Another mortgage refinance question

[jIM_Ohio]

Just closed on my re-fi today. 4.3875% <---(this was a good rate 3 weeks ago when I locked it :-)

Yeah, it's a bit of a pain of a process dealing with lenders and lawyers, but like others pointed out, the hourly rate for your time is well worth it in the long run.

I now have no HELOC 2nd mortgage, no escrow, and a lower monthly payment (if I want/need to pay less at some point). Win, Win, Win.

slug

LOL I got 4.25% hahahahaha

LOL

I am getting an FHA loan though, so I went from 2 payments (1st and 2nd) to one payment and that payment has some PMI on it, but it was still WAY WAY lower than what I was paying even with the PMI.

[disneysteve]

Thanks for all of the replies. You've convinced me.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Just refi for free as well 3.625% 5/1 Arm out of a 7/1 ARM I had at 4.25% and was 5 years in.

The big winner for us was going from Jumbo loan to a conforming loan of $417k. Nice.

[zetta]

Refinancing Your Mortgage - Closing Costs versus Loan Prepayment
This refinance calculator figures out when a new refinancing would start saving you money compared to just taking the closing costs money and using that to pay down your mortgage balance

[m.f.walters]

just refinanced our mortgage. Got a 4% 10/1 arm. fixed for 10 years, with a 5% cap in any one year and 5% life time cap. Our children will be out of college in 5 years and off on their own. the plan is that we will sell when the prices in our town rebound-anytime in the next 10 years obviously. But just in case? we can afford the mortgage if it ends up at the highest, 9%. Save almost $450 a month, going straight to debt repayment, then savings.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Forgot to add my cap is 8.625% for the life of the loan.

[terces]

The same question about refinancing goes through my mind when I hear the low rates. Funny I have just about the same loan balance and rate as DS. Except we are only 5 years into our 30 year loan. The one big difference is we are looking to selling in four years. House is just too big and taxes too high. Should I even look at refinancing? I always heard its better if you are staying in the house for the long term.

[frugalgirl]

The same question about refinancing goes through my mind when I hear the low rates. Funny I have just about the same loan balance and rate as DS. Except we are only 5 years into our 30 year loan. The one big difference is we are looking to selling in four years. House is just too big and taxes too high. Should I even look at refinancing? I always heard its better if you are staying in the house for the long term.

You've heard it is better to consider refinancing if you are going to be in the house for a long time because over time you will recoup your refinance charges with the interest you save on the better refi rate. If you are only 5 years in on your loan, you still have a significant amount of interest left to pay. Plug your current information into one of the online mortgage calculators that includes the amortization table. See how much interest you'd pay over the next 4 years vs. what you'd pay with refinancing to the lower rate. Add in the refinance charges and see if it is worth it for you to do the refinance.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

We are only staying 1 more year in our house and we refinanced. It saves us $375/month and we refi without fees. So immediate $375 savings a month.