Refinance options

[qesehmk]

Anybody has any experience refinancing?

Any advice will be appreciated. Lenders, rates, saving on closing costs etc.

[abcx13]

Q - I helped a friend refinance a house. There are threads on the Bogleheads forum which have really good information and tell you which lenders offer the best rates, closing costs, etc.

[monsieur]

Pretty straightforward process. Shop around, get rates. Compare them by checking their APR as it included fees and such; don't go just by Interest rate as points and closing cost may cost you more. Lots of signing once you close loan. My go for re-finance as soon as Interest rate offered to me is lower by 0.25. Always went with 0 cost closing.

You will need few thousand(s) $$ cashier check when you payoff current lender but there is good chance you will not pay to new lender for 30+ days.

[qesehmk]

Q - I helped a friend refinance a house. There are threads on the Bogleheads forum which have really good information and tell you which lenders offer the best rates, closing costs, etc.

Thanks abcx - appreciate it. This is a fantastic thread I found if anybody else looking for the same!

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=289559&start=12600


Pretty straightforward process. Shop around, get rates. Compare them by checking their APR as it included fees and such; don't go just by Interest rate as points and closing cost may cost you more. Lots of signing once you close loan. My go for re-finance as soon as Interest rate offered to me is lower by 0.25. Always went with 0 cost closing.

You will need few thousand(s) $$ cashier check when you payoff current lender but there is good chance you will not pay to new lender for 30+ days.

Thanks monsieur.

[EB2JUL2010]

Just to add, I used Better.com twice in the last two years. Very smooth and transparent process. They give you rate table with different options (Interest, APR, closing credits etc..). You can match rates with other lenders even after locking (as long as you have other lender LE). You can even price match closing costs with other Title companies and have Better match it as well. Also, if you have Amex card, you can get additional $2000 upon closing.

P.S. I am in no way associated with this Lender. Just that I have had good experience with this lender as compared to other lenders.

[qesehmk]

Just to add, I used Better.com twice in the last two years. Very smooth and transparent process. They give you rate table with different options (Interest, APR, closing credits etc..). You can match rates with other lenders even after locking (as long as you have other lender LE). You can even price match closing costs with other Title companies and have Better match it as well. Also, if you have Amex card, you can get additional $2000 upon closing.

P.S. I am in no way associated with this Lender. Just that I have had good experience with this lender as compared to other lenders.

Thank you so much.

[pd31mar2011]

I have used LoanDepot ~9 months ago 2.15 rate with 15 Years fixed period. Entire process is online and Overall experience has been good.

[qesehmk]

I finally completed the refinance. Better mortgage 20 years 2.4% with $700 loan costs. Generally easy online experience.

[SG2020]

We have used rate.com (Ben) for our last two rounds. It is always good to get a comparison.


I finally completed the refinance. Better mortgage 20 years 2.4% with $700 loan costs. Generally easy online experience.

[qesehmk]

We have used rate.com (Ben) for our last two rounds. It is always good to get a comparison.
Yes. Its a good idea to shop in at least 3-4 places. It takes effort but you can save tens of thousands. After shopping a great deal i had settled on better but then moved to sage and then again moved back to better who through credit karma offered zero points 2.4% apr which finally I accepted.

[qesehmk]

Here is a key tip - any lender of course tries to make money many ways. But even when they offer you completely free loan (i.e. no loan costs or origination or points), they still make 1 - 1.5% of the loan simply by selling the loan to another lender. That's how all these online lenders are fronting big lenders. The big lenders have reduced their loan processing staff and are focusing on loan risk and servicing the loan while better / sage / loandepot / quicken etc are using technology to process the loan and reach nationwide. Just my understanding. I am not in this industry.

[AceMan]

I finally completed the refinance. Better mortgage 20 years 2.4% with $700 loan costs. Generally easy online experience.

Nice rates, I did similar rate(2.25 20 years) last year with LoanDepot with entire loan costs paid back as lender credit + $1000, but had to do escrow with them for minimum 6 months. I realized just now that my escrow is still through them. I need to pull that out and make my own tax and insurance payments.

[qesehmk]

Nice rates, I did similar rate(2.25 20 years) last year with LoanDepot with entire loan costs paid back as lender credit + $1000, but had to do escrow with them for minimum 6 months. I realized just now that my escrow is still through them. I need to pull that out and make my own tax and insurance payments.
I think - not sure - but by law they can't keep extra escrow with them. They will issue you a check when the escrow grows beyond a limit.

[AceMan]

I think - not sure - but by law they can't keep extra escrow with them. They will issue you a check when the escrow grows beyond a limit.

Standard escrow amount only, and this has to be maintained through them for 6 months.