https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:57:29 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562216 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:11:12 +0000 CupQuakeWalk 562216@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We bought our beautiful forever home 2.5 years ago. We closed at 4.25 and refinanced last year for 3.25. We're very happy with that and no penalty for early completion of loan (which we will do) so *phew* our mortgage is less than the insurance on my husband's sports car! (Sad!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562196 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:02:57 +0000 Alivoo01 562196@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I refinanced. It didn't cost me anything out of pocket, and was pretty hassle-free. My rate drastically decreased even though it went even lower 6 months after I refinanced (arg!). I also went from a 30 year loan to a 15 year loan. I pay the same mortgage amount but a lot more of it goes towards the principal now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562164 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:42:19 +0000 plantains 562164@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we just got cleared to close and it was a jumbo loan at 3.625% on a 30 year. I don't think we could do much better than that on such a large loan! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562161 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:40:24 +0000 heartonastring 562161@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Nope. We bought right before the recession hit, which meant we were in the right place at the right time in terms of interest rates. We got a variable rate mortgage of prime -0.95%, which means we've been paying just over 1% interest (with small fluctuations) for the last 4.5 years. Our mortgage will come up for renegotiation this summer (I'm in Canada where most mortgages are one five year terms) and there's no way we'll get as good a deal this time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562159 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:39:24 +0000 Turd Ferguson 562159@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just got locked in at 3.25%, so we're happy with that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562155 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:38:11 +0000 Adira 562155@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Grrr... this is a sore subject for me. We're in the process of refinancing and it's been taking FOREVER (3 months+). The bank is totally jerking us around, but SUPPOSEDLY we'll have everything done tomorrow and will be able to close FINALLY (I'll believe it when I see it).</p> <p>We're going from a 4.875% 30 year fixed loan to a 2.75% 15 year fixed loan. This is going to save us a TON of interest in the long term, but for the short term, will be costing us more. Since we're not putting any extra down and housing values have gone down, we'll be paying more in PMI now than we were before, but the savings in interest will be worth it for us in the long run. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562151 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:35:03 +0000 wahine08 562151@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did refi. We brought our rate down from an even 5% to an even 4%. It was a streamlined refi through our mortage company, so the process was painless and there were no extra fee's! Definitely glad we did it. We have been in our house for about 2 years. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562145 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:32:17 +0000 LindsayInNY 562145@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ugh this kills me! We're in the process of buying now and facing 4.25% over 3.5% because the property can't be financed by a Fannie/Freddie approved lender. I'm trying to tell myself that the extra interest isn't much... We don't have any alternative though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562135 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:29:29 +0000 mrsjyw 562135@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we bought our house in 2009 at 5% fixed for 30 years, and last year refinanced to 3% fixed for 15 years. we're paying a TON more in principal each month. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562134 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:29:07 +0000 Bookish 562134@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We bought ours at 3.75% or so last January. Don't think I can get better than that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562132 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:28:19 +0000 Mrs. Pen 562132@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don't own but when we were looking and got preapproved our rate would have been 3.75%!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562130 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:27:58 +0000 jetsa 562130@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We bought our house in June 2011 with a 30 year at 4.5% and refinanced last June with a 15 year at 2.5%. We had to pay about about $2000 in fees which we rolled in but the 15 year payment is less than $100 more than the 30 so we couldn't refuse it. The bank told us at the time if you can drop 1% point you should do it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562127 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:27:08 +0000 Shutterbug 562127@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We refinanced from 6.875% (no $$ down in 2007) to 4.62% with no fees/closing costs last fall. We have great credit, but our house is underwater (worth less than we owe) so we had to go through the HARP program, hence the high rate. I think you should at least contact a mortgage broker and see what they could get you - can't hurt! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562126 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:26:44 +0000 FancyGem 562126@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We brought our house almost 3 years ago at a low rate. We probably won't refinance since we plan to move into a bigger house in about five years. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562125 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:26:37 +0000 PurplePumps 562125@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yup! We've refinanced twice in the last two and a half years. We started with 4.25, then 3.825, and now 3.375. All no points, no closing cost. We had the option of 3.25 the last time, but we took 3.375 with 2k lender credit instead. The way I figured, if the new total payments over 30 yeas was less than remaining payments on what is left on the term of the mortgage, it was worth doing, especially since it lowered monthly payments too. We're paying 300/month less than when we started. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562123 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:23:40 +0000 sunny 562123@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yup I refi'ed twice. Our original rate was 4.625%, then I refinanced in 2011 to a 15 yr loan at 3.625%, then I refinanced last summer to a 15 year loan at 2.75%.</p> <p>Both refinances were no cost refinances. This means that the lender credit was big enough to cover the origination cost of the new loan + all the fees.</p> <p>If you have *stellar* credit and a really good LTV, you could try Provident Funding. They had great rates but they were a bit of a PITA to work with since every i has to be dotted and t has to be crossed *exactly* to their liking.</p> <p>@cranberryapple: The point you paid before is a sunk cost. You shouldn't consider that as a factor in deciding whether or not to do a new loan. All that matters is what your *current* circumstances are and whether or not it makes financial sense. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562121 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:22:46 +0000 MrsBrewer 562121@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just bought ours last June with a 15 yr mortgage at an interest rate of 3.375% So I don't think we will ever refinance! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562119 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:21:06 +0000 MrsTiz 562119@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just bought ours with an interest rate of 3.75%, so I doubt we have much lower that we could go! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-re-finance-your-home-while-interest-rates-were-low#post-562116 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:19:01 +0000 cranberryapple 562116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We've been stalling, wondering whether it was the right thing for us to do as we already have an interest rate of 4.35% from two years ago, though we did have to pay a point for it! Did you take advantage of the low interest rates? I've been hearing about some no-fee refinances as well! Did you use a company online that you would recommend? What is your current rate? How much in fees did you have to pay? </p>