The last Re-Fi

[rubato]

"I've been fooled now, for the very last time, and now I'm finally free" Bob Dylan*


I said it before but now I really mean it. This is the very last time we re-finance the house. We bought it with a very generous no-interest second mortgage from the partnership (technically it earns interest the first five years and then the interest is forgiven annually for the last five) which is coming due and interest rates were very attractive so I thought I'd take care of this a few months early. 3.75% ! I wouldn't loan money to myself at that rate. Anyway its locked and loaded and scheduled to close this month, for our sakes before the 23rd. Fees are nominal except for the title company who get an awful lot for making the same promise they made on the same title for the 4th time now. You'd think there would be a discount!

yrs,
rubato

* At his self-mocking sardonic best.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I paid my mortgage off in August, three year ahead of schedule (it was a 15yr mortgage). I no longer rent my house from the bank. (the gov is a different story)

[rubato]

They're giving us money at 3.75%, one of the med school loans is at 1.25%; we would be crazy to pay those off. We average much more than that in income on other assets.


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

Our house in Cornwall is self funding, we'd be daft to take out more money against it.

[MajGenl.Meade]

So, when are you getting the loan?

[Gob]

[BoSoxGal]

My mortgage interest rate is 3.25%.

[rubato]

My mortgage interest rate is 3.25%.

Have mercy, did you threaten a banker with a corruption investigation?

Anhow all the documents have been rounded up, scanned and sent off to the great lender in the sky. Appraisal is Sunday and signing off is ASAP.

It occurs to me that Zillow, and others like them, aggregating mortgage information has made mortgage brokers obsolete. Resurrect Ned Ludd! Yet another business model wiped out by the internut.


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

My mortgage interest rate is 3.25%.

Expensive over there, isn't it?

Banking giant HSBC is next week launching its lowest-ever, five-year fixed-rate mortgage at 2.48 per cent, potentially saving homeowners tens of thousands of pounds.

[MajGenl.Meade]

How does that work Gob? Five year fixed - then what; if it's not paid off, it must be refinanced and the rate might be much higher?

We have variable loans which carry a very low rate for five years (say) and then can change periodically over the life of the loan - often 30 years I think. I'm paying 4.5% 30-year fixed which is good here in NE Ohio. Still, rubato and bsg's numbers indicate I should take another look.

[Gob]

It's fixed for the first five years, then you renegotiate, is my understanding.

[Guinevere]

MGM - of course you have to compare apples and apples, including term and conditions of the loan, as well as the size. More money = more risk = higher rate. Local conditions also make a difference.

The five-year fixed is usually followed by a balloon payment, so generally they are simply the entry into the mortgage and a short-term fix. Of course, you take the risk of a rate swing up (or down). But yes, do take another look. My rate on a 30-year fixed is a good bit lower than yours.

[Jarlaxle]

My mortgage interest rate is 3.25%.

That's about what mine was.

My stepfather's car loan is 1.65%.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Huh. I just checked and the best I could see was 3.87% fixed 30. Hardly worth it is it?

[rubato]

3.75% when I can get > 7% every year on investments is free money. Have mercy!

yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

Well rube since (as you've said a number of times ) you think you ought to be paying more to the federal government, I imagine ("imagine" being the operative word here) you're going to whip out your check book and send a little extra to your Uncle Sam to show your appreciation for your good fortune...He'll be happy to accept it...

Oh, wait a minute, I forgot...

It's not your money...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Really?

[Guinevere]

Meade, you'd have to sit down and do the math to see if the 3/4th of a percentage point was worth the costs. It will necessarily depend on where you are in the 30 year term, or if you could possible shorten the term (and likely get an even better rate).

[BoSoxGal]

I almost got 2.75%, but the first house I was going to buy needed lots more renovating than I could afford. By the time I bought a few months later, it had jumped another half percent.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Meade, you'd have to sit down and do the math to see if the 3/4th of a percentage point was worth the costs. It will necessarily depend on where you are in the 30 year term, or if you could possible shorten the term (and likely get an even better rate).

We're about 0.5 years into the loan and we're thinking of moving anyway - this place we got isn't working as it should. So a re-fi is not a real option.