PSA - look to refinance mortgage now

[glenn1]

Very nice coronavirus discount currently. Near or at all time low rates. You might be saving enough to do an IRRRL (interest rate reduction refinance loan) instead of a full refinance (cheaper and less paperwork). I got quoted 20 yrs @2.875% or 25 @3.0% with .325 basis points discount on origination fees today. Get yo’ better loan and save some dough.

 

[Blackjack200]

Bank of America is showing 2.625% on a 15 year. I've been watching them off and on and they were at 2.65% for a while. I guess the coronavirus discount is only half a basis point.

Edit: eh, two and a half basis points.

 

[TheVrolok]

I was actually just thinking about this yesterday

 

[JSt0rm]

 

[BoomerD]

Damn...we just refinanced our mortgage in...October? Dropped from 5.125% to 3.5%. Made for a nice savings...not sure I could save enough to do it again so soon...but damn.

 

[Bitek]

Very nice coronavirus discount currently. Near or at all time low rates. You might be saving enough to do an IRRRL (interest rate reduction refinance loan) instead of a full refinance (cheaper and less paperwork). I got quoted 20 yrs @2.875% or 25 @3.0% with .325 basis points discount on origination fees today. Get yo’ better loan and save some dough.

Can I ask where you got quoted through?
I did a quick check on nerd wallet for some estimates few days ago and best I got was 3.25%. My current loan is 3.5 so math wasnt great on it.

Maybe Ill have to actually get a real quote to see.

 

[glenn1]

Can I ask where you got quoted through?
I did a quick check on nerd wallet for some estimates few days ago and best I got was 3.25%. My current loan is 3.5 so math wasnt great on it.

Maybe Ill have to actually get a real quote to see.

Sent you a PM with info about who I used, hope they can help you out!

 

[repoman0]

Thanks, just reached out to my mortgage guy. I just bought my place last July at a 30-year term and rates right now are nearly a full percent lower.

 

[zinfamous]

I'm at 3.4% right now on one of those 10-fixed, 5-variable, 15 fixed, 3 years in.

I guess it makes sense to look as I was planning to start thinking about it after another 2 years. ...I did just refinance my car a month ago...damn it! and I'm also sending money to new kitchen stuff, so I'm not sure if I'll want to spend the cash on a refinance, if I can't get one without fees..

 

[purbeast0]

I may need to look into this.

Back in 2012 we got our first house @ 3.875% with no PMI on a fixed 30 year loan.

The past year I started dumping an extra $1k/month into the payment, but I like that I could just take that extra $1k out if need be.

They are advertising rates as low as 2.5% so I may make the call and see what switching to a 15yr loan could net me.

 

[TheVrolok]

I may need to look into this.

Back in 2012 we got our first house @ 3.875% with no PMI on a fixed 30 year loan.

The past year I started dumping an extra $1k/month into the payment, but I like that I could just take that extra $1k out if need be.

They are advertising rates as low as 2.5% so I may make the call and see what switching to a 15yr loan could net me.

I'm doing similar math, I pay about 1k extra toward principal monthly, but I'm at 4.5% on a 30. If I could get into the 2's even on a 15 that would be pretty significant although I'd lose some flexibility.

 

[ShookKnight]

Bankers HATE him!

Click here to find out why!!

 

[overst33r]

We bought a home in October last year at 3.625. Current 30 year rates thru a direct lender are running around 3.375 with no points and some credits; closing costs are around $4200. The monthly payment difference would be about $50 which would take more than 6 years to break even from current. Our time horizon in this house is about 10-15 years. Doesn't seem worth it to me... am i missing anything?

 

[RearAdmiral]

I'm 3-4 years into my 15 year @ 3.25%. ~75k remaining balance. I'm curious if it would be worth it for me.

 

[snoopy7548]

I've been on the fence about refinancing, as I plan to move within six years. I bought in 2012 with a 30-year fixed at 3.75%, and rather than dump extra money into the principal I've been investing it. In the long-run, I should net more with investments than putting that money into my home, especially considering I don't plan on staying here until it's paid off.

 

[glenn1]

We bought a home in October last year at 3.625. Current 30 year rates thru a direct lender are running around 3.375 with no points and some credits; closing costs are around $4200. The monthly payment difference would be about $50 which would take more than 6 years to break even from current. Our time horizon in this house is about 10-15 years. Doesn't seem worth it to me... am i missing anything?

This is strictly a YMMV (your mileage may vary) suggestion and it might not work for everyone. Not running a "free iPad!" scam or trying to drum up business for anyone but figured a generic "check your available refi rates" suggestion might help someone out there. Most folks don't think a lot about mortgage rates and most folks typically think low rates typically occur in terrible economic conditions instead of reasonably good times (by most metrics) like now so some people might not have even thought to check.

 

[purbeast0]

I'm doing similar math, I pay about 1k extra toward principal monthly, but I'm at 4.5% on a 30. If I could get into the 2's even on a 15 that would be pretty significant although I'd lose some flexibility.

Looking at my ammoritization table (or whatever its called) with my current schedule, I'd have it paid off in 12 years. So maybe a 15 year loan isn't worth it unless it dropped it down to a bit less than what I'm paying now.

Thing is though with the flexibility I have of being able to not pay the $1k extra, it's kind of nice because baby #2 is due in August and my wife is going to be staying home for at least a few years.

 

[purbeast0]

I've been on the fence about refinancing, as I plan to move within six years. I bought in 2012 with a 30-year fixed at 3.75%, and rather than dump extra money into the principal I've been investing it. In the long-run, I should net more with investments than putting that money into my home, especially considering I don't plan on staying here until it's paid off.

Damn that is very similar to us lol. Your rate was just .125 lower than us.

I have a good chunk of change I could dump into the principal mortgage and it would cut the mortgage by like 5 years if I were to do that, however I don't know if I should do that or just invest it elsewhere. I'm such a noob to investing.

 

[TheVrolok]

Damn that is very similar to us lol. Your rate was just .125 lower than us.

I have a good chunk of change I could dump into the principal mortgage and it would cut the mortgage by like 5 years if I were to do that, however I don't know if I should do that or just invest it elsewhere. I'm such a noob to investing.

At that rate, your probably better investing the chunk of change in the market (particularly now) as it's likely your returns will outpace your mortgage.

I'm probably better off investing than refinancing and paying down my mortgage, but I just hate having debt, even "good debt."

 

[fskimospy]

Damn that is very similar to us lol. Your rate was just .125 lower than us.

I have a good chunk of change I could dump into the principal mortgage and it would cut the mortgage by like 5 years if I were to do that, however I don't know if I should do that or just invest it elsewhere. I'm such a noob to investing.

Generally speaking an index fund will give you a much higher rate of return than the ~4% that you're talking about with your mortgage here. In addition, money invested in stocks/bonds/whatever is vastly more liquid than money put into your mortgage as you can only recoup your prepaid principal when you sell your home while you can sell stocks any time if you really need to.

So basically my advice would be if you're trying to maximize your returns paying down the principal of your mortgage is probably not a good idea so long as you're comfortable with some risk.

 

[Jhhnn]

This is strictly a YMMV (your mileage may vary) suggestion and it might not work for everyone. Not running a "free iPad!" scam or trying to drum up business for anyone but figured a generic "check your available refi rates" suggestion might help someone out there. Most folks don't think a lot about mortgage rates and most folks typically think low rates typically occur in terrible economic conditions instead of reasonably good times (by most metrics) like now so some people might not have even thought to check.

It's good advice to weigh the options. There are a lot of older higher rate mortgages still in effect. I haven't paid attention because we paid off the house some years ago but the generalized rule of thumb was that a 1% cut def made it worthwhile.

 

[TheVrolok]

It's good advice to weigh the options. There are a lot of older higher rate mortgages still in effect. I haven't paid attention because we paid off the house some years ago but the generalized rule of thumb was that a 1% cut def made it worthwhile.

Still a good rule of thumb. I wouldn't even consider it for a less than 1%.

 

[repoman0]

Still a good rule of thumb. I wouldn't even consider it for a less than 1%.

I'm thinking about doing it for 0.4% and on top of that, probably selling my house within 5-6 years. No closing costs, I'll bank an extra ~$7k when I sell, and also pay $200 less per month in the meantime. Why not ...

 

[TheVrolok]

I'm thinking about doing it for 0.4% and on top of that, probably selling my house within 5-6 years. No closing costs, I'll bank an extra ~$7k when I sell, and also pay $200 less per month in the meantime. Why not ...

Certainly everyone's individual scenario may be a little different which is why it's >1% is a rule of thumb and not hard fact.

Time remaining in house/in mortgage, current rate (fixed vs variable), closing costs/origination fees, etc. etc. all matter in the calculation. Not to mention what eski said, do you want money tied up in a house or free for investments (I purposefully did not say "other investments" as a primary home is absolutely not an investment).

 

[repoman0]

Certainly everyone's individual scenario may be a little different which is why it's >1% is a rule of thumb and not hard fact.

Time remaining in house/in mortgage, current rate (fixed vs variable), closing costs/origination fees, etc. etc. all matter in the calculation. Not to mention what eski said, do you want money tied up in a house or free for investments (I purposefully did not say "other investments" as a primary home is absolutely not an investment).

True, I've got just about 29.5 years left on my mortgage and would be moving to another 30-year so small changes in rate are amplified. Not particularly looking to put more money in the principal per se, but nice that it happens automatically when I'm wasting less money on interest.