Minneapolis/St. Paul Nesties
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Anyone refinancing?

We're tossing around the idea of refinancing since the rates have gotten so low.  Has anyone done this?  I've heard the rule of thumb is that it's worth it if you can go down at least one % point- true?  Can you recommend a good mortgage company?  (We don't mind ours right now, but if you know a good place that can get us a better deal we're open!)  Any other advice?

 We're also thinking about doing a 15 year mortgage if the rates/monthly payments wouldn't be too high.  Anyone done this?

ETA: Has anyone used an online only mortgage company?

TIA!!

Re: Anyone refinancing?

  • My mom is refinancing right now into a 15 year mortgage. The rates are great for that. I liked my mortgage lady ok, but if you're happy,I wouldn't switch.

    Closing on a re-fi takes longer because underwriters bump you down for purchases. FYI.

  • We just re-financed our home in April through RMG Mortgage in Minnetonka. They did our original closing and we were really happy with them, so we used them again. They ended up covering all our closing costs for us the 2nd time around, which was nice.

    The whole application to closing process took about 2 weeks.

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  • We refinanced a few months ago. We were at 5.85% with a 30 year term and are now 4.5% with a 15 year term. It was worth it to us.

    We went through Wells Fargo again.

    Our closing didn't take long at all, it was only a week or two after we had the appraiser come out. From start (first contacting Wells) to finish it was a total of MAYBE 5 weeks. And we refinanced in the busy spring season too. So not every re-fi takes long like dawn said. Just my experience........

    edited to fix spelling mistake

  • imageejpumpkin:

    We refinanced a few months ago. We were at 5.85% with a 30 year term and are now 4.5% with a 15 year term. It was worth it to us.

    We went through Wells Fargo again.

    Our closing didn't take long at all, it was only a week or two after we had the assesor come out. From start (first contacting Wells) to finish it was a total of MAYBE 5 weeks. And we refinanced in the busy spring season too. So not every re-fi takes long like dawn said. Just my experience........

    I know it depends on how much the loan is for, but because of the interest rate drop, was the increase in your monthly payment pretty reasonable?  We could probably handle $100 or so a month...  I know there must be some kind of calculator out there to figure this out...  **goes to google**

  • We close on our refi in a week and a half. We're going through the same place we did when we bought our home. Prime Mortgage, Molly Zimmerman. She was FANTASTIC when we were first purchasing and she has been great now as well. We're only saving about $60/month on our payments but $30K+ over the course of the loan and we plan to be here for awhile. They also covered our closing costs.
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  • I wish we could but my house won't appraise where it will need to be to re-fi.  So bummed.  It would save a boatload of $$.  Not that my original rate was bad or anything, just much better now!
  • imageejpumpkin:

    We refinanced a few months ago. We were at 5.85% with a 30 year term and are now 4.5% with a 15 year term. It was worth it to us.

    We went through Wells Fargo again.

    Our closing didn't take long at all, it was only a week or two after we had the assesor come out. From start (first contacting Wells) to finish it was a total of MAYBE 5 weeks. And we refinanced in the busy spring season too. So not every re-fi takes long like dawn said. Just my experience........

    I am just curious if you would be willing to share how much your payment went up or down going down a little more than 1% but doing 15 years instead of 30? Just a difference in dollars, not what your payment was or is.

    We just spoke with Wells Fargo and they incouraged us to NOT refi. First because he didn't think we could get to 4.25% yet, since our interest now is 5.25% and with all the closing costs, and mortgage insurance we would almost be taking out more of a loan this time around.

    DId anyone pay any costs outside of closing costs?

  • For those that asked, our payment went up $200 a month. Thankfully we can handle that increase. We have to stay here for another 2 or 3 years (can't remember the numbers but we figured out our break even point) to make the re-fi worth it. But, once we are here for that 2 or 3 years the equity and amount our loan goes down per month is crazy good!

    We ran the numbers knowing we weren't moving anytime soon. Let's say we move in 7 years - we are going to have nearly double our equity in the house to bring to our next house than if we had stayed with our 30 year loan.

    Everyone's situation is different though so I urge you to research, research, research and see if it makes financial sense for you.
  • We're checking to see if a refi is an option for us. We're currently at 6.5%, so I really hope we can! We're working with Karin Wald at Bell Mortgage. She did our original mortgage 3 years ago (she was with Edina Realty then) and was great to work with.
  • Like pp we're at about 6.5% and are starting to look into refinancing as well.  It's crazy what we can get now, but it's so overwhelming!  Our biggest issue is getting our house to appraise for what it needs to be to refinance.  We're almost sure it will, but I would hate to spend the money on an appraiser and not have it be where it needs to. 
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  • imagenicole0066:
    Like pp we're at about 6.5% and are starting to look into refinancing as well.  It's crazy what we can get now, but it's so overwhelming!  Our biggest issue is getting our house to appraise for what it needs to be to refinance.  We're almost sure it will, but I would hate to spend the money on an appraiser and not have it be where it needs to. 

    I totally agree!  I almost don't want to do it just because it's going to be a lot of added stress- but we can save SO much money if we get a good rate and go to a 15 or 20 year instead of a 30 year term.

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