I'm not going to read this whole thread, but I'm curious if you did it or not? You can always do the math on the 1 point you pay and how much it'll save you based on months you're in the house. I did it back in 2010 or so after buying a house (that I've since sold) in 2008 and I came out on top in just 3 years. It was totally worth striking while the iron was hot. I have to imagine that if you feel secure that you'll stay in the house, you can always find a reason to refinance if the percentage difference you'll pay is meaningful. It's kind of a cool math problem to go through because it's real world usage.
so would you recommend or refer people to use Rocket/Quicken? I havent heard too many positive things bout them.
My loan officer suggested that buying points at such low rates would take a long time to recoup so it didn't make much sense. The math I did agreed with his recommendation so that's why I went with no points at 2.875%. Sure, 2.25% looks great but that'd require paying $10k upfront that would balance out in 12+ years.
FWIW I also reached out to Conrad Thompson's mortgage company. If you know, you know. I plan on pitting the different places against each other since Conrad's co says they will beat any written offer. We'll see.
That's what I'm talking about! Smart money! (I had to stop escrowing my taxes to make my deal work. Thankfully I'm pretty good at balancing my finances. aka I'm cheap and believe in paying my debts in cash asap) I think you were smart. I can't imagine making a decision about my life 12 years from now! So................. who has an older car.... you... or me?
It's funny because I had 3 options at 15 years, 2.375%, 2.5% or 2.625%. Somehow the difference between 2.625 to 2.375 was like almost $4k, which didn't make sense to do, but the difference between 2.625 to 2.5 was only $500!! I jumped on that deal immediately.
Aside from the delay from locking the rate to closing, the overall experience was fine. I probably would not have used them if I didn't have the American Express promotion though. Their interest rate and closing cost was slightly worse than the quote I got from guaranteedrate if I don't factor in the Amex promotion. Communication was fine. My loan officer always replied back quickly. All of the loan documents were online which is nice. The in-home closing was great. The closing agent was on time, masked, and had all of the documents ready to go. I had already e-signed most of the paperwork and he was in and out in 15 minutes. EDIT: I just remembered that there was an instance of the loan redisclosure being changed. The appraisal fee was no longer being waived and the title lending policy increased $400. I immediately noticed the increase and my loan officer changed it back. It's a bit sketchy and I don't know if it was on purpose or an accident. I would keep a very close eye on the documents.
We went from a 30 year to a 15. 4% to 2.75%. I may have misquoted in the original post, on my interest, but still. Will have my house paid off by 48, or sooner.
I personally don't understand folks going for the 15 year mortgage. The tax deductible part really messes me up because if you have no interest to claim the goverment takes that and says thank you. When I say that I have to assume that you'll need/be able to use more deductible as you get on with life to give yourself more tax free income by hiding behind your income tax and home loan interest payments. Of course when you have your place paid off you'll be saving like mad. Saving like mad at what percentage cost? I just think of it as your savings being put towards high yielding investments now vs later. That's never a known. If you are not the investing kind (meaning stock market risk), you did the absolute right thing. Whatever you do financially.. never look back. Just learn and look forward. Life is so full of financial and other types of wonder! I imagine your aggressive loan repayment schedule has seriously beneficial risk opportunity in the future. That sounds pretty exciting.
My interest use to make a difference, but then tax cuts came and it pretty much made this no longer a deduction (since standard deductible for marriage increased big time). I guess I don't itemize my taxes though, so I wouldn't know. I do realize those individual tax cuts are technically temporary unless Congress does something about it when the time comes.
I bet it was on the estimate sheet. I had the same issue, and it turned out to be an error. Most of the paperwork had already been done and the estimate really meant nothing, since it's just an estimate (you really don't get the final numbers until you are pretty much signing the deal, although the estimate is pretty damn close). Either way, I was adamant about having the number be changed to a $0 because I don't trust anyone and my mortgage officer obliged.
Yeah, I imagine Trump being gone will change some of that tax cut for all of us. My wife and I enjoyed the break, but my softer side thought about how many single people there are within our states. Seems unfair that I pay less because I found marital happiness. I personally believe we'll all come up money wise when we all start sharing burdens a little more equally. Single folks have great business ideas too. If they have extra money in their day to day life they'll spend it. I'm tired of hearing how being married is a reward just because it is financially. There are so many benefits that have nothing to do with taxes. Hell, my wife and I, we can share an entree and nobody seems to mind that two people are buying something for one. There are so many financial rewards couples don't express yet we're allow to vote over tax laws the same way against singles do but 2 to 1. I can't imagine how equal we'll all feel once we start sharing medical bills with single folks and people who can't afford medical bills and all that. My wife and I can buy a couch. Single guy/gal can only buy half of that for the same money that we spend individually. Why do we get the tax break? Don't get me wrong, it's nice but what about everyone else?
The 15 year, for us, is about playing the long game. It's more about the payoff date, and trying to pay it off as soon as we can in order to either take out a second mortgage, retire early, get some extra toys for my property, or all of the above.
Looking at this today to pull money out. Missed the crazy low rates but I can't go back in time. My monthly mortgage payment is still going down at 3.25 if I lock in. Costco seems to be the way to go, specifically Mutual of Omaha. Total costs will be around 2250 rolled into mortgage.
I dont want to hijack the thread, but .... An ideal scenario is to keep your primary residence fully leveraged with ultra cheap debt. For those who have digital assets could leverage them to buy a 'retirement home' in cash in the event **** hits the fan. You then rent it out. For me, I'd choose a condo on some nice Florida beach. It would give me ultra high rents and low maintenance. Since my digital asset loan security doesn't follow an amortization schedule, all I have to do is pay the interest each month and only add to the principle whenever I wanted. So if my condo is pulling $2500 a month (net), all I have to do is pay my interest only. (lets say I have a loan valued at 250k @4%. That is $833.00). I can then either put the remaining balance ($1660) towards principle or purchase of new digital assets. When the market is low, I put that money towards purchasing new digital assets. When the market is high, I put it towards principle. When you're having 25% swings from month to month, much value can be built.
