Mortgage Refinance - have you taken advantage of the LOW rates?

[marrelam]

I think I might want to refinance our current home loan (only a year old). We have a 30yr. fixed rate and only want to refi for another fixed rate loan. Our current interest rate is 5.25. Any advice?

[melodyjg]

Definitely compare the fees to what you will save. You may find it's a wash if there are high fees.

[Macaela25]

That's why we haven't done anything....we are at 5.825. I'm not putting out a couple thousand, and we're underwater, so it wouldn't happen anyway.

[Spanelli8706]

We received an offer from our bank to refinance back in 2009. They paid all fees. We went from 5.25% to 4.65%. The refinance resulted in our monthly mortgage payment dropping several hundred dollars, so it was great for us. We had a 30 yr fixed rate originally and had only been in our home for 17 mos. We refinanced to another 30yr fixed rate. Not sure we would have done it if we would have been responsible for all associated fees. Shop around and see what offers are out there... if it saves you money then it may be worth it.

[meems]

I am on a 15 yr loan & just pulled up rates a few days ago, one example I have for my area is, 3.250 APR 3.337, 0 points, $900 fee (rolled into mortgage so nothing OOP). I believe the standard is one full point to justify fees, you always have appraisal fees, but they can roll all of that into the mtg., as long as you have the required equity, I would look into it..obviously I am on that track!

I googled 15 yr mortgage fixed Ohio, the link I went to was google advisor, it doesn't make you give your email to get rate information, looks like when I printed the page, the phone numbers did not come over so I will have to search it again.

[JulieDB]

We are at 6% and have not yet because the place my husband was going to do it through was going to charge us $2,000 and then I read bad things online about them. Things like that they demand the money up front then string you along for a long time only in the end to find some reason why they can't refinance but they can keep your money.

He is currently looking into something else but I don't have much hope about it.

[meems]

Yes you might pay $2,000, but it is added to your mortgage balance & if you have decent credit there is no need to pay upfront points...UNLESS you want to buy into a lower rate, which paying upfront can help that. At 6% you will recoup your money spent FAST! When we went from 30 to 15 yr mortgage a while back, we cut $150K off our total mortgage, be sure & look at the big picture!

[meems]

We received an offer from our bank to refinance back in 2009. They paid all fees. We went from 5.25% to 4.65%. The refinance resulted in our monthly mortgage payment dropping several hundred dollars, so it was great for us. We had a 30 yr fixed rate originally and had only been in our home for 17 mos. We refinanced to another 30yr fixed rate. Not sure we would have done it if we would have been responsible for all associated fees. Shop around and see what offers are out there... if it saves you money then it may be worth it.

This is where it gets tricky...you might assume they paid all fees, but they don't, they roll the fees into your balance. That is fine, they must get paid, but be aware that's how it works, or they wouldn't be in business. You still benefit even with the fees.

[StacyNVA]

We just refinanced about a month and 1/2 ago. Went down 1.5% so definitely worth it. Fees rolled in to mortgage about $2000. Payment went down over $150. Will take just over a year to recoup fees.

[marrelam]

Good advice and opinions everyone. I seriously think we're going to go for it. I do wish though that the best rates were from a local bank rather than some internet mortgage company.