My Mortgage Company offered me a New Lower Interest Loan

[DeanCollins]

Got an overnite letter from Chase. My 15 fixed mortgage, that's 2.33 years old now is currently @ 5.25% apr (balance is $275k). Chase offered a new mortgage at 4.00% apr with absolutely no fees or closing costs, no appraisal, no survey, no doc stamps... nothing. I accepted by I have 2 weeks to look elsewhere. Find me a better deal :ols:.

[PleaseBlitz]

4% for a 15 year is pretty much the going rate right now for a loan w/o closing costs or recording fees (if you have >20% equity.)

http://www.bankrate.com/funnel/mortgages/mortgage-results.aspx?market=456&loan=275000&perc=20&prods=215&points=

I would do it.

[tshile]

if they're going to do it for free (no closing costs/fees) then hell yeah, take the lower rate. make sure you're getting what you think you're getting.

the only issue is that you're back to paying mostly interest for a while again, and not really moving anywhere on the principle. you'd have to decide whether thats something you want to do or not. i would imagine knocking 1.25% off your interest rate is worth it though...

[Corcaigh]

I used to have a similar deal with HSBC, where I could adjust the rate on my 3/1 ARM to the current new loan price for a nominal admin fee. But the bastards sold my mortgage and I no longer have that option. But I'd like to move to a 15 year fixed loan on my current shack that has about $400k in equity.

The issue is that I may not keep the house that much longer as within two years, kid #2 will be in college and I really don't need five bedrooms for me and my wife. It's not like we have any friends who visit, and we crossed the ocean to avoid relatives coming to stay too often. So if/when the time is right in the next two - six years, I'd like to get out into something smaller.

[The Evil Genius]

if they're going to do it for free (no closing costs/fees) then hell yeah, take the lower rate. make sure you're getting what you think you're getting.

the only issue is that you're back to paying mostly interest for a while again, and not really moving anywhere on the principle. you'd have to decide whether thats something you want to do or not. i would imagine knocking 1.25% off your interest rate is worth it though...

Why is that an issue? If he continues to pay the same amount as before the redo of his loan (and why wouldn't he unless he has problems making that payment now?), he will be putting more towards the principal, since his interest amounts have decreased each month.

[DeanCollins]

Why is that an issue? If he continues to pay the same amount as before the redo of his loan (and why wouldn't he unless he has problems making that payment now?), he will be putting more towards the principal, since his interest amounts have decreased each month.

^^^^ This plus adding $300 to my current monthly payment will pay it off it 10 years, which would beat my current mortgage by almost 3 years.

[Corcaigh]

^^^^ This plus adding $300 to my current monthly payment will pay it off it 10 years, which would beat my current mortgage by almost 3 years.

Heh. I just checked with my current provider about rates and what my monthly saving would be. The saleswoman tried to persuade me I could "save" a few hundred a month by going to a 20 year rather than 15 year (even though the 20 year is 0.75% higher).

I don't think she and I define "save" in the same way. :ols:

[The Evil Genius]

She was saving you each month! :ols:

I mean, you monthly payments would go down right? :doh:

[DeanCollins]

Heh. I just checked with my current provider about rates and what my monthly saving would be. The saleswoman tried to persuade me I could "save" a few hundred a month by going to a 20 year rather than 15 year (even though the 20 year is 0.75% higher).

I don't think she and I define "save" in the same way. :ols:

I think she meant you'd have more money to spend each month :ols:

[Bang]

Interesting you bring this up. My mortgage holder also offered me a better rate, and it's lower than 4%. (My current is about 5.25%)
I pay on time, never miss, am never late. They love me, and this was their reasoning for offering this to me... didn't want to lose me to another bank.

SO, being a naturally distrustful person I grilled them pretty good, and let them know quite clearly that I'm happy in my current mortgage, not necessarily because of the interest rate, but because i know my house won't be stolen out from under me by underhanded tricks by the bank. The loan officer knows full well that unless they show me where every t is crossed and evey I is dotted, and I have a lawyer go over it with a fine tooth comb, I'm not signing.

So they assure me it's about a 15 minute process, they already hold my loan so it is pre-approved, they just need to complete some paperwork. The next day they call me up and ask for my SS# over the phone. I refused, won't do it, don't do it, under no circumstances will I ever give that out over the phone to anyone. So, this stupid person tries to threaten me,, "Well sir, would you like for me to close this now? If you don't give this to me, I'm afraid I will have to reject the application."

So I said fine, and hung up on her.

she calls back five minutes later, assuming after her supervised reamed her pretty good over it, and she told me they could process without me giving it to her over the phone. She said she had needed it to confirm my identity. I told her to give me her SS# so I could confirm hers. Told her as far as I knew she was a Nigerian trying to scam me. So she got huffy and told me that my attitude was not very good and that it looked as if I really didn't want to process this loan, another threat, this ne passive aggressive. So I said fine, and hung up on her again.

So the next day someone else calls me, apologizes all over the place for the former loan officer. Then she tells me that I need to confirm my company's name. I said that i have been paying taxes for the last ten years under the trade name i use, and that should be enough.

She said no, they couldn't find my company on a Google search, that I have no website. etc. She said without confirmation, she'd have no choice but to deny the loan. (I don't need these things. I free lance and have several people out there acting as agents for me. They're people in other industries,, one is in cable advertising, one is in print sales, and they run across plenty of work for me, and I pay them a commission on what they bring me. I maintain about 2 dozen websites for various clients, and really haven't had much need for a google presence for my trade name. Besides, Bang Cartoons acts as a terrific resumé, I get a lot of work nationwide as a result of people seeing it and inquiring what I could do for them.)
So... I said fine and hung up on her. ( a familar refrain, eh?)

So five minutes later she calls back, tells me if I could send her a business card with that name on it that would be OK. So I yelled at her. i told her that I wasn't sure I wanted to continue doing business with a company that accepts a business card as a form of ID. She told me they needed something. So I told her to go look at my records, they gave me a loan five years ago with the exact same information she has in front of her. Told her if my record of on-time payments and all of the other info they used to verify me five years ago wasn't good enough, then I'd start looking at the multitudes of mortgage offers that fill my mailbox every single day. Told her that another bank (the one I have my business account with) probably would be more than happy to take over this loan, since they offer it to me every other day.

So she got pissy, told me i was making it very difficult for them to process this loan, and intimated that I needed it more than she did.
So I told her fine, and hung up on her.

So, I now have a new loan officer who looks to be making things happen. She called, apologized for the hassle, told me they value my business and wanted to make this happen because they didn't want to lose my business.. then she asked if i would understand their position, that they just can't trust people on their say so.
So I told her I did understand that, and now she needs to understand that way up at the top of my list of people not to trust was anyone who worked for a bank. I told her the only industry I trust less is insurance. Told her I have been VERY careful to come thru all of the financial meltdowns and mortgage crisis with everything intact. I told her that I obsess over it, because i do not trust her, her boss, her boss's boss, none of them, and in fact I believed that they actively look for ways to screw me. I told her for that reason, the $6000 they tell me this re-fin will save me was not such a steep price to pay for the peace of mind in knowing thatI have a handle on it, and that I was not going to get cheated out of my home and life savings.

So she chuckled and cajoled,, said "aw,, Mr Tayman ,you don't trust me? giggle giggle.

I told not as far as I could throw her. told her I figured she was probably a nice person and while she wouldn't screw me, I had no faith than anyone above her in the bank wouldn't, in fact I actually expect them to try. I told her i think her industry is full of the lowest thieves in America. Told her if they wanted this business, send me the paperwork and I'll have my lawyer look it over.

So what do you know, the next day a Fedex package with all the paperwork arrives. .


I must say, it does feel nice to have the upper hand.

~Bang

[Corcaigh]

She was saving you each month! :ols:

I mean, you monthly payments would go down right? :doh:

I would pay less each month, but my principal wouldn't decrease at the same rate - hence the difference. She even tried to argue that I was going to sell the house eventually so it wouldn't matter. Yeah ... other than the remaining principal being thousands higher it wouldn't matter. :ols:

[Corcaigh]

I think she meant you'd have more money to spend each month :ols:

Yeah ... pay more and "save".

[The Evil Genius]

The savings would be umlimited.

;)

[Corcaigh]

So, this stupid person tries to threaten me,, "Well sir, would you like for me to close this now? If you don't give this to me, I'm afraid I will have to reject the application."



I spoke to a clown at a well known mortgage provider who wouldn't give me their estimated costs unless I agreed to complete a formal application, including a fee. Her argument was that the estimated costs wouldn't be useful because rates change all the time.

[Corcaigh]

The savings would be umlimited.



Yeah ... I could get a big chunk of cash from my equity by increasing my mortgage balance, and go to a 40 year term. Man, I could "save" a bundle.

[DeanCollins]

The Bank's perception of Bang :pfft:

http://www.completedogsguide.com/images/dog-breeds/largepic/English-Bulldog.jpg

[tshile]

Why is that an issue? If he continues to pay the same amount as before the redo of his loan (and why wouldn't he unless he has problems making that payment now?), he will be putting more towards the principal, since his interest amounts have decreased each month.


^^^^ This plus adding $300 to my current monthly payment will pay it off it 10 years, which would beat my current mortgage by almost 3 years.

i obviously misread where he said he's going to pay the same amount :)

but it does matter becuase you pay so much interest... if you continually refinance in the first couple years of your loan, you never really move the principle down. you wind up paying mostly interest. in some cases that doesn't matter, in others it does.

just things to think about. comparing the interest rate isn't the only thing that matters :)

[Bang]

:ols: Dean... that's exactly what I want them to think.
I want them to think I'm a paranoid customer who thinks they're thieves rifling in my pockets. I want them to dread calling me.
My wife has been a sport about it.. she's gotten on the phone with our local agent and pretty much has reinforced that I am very difficult to deal with, but to get what they want they better learn how..

~Bang

[Bang]

I spoke to a clown at a well known mortgage provider who wouldn't give me their estimated costs unless I agreed to complete a formal application, including a fee. Her argument was that the estimated costs wouldn't be useful because rates change all the time.

I'm hoping you hung up on them. It works wonders on commission based people. :D

~Bang

[Corcaigh]

I'm hoping you hung up on them. It works wonders on commission based people. :D



Of course I did. And I wouldn't give them the chance to redeem themselves, 'cause I don't believe in forgiveness. :D

[DeanCollins]

Of course I did. And I wouldn't give them the chance to redeem themselves, 'cause I don't believe in forgiveness. :D

:rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao:

[Corcaigh]

:rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao:

Bribery? Yes.

Forgiveness? Absolutely not.

Once a liar and a cheat, always a liar and a cheat.

[twa]

I'm with Bang , it's that beware of Greeks bearing gifts thang.
People claiming to want to save me money automatically put my guard up.

Certainly doesn't hurt to examine offers,but I wanna see the contract first.

[December90]

if they're going to do it for free (no closing costs/fees) then hell yeah, take the lower rate. make sure you're getting what you think you're getting.

the only issue is that you're back to paying mostly interest for a while again, and not really moving anywhere on the principle. you'd have to decide whether thats something you want to do or not. i would imagine knocking 1.25% off your interest rate is worth it though...

Since you were not planning on the free refi, to offset the point about shifting to paying less principle now, just maintain the exact payment that you had before and you will be clear of the loan sooner:)

Or, if you have other debt at a higher (non tax-deductible) interest rate, use the monthly cash savings to retire that debt sooner.

[zoony]

I always liked the idea of getting a 30 year mortgage and paying extra towards the principle each month to get it paid off in 15. You might not get as good an interest rate but if the fit hits the shan you can easily fall back on easier payments

[twa]

DC...maybe they lost your note?

wheres Hubbs?

[The Evil Genius]

I always laugh when buyers finagle about the $10k difference between what the owners are asking and what they are offering.

Especially when, over the course of a 30 year loan, the buyer ends up paying the purchase amount (or more) in just interest.

[DeanCollins]

Bribery? Yes.

Forgiveness? Absolutely not.

Once a liar and a cheat, always a liar and a cheat.


now you're talking amnesty not forgiveness :ols:

[DeanCollins]

I always liked the idea of getting a 30 year mortgage and paying extra towards the principle each month to get it paid off in 15. You might not get as good an interest rate but if the fit hits the shan you can easily fall back on easier payments


It's a good strategy, but I like forcing myself to pay it off early with a commitment to the 15 year, then I pay extra and knock a few more years off. Now I have renters, of the houses that I've paid off, helping me to pay this one off. :pfft:

[Mark The Homer]

Interesting you bring this up. ...Great story. Thanks for sharing.


I always liked the idea of getting a 30 year mortgage and paying extra towards the principle each month to get it paid off in 15. You might not get as good an interest rate but if the fit hits the shan you can easily fall back on easier paymentsThat's exactly what we're doing with our refi from last year.

[techboy]

I must say, it does feel nice to have the upper hand.


Best banking story ever. :)

If anyone on the board has political connections, I submit that Bang should be nominated for head of the SEC.

[HOF44]

Best banking story ever. :)

If anyone on the board has political connections, I submit that Bang should be nominated for head of the SEC.

That would clean some of that cesspool up!!!

[Seabee1973]

[QUOTE=Corcaigh;7939474
. It's not like we have any friends who visit, [/QUOTE]

Hey at least you admit it



:pfft:

[Corcaigh]

Hey at least you admit it



:pfft:

That was my point. :)