Mortgage Rates

[mbryson]

From America First CU website:


regarding closing costs and deductions....

[FONT=arial,helvetica] Fees (mortgage points and miscellaneous fees) [/FONT] [FONT=arial,helvetica] Close [/FONT] [FONT=arial,helvetica] Fees include mortgage points and expenses to underwrite and originate a mortgage loan. One point equals 1% of the loan amount. The IRS considers points to be a form of prepaid interest. Expenses include fees for appraisal, title search, recordation of documents, and conveyance taxes. Total closing costs include these fees, prepaid interest to the first mortgage payment, and prepayments for homeowners insurance and property taxes.[/FONT]

 

[RockMonkey]

It looks like the rates for a 20 year mortgage are the same as the rates for a 15 year in most cases. You can get the 15 year rate and have some relief from the higher payment.

 

[Greg]

15 year rates are well below 5.5% right now.

Reeeally?!! How well below...?! We might have to refi, I haven't looked at 15 yr loans for awhile.

It looks like the rates for a 20 year mortgage are the same as the rates for a 15 year in most cases. You can get the 15 year rate and have some relief from the higher payment.

That's very cool, 20 yrs under 5.5% would be pretty nice. I also pay a bit extra on the mortgage, help knock down that principal.

 

[92XJeeper]

The rule I've heard is if you drop a whole interest point, then it's worth refinancing.

Yes, this is what I was taught, too. Regardless, it's wise to determine how long it'll take before you recover the expense of refinancing.

 

[Greg]

I finally had the chance to check into current 15 yr interest rates... 5.19% That would increase our payment less than $200/mo over our 30 yr payment & the amount is still very affordable. Man, if I did that and we stayed in this home 15 yrs... yeah, right... I could have the home paid off by the time I was 47. That would be nice to have no mortgage for 13 yrs before retirement. Even if we didn't stay here for 15 yrs, the increased rate of principal paid down would be worth when we finally did sell the property.

 

[Herzog]

I finally had the chance to check into current 15 yr interest rates... 5.19% That would increase our payment less than $200/mo over our 30 yr payment & the amount is still very affordable. Man, if I did that and we stayed in this home 15 yrs... yeah, right... I could have the home paid off by the time I was 47. That would be nice to have no mortgage for 13 yrs before retirement. Even if we didn't stay here for 15 yrs, the increased rate of principal paid down would be worth when we finally did sell the property.

That's a killer deal, imo.

 

[rockreligious]

are these %'s you guys are quoting including a buy down point reduction, because I got on Zions site and without a buy down on a 20 yr fixed the rate today was 6.25% which is the rate I already have. and I dont want anything that resembles an arm or baloon.

Maybe Zions is just more, thats were I refied with last year, and they sold my mortgage. if I could get a 15 or 20 year for 5.25% or less Ill jump at it.

 

[Greg]

That's a killer deal, imo.

Yeah, I might have to get serious about a re-fi.

are these %'s you guys are quoting including a buy down point reduction, because I got on Zions site and without a buy down on a 20 yr fixed the rate today was 6.25% which is the rate I already have. and I dont want anything that resembles an arm or baloon.

Maybe Zions is just more, thats were I refied with last year, and they sold my mortgage. if I could get a 15 or 20 year for 5.25% or less Ill jump at it.

I forgot who I was looking at that had the 5.19%, but I found them online. On Bankrate.com, they are claiming a national average for a 15 yr loan is 5.33%, not bad for the average. Everything I was looking at is a fixed rate loan.

When you're on Bankrate.com, select a loan, your state & area. They will come up with about 10-12 offers. They seem pretty decent and you can get a lower rate if you have a wad of cash to pay the fees in APR. There are a couple 15 yr loans that offer a rate of 5.125% with fees around $4-5k, or there is one offer from American Interbanc Mortgage, LLC, 4.75% with $10k in fees.

Just for sh**s & giggles, I looked up a 10 yr loan... man, even that is doable. It's about $600 more a month, but having the home paid off 10 years, imagine that!!

 

[Bart]

Just heard on the national news this morning that the fed is probably going to drop the prime another quarter percent. You guys refinancing may want to wait another couple of days.

 

[Greg]

Just heard on the national news this morning that the fed is probably going to drop the prime another quarter percent. You guys refinancing may want to wait another couple of days.

Sweet! Thanks for sharing.

 

[bryson]

Sweet! Thanks for sharing.

Speaking of sharing, do you have this stuff linked on HIF?

Some good stuff here...

 

[Greg]

Speaking of sharing, do you have this stuff linked on HIF?

Some good stuff here...

There's a forum for home loans & financing, but that forum isn't doing to well due to a lack of me spending time with it. :-\

http://www.homeimprovementforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=52

 

[RockMonkey]

All rates I've quoted are fixed, with zero points. Bankrate.com is a great resource to find the best rates. I started to jump on this and during the process I found an erroneous charge-off on my credit. It was reported as a $54 charge-off on otherwise perfect credit. It took my score from above 800 (from the bereau that didn't show the charge off) to below 700 on the other two... I was able to take care of it with the company that put it there, and a couple days ago I got a letter that said it was an error and will be deleted from my credit reports, but the distraction caused me a delay. I'll wait and see now what happens to the rates after the fed meets.

 

[Brett]

All rates I've quoted are fixed, with zero points. Bankrate.com is a great resource to find the best rates. I started to jump on this and during the process I found an erroneous charge-off on my credit. It was reported as a $54 charge-off on otherwise perfect credit. It took my score from above 800 (from the bereau that didn't show the charge off) to below 700 on the other two... I was able to take care of it with the company that put it there, and a couple days ago I got a letter that said it was an error and will be deleted from my credit reports, but the distraction caused me a delay. I'll wait and see now what happens to the rates after the fed meets.

Gotta love the bureau's and what information creditors send them......Least you caught it!

 

[RockMonkey]

Least you caught it!

Yes, I was very thankful that I caught it now, and it was fairly easy to fix.

 

[waynehartwig]

I've been watching my stocks more than the mortgage rates. I own lots of stock in home builders - Meritage Homes is my favorite (CEO ~1.5 mil and directors ~500k each own most of the stock) and I own over 400 shares right now. Now's a great time to buy, too, because they are pretty much at the bottom, but look like they are starting to go back up. Before the slump (mid 05) I sold all of it (just over 300 shares) for about $80 a share and have started buying it back over the last 6 months. Most of it I've bought at $12-17 a share, but some were in the $20-30's.

Anyway, my point is the housing market is starting to move. Home manufactures are loosing lots of money and are tired of it, so they are offering unbeilevable prices on inventory to get rid of it. Granted, it's not a fire sale, but they've gotta keep those $'s coming in.

More homes that move, the more loans will be written. Right now mortgage writers are hurting after all of the foreclusures, so they can't afford low rates to write the loans. But with the feds droping the rates, will allow them to write lower interest loans, getting more business.

I guess my overall point is I don't think the rates will go down too much more than what they are now. I'd be real surprised if they drop more than .5 a point more.

 

[Greg]

I've been watching my stocks more than the mortgage rates. I own lots of stock in home builders - Meritage Homes is my favorite (CEO ~1.5 mil and directors ~500k each own most of the stock) and I own over 400 shares right now. Now's a great time to buy, too, because they are pretty much at the bottom, but look like they are starting to go back up. Before the slump (mid 05) I sold all of it (just over 300 shares) for about $80 a share and have started buying it back over the last 6 months. Most of it I've bought at $12-17 a share, but some were in the $20-30's.

Anyway, my point is the housing market is starting to move. Home manufactures are loosing lots of money and are tired of it, so they are offering unbeilevable prices on inventory to get rid of it. Granted, it's not a fire sale, but they've gotta keep those $'s coming in.

More homes that move, the more loans will be written. Right now mortgage writers are hurting after all of the foreclusures, so they can't afford low rates to write the loans. But with the feds droping the rates, will allow them to write lower interest loans, getting more business.

I guess my overall point is I don't think the rates will go down too much more than what they are now. I'd be real surprised if they drop more than .5 a point more.

A half a point from where they are now would make a world of difference, IMO. But I agree with you, I don't think the interest rates will drop much further. It'll be interesting to see how quickly the housing market bounces back.

 

[waynehartwig]

A half a point from where they are now would make a world of difference, IMO. But I agree with you, I don't think the interest rates will drop much further. It'll be interesting to see how quickly the housing market bounces back.

It's a cycle. The hosuing market won't be back for another couple years I'm guessing. When it's down, I buy in. When it's up I sell everything.

The problem with all of it is the housing market sucks, but the economy is still in good shape. The feds are only dropping the rates to help out the mortgage/housing industry, IMO.

 

[RockMonkey]

We locked in today. 5% fixed for 15 years. No points, no origination fee. Very reasonable closing costs. :greg:

 

[waynehartwig]

We locked in today. 5% fixed for 15 years. No points, no origination fee. Very reasonable closing costs. :greg:

I'm looking at this one too... I just started and was 'preapproved' for the refi online. Now we've got to just get in there and fill out the loan ap and such....

I pay $1905? a month right now with a 3/5 ARM 30
The 15 year fixed will put our payment at ~$1938

Where did you go? And what were your closing costs if you don't mind me asking?

I'm looking at Bank of America and their estimator showed roughly $4k in closing costs with no points. What's weird, is if I was buying a new house, they would do the loan for $0 and only .5 or something in points. You'd think they would want either business....