Mortgage Refinancing

[smilin]

I'm surprised nobody has even started in on the difference between a mortgage broker that just acts as a salesman for anyone lending money and a mortgage guy who actually works for the company that has the money to lend. There's quite a difference...

Please, oh brilliant one, do explain how somebody working for one source of a commodity will get you a lower rate than someone who has 135 sources?

The key words are: compare your costs from several sources.

 

[djpbuckethead5]

The rates are too good to resist.

Does anybody have any recommendations of a local company/person to see about this?

We currently have a fixed 30 year at 6% and are interested in a 15 year at a much lower rate.

Vickie Milburn with George Mason Mortgage. She is great. We went from a 30 year to a 15 fixed at 3.25.

 

[renegadeslave]

Did any of ya'll that refinanced need to get an appraisal and all that stuff done over again?

 

[foodforthought]

Did any of ya'll that refinanced need to get an appraisal and all that stuff done over again?

Yes we had to have an appraisal done in the beginning and pay for that up front.....we bought in 2008 and refinance at the end of last year....Everything had to be done again just as if we were buying a brand new home....but the refi seemed to take much longer from start to finish than our original mortgage.

 

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

Ha. I tried this with our mortgage company, Wells Fargo. We can make the payments twice a month, but they cannot get credited to our loan until we meet the minimum payment. It's nice that the whole chunk doesn't come out of one paycheck, but doesn't do much for our interest.

I would not recommend First Mariner. They sold our mortgage to Wells Fargo one month after we bought our house. After our mortgage guy, Jeff Gay, swore up and down that was what the other mortgage company we were looking at was going to do. Ugh.

Wells Fargo is one of the worst one's to deal with. JMHO
Ask me how I know. They want the "minimum"; meaning, full payment amount NLT the due date. It is said there is a "grace period". Grace period "shmace period"! During that "grace period" they tack on late fees. I don't care WHAT they say.

If you have a choice, stay the H*ll away from WFHM.
And NO, that's not a radio station.

 

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

x 1000

 

[GWguy]

Did any of ya'll that refinanced need to get an appraisal and all that stuff done over again?

No, because I refinanced with the same company.

 

[awpitt]

My company did not charge for the service. The big advantage is that it was deducted automatically from my bank account on time every month, and I didn't have to do a thing.

And the above is not true. Paying 1/2 the monthly 2 weeks early knocks your interest down early each month. You wind up saving much more in interest than if you simply added one extra months payment.

Actually, you're not paying 1/2 2 weeks early. You're paying 1/2 2 weeks late. The traditional 1st of the month payment includes interest in advance for that month (ie. March 1st pmt is interest for March, not Feb). Anyone who's paid attention at settlement knows they paid the first installment of interest as part of settlement. Therefore all subsequent 1st of the month payments include interest for the month that is starting, not the previous month.

 

[GWguy]

Can you tell me what company you are using? I've seen where it shows "posted" to your account but the payment isn't made until the full amount is there, kind of an escrow that is paid out monthly if that makes better sense. I'd very interested, never seen this and you are correct in that would save much, much more interest.

Thanks!

GMAC.

Actually, you're not paying 1/2 2 weeks early. You're paying 1/2 2 weeks late. The traditional 1st of the month payment includes interest in advance for that month (ie. March 1st pmt is interest for March, not Feb). Anyone who's paid attention at settlement knows they paid the first installment of interest as part of settlement. Therefore all subsequent 1st of the month payments include interest for the month that is starting, not the previous month.

Fine. Whatever. I saw my statements, and I'm done with it. Do as you will.

 

[awpitt]

Can you tell me what company you are using? I've seen where it shows "posted" to your account but the payment isn't made until the full amount is there, kind of an escrow that is paid out monthly if that makes better sense. I'd very interested, never seen this and you are correct in that would save much, much more interest.

Thanks!

It's even better if you happen to get a big tax refund, to use an amount from that that's equal to your monthly house payment and send it in a lump sum applied to principal. That will save lots of $ expodentially in the long term.

 

[Gilligan]

Which what would be even better is to up your deductions to bring home more money on payday and mail than in vs. giving the government an interest free loan.

x10. Nobody should ever be receiving a refund of any significant amount.

 

[awpitt]

Which what would be even better is to up your deductions to bring home more money on payday and mail than in vs. giving the government an interest free loan, waiting for them to give it back to you and then mailing it in.

Absolutley.

You'll notice I said if you happen to get a big refund. Something I don't recommend for the very reason you mentioned.

I got a big refund at one point and readjusted my W4. Took the extra payday money and rerouted it to my 401K.

 

[smilin]

I'm sure you have a "vested interest" in trying to preach the qualities of independent mortgage brokers that routinely close up and disappear in the middle of the night.

On the way down, they morph into things like foreclosure specialists trying to save the same people they screwed on the way up.

 

[smilin]

Actually, you're not paying 1/2 2 weeks early. You're paying 1/2 2 weeks late. The traditional 1st of the month payment includes interest in advance for that month (ie. March 1st pmt is interest for March, not Feb). Anyone who's paid attention at settlement knows they paid the first installment of interest as part of settlement. Therefore all subsequent 1st of the month payments include interest for the month that is starting, not the previous month.

Actually that's not right. You pay rent in advance, mortgage in arrears. The interest you pay at settlement is escrow money. That's why you try to close as near to the end of the month as possible. Once you live in your house for a month you pay your first mortgage payment.

 

[GWguy]

Actually that's not right. You pay rent in advance, mortgage in arrears. The interest you pay at settlement is escrow money. That's why you try to close as near to the end of the month as possible. Once you live in your house for a month you pay your first mortgage payment.

Correct. And that's where you can knock tons off the mortgage. Don't wait for the 1st scheduled payment. Put a full month's payment directly against the principal as close to, or at, closing as you can.

 

[Rommey]

I couldn't afford a single mortgage payment at the first of the month, so I wrote two checks each month. I tried to send in a check on the 15th and the other half on the 1st and NationsBank said that I was late because they didn't receive the whole payment on the 1st. For a few years I still wrote the two checks but sent them both in at the same time. Made them cash two checks every month.

After the first year I started to round up to the nearest hundred, which meant I was adding about $40 extra principle every month. (Hey, it was all I could afford). That extra slowly went to $50, then $100, then $200...all extra principle. After about a few years NationsBank and BofA merged and BofA took over the mortgage and I got a new amortization table and I had knocked about 2 years off the end, so I was down to a 28-year (+) mortgage.

When I refinanced, my payments were every two weeks and each payment was roughly equal to what my monthly payment was supposed to be. Basically I was paying the equivalent of 26 "monthly" payments every year.

 

[foodforthought]

x10. Nobody should ever be receiving a refund of any significant amount.

Curious as to what is considered a "significant refund" ?

 

[Gilligan]

Curious as to what is considered a "significant refund" ?

Anything around a couple hundred dollars maximum in refund means you've got your filing status nailed really well and are correctly managing your tax liability. A refund of 5 bucks you are a true financial guru.

A couple thousand refund on on the other hand?.. your are grossly mishandling your own money; although you would not be earning much in way of interest on it these days, you could have been reducing your interest-bearing debt with it.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

Ask me how I know. They want the "minimum"; meaning, full payment amount NLT the due date. It is said there is a "grace period". Grace period "shmace period"! During that "grace period" they tack on late fees. I don't care WHAT they say.
.

Would you want your employer to pay you on pay day, or would you rather them have a 10-day grace period where they pay you on the 9th day at the 23rd hour?

A due date is just that. I agree with late fees starting on the first day of non payment.

 

[Vince]

The rates are too good to resist.

Does anybody have any recommendations of a local company/person to see about this?

We currently have a fixed 30 year at 6% and are interested in a 15 year at a much lower rate.

Colonial Savings. Not a local company, but I had my mortgage with them for 20 years and then a refinance and their customer service is excellent. They don't sell your mortgage or at least they didn't when I was with them. Rates are about what everyone else is giving.

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