One logistical challenge in refinancing a mortgage is getting a certified check for the amount you have to bring to the table at the time you sign the closing papers. Even if you are doing a no-cost refinance, you still have to pay pre-paid interest for the partial month and escrow deposit. If you are […]
Payment Flexibility Insurance: Pay a 30-Year Loan On a 15-Year Schedule
Paying a 30-year mortgage on a 15-year schedule costs a lot more than getting a straight 15-year mortgage.
A High Credit Score Is Not Necessary for the Best Loan Rate
My mortgage refinance is almost done. I will sign the docs this week. Long story short, I’m refinancing from a 15-year fixed at 3.75% to a 5/1 ARM at 2.625% with a negative $900 closing cost. It’s a great rate. Getting paid to do it makes it even better. As part of the disclosure, the […]
FirstIB Mortgage Refinance Review
My mortgage refinance with First Internet Bank of Indiana ("First IB") is done. The new loan paid off the old loan. All done. I thought I would update the progress as it moved along but it went so uneventful there wasn’t much to update. Here’s the timeline: Day Activity 1 Submitted application online. Didn’t get […]
How Much Money Does a Bank or Broker Make From a Mortgage Refinance?
Have you wondered how much money a bank or a mortgage broker makes when you do a mortgage refinance with them? By law, a mortgage broker must disclose their compensation but you often don’t see it until you get the final closing statement (“HUD-1”). In a post last year, Mortgage Broker vs Mortgage Lender, I […]
Hopping On Another Refi Train
I thought the last train for mortgage refinance left in March but the trains keep coming. Rates have gone lower and lower. I’m doing another refinance to lower my rate to 3.75% for a 15-year fixed rate loan. This time, instead of going to my twice favorite National Mortgage Alliance (NMA), I’m using a different […]
Last Train for Mortgage Refinance
On March 16, the Fed announced it would stop buying mortgage-backed securities effective March 31. Instead of going up, the mortgage rates reached a new low on the next day. As a result, I’m doing another no-cost refinance to lower my rate by a quarter of a percentage point. I think this really will be […]
Mortgage Refinance and Option Pricing
Being a blogger with a contact form, I often receive PR outreach messages. They want me to write about what they are trying to promote. I ignore most of those. Once in a while, I get something worth reading. Andrew Kalotay Associates is a fixed income analytics and debt management advisory services company in New […]
Mortgage Ecosystem: Direct Lender
My mortgage refinance was completed on June 3. I made my first payment to my new lender today. I did the refi through National Mortgage Alliance (NMA), which is a division of a bank Georgia Banking Company (GBC). The name on my loan paperwork was “Georgia Banking Company dba National Mortgage Alliance.” Officially, I borrowed […]
Mortgage and Home Loan
I kept saying I refinanced my mortgage. Actually I don’t have a mortgage. Nor did I ever have one. A mortgage does not have financial terms. Refinancing it makes no sense either. The word "mortgage" is probably one of those most widely misused words that eventually the misnomer will trump its true definition. When people […]
Mortgage Refinance Completed
My mortgage refinance is completed. I called the servicer for my old mortgage and they told me the loan was paid off as of Wednesday. The payoff amount matched what my HUD-1 closing statement showed except the servicer took $57 from the payoff amount as fees for recording the lien release with the county. They […]
Signed Mortgage Refinance Documents
I signed the documents for my mortgage refinance yesterday. A recap for the process since the beginning (sorry for lack of updates when I was on vacation): Week 1. Found a good rate. Filled out application. Week 2. Locked rate. Signed disclosure documents. Faxed supporting documents. Week 3. Home appraisal. Decided against waiving escrow for […]