Is anyone else looking at refinancing their mortgage?

[GyroF-16]

I've got no affiliation and get nothing out of it, but NASB has been drama free for me so far and my buddy who's a real estate attorney said the deal is solid.

That’s who we used, too. They will work to beat any competition- I sent them a quote from the best deal I could find, and they beat it with lower closing costs. They’re certainly worth looking into.

[Borderland]

Does anyone understand how Trump became a billionaire? He didn't do it by paying down his debt. I think he once said he was the King of Debt.

Personally I don't recommend that but it worked for him.

[Duces Tecum]

The juice isn't worth the squeeze for us unless there were no fees involved.

Nobody works for free. There are always fees, and they are always paid up front. The borrower's choice is (a) pay them through escrow prior to the funding of the new loan, or (b) pay them through rebates secondary to a higher interest rate.

[Duces Tecum]

Does anyone understand how Trump became a billionaire? He didn't do it by paying down his debt. I think he once said he was the King of Debt.

Personally I don't recommend that but it worked for him.

Worked for a lot of people. Interest rates peaked in 1982. They've been declining for 38 years. Every time rates drop, values go up. When values have climbed sufficiently, refinance the existing property to buy another property. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

The issue now is that rates are at historically low levels. They will climb. Nobody knows when, but their rise is certain. As they rise values will drop, and that will be a fearsome time.

[BehindBlueI's]

There is a a point to invest the difference for a higher return?? But the point is once your mortgage is paid for you can do what ever the Hell you want with your money, AND there is NO better feeling.

The market fluctuations really don’t matter the only thing that really matters is, where is your money when you want/need it? 8 % return for 10 years is good but if the market drops 20% or more and you need it then your kinda screwed. If you need to take money out during a 20% drop you may never be able to recoup.

The way I look at it a payed off mortgage IS money in the bank. What you do after that is up to you. I would Love to be filthy rich but I will settle to be reasonably rich.

I don't have any emotional attachment to being debt free and I understand the effect on my cash flow. I will almost certainly never pay this house off as I don't plan to stay in the same county once I retire. Therefore every dollar I put in the mortgage is an investment, and at this point a poor one. Once I cash out I intend to buy smaller/cheaper for cash to adjust for reduced cash flow from pension vs salary and to further reduce risk in retirement.

I don't need to take money out during the lean times, that's what short term bonds, CDs, etc. are for. It does limit your returns, of course, but I'm reasonably risk averse in that regard. My "emergency fund" is easily twice what most experts recommend.

[Nephrology]

I'm a filthy renter and frankly, for where I am at in life, I'm satisfied with that.

I moved to this city about 5-6 years ago with a modest amount of savings. I was encouraged by program leadership to look into buying, which I did. However, the amount I had available for a down payment vs. the frankly hyper-inflated prices of real estate in the areas I was restricted to just didn't add up. My classmates who did buy either had substantially more saved (two people) or help from their parents (3 others).

I fell into neither and frankly am happy I didn't buy. The market was, and remains, ridiculously overpriced for what I am looking for (space, good schools for future kids). Not sure what the RE market will look like when I am ready to leave, but I have no desire to be tied down here anyway. If I knew I would buy-to-occupy for the length of my loan I wouldn't have hesitated, but I don't really want to stay here, and given how frothy the market is here, the risk of being underwater on a property I hate felt far too high.

[Duces Tecum]

I don't need to take money out during the lean times, that's what short term bonds, CDs, etc. are for. It does limit your returns, of course, but I'm reasonably risk averse in that regard. My "emergency fund" is easily twice what most experts recommend.

We might be brothers.

Not to bend the thread too much, but the website "PortfolioCharts.com" is good evening reading.

[SecondsCount]

I only have a few more years left so it would be silly to go back to the top of the amortization table.

If you are refinancing, take a look at 10 and 15, even 20 year loans. You can save a ton in interest with them. 30 years is brutal.

[littlejerry]

I only have a few more years left so it would be silly to go back to the top of the amortization table.

If you are refinancing, take a look at 10 and 15, even 20 year loans. You can save a ton in interest with them. 30 years is brutal.

We just refi'd and looked at 15 and 20 year terms. There was essentially no discount on the rate, so we took the 30 year term and are making extra payments that get us to a 20 year payoff. This way at least we have the flexibility to put that money elsewhere if we need to.

[peterb]

Reviving this thread to add this on VA loans:
-------------
...But a new study finds that the rates charged on VA loans vary widely and that veterans like Forr often pay more than they should for their mortgages. That can end up costing them tens of thousands more over the life of the loan.

The Own Up study examined federal lending data for the top 20 lenders for VA loans in the U.S., and looked at the annual percentage rate the companies offered on all the loans they made in 2019.

"When we looked at the spread, candidly, we were quite surprised that it was as wide as it was," Boyaggi says. "The best lenders and the worst lenders were so far apart from one another."

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/11/93317...often-pay-more