A PSA on refinancing: Home mortgage Interest rates are not directly tied to the fed rate. They are tied to the bond market. Think stock market. These variables change daily, much less weekly. You're not purchasing a new home, so you dont have to worry about a seller terminating a contract because you're not moving quick enough. Dont feel compelled to go through with a loan you're not comfortable with. Remember you can continue to shop until you close. Dont fall for a lenders bullshit. At most, you will be out an appraisal fee, credit check fee and a hard pull on your credit. You probably shouldn't be dealing with a lender who is not willing to match after you lock. That said, stay on top of everything and get your lender everything you need. Refi's are out the roof. Demand is higher than supply. Dont expect them to chase you for information and docs. If you submit information, follow up and make sure they have everything. Continue to follow up.
Why is that? What are you running into? In Houston? Is it JUST the virus stuff or also O&G? I was going to refi, then it occurred to me, just buy another house instead when the real estate market starts to tank. So I'm in the process of getting pre-approved (again) now.
Nothing all that substantive...just "feels" odd to be making a big investment and going through the process of a move while the world is on fire. Best of luck to you!!
Got it. Agreed. Feels weird in that sense. I was not on this end of the stick during 2008ish, that's for sure.
Would you mind sharing? I definitely am curious about some preliminary amounts. I was just quoted $4-5k for closing. A lot lower than the quicken estimates, but not sure how much higher than what you got.
I have a 3.25% on a 15 year with no Escrow vs a 3.15% on an Escrow on better.com. I think I may wait. I really want to target around a 2.75%. Anyone in the know think this is realistic?
That's pretty good. I was offered 3.25% on a 30 yr fixed (no escrow). Who was your lender if you don't mind me asking?
That’s not bad either. The rate was secured in March before the virus went crazy (rates actually went up at that point). Lender was BancorpSouth.
Currently shopping some rates through Costco. My current rate is pretty good at 3.25% for a conventional 30 year loan started 4 years ago. Might be able to get 2.875% for a conventional 30 year to bring my payments down $300 but extending it 4 years. Even with a few thousand upfront in closing costs, I think it's still better since I can reinvest the difference in payments and come out ahead. I could get that rate lower with points, but from what I understand in the quotes, they add to the initial loan and aren't decreasing the mortgage much. So higher loan, higher closing costs, minimal mortgage decrease barely saves any money through the loan. Unless someone else can explain it better and tell me the advantage of paying points.
We were going to refi back in April but decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and just move. We went from 5% on the old house to 2.7% on the new house. That plus putting almost 1/3 down caused our payment to be almost the same as the payment on the old one...for a LOT more house. We went through First United on the advice of our realtor. Haven't applied for a mortgage in about a decade. It was a huge pain in the ass back then, so I was really dreading it, but turned out to be WAY easier than I thought it would be.
All the mortgages I'm doing lately are around 2% -- with variable rates going below for most people (I.e. 1.73% most recently). Of course, I'm in Canada and I am not at all familiar with how mortgages work in the US. From what I am reading here, is there even a difference between term (I.e. length of the mortgage) and amortization (I.e. total life of the loan, or when it is all paid down to zero)?
I went from a 20yr (2yrs in) to a 10yr at 2.5%. I was at 3.75% before. Hearing the savings over 8yrs...
