Mortgage shopping

 We we are about to close of our second refinance in as many years.   We bought our house with a 30yr @ 4.25% loan.  Then last year refi to a 15yr @ 3.25 which increased out monthly payment by 300ish. Really we didn't notice because we were already putting extra into our loan and didn't notice the difference. 

The only thing I hated about going to 15 was the less flexibility we had with the money. Opportunity missed, but paying off the home in 15 years sounded great.  So here we are a little more then a year later and we are at it again.  Got a couple of quotes and see if it was something we would do. We were thinking about going back to a 30 year loan to put more money in our pocket to help cover cost upcoming for this Covid year.  Anyway after shopping and negotiating we got to a 30yr @ 2.875% with a 2.9APR.  Which lowers our monthly payment by a whopping 👀 $1000 a month.  Yes the world is crazy. When things get crazy take advantage where you can.  Here is the funny thing.  Since we got a lower interest rate we could pay the exact same amount into the load and pay it off 14months soon and with $20k less in interest. 

 

How to do this and not lose your mind and just give up.  

• Know your current rate and amount you will need to finance.  
• Don't give out your SS just to get quotes.
• Know what your credit score is - look with up on one of the 100 sites if you don't know
• Be prepared to unfreeze your credit once you are ready to move forward.  

 

The most important part on picking a Mortgage shopping is being comfortable during the process.  This is a lot of money and if you don't feel like the are honest or making it easy on you move on.  Yes is may cost you money, but long term you will feel better about it.  Remember to not just go with lowest % look at the whole picture check APR% which is interest rate with the fee in.

What was important to me was, 1. Low interest rate and APR, 2. They wouldn't see my loan and I have to send my checks to someone else. I've heard horror stories of people missing payment because the company change and they didn't know. 3. Easy payment and service.  This is something these companies do all the time it should be smooth. 4. Don't have to give to much information to get a basic quote.  If they required credit checks and SS right away I moved on.  They should be able to give me an idea on fee and interest rates based on my loan and what I tell them my how good my credit is.  

So go out there get a couple of quotes. Don't try to time the market and be read when you make your choice.  Also get your best quote and go back to your current lender to see if they will match it.  Staying with the same company requires a lot of the same things as switching, but you don't have to worry about miss payment or a new system.  Good Luck!!