Josh,
You are correct…
A refi is a refi, regardless of whether any cash is taken out or not.

ONLY a purchase loan that is used to acquire the property has NON-recourse status.

30 YR fixed rates were below 5% for about an hour on Jan 23rd. They ended that day at 5.375%, an unbelievable, unprecedented move.
There was a window of opportunity to lock for about an hour, then it moved up quickly. It was chaos.

I cannot predict rates…

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the govt is desperate,,, VERY desperate.