Refinancing this week

[nick__45]

I have a 4.99% annual rate now and the APR is probably about 5.1% or somewhere around that range. I new rate is 4% for 30 years and 3.375% for 15 years. Mortgage calculator indicates that I'll be paying $43k in interest with the 15 years loan vs. the $141k from the 30 years loan. The closing cost is 3500 dollars at 0 discount point. Is it worth it or just keep waiting a little longer. It seems that the new rules about feds forcing banks to refinance people under-watered will likely push rate up.

What do you think? I will contact my mortgage holder to see if they can match this and do away with fees like home appraisal since I don't need to pay 500 dollars to have someone tell me the same thing Zillow does, considering that fact that I have 30% equity and only been in the house for 2 years.

[photo]

Although helpful when searching for homes, Zillow should in no way take the place of an appraisal. Some Zillow prices are accurate, and some are not.

[kork13]

Have you figured out what your break-even point is? Are you planning to stay in the house for a significant time after that point? If yes, then I'd say go for it.

Personally, if it were my mortgage and I could refi to 3.375% for 15 years, I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat.

And as photo said, Zillow is only good for a general reference. It's results can be moderately accurate, but that's all it really is -- a reference. For banks to underwrite a loan (initial or refi), they need to have an actual, legitimate valuation on the house. LIke it or not, appraisals are simply a part of life for home purchases/refi's.

[MonkeyMama]

It just depends. HOw much will you be saving monthly and how long will you stay are probably the most important factors.

The trade-off for "no appraisal" or anything lower cost is a higher interest rate.

I am currently refinancing from 4.875% to 4% (30 years). IT would basically be stupid not to, in our situation. (Plan to stay in home for another couple of decades?). I was actually pretty surprised running the numbers. We just refied in 2009 AND if we had another $10k paid off I *might* be willing to go 15-year - so I kind of wanted to wait it out until we could refi 15-years around 3% (well aware we may miss the chance). But I ran the numbers on a whim, and this would be our most profitable refi to date. (We've been refinancing every 1% down, generally more time in between each refinance, since 1999). The thing is though it is only a 0.875% drop, it's almost a 20% reduction in interest. So the reality is we will save more money this round than any other refinance in the past. Even if it's the lowest percentage drop we have ever refied for...

I personally wouldn't wait. You can always refi again if rates drop lower, but will have no options if rates rise higher. Assuming it makes sense.

[Slug]

Similar to MM I re-fied in 2010 to 4.375% on a 30 year. I close next week on a new re-fi to 4%. I went no-cost so that's why the rate is so high at 4%. With the new rate I should be able to easily pay 1 1/6 payments per month vs. the previous 1 1/12. I haven't even done the math on that savings, but it's going to be substantial.