have now - so I could really pay an extra $800 a month toward the principle instead. It's not that we can't afford the 15 year payment, but if down the road either DH or I stops working it would be nice to have the lower payment. Please help

 

[minnie1928]

Can anyone help me determine if we should refinance to a 15 year or a 30? We currently have a 30 year and are paying an extra $500 a month toward the principle. If we refinanced to a 15 year at current rates our monthly payment would basically be what we are paying now (including the extra $500). However if I refinanced to a 30 year at current rates it would be $300 less than I have now - so I could really pay an extra $800 a month toward the principle instead. It's not that we can't afford the 15 year payment, but if down the road either DH or I stops working it would be nice to have the lower payment. Please help

Personally, I like to have the breathing room so I'd go the 30 year route. However, for those that have trouble applying extra to a payment then it would be better for the 15 year route. I've always been one to pay more than the payment required, so that's never been an issue for us.

Also keep in mind interest rates. My statement above assumes that the rates on a 15 and a 30 are the same. Maybe a 20 year could be something to consider too?

You know, re-reading my post I don't think I've helped answer your question...I probably just muddied the water some more! Sorry!!

 

[Muushka]

Can anyone help me determine if we should refinance to a 15 year or a 30? We currently have a 30 year and are paying an extra $500 a month toward the principle. If we refinanced to a 15 year at current rates our monthly payment would basically be what we are paying now (including the extra $500). However if I refinanced to a 30 year at current rates it would be $300 less than I have now - so I could really pay an extra $800 a month toward the principle instead. It's not that we can't afford the 15 year payment, but if down the road either DH or I stops working it would be nice to have the lower payment. Please help

Yup, keep the breathing room. You can always apply extra each month and get it down to 15 on your own.

 

[isla bonita]

Just finished with our paperwork yesterday. We were at 6.25 for 30 years and that is for our second home in Fl. Now we are at 5.5 on a second home which is great. I am so pleased our payment is down over $200.00 per month. Also the value of our home came down our taxes will decrease. Not to worried about the loss in value it was overinflated so it will level off as soon as we are out of the times our country are in. I am so happy that if we do not get our home rented it will not be so much of a burden on us. Life has way when a door is closed a window opens. It sure has for us.

Now I need to pay if forward some how.

 

[TheLittleRoo]

I would love to refi, but I recall there is about a 1% loan origination fee, at a minimum. There can also be a 1 pt fee for the best rates.

Am I hearing people saying their banks are waiving both fees, or just the point? We hope to relocate for work and sell in less than a year, but the reality is, we may be even further underwater and in no position to sell for years. We have a 7/1 ARM that resets in 2011. Right now, we're at around 4.5% (maybe?) but this would lock it in for the life of the loan, in case we're stuck longer than we planned for. We also have a second loan that's at 6.75% but I doubt we could roll the two together in a single refi.

It would be nice if part of the bailout plan included Zero Fee refi's for qualified borrowers.

 

[dizcrazy]

I agree with you and the other posters - go with the 30 and enjoy the breathing room!

 

[DisBride2007]

Personally, I like to have the breathing room so I'd go the 30 year route. However, for those that have trouble applying extra to a payment then it would be better for the 15 year route. I've always been one to pay more than the payment required, so that's never been an issue for us.

Also keep in mind interest rates. My statement above assumes that the rates on a 15 and a 30 are the same. Maybe a 20 year could be something to consider too?

You know, re-reading my post I don't think I've helped answer your question...I probably just muddied the water some more! Sorry!!

Yup, keep the breathing room. You can always apply extra each month and get it down to 15 on your own.

I agree with you and the other posters - go with the 30 and enjoy the breathing room!

Thank you all so much for your advice. That's exactly what I was leaning toward but I wasn't sure if I was missing something. My DH really doesn't seem to understand this stuff but I knew you guys would. We do have the discipline to pay the extra, so that's not a problem. If anything I have to hold myself back from paying even more!

As to the difference in interest rates, I think the last time I checked the 30 was actually less than the 15 if you can believe that! I know the 15 is usually lower by a quarter point or so.

I am going to call Wells Fargo this weekend - that is if I can get through, I read on another thread their phone lines are overloaded!

 

[DVC Sadie]

We got the ball rolling yesterday for a re-fi on our mortgage. The rate I was quoted yesterday was 4.78 and no points and hopefully the rate will go down by at least a half% before closing.

Does anyone think the rates will go lower? Or should I ask, How low can it go?

Good luck everyone with the refinancing.

 

[minnie1928]

We got the ball rolling yesterday for a re-fi on our mortgage. The rate I was quoted yesterday was 4.78 and no points and hopefully the rate will go down by at least a half% before closing.

Does anyone think the rates will go lower? Or should I ask, How low can it go?

Good luck everyone with the refinancing.

That's the tricky question isn't it? I've seen rumors that Obama wants something where mortgage rates are at 4.5%, but that's just rumor...who knows if it will go that low.

I look at it this way - are you happy with 4.78? Will you be kicking yourself if it never goes down and you end up at 5%? If so, then lock now. If not, then take the gamble. It's all in your comfort threshold and doing what works for you...

 

[TheRatPack]

I agree, we were offered 5.1 yesterday? And we're trying for a 15 year.....30's were actually lower for some reason. Anyhow, we're currently at 6.3 and we're okay with that....just would be happier at 4.75 or somewhere around there...4.5 would be GREAT but we won't get greedy LOL We're floating it till we see something under 5....if it goes back up, well we took a gamble and lost but we're still okay with where we are at now in our house. If we get it down even more, we'll be happy even if it drops more after we finalize/lock and won't regret locking earlier.

 

[DVC Sadie]

That's the tricky question isn't it? I've seen rumors that Obama wants something where mortgage rates are at 4.5%, but that's just rumor...who knows if it will go that low.

I look at it this way - are you happy with 4.78? Will you be kicking yourself if it never goes down and you end up at 5%? If so, then lock now. If not, then take the gamble. It's all in your comfort threshold and doing what works for you...

I know, very tricky. I have also heard that some politicians are pushing for 3.5 to 4% so I would be kicking myself if I locked in on 4,78 and have it drop drastically. Oh well, I see I have some thinking to do.

 

[TheRatPack]

After really looking over our closing fees/cost I think we're going to stay where we're at for now. If it gets to 4 we may reconsider but the closing fees are bumping us up to more than we financed when we purchased 2 1/2 years ago...that just makes us sick to think that we'll owe more than we bought it for again, and it'll take us 3 years to recoup those closing cost and be back down to what we owe now. We pay extra every month...so again.....maybe if it drops to 4% but for now.....I think we'll hold off. Sad that it cost so much to refinance.

 

[Muushka]

We have our mortgage with CitiMortgage. A few years back and then again last year, they lowered our interest rate at their offer. They notified us that if we wanted a lower rate, they would pay all closing costs. I asked them why they were doing it and they said that they wanted to keep us as customers and wanted to lower it rather than us refinancing with another lender. Which is strange, because we had not done any inquiring.

The only caveat that I can see in refinancing is that, for us, we had paid down our mortgage pretty heavily, so that the refi actually spread the mortgage out longer, hope that makes sense. The first time we re-fied, we made the payments like they were the old mortgage (instead of $200 a month extra, it was more like $500 a month extra).

The second time we refied, we decided to invest the $$ instead of paying down the mortgage.

Bottom line, it appears that you are saving a lot of money per month, but you are adding more time to your loan life.

And you might ask your lender if they would refi you, because you are looking at other loan institutions.

We are now at 5.25%. Maybe they will offer us another decrease!

 

[zalansky]

Muushka - thanks for posting that info about Citi. Not only do we have our first mortgage with them at 6.5% we also have ahome equity through them as well. I called about a year ago to see if they'd lower my rates rather than go someplace else and they wouldn't do it. I am going to call them back today and give them another chance. If not, I will take my business elsewhere.

 

[jessie32]

im right now at 5.875 for a 20 year.i owe $52,000 for our house.i called and they told me it is not worth me to refinanace.that the rate for 4.75 for a ten year you have to have to a loan for $100,000.i never knew they have differnt rate for money i thought it was sit for all the same.does any body know how to look and see if that is right they told me for a 10 year on that amount of money it would be 6%.i live in michigan.

 

[Muushka]

Muushka - thanks for posting that info about Citi. Not only do we have our first mortgage with them at 6.5% we also have ahome equity through them as well. I called about a year ago to see if they'd lower my rates rather than go someplace else and they wouldn't do it. I am going to call them back today and give them another chance. If not, I will take my business elsewhere.

Good luck!

im right now at 5.875 for a 20 year.i owe $52 for our house.i called and they told me it is not worth me to refinanace.that the rate for 4.75 for a ten year you have to have to a loan for $100,000.i never knew they have differnt rate for money i thought it was sit for all the same.does any body know how to look and see if that is right they told me for a 10 year on that amount of money it would be 6%.i live in michigan.

Am I understanding correctly that you only owe $52 left on your mortgage?

I know several years ago we refied (not Citi) and the broker told us that most of his lenders would not bother with mortgages less than 100K. He looked around and found one that would do it for what we wanted. You might want to try going through a broker. Not sure if that helps....

 

[minnie1928]

im right now at 5.875 for a 20 year.i owe $52 for our house.i called and they told me it is not worth me to refinanace.that the rate for 4.75 for a ten year you have to have to a loan for $100,000.i never knew they have differnt rate for money i thought it was sit for all the same.does any body know how to look and see if that is right they told me for a 10 year on that amount of money it would be 6%.i live in michigan.

I'm guessing that Jessie32 is saying she owes $52,000, not $52. They most certainly do have different rates for different amounts (Jumbo loans are at much higher interest rates). However, I think what the bank was telling you was that your principal wasn't high enough and that your current rate wasn't high enough to justify paying the costs of a refinance on such a short term mortgage. A 1 point difference on a $52,000 loan is minimal compared to a $350,000 loan, especially if it's amortized over 10 years instead of 30.

 

[amsafko]

I'm hoping we did the right thing. We were at 6.375 with Wells Fargo. We locked in yesterday at 4.875 with no points. I think I will just stop looking at the rates so I won't totally hate myself for not waiting a little bit longer. What do you guys think of the rate we got?

 

[Muushka]

I'm guessing that Jessie32 is saying she owes $52,000, not $52. They most certainly do have different rates for different amounts (Jumbo loans are at much higher interest rates). However, I think what the bank was telling you was that your principal wasn't high enough and that your current rate wasn't high enough to justify paying the costs of a refinance on such a short term mortgage. A 1 point difference on a $52,000 loan is minimal compared to a $350,000 loan, especially if it's amortized over 10 years instead of 30.

Ah, that makes more sense. But then some people refi when they are paid off, so I wasn't sure.