Have you refinanced your mortgage yet?

[dmclone]

Don't forget to factor in things like refinance costs, pmi, and if/when you plan on moving. If you can, pay the costs out of pocket.

Refinance | Savings from Refinancing Calculator by Bankrate.com

[MaccloNe]

Sticking at 5.25 since I am close to paying it off

[longtimeclone]

Sticking at 5.25 since I am close to paying it off

That doesn't mean you can't take out a new loan for a vacation home.

[ISUAgronomist]

After everyone gets their 4% mortgage, how many people would then get a 7% mortgage to get a different house in 2015. Exactly. Times are golden now, but everyone will have too good of a mortgage to justify another move...

That's not a bad thing. Our economy needs to find a way to improve that isn't just based on people buying houses.

[DurangoCy]

After everyone gets their 4% mortgage, how many people would then get a 7% mortgage to get a different house in 2015. Exactly. Times are golden now, but everyone will have too good of a mortgage to justify another move...

Everyone who did a refi will be paying with straight cash in the future because we saved so much.

I think it'll take years after the fed starts moving the rates for mortgages to hit 7%. By then people who have lived in their homes for a significant amount of time will have large amounts of equity built up. (unless their idiots and still taking out HELOCs) Those people will be deciding between small short term loans or paying cash for a new home. The newbies still starting out won't know any better, so they'll still be screwed, but that's just the story of life I suppose.

[ZeaMaize]

Probably couldn't if I tried. Underwater.

I do this for a living. Check with your loan servicer. If your loan is eligible for the HARP program, you may be fine and able to refinance.
HARP is one of the things that is actually working well. It lets people who are current and underwater; refinance.
When I look someone's loan up and it is HARP eligible; that is usually the best choice. In some cases no appraisal is needed.

[capitalcityguy]

I realize I might be pushing the expertise of the CF Off-topic forum group here, but figured it can't hurt to ask.

Does anyone have suggestions for a bank(s) to check with about refinancing the lone rental property I own? My impression from the past is firms aren't as anxious to go down this road when it is a rental property.

Thx.

[BCClone]

I just did refi a couple months ago. Got 3.25 offer for 15 with 12 years left. Was 4.375. Was able to negotiate 3.50 with no closing costs. Plan to pay it off in less than five years and didn't feel like any extra cash out of my pocket.

I'm taking my extra money and investing. Having same amount pulled, but the extra 70 some bucks pushed elsewhere. What is everybody else doing with theirs. Please don't say, just ******* it away.

[ruxCYtable]

I suppose many just starting out are too young to remember a time when rates were bad. I remember an uncle buying a house at 19% during the Carter era.

In the mid-90's I interned at a financial institution and when rates got down to 8.5% we could almost not keep up with demand from folks wanting to refinance.

My wife and I bought our first house in 1997 at 6.5%. At that time we, and our lender, thought we'd NEVER see a rate that low again.

We're currently just under 4% and if rates get much lower we'll have to consider refinancing again! This is just nuts!

[capitalcityguy]

I just did refi a couple months ago. Got 3.25 offer for 15 with 12 years left. Was 4.375. Was able to negotiate 3.50 with w/o closing costs. Plan to pay it off in less than five years and didn't feel like any extra cash out of my pocket.

I'm taking my extra money and investing. Having same amount pulled, but the extra 70 some bucks pushed elsewhere. What is everybody else doing with theirs. Please don't say, just ******* it away.

Nice.

Yeah, we're going to a 15yr loan (from 30), but I plan to pay off in 4-7 years (which goes against my former belief of not paying off "cheap" money)...but that was prior to these crazy economic (and market) times, so I feel justified in removing the debt obligation as soon as we can.

[cytech]

I realize I might be pushing the expertise of the CF Off-topic forum group here, but figured it can't hurt to ask.

Does anyone have suggestions for a bank(s) to check with about refinancing the lone rental property I own? My impression from the past is firms aren't as anxious to go down this road when it is a rental property.

Thx.

It is probably in the same boat as me we are looking at refinancing our commercial properties but the best rates we are getting are between 5 and 6%. But we should be getting our interest rate knocked down over 1%. I would of figured with a established business with a good LTV there would be better options but it is not looking that way.

[Trice]

We put our house on the market almost exactly a year ago. We were praying it sold fast so we could take advantage of the great rates, thinking it would never get better. It sold in three days, and five weeks later we were in our new home at 4.875% for 30 years.

The first of February, I emailed our mortgage broker back and asked about the possibility of a refinance. He said he could get us to 3.75%, or 3.875% with no closing costs. I didn't even bother to shop around, I locked that afternoon and we closed nine days ago, saving tens of thousands of dollars by doing virtually nothing.

And if we put our monthly payment savings toward principal, we'll save twice as much interest and pay it off six years early. Can't beat that.

[capitalcityguy]

Definately still worth taking the steps to check out refi (u don't need to lock-in), but looks like rates rose a bit:

Higher rates slow mortgage activity

United Press International

Last Update 3:12 ET PM
WASHINGTON, Mar 21, 2012 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association said U.S. mortgage activity fell 7.4 percent in the week ending Friday, as interest rates rose.
Interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate conforming mortgages climbed from 4.39 percent to 4.49 percent with average points rising from 0.43 to 0.47

Principal.com - Market News & Info

[wartknight]

I realize I might be pushing the expertise of the CF Off-topic forum group here, but figured it can't hurt to ask.

Does anyone have suggestions for a bank(s) to check with about refinancing the lone rental property I own? My impression from the past is firms aren't as anxious to go down this road when it is a rental property.

Thx.

Not affiliated with any banks at all, but have had several clients with rentals have success with Community State Bank.

[CLONECONES]

Probably couldn't if I tried. Underwater.

try the new HARP 2 loan program... just instated couple weeks ago.

LTV doesn't matter as long as you can prove no 30-day lates within the last 18 months