Home buying advice needed (1 Viewer)

[Jim J]

Stacie,

Fortunately, our home's value has gone up approximately 35% since we bought it, so we're currently in the process of refinancing, through which we're getting a lower interest rate, cash out to pay off our car loan, and no PMI. Pretty good deal after only two years, though if you're getting a mortgage now, I don't suppose you can count on rates going much lower

Did you do this with your first bank, and did need to go with another lender?

Thinking of doing this myself, and want the best angle.

tia

 

[Tim Abbott]

Jim--

A little secret.....call the company servicing your current mortgage and tell them you are going to refinance. Don't say maybe or that you are looking into it, tell them you are definitely going to do it. A lot of times they will offer to just lower your rate for a fee of $100-300.

If they tell you that you have to completely refinance and pay $1500-$2000 in closing costs, tell them thanks and then find another lender through a personal recommendation (family, friend, etc.) If you have to pay full closing costs, it doesn't hurt to see what else is out there besides the lender you are dealing with.

Tim

 

[Jim J]

Thanks

But I don't just want to lower my rate, I want to eliminate teh PMI too, which isn't a small banana on my loan.

 

[Stacie]

Jim,

We're using a mortgage broker, so no, we're not going with the same lender. The broker did the legwork for us figuring out which lender would give us the best deal. She has made the entire process much less of a hassle than it might have been -- a very good thing, since neither I nor my husband has any extra time (he has two jobs, I work full time and go to school).

If your lender is a small bank with whom you have a strong personal relationship, it might be worth seeing what they will do for you. In our case, our lender is a huge bank with which we have never done any other business. But YMMV.