Refinancing - Who's in?

[bluemoco]

Interest rates are ridiculously low now, and I've been toying with the idea of a refi for our house.

Called a mortgage broker today, and he quoted me a rate of 4.875% for a 30 Year mtg.  $0 origination fees, with the rest of the refi costing me less than 1% of the total mtg amount.  The interest savings would pay for the refi fees in about a year (haven't finalized the math yet).

4.875% is a terrific rate.  Historically, it is at or near an all-time low, and much lower than my current 5.75% rate.  I think I'm gonna go for it.

Anybody else going to take advantage of this cheap money?

[the_Journeyman]

No.  My rate is currently 4.75% and I'm not likely to find a better rate so it's not worth the trouble ~

JM

[DesmoDiva]

boobies.

B and I are proud non-home owners.

No permanent roots.   

[BumpaD_Z28]

Now I have a loan that is 80% at 5.75 rate  and 20% at 6.75 rate ... with 26+ years left ...

Working with a TRUSTED lender (different than last time!) for a 15 year at 4.5%

Although I might have to go to a 20 year to keep the payment the same 



~DaVe

[He Man]

Make sure you double and triple check the math with someone else. Even though the new rate is lower, you may end up paying a lot more in the end.

A bank will always make it seem worth wild when its not. So again, check the math a few times over.

[Jaman]

Boobies.

Own home 100%, not a big fan of debt, and am lucky enough to a. be in a position where i can pretty much live without it (ie, pay off credit card bill each month, payed off mortgage when i had an opportunity to do so, etc), and b. have a wife that feels the same way - but if I didn't, I probably would...

depending on how much time i would be extending my current mortgage by - ie, "Wow, i can reduce my monthly by xxx amount" but not taking into account that I am extending those monthly payments for another 10 years...

[Monsterlover]

I just did a no cost refi through my original lender, wells Fargo. My dads a realtor and my aunt used to write mortgages for WF and both said it was a deal. Went from 7.375 to 6.625. Best part is I can do it again at no cost as long as rates are going down. In fact, I'm gonna call them right now !!

[Bun-bun]

We bought our house using a stated income loan, since I'm self-employed and take every deduction available. Since these are no longer available, I am stuck with my current loan until I pay it off, move, or die.
Fortunately, my rate of 5.375% is still fairly competitive, and since the house has doubled in value since I bought it(even in this market) I'm not cryin'.

[bluemoco]

We bought our house using a stated income loan, since I'm self-employed and take every deduction available. Since these are no longer available, I am stuck with my current loan until I pay it off, move, or die.
Fortunately, my rate of 5.375% is still fairly competitive, and since the house has doubled in value since I bought it(even in this market) I'm not cryin'.

Sounds like you're in pretty good shape with your current loan.   

The "Stated Income" loan is a product that was heavily abused in recent years.  Lots of people flat-out lied about their income to get a loan, then defaulted.   

If you've got 2 years' worth of self-employed income history (ie Tax Returns), you could probably qualify for a fully-documented loan.  At your current rate of 5.375%, though, you probably won't be able to find a significantly better rate...

[Speedbag]

I know a realtor fairly well, and seems to me she said once it needs to be a full 1% drop or better before it's really worth it (all things considered).

I'm at 5.75% right now also, and it's tempting....but unless it gets to, say, 4.5% I'll probably stay put.

[Bun-bun]

Sounds like you're in pretty good shape with your current loan.   

The "Stated Income" loan is a product that was heavily abused in recent years.  Lots of people flat-out lied about their income to get a loan, then defaulted.   

If you've got 2 years' worth of self-employed income history (ie Tax Returns), you could probably qualify for a fully-documented loan.  At your current rate of 5.375%, though, you probably won't be able to find a significantly better rate...

Yeah, I've got 8 years of tax returns available, but with all the deductions (NOT complaining!!!) I show income in the 25k range, not enough to qualify.
I like what I've got, tho, and wouldn't sell anyway. My mortgage payment is $775 with P&I. I couldn't find a shack for that now.

[swampduc]

Boobies. Clearly.
I plan on doing a refi in a month or 2. Been waiting for my credit rating to come up just a little more. Pretty sure those are calculated by voodoo priests (or priestesses)

[somegirl]

We're working on the original mortgage now....

[bluemoco]

I know a realtor fairly well, and seems to me she said once it needs to be a full 1% drop or better before it's really worth it (all things considered).

I'm at 5.75% right now also, and it's tempting....but unless it gets to, say, 4.5% I'll probably stay put.

I hear ya, Dave.  Ironically, I just got an email tonight from a realtor friend of ours.  Her mortgage-broker colleague is saying that they're finding 30yr mortgages in the 4.5% range.  I have to call them tomorrow. 

My plan is to get 3 mortgage quotes before I do the refi.  I don't want to wait too long - trying to "time the market" is a fool's errand.  Just like trying to "time the market" in stock investments.

[mitt]

I could probably do well right now to refin, but I always am hesitant when my current mortgage company (Wells Fargo) has been good to work with for 10 years.  I don't want to have my new loan sold to some 3rd party company that sucks.

mitt