Skip to main content

Refinancing Realities

Yesterday, I was in the position of wanting to make the most of my day off and I decided to try and refinance the mortgage...or at least learn what the steps would be if I chose to do it.

So what caused me to think this would be a good time to refinance? I have been watching the financial shows very carefully and I thought that the rates had dropped into the mid fives and a rate that low would be a big savings. My experience showed however that the experience described on TV is not available for everyone.

I placed a quick call to my mortgage company and learned that there was a limit now for people refinancing. This limit for my bank is a limit of ten percent equity...which would be an easy goal if we did not have the housing bubble collapse. And in order to determine whether or not I met the criteria, I would have to front the cost of an appraisal...a risky venture.

The point of this post is simply to share my experience. Perhaps this will motivate people to check on refinancing for themselves. The savings each month can be significant if it works.

From a selfish perspective though, I just keep hoping that the next congress passes some kind of relief for people refinancing without such a high equity limit, but a good credit score.

Comments

Anonymous said…
We've refinanced twice and bought two homes. The process is too much to think of doing again. The mountain of paperwork is not something to look forward to. I hated the gathering of all the financials they asked for.
9:27 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do Better With Your Time

Recently, I've been extremely busy with some work commitments. The interesting thing for me is that this increased work activity has really helped crystallize some of my feelings with regard to time. And these ideas are a critical part about my view on personal finance. I'm curious to know if others feel similarly. Time is money. That is, Time, in some way, contains energy. Money, is also energy. In the act of working, I am able to compound and increase the amount of money that I have. I am exchanging my time and effort and thought which are components of my work, for the productivity that I produce. And this production gets me money from my employer. However, the first dollars that I make each day, week, or month are the most valuable. Then the ones that I make at the end are the most valuable. (Forget about taxes for a minute.) The reason is, the first ones help me have a place to live and food to eat. And the last ones are the ones that I can use to really improve my life lo...
3 comments
Read more

Awkward Family Money Situations

I was about to write this as a comment, but its quite long and brings up a ton of issues so here goes. First, check out  <a href=" http://hereverycentcounts.blogspot.com/2007/06/money-and-etiquette-why-are-important.html ">this story at here every cent counts</a>. Now on to my response. I am just mortified by this story. I cannot even imagine that people with kids would expect someone in college to pay for their own dinner. I'm assuming that this is an aunt/uncle/great aunt/great uncle situation and that you are a young college student in late teens, early twenties with no full time job. All of my answers below are based on those assumptions. If that is the case, they should *splurge* the 20 bucks for dinner. They are an adult here and as much as I believe that you should be independent, while you are in college and struggling for money, you should be treated on an occasion like this. Big Question: How do your mom and/or dad and/or other immediate family ...
1 comment
Read more

On Buying a Lifestyle...with a Fixed-Rate Mortgage

Despite all of the back and forth about sub-prime mortgages and the housing bubble, I am feeling just fine. The reason is that when purchasing, I followed some old advice: Don't expect to flip. In general, I've been told by many people that you shouldn't buy a home unless you plan to hold on to it for 7 years or longer. If the market does well and you decide to sell, fine. But if you want to be sure not to lose money, don't buy something that you only want for a year or two. I've been in my current location for more than 3 years. I like it. And I have no intention of leaving in the short or medium term. It seems to me, that real estate, like any asset class, has its ups and downs. But as a practical point, I don't look at my home as an asset per se. Rather, I consider it to be a fixed expense that I need to survive, much like food and water. Therefore, as long as the payment is reasonable and it functions to keep me warm and sheltered and comfortable, that is a...
Post a Comment
Read more