driven262 asked:
I want to decrease my monthly mortgage payments. My payment went from $675 last year to $784 this year, because of escrow increase. I would like to lower that. We have a 30 yr fixed 6.65%. No prepay fees from current lender. We have only owned our home for 17 mos and we are new to this. Would it make sense to refinance to get a lower payment? If so what kinds of questions should I ask the lenders and what kind of fees are involved?
NELSON
I want to decrease my monthly mortgage payments. My payment went from $675 last year to $784 this year, because of escrow increase. I would like to lower that. We have a 30 yr fixed 6.65%. No prepay fees from current lender. We have only owned our home for 17 mos and we are new to this. Would it make sense to refinance to get a lower payment? If so what kinds of questions should I ask the lenders and what kind of fees are involved?
NELSON
ALBERT
I don’t think you would’ve paid off enough of the principal for refinancing to benefit you.
However, since interest rates are so low now…it may actually help.
Comment by WT — January 6, 2009 @ 5:53 pm
DARRIN
If your credit is in OK roder, do it! We were asked to by our lender and have ahd a house just as long as you ahve. Out rate is a fixed 30 yr 6.375. You can get them now for 5%! DO IT. Congrats!
Comment by CAT — January 6, 2009 @ 6:57 pm
LAMAR
You should talk to the lender and have them work something up for you. With all the fees and everything involved in refinancing, you may not wind up with a better deal.
Comment by Jo — January 7, 2009 @ 6:09 am
AUGUST
I think you get a lower interest rate than that. They are average 5 and 1/2. Talk to a mortgage company about getting that lowered and it would help your payment.
Comment by Alison S — January 7, 2009 @ 9:06 am
RICARDO
You most likely can’t, but myself I don’t think starting over is ever good on a mortgage
Comment by King H — January 8, 2009 @ 6:56 pm
BROCK
i dont see why not. at least eventually.
Comment by courtney v — January 10, 2009 @ 3:35 am
CLYDE
You may be able to refi to a lower rate if you have enough equity, but you’ll have to look closely at refi costs. And you’ll always have taxes and insurance no matter what your loan rate.
Comment by engineer50 — January 12, 2009 @ 3:51 am
MILES
Well, there’s a lot to consider here.
1. Is the value of the house at least the same as when you got this mortgage? What is the current loan to value ratio? How much did you put down. Many lenders will finance 100% of a purchase, but not more than 90% or 95% on a refi. Depending on where you live, the value of your home may have decreased.
2. How’s your credit? If you credit is better than it was when you bought the home, you may be able to get a better rate. If it’s worse, you might actually find only higher rates.
3. Do you want to pay closing costs again? CAN you come up with another couple thousand, or can you fit that much into the loan? You might call a lender that has no cost closings — NOT rolled in, but the lender actually absorbs the closing costs. Bank of America offers this, and there are probably others.
Check with your current lender and see if they have a better rate available now. They may be able to do a rate modification with a small charge and no closing costs…just a few hundred dollars tops.
Comment by daeve930 — January 12, 2009 @ 11:57 pm
RODNEY
With your rate currently at 6.65%, you should be able to refinance at a significantly lower interest rate. If you qualify for refinancing, by all means, do so.
Comment by Greg H — January 16, 2009 @ 8:49 am
ISAAC
If you plan on staying in the home long enough to recoup the closing costs on the refinance, do so.
When comparing loans, make sure you are comparing everything, not just rates.
Comment by godged — January 17, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
VITO
Assuming you do have some equity, I would wait for the rates to appreciably drop here in the next few months. You’ll still be giving up something to get what you want, and that’s the equity you’ve gained so far, in points and fees. It’s always a trade-off.
I”m also assuming there’s a nice increase in value of the property you just bought 17 mos ago, and that’s why you bought it. But, you should have expected your taxes to go up accordingly, too. It’s going to take a nice drop in the rates to make this worthwhile, or I don’t recommend it, because you have the 30 yr fixed, and that’s about as low and stable a payment as it gets, unless you start playing with 2 to 5 yr ARM’s, and I don’t recommend that either. Not for this issue, anyway.
So, either a really really low rate to make it worth your while, or just suck up the increase in taxes, or sell the house and take the equity and buy something else in a more stable tax zone.
Comment by cruzking2000 — January 21, 2009 @ 2:19 am
CALVIN
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Comment by Op P — January 22, 2009 @ 5:21 am