Talked with a major bank that has handled all my insurance needs for the past 40 yrs. Figured I'd try them on a Refi of my 30yr VA loan. $55K left to go and 8.5 yrs. Never had PMI. My current rate is certainly "stupid" high....I'll just leave it at >5%. Been in this home for 26 years. So nothing has changed with the property and/or title. My only debt is this home. Everything else I own. C/C is paid off monthly. My soft credit rating is 823. I'd imagine my current credit rating/FICO score should be plenty good.
So should I be able to get a "no cost" 3.25% or better 10 yr REFI? No cash out. Just a lower interest rate leading to lower payments. Since I no longer qualify to itemize my taxes as I approach retirement, the home deductions don't matter.
I talked with Quicken Loans on Friday and was so put off by their "hard sell," I finally hung up on the guy. They promised me a "rate quote" w/o personal information and the guy keeps badgering me for DOB, SSN, etc. A few minutes later I talked to my own insurance company. Their Mortgage agent offered me a 3.25% loan with no costs...and listed all the costs they would assume. I wrote them down. And I asked them is there anything else that would show up at closing that I would have to pay....and they said "no." Note that in 21 yrs with my insurance company on this home, there's never been a single claim made.
No VA funding fee / no origination fee / no appraisal fee / no title fee / no closing costs. We repeated this list twice. And twice the rep said their company WILL assume all these costs. All I have to do is to pay the appropriate escrow balances in advance for the 1 month or so as the lenders swap over. I assume that meant a month's mortgage payment which includes insurance/taxes. My current monthly payment should drop 19%.
So I get their package in the mail yesterday. And what do I see? PMI funding fee of $283 rolled into the new mortgage balance. Credit report of $18. Appraisal fee estimate of $575-$785. Title and escrow fees of $725-$1200. This runs $1300-$2000. The official numbers don't show up until the HUD-1 is received. Still, why even put those "ranges" in there if they are paying everyting?
Then there are some "pre-payments" of $2361 which don't make good sense to me. They want a year's worth of insurance ($1300) up front to roll into the new mortgage. I don't know what the other $1,061 could be ....a mortgage payment + something else? In another part of the document they say closing costs paid by me at $1790 (which is 1 yr of insurance + 2 months of property taxes). I know how to read a contract and do the math (even some abstract algebra).
The Loan WILL transfer from them as soon as they do it. I was sort of surprised to see that checked off in the documents. So why even show them any "loyalty" if they don't show me any? I guess it comes down to $$ and that's it.
So am I chasing a ghost figuring no costs? Should I be prepared to fork over $500 /$1000 / $2000? It's such a small loan (most won't even do a loan under $50K) and I've been here for 26 years (5 yrs renting + 21.5 ownership). If I went through my current Mortgage company would that make any difference, or do I all the steps still have to be done with hands in my pockets? I always figured Refi's would be "simple"....far less detailed than an original mortgage.
Previous refi thread here ...I read a few of the older threads on financing and mortgages.
So should I be able to get a "no cost" 3.25% or better 10 yr REFI? No cash out. Just a lower interest rate leading to lower payments. Since I no longer qualify to itemize my taxes as I approach retirement, the home deductions don't matter.
I talked with Quicken Loans on Friday and was so put off by their "hard sell," I finally hung up on the guy. They promised me a "rate quote" w/o personal information and the guy keeps badgering me for DOB, SSN, etc. A few minutes later I talked to my own insurance company. Their Mortgage agent offered me a 3.25% loan with no costs...and listed all the costs they would assume. I wrote them down. And I asked them is there anything else that would show up at closing that I would have to pay....and they said "no." Note that in 21 yrs with my insurance company on this home, there's never been a single claim made.
No VA funding fee / no origination fee / no appraisal fee / no title fee / no closing costs. We repeated this list twice. And twice the rep said their company WILL assume all these costs. All I have to do is to pay the appropriate escrow balances in advance for the 1 month or so as the lenders swap over. I assume that meant a month's mortgage payment which includes insurance/taxes. My current monthly payment should drop 19%.
So I get their package in the mail yesterday. And what do I see? PMI funding fee of $283 rolled into the new mortgage balance. Credit report of $18. Appraisal fee estimate of $575-$785. Title and escrow fees of $725-$1200. This runs $1300-$2000. The official numbers don't show up until the HUD-1 is received. Still, why even put those "ranges" in there if they are paying everyting?
Then there are some "pre-payments" of $2361 which don't make good sense to me. They want a year's worth of insurance ($1300) up front to roll into the new mortgage. I don't know what the other $1,061 could be ....a mortgage payment + something else? In another part of the document they say closing costs paid by me at $1790 (which is 1 yr of insurance + 2 months of property taxes). I know how to read a contract and do the math (even some abstract algebra).
The Loan WILL transfer from them as soon as they do it. I was sort of surprised to see that checked off in the documents. So why even show them any "loyalty" if they don't show me any? I guess it comes down to $$ and that's it.
So am I chasing a ghost figuring no costs? Should I be prepared to fork over $500 /$1000 / $2000? It's such a small loan (most won't even do a loan under $50K) and I've been here for 26 years (5 yrs renting + 21.5 ownership). If I went through my current Mortgage company would that make any difference, or do I all the steps still have to be done with hands in my pockets? I always figured Refi's would be "simple"....far less detailed than an original mortgage.
Previous refi thread here ...I read a few of the older threads on financing and mortgages.
