• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Mortgage rates at all time low

Page 4 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
spidey07 said:
No. As you would be changing the terms of the loan.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's true. Once you hit 20% equity, I believe you can apply to have PMI removed and I believe a law was passed recently that made it mandatory for lenders to remove PMI once you hit 21% or 22% equity even if you didn't apply to have it removed.
 
Via said:
I must be missing something somewhere.

I owe about 94,000; my house is appraised at 154,000. My monthly mortgage payment is around 624 and I'm just about 2 years into a 30 year at 5.25.

I get intrigued about refinancing to a 15 year mortgage with the low rates and I do those monthly payment calculators you find online. If I put in $90,000 for the loan amount (I can swing the extra $4000 in cash) the payment amount comes up about the same: a little over $600. That sounds great to me.

But everytime I follow through and actually call someone to get a quote the amount ends up being much higher, usually over $900 or even $1000 even though they quote me around the same interest rate I used when I did the calculations myself. So I say thnks but no thanks and hang up.

Where is my math fuzzy? What am I missing?
Click to expand...

Your current 624 is prob. your mortgage + Escrow (ins. and taxes). So, you're current monthly payment for the mortgage itself is actually lower than the 624.
 
digiram said:
Your current 624 is prob. your mortgage + Escrow (ins. and taxes). So, you're current monthly payment for the mortgage itself is actually lower than the 624.
Click to expand...

No, I factored that in. My current total payment is around $920.
 
spidey07 said:
With rates this low taking a 30 year and investing the difference in the payments would yield much higher net worth/wealth.
Click to expand...

Explain this to me please? Do you mean if you refinance and have a ton of equity? Trying to figure this out
 
Via said:
No, I factored that in. My current total payment is around $920.
Click to expand...

15 year principle and interest at 3.35% is 636. Then you would add taxes/insurance which would probably get you to around 900.

You're going from a 30 to a 15 so it would take a pretty big difference in rates for the payments to remain the same, like 4%.
 
AMDZen said:
Explain this to me please? Do you mean if you refinance and have a ton of equity? Trying to figure this out
Click to expand...

If you take the difference in monthly payment between a 10/15 and 30 year loan and put it in stock market every month you will outpace the interest on your loan = more money, more wealth as your money is making more money for you.

Taking into account the tax deduction the effective rate on your mortgage is around 3.2% on a 30. Think you can do better than 3.2% annualized return?
 
IndyColtsFan said:
I don't think that's true. Once you hit 20% equity, I believe you can apply to have PMI removed and I believe a law was passed recently that made it mandatory for lenders to remove PMI once you hit 21% or 22% equity even if you didn't apply to have it removed.
Click to expand...

This. Ignore Spidey.
 
spidey07 said:
15 year principle and interest at 3.35% is 636. Then you would add taxes/insurance which would probably get you to around 900.

You're going from a 30 to a 15 so it would take a pretty big difference in rates for the payments to remain the same, like 4%.
Click to expand...

That's kind of what the people I talked to on the phone implied. One guy was even sort of rude about it. He said there's no way you can go from a 30 to 15 and not increase your payment substantially.

I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong with those payment calculators; they seem idiot proof, but I'm no math genius.
 
Currently for Canada:

3.39% 5 years fixed closed, (many people signed -1% prime a few years back) mean that they could get 2.39% rate if resign now.

2.1% variable.

It is stupid not to buy at the moment because of the low rate and housing price.
 
Saint Nick said:
Any way to buy a house with no down payment?

LOL.
Click to expand...

It's vaguely possible if you find a motivated seller to kick you the 3.5% and then get an FHA loan. It won't be the normal case, though, and likely there would be costs for fixing up the place.

Rates are really good right now but all of the factors that have made rates so low haven't really been resolved yet. Banks have tons of money and have more strict requirements to loan out their money. Europe seems to be higher risk right now, which is leading to low interest rates. With the Fed saying rates will be low through 2013, 30 year fixed mortgage rates might drop down to 3.5-3.7% still. Although getting a loan right now is still a very good deal historically.
 
I bought a house just a few months ago. 4.8%, conventional loan, put 6% down, when we hit 20% the PMI will automatically be removed by the lender.

House was built in 2007 for $370,000. Last year it was appraised at $280,000. This year it was appraised at $250,000. We payed $194,000 (got it as a short sale).

I think the prices in my area are stabilizing. The house sat empty for almost a year with it for sale at $280. It got passed off to my RE and he called me immediately and said he found the perfect house for us. We loved it and he was able to get the bank to accept under $200 on it. He had 3 people in line behind us to buy the house if we fell through. I personally met two of those people who actually already live in the neighborhood and were looking to buy a bigger house. They were pretty mad at me for stealing their house away. One of them has actually found another house a few blocks away and was able to get a good deal but payed more than we did for a somewhat less desirable house.
 
Something to consider as part of the decision to re-fi, should be a comparison of the cost of your remaining mortgage versus the total cost of the new mortgage. In many cases people with good (but not nearly as low as they are currently) rates may not see much in savings by refinancing. While it might be a justifiable reason for some, all you'd accomplish is lowering your monthly payment, in exchange for pushing the mortgage's final payment out into the future.
 
TheTony said:
Something to consider as part of the decision to re-fi, should be a comparison of the cost of your remaining mortgage versus the total cost of the new mortgage. In many cases people with good (but not nearly as low as they are currently) rates may not see much in savings by refinancing. While it might be a justifiable reason for some, all you'd accomplish is lowering your monthly payment, in exchange for pushing the mortgage's final payment out into the future.
Click to expand...

Yes. Always realize that your amortization tables will be reset so it may not be a good idea financially to refinance even if the rate is significantly lower. I'm at 6.5% and am not refinancing as I'm 8 years into the loan.

Now if I get the house I'm wanting to buy I will refinance just for the lower payment as then I'd be selling and I'd rather have the the lower monthly obligation paying two mortgages just for safety's sake.

What's really nice is the low rate on jumbo loans.
 
spidey07 said:
Yes. Always realize that your amortization tables will be reset so it may not be a good idea financially to refinance even if the rate is significantly lower. I'm at 6.5% and am not refinancing as I'm 8 years into the loan.

Now if I get the house I'm wanting to buy I will refinance just for the lower payment as then I'd be selling and I'd rather have the the lower monthly obligation paying two mortgages just for safety's sake.

What's really nice is the low rate on jumbo loans.
Click to expand...

You really don't need to do jumbo. Banks will still do first and second. My cousin closed on a house last month and they did first and second to avoid jumbo. The rate on the second mortgage 30yr fixed was 4 percent. 😱
 
Naustica said:
You really don't need to do jumbo. Banks will still do first and second. My cousin closed on a house last month and they did first and second to avoid jumbo. The rate on the second mortgage 30yr fixed was 4 percent. 😱
Click to expand...

WTF! I was told over and over again by my broker you couldn't do piggy backs like that to avoid jumbo. Are you absolutely sure that's what happened?

This could be a game changer if you're right. Time to get on the horn tomorrow.
 
spidey07 said:
WTF! I was told over and over again by my broker you couldn't do piggy backs like that to avoid jumbo. Are you absolutely sure that's what happened?

This could be a game changer if you're right. Time to get on the horn tomorrow.
Click to expand...

To avoid Jumbo, I took out a home equity line of credit for the remainder. Though I did put 20% down.
 
Refied 18 months back at 4.75 IIRC but I had to go with existing lender (HARP), as I had no equity in the house. 3.875 like guy at top got on 30 year fixed no points is darn sweet. I have sublime credit but no equity or money I would be willing to put into it.

People can be too myopic with these rates, though. They are low because the economy is completely fvcked. And if they go up people's purchasing power will drop which will further depress home payments so that they can still cover the note.

Many markets in the US are still screwed, though. I follow doctorhousingbubble from time to time and he focuses on California and California continues to dig the depths of despair, prices continuing down.
 
I'm currently floating the rate on my application because its in the middle of 4.25 and 4.375 for a condo (which I understand are a bit higher than single family homes and online calculators seem to reflect this as well).

Currently I can get 4.25 paying 1/4 point or 4.375 and returned 3/4 point so I'm hoping treasuries dip again tomorrow and I get 4.25 no points. That would be awesome, but its only $14/month difference.
 
I just checked around a bit. Look like the new low rate is not down the pipeline yet. Most of the rates were still the same as a couple days ago.
 
OILFIELDTRASH said:
I got a 3.875 locked in on aug. 10th
30 yr fixed FHA. No points. Rates are negotiable.
Click to expand...
Where is your home? 3.875 is my target rate.

The problem, though, is appraisals... not too many home sales in my area so not many homes to go by when the appraisal goes through.
 
Mannn.. I hope they stay down for another year or so!

10 months and counting until we move back to Portland. Save, save, save!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top