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anyone else looking to refinance their home?

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PhyllisNJoe
My Box Is Broken

Member since 6/11

9145 total posts

Name:
Phyllis

anyone else looking to refinance their home?

I'm hearing from multiple people that now's the time. We are going to call Wells Fargo today to see about going to a 15 yr. It looks like we can stay at about the same monthly payment too. As it is, we pay extra each month to lessen the length. If we get that 15, there's a very good shot we can be done in 12 years! That would be pretty awesome.

Silver lining as our retirement accounts take a beat down.

Posted 3/10/20 6:17 PM
 
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mommy2be716
LIF Adult

Member since 1/16

2921 total posts

Name:

anyone else looking to refinance their home?

TFCU was only 2.75% last week for a 30 year, and 2.625% for 15. I would definitely go for it.

The benefit to staying with Wells Fargo is that you can request a CEMA and avoid re-paying the mortgage tax that way. If you switch to TFCU, which will probably be lower than WF, you would be stuck paying the mortgage tax at a new lender most likely. Which could be thousands depending on the mortgage amount

Posted 3/10/20 6:29 PM
 

Jenn79
One more?

Member since 2/12

2410 total posts

Name:

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

We are going today to check the numbers. We just moved about 6 months ago and while we got a low rate, we think we can still lower it by over a 1/2 percent. It’s not much but we haven’t paid into our mortgage much yet either.

Posted 3/10/20 6:32 PM
 

NYCGirl80
I love my kiddies!

Member since 5/11

10413 total posts

Name:

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

Posted by Jenn79

We are going today to check the numbers. We just moved about 6 months ago and while we got a low rate, we think we can still lower it by over a 1/2 percent. It’s not much but we haven’t paid into our mortgage much yet either.



You may not be eligible to refinance yet. Lenders typically require you to wait at least 6-12 months before they can look to refinance.

Posted 3/10/20 6:49 PM
 

PhyllisNJoe
My Box Is Broken

Member since 6/11

9145 total posts

Name:
Phyllis

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

Posted by mommy2be716

TFCU was only 2.75% last week for a 30 year, and 2.625% for 15. I would definitely go for it.

The benefit to staying with Wells Fargo is that you can request a CEMA and avoid re-paying the mortgage tax that way. If you switch to TFCU, which will probably be lower than WF, you would be stuck paying the mortgage tax at a new lender most likely. Which could be thousands depending on the mortgage amount



Thank you. Yes, we want to stick with our current lender to make it smoother/less expensive. We are currently at 3.875 from 9 years ago.

Posted 3/10/20 6:51 PM
 

AliceCullen
LIF Adult

Member since 6/08

1497 total posts

Name:

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

We are looking into this as well and have a call into our broker. We are at 4.3 from 10 years ago.

Posted 3/10/20 7:03 PM
 

mommy2be716
LIF Adult

Member since 1/16

2921 total posts

Name:

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

Posted by PhyllisNJoe

Posted by mommy2be716

TFCU was only 2.75% last week for a 30 year, and 2.625% for 15. I would definitely go for it.

The benefit to staying with Wells Fargo is that you can request a CEMA and avoid re-paying the mortgage tax that way. If you switch to TFCU, which will probably be lower than WF, you would be stuck paying the mortgage tax at a new lender most likely. Which could be thousands depending on the mortgage amount



Thank you. Yes, we want to stick with our current lender to make it smoother/less expensive. We are currently at 3.875 from 9 years ago.



The rule of thumb is always consider it if it's over 1% less. So i would definitely look into it. Definitely ask about the state tax though. For us, it was over 3k because the mortgage amount was 300k. Whatever your new mortgage amount will be, just multiply it by 1.08625 and then divide by 100. Even if you're refinancing only 100k, you're looking at over $1,000 in closing costs that you can save by asking WF to locate the CEMA showing you already paid that tax 9 years ago. Legally, you're only required to pay tax on any NEW mortgage amount.

Posted 3/10/20 7:04 PM
 

FirstMate
My lil cowboy

Member since 10/10

7790 total posts

Name:

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

Posted by mommy2be716

Posted by PhyllisNJoe

Posted by mommy2be716

TFCU was only 2.75% last week for a 30 year, and 2.625% for 15. I would definitely go for it.

The benefit to staying with Wells Fargo is that you can request a CEMA and avoid re-paying the mortgage tax that way. If you switch to TFCU, which will probably be lower than WF, you would be stuck paying the mortgage tax at a new lender most likely. Which could be thousands depending on the mortgage amount



Thank you. Yes, we want to stick with our current lender to make it smoother/less expensive. We are currently at 3.875 from 9 years ago.



The rule of thumb is always consider it if it's over 1% less. So i would definitely look into it. Definitely ask about the state tax though. For us, it was over 3k because the mortgage amount was 300k. Whatever your new mortgage amount will be, just multiply it by 1.08625 and then divide by 100. Even if you're refinancing only 100k, you're looking at over $1,000 in closing costs that you can save by asking WF to locate the CEMA showing you already paid that tax 9 years ago. Legally, you're only required to pay tax on any NEW mortgage amount.



What is CEMA?

Posted 3/10/20 9:00 PM
 

charon54
My two boys!

Member since 5/05

7279 total posts

Name:
Rebecca

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

Yes, we are refinancing through Wells Fargo into a 15 year right now. Saving a lot of money over the long run, even with closing costs.

Posted 3/10/20 9:44 PM
 

lightblue
LIF Adult

Member since 1/17

2249 total posts

Name:

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

Looks appealing (we actually refinanced in 2012 to 4.1%) but I don't know if it would be worth it for us...also with the closing costs, we are hoping to move OOS in about 4.5 years.

Posted 3/10/20 4:58 PM
 

mommy2be716
LIF Adult

Member since 1/16

2921 total posts

Name:

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

Posted by FirstMate

Posted by mommy2be716

Posted by PhyllisNJoe

Posted by mommy2be716

TFCU was only 2.75% last week for a 30 year, and 2.625% for 15. I would definitely go for it.

The benefit to staying with Wells Fargo is that you can request a CEMA and avoid re-paying the mortgage tax that way. If you switch to TFCU, which will probably be lower than WF, you would be stuck paying the mortgage tax at a new lender most likely. Which could be thousands depending on the mortgage amount



Thank you. Yes, we want to stick with our current lender to make it smoother/less expensive. We are currently at 3.875 from 9 years ago.



The rule of thumb is always consider it if it's over 1% less. So i would definitely look into it. Definitely ask about the state tax though. For us, it was over 3k because the mortgage amount was 300k. Whatever your new mortgage amount will be, just multiply it by 1.08625 and then divide by 100. Even if you're refinancing only 100k, you're looking at over $1,000 in closing costs that you can save by asking WF to locate the CEMA showing you already paid that tax 9 years ago. Legally, you're only required to pay tax on any NEW mortgage amount.



What is CEMA?



Asking them to locate the "CEMA" means asking them to locate the original paperwork confirming that you paid the tax on your mortgage amount years ago, so you don't have to pay it again. (no idea what CEMA actually stands for, though). However, some banks won't go back and locate it because your loan can be sold to other investors over time, and could be harder to locate.

For example, we refinanced from HSBC to TFCU last year. We had to pay the mortgage tax all over again because we switched banks. If we stayed with HSBC, they said it could take a little longer but that they would try to locate the CEMA for us. Overall though, we saved more in closing costs and by switching to TFCU.

Posted 3/10/20 8:12 PM
 

ali120206
2 Boys

Member since 7/06

17792 total posts

Name:

anyone else looking to refinance their home?

We were looking into it. Wells Fargo was giving is ridiculously high rates.... we are working with a mortgage broker as well but with our current rate and the costs it probably isn’t worth it.

Posted 3/10/20 9:56 PM
 

Mrs213
????????

Member since 2/09

18986 total posts

Name:

anyone else looking to refinance their home?

If I were staying I would but we plan to sell this summer

Posted 3/10/20 9:57 PM
 

Deeluvsvinny
DONE

Member since 10/08

4952 total posts

Name:
Whatever

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

Posted by mommy2be716

Posted by FirstMate

Posted by mommy2be716

Posted by PhyllisNJoe

Posted by mommy2be716

TFCU was only 2.75% last week for a 30 year, and 2.625% for 15. I would definitely go for it.

The benefit to staying with Wells Fargo is that you can request a CEMA and avoid re-paying the mortgage tax that way. If you switch to TFCU, which will probably be lower than WF, you would be stuck paying the mortgage tax at a new lender most likely. Which could be thousands depending on the mortgage amount



Thank you. Yes, we want to stick with our current lender to make it smoother/less expensive. We are currently at 3.875 from 9 years ago.



The rule of thumb is always consider it if it's over 1% less. So i would definitely look into it. Definitely ask about the state tax though. For us, it was over 3k because the mortgage amount was 300k. Whatever your new mortgage amount will be, just multiply it by 1.08625 and then divide by 100. Even if you're refinancing only 100k, you're looking at over $1,000 in closing costs that you can save by asking WF to locate the CEMA showing you already paid that tax 9 years ago. Legally, you're only required to pay tax on any NEW mortgage amount.



What is CEMA?



Asking them to locate the "CEMA" means asking them to locate the original paperwork confirming that you paid the tax on your mortgage amount years ago, so you don't have to pay it again. (no idea what CEMA actually stands for, though). However, some banks won't go back and locate it because your loan can be sold to other investors over time, and could be harder to locate.

For example, we refinanced from HSBC to TFCU last year. We had to pay the mortgage tax all over again because we switched banks. If we stayed with HSBC, they said it could take a little longer but that they would try to locate the CEMA for us. Overall though, we saved more in closing costs and by switching to TFCU.



CEMA stands for Consolidation & Extension of Mortgage Agreement. It's actually not located, it's a new document recorded with your new mortgage. And you don't need to stay with your current lender to do it. Most large banks will assign the old mortgage for a fee (usually less than $1,000) to the new lender-- the new lender would get this done for you- just tell whomever you want to work with that you want a CEMA to avoid re-paying the mortgage tax. You only pay the tax on the difference between the principal balance of the old loan and amount of the new loan- for NYS, it's typically a significant savings. I work in the mortgage industry and everyone is asking to refi- whether it's to lower the rate, reduce the term (since rates are lower, payments are more affordable) or even cash out.

Posted 3/11/20 4:28 AM
 

b2b777
LIF Adult

Member since 9/09

4474 total posts

Name:

anyone else looking to refinance their home?

I am -- i bought 2 years ago when the rates spiked. I am going from 4.5 to 3.25! It is shaving off about 4 years of payments.

Posted 3/11/20 5:23 AM
 

Aries14
Can't plan life...

Member since 8/08

2860 total posts

Name:

anyone else looking to refinance their home?

i already have 3.5 rate... not sure if its worth it

Posted 3/11/20 6:06 AM
 

b2b777
LIF Adult

Member since 9/09

4474 total posts

Name:

anyone else looking to refinance their home?

It is only worth it if your rate is a point different --- or you just closed and you are staying in the home for another 20+ years

Posted 3/11/20 6:22 AM
 

chilltocam
LIF Adult

Member since 11/11

9141 total posts

Name:

anyone else looking to refinance their home?

I had actually just started the process right before the rate drop. I am doing a cash out refi for home improvements but I am still getting a lower rate than what I had before

Posted 3/11/20 6:26 AM
 

Kathy042806
LIF Adult

Member since 5/06

1416 total posts

Name:
Kathy

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

I bought my house in January 2018 and am paying on top of PMI, another mortgage insurance because of my FHA loan and not so great credit at the time. Now my credit score is over 800 and although my interest rate is 4.00%, I'd like to refinance to possibly lower my rate and not pay the mortgage insurance. Can this be done? Is it even worth looking into? My payments because of PMI and extra mortgage insurance is so high

Posted 3/12/20 6:09 AM
 

PhyllisNJoe
My Box Is Broken

Member since 6/11

9145 total posts

Name:
Phyllis

Re: anyone else looking to refinance their home?

Posted by Kathy042806

I bought my house in January 2018 and am paying on top of PMI, another mortgage insurance because of my FHA loan and not so great credit at the time. Now my credit score is over 800 and although my interest rate is 4.00%, I'd like to refinance to possibly lower my rate and not pay the mortgage insurance. Can this be done? Is it even worth looking into? My payments because of PMI and extra mortgage insurance is so high



FHA and PMI could be an issue. We had this type of mortgage and when we tried to refinance a few years ago we were told we could not Because of the FHA nature of the loan. We hustled for 4 years and paid an extra $1k per month and got rid of the PMI. So it’s a traditional loan now and can refi. Definitely call your mortgage company and see what they say. Hopefully rules have changed since.

An update. We called Wells Fargo. PP was right, their rates suck. Best we could get was 3.2. From 3.8. Not terrible but can be better with credit score over 820

We put a call into a friends brother who’s does mortgages. Waiting on him to get us more options.

Message edited 3/12/2020 11:29:04 AM.

Posted 3/12/20 11:28 AM
 
 

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