Refi from 30 year to 15?

[Coronita]

[quote=threadkiller]Ok now I’m scared, they put you through all that crap when you have the house half paid for. As I was telling my wife last night we will actually lose some interest write off by refi’ing and we didn’t get a full year in ’09 as we bought in Feb and didn’t actually start paying till April. Rates look like they are heading down so I’m going to take my time with this refi and see if I can close closer to the end of the year. Thanks for the info flu.[/quote]

Well, yes… But it probably because I’m a complicated person.

1) My taxes weren’t done.
2) The account I gave them had a balance that was swinging +-$125k every other week.
3) I wanted to quality with one income.

My understanding is that asking for 2-3 months of statement is standard practice right now. I guess just pick the account(s) that doesn’t have that much fluctuation. Checking if you’re still employed I guess is standard practice too. My broker friend was telling me how there was a client which went through the loan, and the day before closing, he decided to quit his job and take some time off. The loan was dead on arrival. (Pissed off my friend, because had the client quit the day after, he probably would have been fine).

It really wasn’t that bad. Understanding all the new documents “good faith estimates, etc” was a different story….

You will lose some interest writeoff…But, your over the longer period, you aren’t paying nearly as much for the loan. It was a no brainer for me because I was planning on making a lump sum payment on my 30 year anyway to bring it closer to conforming limits…Sitting on liquid cash right now is like earning 0.5-1% interest so it seemed better to pay down the loan that was >%5.

[as]

Flu,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I just locked in 3.625% for 15-year fixed with 0 points, $300 closing fee. It seems banks are very strict now.

[as]

Flu,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I just locked in 3.625% for 15-year fixed with 0 points, $300 closing fee. It seems banks are very strict now.

[as]

Flu,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I just locked in 3.625% for 15-year fixed with 0 points, $300 closing fee. It seems banks are very strict now.

[as]

Flu,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I just locked in 3.625% for 15-year fixed with 0 points, $300 closing fee. It seems banks are very strict now.

[as]

Flu,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I just locked in 3.625% for 15-year fixed with 0 points, $300 closing fee. It seems banks are very strict now.

[CA renter]

[quote=flu][quote=equalizer][quote=flu][quote=threadkiller]Who did you go with flu? B of A is saying 3.5% with 1/2 point and $3600 in fees. Sounds about the same that we paid on the original 30 year @ 4.875%, not sure how the 3600 dollars breaks down, getting all the paperwork together now.[/quote]

http://piggington.com/well_folkslooks_like_interest_rates_for_loans_are_about_to_go_lo

A broker friend got me the loan. The loan was resold to Wells Fargo a few days after I closed, and it’s also being serviced by Wells Fargo (at lest according to the paper work)….

Originally, I was going to get the loan from aerospace credit union (which has rates even lower now)

http://aerofcu.mortgagewebcenter.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1

Personally, I think you can do better than what B of A is offering in this environment. Maybe try talking to HLS…

My original loan was 30 year @5.5ish…So I ended up getting a 15 year and also having lower payments by about $700/month….I took some friendly advice here, and bought a car LOL….can’t beat them, join them :))

I keep entertaining the thought that if rates on the 30year fall below 4% (like <3.5%), I just might refi back into a 30year and rent the house out and upgrade to something else. I think I'd be able to float the home with about $100-200 positive a month, after all the costs...though my equity would be tied up...then again, it's not like we're seeing great interest rates anyway :(...
I really wish I had a 3 car garage...I really want to have a permanent home/shop where I can work on and leave all my tools/crap, parts, engine, transmission around.

The new Flu...Sporting and encouraging fiscal irresponsibility :([/quote]
Now you have gone and done it. Sellout!

Banks won't let brokers lock rate without reviewing all paystubs, taxes, etc. Was also told that bank are assuming falling home prices and are reducing last sold comps depeding on the months back.

Got quote from broker today that was from Wells Fargo as well with about $3500 closing costs: 15 yr 3.5% no point, 7/8 pt 3.25%; 20yr 3.75% 1/4pt.[/quote]

Actually, when I refinanced, I found out the following.

*You don't need to finish your taxes ,but you do need to have proof you filed an extension. And you do need to have your w2's and last two months of pay stubs handy...Also they asked me for proof of my extension + extension payments I paid. They asked to see images of the canceled check to make sure I wasn't screwing around.

Where things got interesting was in their monitoring of my accounts and my employment after I locked...They wanted "proof" of things and it was pretty detailed..

*They wanted to see that I had sufficient savings/liquidity. I was told the reason for wanting to see 2-3 months of statements on that account to check if I had moved money suddenly into the account or not...Part of the reason is they wanted to make sure I really had the money in the account and not borrowed from someone. Part of the reason is also they wanted to make sure I wasn't laundering money. My account was flagged by about 3-4 days because I gave them my high frequency trading account, for which I entered a short position right before the end of the month, so that my account cash balance appeared to go up by $125k...Lender questioned where the sudden increase came from, so I had to explain what short selling was, and prove that the increase wasn't really my cash since I still owed the shares in the short position. Near closing (but not at closing), they asked to see an updated statement...I confused the hell out of them, since during that time, I closed the short position, and my account was showing a significantly lower balance...so I had to explain that one. Lesson learned...don't use an account which the numbers keep changing. And they do check and recheck.

*They asked to see an account that was a 401k or retirement. Not sure why...I guess to see if I had cash reserves ???

*At the day before closing escrow, they called my w2 employer to verify employment. So don't quit or lose your job until the day after you sign the papers.

*At escrow closing, surprisingly they didn't care where the cashier check/wire transfer came from. It didn't have to come from any of the accounts I gave them, and interestingly if I wanted to I probably could have wired the funds from another account overseas and/or had someone else wire the money in for me. I told them I needed to bring money @ closing from another account...They didn't care...Just told me to bring either a cashier check or wire the funds in (I was bringing my loan down from jumbo to conforming so I had to pay some principal down)

Getting the lender to allow me a lock wasn't an issue. Lender allowed me to lock withing 4-5 days of me applying the loan. I screwed up in that I should have waited and said I wanted to lock at a lower rate...I was told by broker and lender that my case was pretty easy because

*I had sufficient income on a W2 alone that was easily verifyable. I think they were going to raise a huge stink if I wasn't able to qualify on the W2 stubs themselves. I didn't need to go into my side gig.

*My LTV was about 49%, so I don't think my property posed a big financial risk. As much as I'd like to squat, the bank could easily recoup from me....Lender actually asked me if I wanted to cash out refi... I sort of laughed and said, sure if I can get 2005 appraised value with a 100% cashout....

*My fico ended up being 805 on average, high being 810 and low being 800.

*My appraisal came in higher than most others. I discussed this in a previous thread....But for some reason the comps they used was in a higher tier than my home, so my appraisal came in $100k higher than currently the tax assessor thinks it's worth...The assessor had automatically reassessed downward by $50k this year. It doesn't matter because not that the "appraisal" can really be used for anything else.

*I had sufficient liquidity elsewhere

I think if one is organized and have everything together up front, you don't get bugged as much. But some lenders don't tell you that you need all this, so you're left scrambling to get these things on demand.

Unfortunately, I think things would be considerably more difficult if you don't have consistent proof of income from something like a w2.[/quote]

What's interesting is that these requirements (pay stubs, tax returns, account statements/seasoning, 6-months+ reserves, sufficient equity/down payment, low DTI ratio, etc.) were SOP back before the credit bubble. IMHO, these aren't "tight" standards, but a return to "normal, common-sense" standards.

It's refreshing to hear that sanity is re-entering the mortgage market. I hope it continues indefinitely.

Thanks for sharing your experience, flu. I hope all lenders are being as careful as yours.

[CA renter]

[quote=flu][quote=equalizer][quote=flu][quote=threadkiller]Who did you go with flu? B of A is saying 3.5% with 1/2 point and $3600 in fees. Sounds about the same that we paid on the original 30 year @ 4.875%, not sure how the 3600 dollars breaks down, getting all the paperwork together now.[/quote]

http://piggington.com/well_folkslooks_like_interest_rates_for_loans_are_about_to_go_lo

A broker friend got me the loan. The loan was resold to Wells Fargo a few days after I closed, and it’s also being serviced by Wells Fargo (at lest according to the paper work)….

Originally, I was going to get the loan from aerospace credit union (which has rates even lower now)

http://aerofcu.mortgagewebcenter.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1

Personally, I think you can do better than what B of A is offering in this environment. Maybe try talking to HLS…

My original loan was 30 year @5.5ish…So I ended up getting a 15 year and also having lower payments by about $700/month….I took some friendly advice here, and bought a car LOL….can’t beat them, join them :))

I keep entertaining the thought that if rates on the 30year fall below 4% (like <3.5%), I just might refi back into a 30year and rent the house out and upgrade to something else. I think I'd be able to float the home with about $100-200 positive a month, after all the costs...though my equity would be tied up...then again, it's not like we're seeing great interest rates anyway :(...
I really wish I had a 3 car garage...I really want to have a permanent home/shop where I can work on and leave all my tools/crap, parts, engine, transmission around.

The new Flu...Sporting and encouraging fiscal irresponsibility :([/quote]
Now you have gone and done it. Sellout!

Banks won't let brokers lock rate without reviewing all paystubs, taxes, etc. Was also told that bank are assuming falling home prices and are reducing last sold comps depeding on the months back.

Got quote from broker today that was from Wells Fargo as well with about $3500 closing costs: 15 yr 3.5% no point, 7/8 pt 3.25%; 20yr 3.75% 1/4pt.[/quote]

Actually, when I refinanced, I found out the following.

*You don't need to finish your taxes ,but you do need to have proof you filed an extension. And you do need to have your w2's and last two months of pay stubs handy...Also they asked me for proof of my extension + extension payments I paid. They asked to see images of the canceled check to make sure I wasn't screwing around.

Where things got interesting was in their monitoring of my accounts and my employment after I locked...They wanted "proof" of things and it was pretty detailed..

*They wanted to see that I had sufficient savings/liquidity. I was told the reason for wanting to see 2-3 months of statements on that account to check if I had moved money suddenly into the account or not...Part of the reason is they wanted to make sure I really had the money in the account and not borrowed from someone. Part of the reason is also they wanted to make sure I wasn't laundering money. My account was flagged by about 3-4 days because I gave them my high frequency trading account, for which I entered a short position right before the end of the month, so that my account cash balance appeared to go up by $125k...Lender questioned where the sudden increase came from, so I had to explain what short selling was, and prove that the increase wasn't really my cash since I still owed the shares in the short position. Near closing (but not at closing), they asked to see an updated statement...I confused the hell out of them, since during that time, I closed the short position, and my account was showing a significantly lower balance...so I had to explain that one. Lesson learned...don't use an account which the numbers keep changing. And they do check and recheck.

*They asked to see an account that was a 401k or retirement. Not sure why...I guess to see if I had cash reserves ???

*At the day before closing escrow, they called my w2 employer to verify employment. So don't quit or lose your job until the day after you sign the papers.

*At escrow closing, surprisingly they didn't care where the cashier check/wire transfer came from. It didn't have to come from any of the accounts I gave them, and interestingly if I wanted to I probably could have wired the funds from another account overseas and/or had someone else wire the money in for me. I told them I needed to bring money @ closing from another account...They didn't care...Just told me to bring either a cashier check or wire the funds in (I was bringing my loan down from jumbo to conforming so I had to pay some principal down)

Getting the lender to allow me a lock wasn't an issue. Lender allowed me to lock withing 4-5 days of me applying the loan. I screwed up in that I should have waited and said I wanted to lock at a lower rate...I was told by broker and lender that my case was pretty easy because

*I had sufficient income on a W2 alone that was easily verifyable. I think they were going to raise a huge stink if I wasn't able to qualify on the W2 stubs themselves. I didn't need to go into my side gig.

*My LTV was about 49%, so I don't think my property posed a big financial risk. As much as I'd like to squat, the bank could easily recoup from me....Lender actually asked me if I wanted to cash out refi... I sort of laughed and said, sure if I can get 2005 appraised value with a 100% cashout....

*My fico ended up being 805 on average, high being 810 and low being 800.

*My appraisal came in higher than most others. I discussed this in a previous thread....But for some reason the comps they used was in a higher tier than my home, so my appraisal came in $100k higher than currently the tax assessor thinks it's worth...The assessor had automatically reassessed downward by $50k this year. It doesn't matter because not that the "appraisal" can really be used for anything else.

*I had sufficient liquidity elsewhere

I think if one is organized and have everything together up front, you don't get bugged as much. But some lenders don't tell you that you need all this, so you're left scrambling to get these things on demand.

Unfortunately, I think things would be considerably more difficult if you don't have consistent proof of income from something like a w2.[/quote]

What's interesting is that these requirements (pay stubs, tax returns, account statements/seasoning, 6-months+ reserves, sufficient equity/down payment, low DTI ratio, etc.) were SOP back before the credit bubble. IMHO, these aren't "tight" standards, but a return to "normal, common-sense" standards.

It's refreshing to hear that sanity is re-entering the mortgage market. I hope it continues indefinitely.

Thanks for sharing your experience, flu. I hope all lenders are being as careful as yours.

[CA renter]

[quote=flu][quote=equalizer][quote=flu][quote=threadkiller]Who did you go with flu? B of A is saying 3.5% with 1/2 point and $3600 in fees. Sounds about the same that we paid on the original 30 year @ 4.875%, not sure how the 3600 dollars breaks down, getting all the paperwork together now.[/quote]

http://piggington.com/well_folkslooks_like_interest_rates_for_loans_are_about_to_go_lo

A broker friend got me the loan. The loan was resold to Wells Fargo a few days after I closed, and it’s also being serviced by Wells Fargo (at lest according to the paper work)….

Originally, I was going to get the loan from aerospace credit union (which has rates even lower now)

http://aerofcu.mortgagewebcenter.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1

Personally, I think you can do better than what B of A is offering in this environment. Maybe try talking to HLS…

My original loan was 30 year @5.5ish…So I ended up getting a 15 year and also having lower payments by about $700/month….I took some friendly advice here, and bought a car LOL….can’t beat them, join them :))

I keep entertaining the thought that if rates on the 30year fall below 4% (like <3.5%), I just might refi back into a 30year and rent the house out and upgrade to something else. I think I'd be able to float the home with about $100-200 positive a month, after all the costs...though my equity would be tied up...then again, it's not like we're seeing great interest rates anyway :(...
I really wish I had a 3 car garage...I really want to have a permanent home/shop where I can work on and leave all my tools/crap, parts, engine, transmission around.

The new Flu...Sporting and encouraging fiscal irresponsibility :([/quote]
Now you have gone and done it. Sellout!

Banks won't let brokers lock rate without reviewing all paystubs, taxes, etc. Was also told that bank are assuming falling home prices and are reducing last sold comps depeding on the months back.

Got quote from broker today that was from Wells Fargo as well with about $3500 closing costs: 15 yr 3.5% no point, 7/8 pt 3.25%; 20yr 3.75% 1/4pt.[/quote]

Actually, when I refinanced, I found out the following.

*You don't need to finish your taxes ,but you do need to have proof you filed an extension. And you do need to have your w2's and last two months of pay stubs handy...Also they asked me for proof of my extension + extension payments I paid. They asked to see images of the canceled check to make sure I wasn't screwing around.

Where things got interesting was in their monitoring of my accounts and my employment after I locked...They wanted "proof" of things and it was pretty detailed..

*They wanted to see that I had sufficient savings/liquidity. I was told the reason for wanting to see 2-3 months of statements on that account to check if I had moved money suddenly into the account or not...Part of the reason is they wanted to make sure I really had the money in the account and not borrowed from someone. Part of the reason is also they wanted to make sure I wasn't laundering money. My account was flagged by about 3-4 days because I gave them my high frequency trading account, for which I entered a short position right before the end of the month, so that my account cash balance appeared to go up by $125k...Lender questioned where the sudden increase came from, so I had to explain what short selling was, and prove that the increase wasn't really my cash since I still owed the shares in the short position. Near closing (but not at closing), they asked to see an updated statement...I confused the hell out of them, since during that time, I closed the short position, and my account was showing a significantly lower balance...so I had to explain that one. Lesson learned...don't use an account which the numbers keep changing. And they do check and recheck.

*They asked to see an account that was a 401k or retirement. Not sure why...I guess to see if I had cash reserves ???

*At the day before closing escrow, they called my w2 employer to verify employment. So don't quit or lose your job until the day after you sign the papers.

*At escrow closing, surprisingly they didn't care where the cashier check/wire transfer came from. It didn't have to come from any of the accounts I gave them, and interestingly if I wanted to I probably could have wired the funds from another account overseas and/or had someone else wire the money in for me. I told them I needed to bring money @ closing from another account...They didn't care...Just told me to bring either a cashier check or wire the funds in (I was bringing my loan down from jumbo to conforming so I had to pay some principal down)

Getting the lender to allow me a lock wasn't an issue. Lender allowed me to lock withing 4-5 days of me applying the loan. I screwed up in that I should have waited and said I wanted to lock at a lower rate...I was told by broker and lender that my case was pretty easy because

*I had sufficient income on a W2 alone that was easily verifyable. I think they were going to raise a huge stink if I wasn't able to qualify on the W2 stubs themselves. I didn't need to go into my side gig.

*My LTV was about 49%, so I don't think my property posed a big financial risk. As much as I'd like to squat, the bank could easily recoup from me....Lender actually asked me if I wanted to cash out refi... I sort of laughed and said, sure if I can get 2005 appraised value with a 100% cashout....

*My fico ended up being 805 on average, high being 810 and low being 800.

*My appraisal came in higher than most others. I discussed this in a previous thread....But for some reason the comps they used was in a higher tier than my home, so my appraisal came in $100k higher than currently the tax assessor thinks it's worth...The assessor had automatically reassessed downward by $50k this year. It doesn't matter because not that the "appraisal" can really be used for anything else.

*I had sufficient liquidity elsewhere

I think if one is organized and have everything together up front, you don't get bugged as much. But some lenders don't tell you that you need all this, so you're left scrambling to get these things on demand.

Unfortunately, I think things would be considerably more difficult if you don't have consistent proof of income from something like a w2.[/quote]

What's interesting is that these requirements (pay stubs, tax returns, account statements/seasoning, 6-months+ reserves, sufficient equity/down payment, low DTI ratio, etc.) were SOP back before the credit bubble. IMHO, these aren't "tight" standards, but a return to "normal, common-sense" standards.

It's refreshing to hear that sanity is re-entering the mortgage market. I hope it continues indefinitely.

Thanks for sharing your experience, flu. I hope all lenders are being as careful as yours.

[CA renter]

[quote=flu][quote=equalizer][quote=flu][quote=threadkiller]Who did you go with flu? B of A is saying 3.5% with 1/2 point and $3600 in fees. Sounds about the same that we paid on the original 30 year @ 4.875%, not sure how the 3600 dollars breaks down, getting all the paperwork together now.[/quote]

http://piggington.com/well_folkslooks_like_interest_rates_for_loans_are_about_to_go_lo

A broker friend got me the loan. The loan was resold to Wells Fargo a few days after I closed, and it’s also being serviced by Wells Fargo (at lest according to the paper work)….

Originally, I was going to get the loan from aerospace credit union (which has rates even lower now)

http://aerofcu.mortgagewebcenter.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1

Personally, I think you can do better than what B of A is offering in this environment. Maybe try talking to HLS…

My original loan was 30 year @5.5ish…So I ended up getting a 15 year and also having lower payments by about $700/month….I took some friendly advice here, and bought a car LOL….can’t beat them, join them :))

I keep entertaining the thought that if rates on the 30year fall below 4% (like <3.5%), I just might refi back into a 30year and rent the house out and upgrade to something else. I think I'd be able to float the home with about $100-200 positive a month, after all the costs...though my equity would be tied up...then again, it's not like we're seeing great interest rates anyway :(...
I really wish I had a 3 car garage...I really want to have a permanent home/shop where I can work on and leave all my tools/crap, parts, engine, transmission around.

The new Flu...Sporting and encouraging fiscal irresponsibility :([/quote]
Now you have gone and done it. Sellout!

Banks won't let brokers lock rate without reviewing all paystubs, taxes, etc. Was also told that bank are assuming falling home prices and are reducing last sold comps depeding on the months back.

Got quote from broker today that was from Wells Fargo as well with about $3500 closing costs: 15 yr 3.5% no point, 7/8 pt 3.25%; 20yr 3.75% 1/4pt.[/quote]

Actually, when I refinanced, I found out the following.

*You don't need to finish your taxes ,but you do need to have proof you filed an extension. And you do need to have your w2's and last two months of pay stubs handy...Also they asked me for proof of my extension + extension payments I paid. They asked to see images of the canceled check to make sure I wasn't screwing around.

Where things got interesting was in their monitoring of my accounts and my employment after I locked...They wanted "proof" of things and it was pretty detailed..

*They wanted to see that I had sufficient savings/liquidity. I was told the reason for wanting to see 2-3 months of statements on that account to check if I had moved money suddenly into the account or not...Part of the reason is they wanted to make sure I really had the money in the account and not borrowed from someone. Part of the reason is also they wanted to make sure I wasn't laundering money. My account was flagged by about 3-4 days because I gave them my high frequency trading account, for which I entered a short position right before the end of the month, so that my account cash balance appeared to go up by $125k...Lender questioned where the sudden increase came from, so I had to explain what short selling was, and prove that the increase wasn't really my cash since I still owed the shares in the short position. Near closing (but not at closing), they asked to see an updated statement...I confused the hell out of them, since during that time, I closed the short position, and my account was showing a significantly lower balance...so I had to explain that one. Lesson learned...don't use an account which the numbers keep changing. And they do check and recheck.

*They asked to see an account that was a 401k or retirement. Not sure why...I guess to see if I had cash reserves ???

*At the day before closing escrow, they called my w2 employer to verify employment. So don't quit or lose your job until the day after you sign the papers.

*At escrow closing, surprisingly they didn't care where the cashier check/wire transfer came from. It didn't have to come from any of the accounts I gave them, and interestingly if I wanted to I probably could have wired the funds from another account overseas and/or had someone else wire the money in for me. I told them I needed to bring money @ closing from another account...They didn't care...Just told me to bring either a cashier check or wire the funds in (I was bringing my loan down from jumbo to conforming so I had to pay some principal down)

Getting the lender to allow me a lock wasn't an issue. Lender allowed me to lock withing 4-5 days of me applying the loan. I screwed up in that I should have waited and said I wanted to lock at a lower rate...I was told by broker and lender that my case was pretty easy because

*I had sufficient income on a W2 alone that was easily verifyable. I think they were going to raise a huge stink if I wasn't able to qualify on the W2 stubs themselves. I didn't need to go into my side gig.

*My LTV was about 49%, so I don't think my property posed a big financial risk. As much as I'd like to squat, the bank could easily recoup from me....Lender actually asked me if I wanted to cash out refi... I sort of laughed and said, sure if I can get 2005 appraised value with a 100% cashout....

*My fico ended up being 805 on average, high being 810 and low being 800.

*My appraisal came in higher than most others. I discussed this in a previous thread....But for some reason the comps they used was in a higher tier than my home, so my appraisal came in $100k higher than currently the tax assessor thinks it's worth...The assessor had automatically reassessed downward by $50k this year. It doesn't matter because not that the "appraisal" can really be used for anything else.

*I had sufficient liquidity elsewhere

I think if one is organized and have everything together up front, you don't get bugged as much. But some lenders don't tell you that you need all this, so you're left scrambling to get these things on demand.

Unfortunately, I think things would be considerably more difficult if you don't have consistent proof of income from something like a w2.[/quote]

What's interesting is that these requirements (pay stubs, tax returns, account statements/seasoning, 6-months+ reserves, sufficient equity/down payment, low DTI ratio, etc.) were SOP back before the credit bubble. IMHO, these aren't "tight" standards, but a return to "normal, common-sense" standards.

It's refreshing to hear that sanity is re-entering the mortgage market. I hope it continues indefinitely.

Thanks for sharing your experience, flu. I hope all lenders are being as careful as yours.

[CA renter]

[quote=flu][quote=equalizer][quote=flu][quote=threadkiller]Who did you go with flu? B of A is saying 3.5% with 1/2 point and $3600 in fees. Sounds about the same that we paid on the original 30 year @ 4.875%, not sure how the 3600 dollars breaks down, getting all the paperwork together now.[/quote]

http://piggington.com/well_folkslooks_like_interest_rates_for_loans_are_about_to_go_lo

A broker friend got me the loan. The loan was resold to Wells Fargo a few days after I closed, and it’s also being serviced by Wells Fargo (at lest according to the paper work)….

Originally, I was going to get the loan from aerospace credit union (which has rates even lower now)

http://aerofcu.mortgagewebcenter.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1

Personally, I think you can do better than what B of A is offering in this environment. Maybe try talking to HLS…

My original loan was 30 year @5.5ish…So I ended up getting a 15 year and also having lower payments by about $700/month….I took some friendly advice here, and bought a car LOL….can’t beat them, join them :))

I keep entertaining the thought that if rates on the 30year fall below 4% (like <3.5%), I just might refi back into a 30year and rent the house out and upgrade to something else. I think I'd be able to float the home with about $100-200 positive a month, after all the costs...though my equity would be tied up...then again, it's not like we're seeing great interest rates anyway :(...
I really wish I had a 3 car garage...I really want to have a permanent home/shop where I can work on and leave all my tools/crap, parts, engine, transmission around.

The new Flu...Sporting and encouraging fiscal irresponsibility :([/quote]
Now you have gone and done it. Sellout!

Banks won't let brokers lock rate without reviewing all paystubs, taxes, etc. Was also told that bank are assuming falling home prices and are reducing last sold comps depeding on the months back.

Got quote from broker today that was from Wells Fargo as well with about $3500 closing costs: 15 yr 3.5% no point, 7/8 pt 3.25%; 20yr 3.75% 1/4pt.[/quote]

Actually, when I refinanced, I found out the following.

*You don't need to finish your taxes ,but you do need to have proof you filed an extension. And you do need to have your w2's and last two months of pay stubs handy...Also they asked me for proof of my extension + extension payments I paid. They asked to see images of the canceled check to make sure I wasn't screwing around.

Where things got interesting was in their monitoring of my accounts and my employment after I locked...They wanted "proof" of things and it was pretty detailed..

*They wanted to see that I had sufficient savings/liquidity. I was told the reason for wanting to see 2-3 months of statements on that account to check if I had moved money suddenly into the account or not...Part of the reason is they wanted to make sure I really had the money in the account and not borrowed from someone. Part of the reason is also they wanted to make sure I wasn't laundering money. My account was flagged by about 3-4 days because I gave them my high frequency trading account, for which I entered a short position right before the end of the month, so that my account cash balance appeared to go up by $125k...Lender questioned where the sudden increase came from, so I had to explain what short selling was, and prove that the increase wasn't really my cash since I still owed the shares in the short position. Near closing (but not at closing), they asked to see an updated statement...I confused the hell out of them, since during that time, I closed the short position, and my account was showing a significantly lower balance...so I had to explain that one. Lesson learned...don't use an account which the numbers keep changing. And they do check and recheck.

*They asked to see an account that was a 401k or retirement. Not sure why...I guess to see if I had cash reserves ???

*At the day before closing escrow, they called my w2 employer to verify employment. So don't quit or lose your job until the day after you sign the papers.

*At escrow closing, surprisingly they didn't care where the cashier check/wire transfer came from. It didn't have to come from any of the accounts I gave them, and interestingly if I wanted to I probably could have wired the funds from another account overseas and/or had someone else wire the money in for me. I told them I needed to bring money @ closing from another account...They didn't care...Just told me to bring either a cashier check or wire the funds in (I was bringing my loan down from jumbo to conforming so I had to pay some principal down)

Getting the lender to allow me a lock wasn't an issue. Lender allowed me to lock withing 4-5 days of me applying the loan. I screwed up in that I should have waited and said I wanted to lock at a lower rate...I was told by broker and lender that my case was pretty easy because

*I had sufficient income on a W2 alone that was easily verifyable. I think they were going to raise a huge stink if I wasn't able to qualify on the W2 stubs themselves. I didn't need to go into my side gig.

*My LTV was about 49%, so I don't think my property posed a big financial risk. As much as I'd like to squat, the bank could easily recoup from me....Lender actually asked me if I wanted to cash out refi... I sort of laughed and said, sure if I can get 2005 appraised value with a 100% cashout....

*My fico ended up being 805 on average, high being 810 and low being 800.

*My appraisal came in higher than most others. I discussed this in a previous thread....But for some reason the comps they used was in a higher tier than my home, so my appraisal came in $100k higher than currently the tax assessor thinks it's worth...The assessor had automatically reassessed downward by $50k this year. It doesn't matter because not that the "appraisal" can really be used for anything else.

*I had sufficient liquidity elsewhere

I think if one is organized and have everything together up front, you don't get bugged as much. But some lenders don't tell you that you need all this, so you're left scrambling to get these things on demand.

Unfortunately, I think things would be considerably more difficult if you don't have consistent proof of income from something like a w2.[/quote]

What's interesting is that these requirements (pay stubs, tax returns, account statements/seasoning, 6-months+ reserves, sufficient equity/down payment, low DTI ratio, etc.) were SOP back before the credit bubble. IMHO, these aren't "tight" standards, but a return to "normal, common-sense" standards.

It's refreshing to hear that sanity is re-entering the mortgage market. I hope it continues indefinitely.

Thanks for sharing your experience, flu. I hope all lenders are being as careful as yours.

[sdcellar]

Your payments on a 15-year loan (even with a 2% lower rate) are lower than your 30-year note? Are you sure this isn’t a 30 due in 15?

Maybe you said that somewhere and I just missed it.

[sdcellar]

Your payments on a 15-year loan (even with a 2% lower rate) are lower than your 30-year note? Are you sure this isn’t a 30 due in 15?

Maybe you said that somewhere and I just missed it.

[sdcellar]

Your payments on a 15-year loan (even with a 2% lower rate) are lower than your 30-year note? Are you sure this isn’t a 30 due in 15?

Maybe you said that somewhere and I just missed it.

[sdcellar]

Your payments on a 15-year loan (even with a 2% lower rate) are lower than your 30-year note? Are you sure this isn’t a 30 due in 15?

Maybe you said that somewhere and I just missed it.

[Author]

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