Anyone Refinance Their House Recently?

I've been planning to refinance my home, but I waited too long. Right now, I'm looking at a 6 3/8% 20 yr. fixed loan which will cost me $1,676 a month. A month and a half ago, I could have refinanced at 0.75% lower, which would have cost me more than $100 less a month for 20 years. That's an additional $24,000! The price of a new car! Or, I could buy $100 worth of flashlights every month for 20 years! ARGH!!!!!!!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Anybody have any good or bad experiences refinancing their homes? I can tell you Washingtom Mutual sucks!!! They baited me in with a low fixed interest rate, then when I was in their office to sign the papers, they tried to switch me to an adjustable loan that would have cost me well over $200 a month for 30 years! The ahole at Washingtom Mutual even had the gall to say, "It's just $200!" I swear!!! Ya! Why doesn't he cut me a check for $200+ every month for 30 years! That's $72,000+!!!!! Scum *******s. I'll never do business with Washington Mutual again.

Also bad was Bank of America. Their rates were totally uncompetitive. And, their people didn't seem to know anything about loans or refinancing. They were very unsure about all the questions I asked them. But, at least they weren't trying to con me like those CROOKS AT WASHINGTON MUTUAL.

I also tried DiTech, but didn't find their rates to be that great. A friend got a great loan from Wells Fargo, but he happened to refinance at a really good time. Another friend refinanced at Green Light Financial Services, and seemed pretty satisfied with them.

Lets hear from you guys. Any success or horror stories about refiancing your home? Although I know its gonna kill me, I'm wondering who got the lowest rate? Maybe 5% fixed?

Bruise

It's been my experience that banks usually do not have decent rates. Around here the private mortgage companies are the way to go. Also, I have heard really good things about looking on the net. Are you SURE you want a 30 year fixed note? Most people don't stick around that long. You could go for a 10 year ARM or something like that.

I refi'd about a year ago. Had an $1100 payment on a 30 year - turned it into a $1200 payment on a 15 year. Worked out kind of nice. I put about $500 more toward the principal per month now than I did before. I did mine through a mortgae broker. They usually get the mortgages through a smaller bank, who then immediately sells the loan to Wells Fargo.

Try Wells Fargo Bank. Several times I was sent a packet of forms by them and an offer for a trouble free refi.

I finally accepted their offer last September for 5.25% for 15 years, no points, no fees, no hidden charges! It was a straight refi no cash out. Loan closed in 30 days.

What makes it special is that even though I had refinanced two times previously (First loan in 1983 was 13.25% to 10.5% in 1988 to 8.5% in 1994 to 5.25% in 2003) was the quick trouble free experience. The previous refis had been pains in the butts.

1) Wells Fargo took loan app info over the phone which took 45 minutes.
2)Two weeks later they sent two sets of thick forms. One set was mine to keep.
3) The other set of forms was to sign and have notarized, cost $13
4) I send their copy back by UPS with a preprinted mailer they supplied.

Loan closed last day of month. That was it, nothing else, no crud to send them, nothing. It was so simple it was incredible. The previous refis had been so complicated, aggravating and filled with stress I am amazed and shocked how easy this was! Day after loan funded I was pissed, why were the other refi's so difficult, when they didn't need to be?

GregR

Greetings All,

Timing is everything. I got a 4.875% 15 year fixed rate with 0 points with E-Loan 2 months ago. The whole process was a snap. Almost everything was handled through e-mail. They even sent a notarized agent to our home to sign the papers. The key is keeping a close eye on the daily rates, then pulling the trigger when you find the rate you're happy with. Good luck!

-jim

Bruise

Washington Mutual has a very bad reputation for home loans and should be avoided.

I got a 30 year mortgage from National City about 3 months ago and it went incredibly smooth with minimal communications and prompt closing. They are big (did $73 Billion in mortgages last year!) and don't mince words.

Here's a link.

Check out BankRate.com for daily rates and lock in quickly when you find something that you like. This mortgage stuff is very competitive and you can get almost all of the points and fees either waived or included in the financed amount.

Rates are not going down so make your move.

Marty

Bruise,

I agree with your assessment of Washington Mutual. They bought my mortgage from another company and I was glad to be rid of them when I refi'd.

I had a similar experience to yours with Bank of America when looking for a car loan. I do a lot of business with them but they didn't seem to interested in getting my car loan business. Their rates are horrible. I guess they just want to get the people who are too lazy to look around for a better deal. I ended up getting a great rate (2.4%) through my credit union (DCU).

I refinanced using Ditech. They didn't have the best rates overall but they had the best deal for my particular situation. I got a rate 0.5 higher than their standard mortgage in exchange for them paying all closing costs (not rolling them into the mortgage). I think this is called a "rolldown" mortgage. I still lowered my monthly payment, and I had no out-of-pocket expenses (which was important as there is a good possibility I won't be in this house long enough to recoup the closing costs through the savings). On the other hand, I got a fixed rate because there's also a possibility I will be here for a long time.

If you know that you're going to be in the house only for a short time, up to 7 years or so then you should definitely look into a balloon payment mortgage. We got one of these for the first house we owned because we knew we were only there for 3 years. So a 5 year balloon payment got us almost 3/4 of a point better than a 30 year. Course, they will want repayment of the remaining amount after the time period. So you are forced either to have sold the house by then and paid it off, or refinance the remaining amount at that time. Which isn't a big deal unless the market has really gone down the tubes and rates gone up. Honestly, I think we're looking at the best the rates are going to be for a while right now. The Fed is warning people that they are going to have to start raising interest rates soon...

If you're really needing a 30 year fixed, then there is already some good advise in the thread for you beyond my experience /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

It has definitely been a good time recently to buy your dream home. I refinanced, but we are in a house that we will definitely be out of in a few years, so my low rate will be gone with the wind at that point. I wish you could get a mortage that you could transfer from house to house as you move. Wouldn't that be great?

I was with Northwest, then Wells Fargo, now Ditech(twice-refi-ed) My experience was OK with them. My sister is in the real-estate business, and put me on to a personal friend as the mortgage broker. No tricks, just told me the bottom line, and final fees. I was even able to adjust down .25 during the closing process when their rates went down, it was in the fine print in the paperwork, and I had to ASK(and follow up with a paper request) to get it. And when you make extra payments to your equity, make sure it gets credited that way next month... Like everybody says, keep an eye on the rates and always be ready to pull the trigger. But with the way the feds are talking, they should be going up soon, unless the oil prices shoots down the economy. Good luck!

[ QUOTE ]
Double_A said:
Try Wells Fargo Bank. Several times I was sent a packet of forms by them and an offer for a trouble free refi.

I finally accepted their offer last September for 5.25% for 15 years, no points, no fees, no hidden charges! It was a straight refi no cash out. Loan closed in 30 days.

[/ QUOTE ]

We got and accepted this same offer but what was never stated was that they rolled all of their fees into the loan amount.
No points, no fees, no hidden charges may be technically true but they did find a way to take their cut.

I would recommend checking a local credit union if you're eligible.
In my experience they always have better rates and better service than banks.

Yea I was afraid of something like that. I had my mon who used to be in Real Estate (dad was also a broker) check everything over, it was cool. Loan balance did not increase, no surprises. The 5.25% was not the best I could have done at the time if I had really shopped, but I had no heart to do that after my previous experiences. Alot of others who made offers to refi, backed out when they found out my loan balance was under 60k.

Who knows I'm happy lowered my payment and I'll be paid off when I turn 66.

GregR

P.S. those DiTech loans sound pretty good though. My youngest brother told me to talk to Ditech, he got a super loan. But then again he is in sales and can talk his way into getting freebies and other goodies all the time that amaze the rest of the family.

[ QUOTE ]
GJW said:
I would recommend checking a local credit union if you're eligible.
In my experience they always have better rates and better service than banks.

[/ QUOTE ]
I actually belong to two credit unions. Yes, their interest rates are great. But, they offer very few loans. And, their loan application packet is as thick as Bill Gates wallet!

I would definitely rate their service above any banks, though. They definitely seem to be less interested in making money off you.

Bruise

Last year, I got a similar deal as Double_A with Wells Fargo and had the same great, easy, quick experience. I asked if they rolled the "free charges" into loan amount, and they said no. The form said "paid by lender" next to all the fees. I also verified that the loan amount was the same as the payoff amount of my previous loan. I'm pretty sure that it really was a "free" loan (except for the interest of course.)

Bruise - I just received my latest statement from Wells Fargo, and the included a "Special Friends and Family Closing Discount" coupon. Not sure what it's good for, but they say to look online at www.wellsfargo.com/mortgage and mention code DMR7AKM. Maybe it can save you some $$.