Recommendation for 15 yrs fixed mortgage lender

[scaredyclassic]

Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

[HLS]

BG said:
I didn’t know ARCO accepted CC’s, HLS. And I’m only a one-person household (except holidays) so I’ll never hit the $6K AMEX grocery award limit … ever :=0
********************************
Then you strengthen my point!!
What’s so great about a card that costs $75
that you don’t even max out the rewards ??

ARCO-AM/PM does not take credit cards, however with 3%-5% promotions on credit cards, I buy ARCO Gift Cards at Albertsons.
You can use the gift cards at the pump at updated locations so no need to go inside to pay.
Net cheaper than Costco, without the lines.

I don’t think buying gift cards is coded differently,
but if you aren’t maxing out your $6000 grocery spend
to get 6%, consider buying gift cards at grocery stores
for restaurants, gas stations & stores that you can use or give as gifts.
At gas stations like SHELL, I think using a gift card gets you the cash price, so there’s a possible benefit there too. Avoid paying the credit card surcharge at the pump, and possibly get 6% back off the cash price.

Lots of ways to benefit from offers & promotions.
Isn’t Saving $ like tax free net income ??

[Anonymous]

[quote=no_such_reality]Long thread, skipped most of it.

This is simple, if you’re currently around $400k on balance and at 4%, you can get a better rate, lower payment AND let the lenders pay for it. Aka free. Sure, you could do better, but you have to pay for that.

Don’t let great be the enemy of good.[/quote]

That makes sense if you ignore the fact that every loan is about paying for money.

[Anonymous]

[quote=flu]It’s was about “hey, do you guys have a lender/broker you can recommend for me, I’m interested in a 0/0 loan”…..[/quote]

OP’s mistake was to ask on a site populated by lingering HLS fanboys.

Hey, now we’re getting advice on credit cards!

[no_such_reality]

[quote=harvey][quote=no_such_reality]Long thread, skipped most of it.

This is simple, if you’re currently around $400k on balance and at 4%, you can get a better rate, lower payment AND let the lenders pay for it. Aka free. Sure, you could do better, but you have to pay for that.

Don’t let great be the enemy of good.[/quote]

That makes sense if you ignore the fact that any loan is about paying for money.[/quote]

Your existing loan is about paying for money.

If your existing loan is at or above 4% and the balance is more than $400K, it’s costing you more money.

It’s simple, regardless of term, a remaining $400K balance at 4% is going to cost you about $1333, this month.

Refi to 3.75% with the same balance and that $400K costs you $1250.

Next month, it’s abut $1330 for your existing loan costing you, and the new one about $1248.

So, in the near term, it’s $80/month less. Just shy of a $1000 this year. And about the same next year. And then we’ll average $950 for the next three years.

It’s a simple question.

Choose one for your remaining $400K balance:

A) do nothing, continue to pay $1330/month in interest.
B) refi, pay nothing up front and still only owe $400K, pay $1250/month in interest.
C) refi, pay about $4000 up front to get a better rate and pay probably $1200/month in interest, maybe $1166.

end of discussion.

[an]

[quote=harvey][quote=no_such_reality]Long thread, skipped most of it.

This is simple, if you’re currently around $400k on balance and at 4%, you can get a better rate, lower payment AND let the lenders pay for it. Aka free. Sure, you could do better, but you have to pay for that.

Don’t let great be the enemy of good.[/quote]

That makes sense if you ignore the fact that every loan is about paying for money.[/quote]Up front vs over life of the loan. Probability of refinancing again the the future before the break even point. Inflation. Probably of you selling the house before the break even point. Probability of you losing your job before the break even point. Probability of you getting ill and need that cash before the break even point. Probability of your car breaking down and you need the cash to fix it before the break even point.

[Coronita]

[quote=harvey][quote=flu]It’s was about “hey, do you guys have a lender/broker you can recommend for me, I’m interested in a 0/0 loan”…..[/quote]

OP’s mistake was to ask on a site populated by lingering HLS fanboys.

Hey, now we’re getting advice on credit cards![/quote]

I really don’t understand why you have an axe to grind with HLS. Or any of the former realtors that were on this blog. I’d say they helped a lot more people than didn’t.

I mean really, what is your point? Just like I am trying to understand why BG feels like she has an axe to grind even when she is glaringly wrong about something.

I never took out a loan with HLS. And while some of his opinions on other subjects outside of loans i don’t necessarily agree with (or those about condos), it’s pretty evident that those were his perspective on things.

I do have think a lot of you have nothing better to do these days than to start an argument on this board just for the sake of arguing, and without really adding anything really useful as either a positive or negative experience in things about finance or real estate..,which probably explains why a lot of the old timers that were actually pretty useful have long gone. Its really too bad because a lot of them could have really helped out people. Again just my opinion. That’s why I’ve been recommending PMs to actually discuss useful things. People are smart enough to do their own due diligence. But there’s no point in discussing anything here if it just simply starts out as a slapfest.

Afterall, I am sure all this slapfest has certainly helped improve the financial situation of people right? I mean clearly if people have all the right answers at their fingertips, there’s no need to ask or even be here on this board. You people are capable of making all of right decisions yourself all the time, even in subject matters you have absolutely no practical hands on experience with and are already wildly financially independent with your totally awesome 100% track record of knowing every correct decision for every situation possible.

[Coronita]

[quote=no_such_reality][quote=harvey][quote=no_such_reality]Long thread, skipped most of it.

This is simple, if you’re currently around $400k on balance and at 4%, you can get a better rate, lower payment AND let the lenders pay for it. Aka free. Sure, you could do better, but you have to pay for that.

Don’t let great be the enemy of good.[/quote]

That makes sense if you ignore the fact that any loan is about paying for money.[/quote]

Your existing loan is about paying for money.

If your existing loan is at or above 4% and the balance is more than $400K, it’s costing you more money.

It’s simple, regardless of term, a remaining $400K balance at 4% is going to cost you about $1333, this month.

Refi to 3.75% with the same balance and that $400K costs you $1250.

Next month, it’s abut $1330 for your existing loan costing you, and the new one about $1248.

So, in the near term, it’s $80/month less. Just shy of a $1000 this year. And about the same next year. And then we’ll average $950 for the next three years.

It’s a simple question.

Choose one for your remaining $400K balance:

A) do nothing, continue to pay $1330/month in interest.
B) refi, pay nothing up front and still only owe $400K, pay $1250/month in interest.
C) refi, pay about $4000 up front to get a better rate and pay probably $1200/month in interest, maybe $1166.

end of discussion.[/quote]
Forget it NSR. Haven’t you seen? Harvey has a finance background as he clearly stated. Hence he must be right, you must be wrong. Its as simple as that.

[Anonymous]

[quote=flu]I really don’t understand why you have an axe to grind with HLS. [/quote]

You’re the one turning it into drama.

I’m just poking fun at his ethics, and his fanboy’s inability to see past their rationalizations.

A simple rule of thumb to apply when asking if behavior is ethical: Ask yourself, if everybody did the same thing, what would happen?

What if every mortgage broker in SD were on this site peddling their services and disparaging anybody who questioned their gimmicks?

This site better is better than many others because it is not just a cheap marketing venue.

[Anonymous]

[quote=AN][Probability of refinancing again the the future before the break even point. Inflation. Probably of you selling the house before the break even point. Probability of you losing your job before the break even point. Probability of you getting ill and need that cash before the break even point. Probability of your car breaking down and you need the cash to fix it before the break even point.[/quote]

If I were that worried about adverse events I wouldn’t even leave the house let alone own one.

[no_such_reality]

[quote=harvey]This site better is better than many others because it is not just a cheap marketing venue.[/quote]

The irony being the OP asked for a recommendation to a mortgage lender…

[Anonymous]

[quote=no_such_reality]The irony being the OP asked for a recommendation to a mortgage lender…[/quote]

It’s one thing to ask a community for business references, it’s another to promote one’s business directly.

Sure, there can be nuances, and it may be reasonable for vendors to occasionally plug their wares in exchange for consistently providing real value to discussions.

I just don’t think that “I know more about mortgages than these fools, contact me and I’ll tell you about it” even falls into the grey area.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=flu]The great thing about a 30 year ARM is that while one might get lucky during the first half of the 30 year watching the ARM come down during a period of declining interest rates, there’s an entire 14-15 years of political and economic uncertainty that one gets to see if rates move in the opposite direction.

If my memory serves me correct, many ARMs that were based on 11th district have a minimum floor that rates can’t go below and also no maximum cap, that will limit how much rates can be charged.

Personally, I would never gamble with an ARM with a floor on one end and no cap on the other, because to me, that would be a lot of risk. But that’s just me. Others could get it to work if that’s the loan product that’s best for them.

There are Helocs that have 3% rates with a 2% floor and 6%cap… I know, because I have one, though currently I’m not using it.[/quote]flu, I don’t know where you got the idea that the Option ARMs of yesteryear (2002/3 and prior) had no floor. Of course, they ALL had a floor which was usually equal to their margin . . . 1.75% to 2.75% at the time and the margins were different depending on the index (LIBOR, 1 YR T-Bill & COFI) and the year they were offered. As I previously posted on this thread 1-3 times, Option ARMs had an annual cap and a life cap. The annual cap was usually 2%, which could result in neg am if interest rates went ballistic quickly (as they did in ’82/’83). However, that never happened to any of my loans. The life cap was usually 10% to 13% depending on index and year the program was offered. Theoretically, it would take ~3.5 years to reach a life cap of 10% for an Option ARM borrower currently paying 3.6% with a 2% year annual cap (assuming the index really DID go up 2% per year and I’ve never seen this happen with the Prime/Alt A Option ARM products). That’s a lot of time for the borrower to figure out how to refi or pay the loan off.

Their really isn’t anything “scary” about the older Option ARMS if the borrower was a prime borrower when they took out the loan and always paid the fully amortizing option every month.

It’s the stupid borrowers who fell down the rabbit hole head first by not paying enough in to cover PI every month (choosing opt 1 or 2) to fully amortize the loan. This resulted in periodic “surprises” for these borrowers in the form of interest rate resets on some set anniversary dates. This same group of idiots also found themselves upside-down on their loan within 1-2 years of taking it out (and even upside down on their property if they put little down). However, ALL Option ARM lenders at that time capped the total of the neg am to 125% of original loan value. The unpaid principal rising to 125% of the original loan would trigger the borrower’s payment options being removed and the neg am tacked back onto their payment in monthly increments to force them to begin paying it down (plus the months already elapsed of the missing original principal payments).

Some Option ARM programs were offered at 95% LTV BUT the borrower had to be Prime (high 700 FICO) to be considered by the underwriter’s PMI company for a 90-95% LTV program. I personally have never had to take out a PMI policy but, as we all know, PMI premiums can be very expensive (on top of PITI).

My current mortgage interest rate has never been above 7.1%, IIRC. I believe the prevailing fixed interest rate was about 6.75% – 7% at the time I took out the mortgage. It’s been a great ride following the COFI index downhill for well over half the ~15 years I’ve had the mortgage!

You need to bear in mind, however, that during the time these prime Option ARM loan programs were being offered (mid-late ’80’s thru ’02/03), the prevalent fixed mortgage interest rates were ~6.5% to 10.5%.

The COFI Option ARM programs (both portfolio and FreddieMac) were almost all assumable (buyer must qualify with lender and pay an assumption fee of $500, which includes doc drawing, I believe). Assumable mortgage programs seem to have become extinct in the past decade or so. They used to be a “selling aid” when fixed interest rates were higher.

Of course, no one knows what will happen to the mortgage indexes once a new president gets sworn in and gets to work early next year. At this stage of my life, I couldn’t give a rat’s @$$. If the index goes thru the roof next year, I can always pay it off or consider selling. I will never take out another mortgage again, unless it is very tiny (well under $100K) and 10 years or less in duration (likely seller-financed). And I would only agree to do that for a very exceptional property which I couldn’t possibly get (after wrangling) for the budget I had earmarked to spend on my retirement home.

[an]

[quote=harvey][quote=AN][Probability of refinancing again the the future before the break even point. Inflation. Probably of you selling the house before the break even point. Probability of you losing your job before the break even point. Probability of you getting ill and need that cash before the break even point. Probability of your car breaking down and you need the cash to fix it before the break even point.[/quote]

If I were that worried about adverse events I wouldn’t even leave the house let alone own one.[/quote]
Who said anything about worrying? When you’re ignoring facts, it’s because you want to leave the house… got it.

[no_such_reality]

[quote=harvey][quote=no_such_reality]The irony being the OP asked for a recommendation to a mortgage lender…[/quote]

It’s one thing to ask a community for business references, it’s another to promote one’s business directly.

Sure, there can be nuances, and it may be reasonable for vendors to occasionally plug their wares in exchange for consistently providing real value to discussions.

I just don’t think that “I know more about mortgages than these fools, contact me and I’ll tell you about it” even falls into the grey area.[/quote]

So, A, B or C to the prior question?

[Author]

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