[quote=Russell]BG, I imagine you have called your lender to see if they have any streamline type refi options for you?[/quote]
Russell, I could look into this but I really have no need to do so at this time. I’m already nine years into a 30-yr loan which is currently less than $1300 mo and falling. Why pay points/fees??
Unless I can do a 15-yr fixed at $1400 mo or less (at little or no cost), it wouldn’t make sense. The Option is still available to me of sending extra money to the principal in every month if I wish. My loan is recast once a year using the new principal balance.
With my other tax deductions, I don’t currently have enough taxable income to derive the full benefit from deducting $7000-$8000 year interest but my payments have been cheaper than rent.
I have a large 4/2 house on a good-sized lot, but if my last kid should decide NOT to start college out at CC after graduating HS, I will sell and move away so it is kind of fruitless to refinance, since my loan is fully assumable for a small fee.
I would LOVE to buy a 1900-2500 sf cosmetic fixer ranch on a LARGE (1/3 AC+) lot to retire (and die in) here in SD County but even if I could successfully sell and obtain a good deal (and acceptable financing) on one of these, I am physically unable to properly keep up the lot I already have by myself due to recurrent carpal-tunnel and other joint issues.
I don’t see interest rates going thru the roof in the next 2-4 yrs and besides, I have a 2% annual cap on my rate, which is currently at 4.541%
Why upset the “apple cart,” Russell? I don’t think the type of loan I have (with the terms I have) is even available anymore and being that I have an excellent credit score, I see no need to pay points and fees for an (Alt-A) “streamline” product simply because I no longer have “W-2” income. I’d rather put that $$ directly into needed repairs/improvements to make my property more marketable.
Pure Option ARMS only got a “bad rap” in recent years because the vast majority of the borrowers who recently took them out did not follow the rules properly. They were a very fine product and, if the “rules” are followed religiously, these loans are no cash cow for lenders. As a matter of fact, they can become completely unprofitable for lenders down the line when they have to “follow their own contract” on a “seasoned loan” in a mostly flat or downward interest-rate environment, such as the one we’ve been seeing for the last 18 years or so. Keep in mind these loans had no points and little fees when they were originated so there was no “up-front” profit, either, if obtained thru a direct lender :=)
