Refinance gloat?

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

we are refinancing and I can lock in a 15 year fixedat 3.45% (no points). For those of you that have refi'd or are looking to refi, what are you seeing for rates in your area?

[Kyle Kaldor]

Is that going with your current bank or a different bank/financial service?

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

different bank - local credit union. most of the 'big bank rates' just can't touch anything that local banks or Cu's are offering these days.

[Pat Germain]

FYI, at bankrate.com, you can put in your zip code and check rates in your area.

[Bryan Morgan]

~4% fixed / 30 years... Mine is 4.25

[Tim Morton]

I am shopping for a refi deal now...i was quoted 3.75 over 10 years...zero points and about $2200 in fees.

[Rich Engelhardt]

John - you rate an offical:

YOU SUCK!!

;)

From me so It looks like its a gloat for sure!

We're locked in for another 6 months or so @ something in the 8's on one 20 year note.
Oh well - the good news there is that it helps our bottom line come April 15th.

[David Weaver]

Yeah, just did 4.25 here. Cheapest I could've gotten at the time was 3.99, but I like my loan agent and the service is worth the difference. Rate isn't so important to me, i don't plan to take long paying off the loan, but it was at 6% from purchasing in 2006, and worth the move.

3.45 is stellar, especially if you intend to pay the loan off at the scheduled pace.

[Phil Thien]

I imagine with unemployment going in the wrong direction and all the talk of FR stimulus, that interest rates may continue to fall.

I only have eight years left on my current 5%, with not much principal left. I almost feel like buying a new house to take advantage of the rates. Almost.

[Randal Stevenson]

I imagine with unemployment going in the wrong direction and all the talk of FR stimulus, that interest rates may continue to fall.

I only have eight years left on my current 5%, with not much principal left. I almost feel like buying a new house to take advantage of the rates. Almost.



LOL, I was thinking the same thing, except I paid mine off on my 40th birthday this year. I've half (censored) looked, but no payments seem better. I keep thinking the next one, I will build.
A friend just bought her first house, hadn't had the first payment, and lost her job. Hearing that type of stuff, is what makes me take pause, even with some houses going for about 50% of what they were two years ago. The last week for us, has been the first slow one during this whole recession. NOW I am paranoid (finally hitting us).

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

LOL, I was thinking the same thing, except I paid mine off on my 40th birthday this year. I've half (censored) looked, but no payments seem better. I keep thinking the next one, I will build.
A friend just bought her first house, hadn't had the first payment, and lost her job. Hearing that type of stuff, is what makes me take pause, even with some houses going for about 50% of what they were two years ago. The last week for us, has been the first slow one during this whole recession. NOW I am paranoid (finally hitting us).


A recession is when your neighbor loses his job, a depression is when you lose yours.


I don't think I would be looking at buying a first house these days - but for those who have them, these rates are a great deal. I have to agree that they are not so great to make me want to pick up any more real estate...

[David Weaver]

LOL, I was thinking the same thing, except I paid mine off on my 40th birthday this year. I've half (censored) looked, but no payments seem better. I keep thinking the next one, I will build.
A friend just bought her first house, hadn't had the first payment, and lost her job. Hearing that type of stuff, is what makes me take pause, even with some houses going for about 50% of what they were two years ago. The last week for us, has been the first slow one during this whole recession. NOW I am paranoid (finally hitting us).

I'd be worried about the same thing - low payments on an interest rate basis with equity that is greater than the house value after the interest rates go back up.

Then you'd have payments that looked relevant to the same payments at a higher rate with lower equity, except you'd have less interest to write off.

If I was a cash buyer, I would be waiting for quite a while before I started throwing my cash into real-estate equity, no matter what type.

We have an interesting squeeze going on here with commercial space. A lot of it was bought in the last ten years at high values, and the commercial landlords are trying to put the squeeze on their tenants so they can cover those payments. The tenants are just going out of business when rent is holding the line, and they disappear fast when it increases. I guess when enough of the tenants bolt, the real estate will just go back to the lender (and I'm sure they've got little interest in that happening given their cost structure and inability to do things nimbly - like turn that property over quickly and without a lot of legal and documentation costs).

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I only have eight years left on my current 5%, with not much principal left. I almost feel like buying a new house to take advantage of the rates. Almost.

We were in the same boat. We were at 5.5%. We signed up for a 5/1 (3.25%) and will have shortened our mortgage (with same payment) by a year.

These are historic times for rates.

[Jim Becker]

I just started looking at this and it's likely we'll get something close to 4% for 30 years. But it's too soon to tell right now. I need the payment to drop as our escrow items went up considerably after our addition triggered a property tax increase and our insurance went up a good bit, too. We're currently at 5.75%, so I suspect we'll be able to accomplish what we want. And when I have a good month, I can throw a little extra at the principle to shorten the loan.

Mike H, that sounds similar to the ING deal. They do have very attractive 5 and 7 year balloon contracts, but I really can't bring myself to risk the balloon and what could potentially happen to rates. By that time, I'll be dealing with college costs...hopefully, at least.