Thanks, so I guess I did read it somewhere!
Yeah, you’re not going crazy in this stay at home environment LOL
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My suggestion would be to refi primary to a 20yr (or 25yr if it’s offered) and 5/1 to a 15yr fixed.
Both will get you a lower interest rate on your current loans.
In current environment, due to the rental, i would try to keep free cash available if there are issues with rental payments. Just something to consider.
Thanks everyone. I have a mortgage broker that I used in the past, would it be beneficial to go through him and try to work a deal on two mortgages? Also, will there be closing costs with these. Again, sorry for the basic questions.
Depends?..you can have lender credits that can make it no cost refi. But you’ll have to make a decision that you want a slightly higher APR for no closing costs or lowest APR.
That depends on your comfort level with that broker.
double-check the quotes with market rates to verify and what works best for your situation. Can’t just blindly follow anyone’s advice including mine lol
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Thanks for letting me know!
Interestingly, my $2,500 offer is with Rocket Mortage. I’m in SoCal and this was with my AMEX Personal Gold Card.
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Wanted to get an opinion from some folks more experienced than I am in mortgage/finance space…I am looking to get cash on hand for when the opportunity comes up to buy a bigger property. What would be a better option to do in regards to Cash out refi vs HELOC? I am looking to “take out” around 200-250k of equity but stuck at what would be a better option.
I am leaning towards a HELOC as I can tap the equity at anytime if we find a property to our liking compared to a Cash Out where I am forced to pay the new mortgage amount. Since I am not educated enough in this field, I would appreciate any feedback.
Forgot to mention, I have seen some banks offering HELOC as low as 1.73% intro rate for 1yr with 0 min draw.
As anything there’s pros and cons. As you mentioned, cash out refi you’re paying right away even if you don’t use it whether now or at all for that matter.
HELOC is usually variable but you can get them fixed. Typically the fixed have a stipulation like you have to draw a minimum. You can convert the variable to a fixed but lenders apply different rules. They also have early termination fees if you choose to pay it off.
Is that 1.73% fixed?
@myles21 I am not sure if it is fixed tbh. Came across it on https://www.erate.com/home-equity/california/home-equity-line-of-credit.
It says intro rate for 12 months then jumps to 4%
I am not familiar with HELOCs at all…so safe to assume the 12mo into rate is fixed at 1.73%?
Yea the intro rate will stay the same during the first year. The 4% is variable after that.
If you miss a payment they could back charge for the previous months. There could also be a minimum withdrawal period to get that rate. Meaning it’s valid as long as you borrow by X date. The fine print will tell you.
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If you are in a good financial situation, I would recommend ARM as the rates shouldn’t go too crazy in the near future. You want to be in a good financial situation so you can refi quickly. I did switched to a 20 year mortgage because I plan to retire in 20 years…
Thx for the info, going to look into. Doesn’t hurt to open 1 to have available if an opportunity comes around in the near future, once this covid stuff calms down.
I have looked into ARMs but the rates where I am at in the Bay Area are not that great. Also, I will need to refi my existing condo as an investment property which will cause the rate to go up significantly.
I was able to get into 3.125 for 20 year fixed when the rates dropped. It wasn’t the lowest, but it was a modification so it was quick and painless. You should look for credit union, Star One is great for customer service, but rates are not the best. Patelco, KPCU and Stanford FCU are all very reasonable.
The key to refinance with better.com is using their rate match guarantee with other lenders before locking. If the rate you are trying to match is not out of the world then they will match and also beat it by $1000.
I refinanced with them first time at 20 years 3.625% with 4.7K lender credit (3.375% base no points). No appraisal fees and Amex credit was cherry on top. Amex credit posted roughly in 4 weeks. After amex credit, I netted about 5.5K and lower rate. Refinance was quick and their process is all online which was pretty smooth.
I am now on my round 2 with them. Currently locked 30 year 3.25% with 4.4K lender credit (3% base no points). If Amex credit posts again then this will be the best deal ever. If the rates go down then rinse and repeat 
.
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Oh you got lucky, they blatntly say that you have the AMEX credit and don’t want to match up others. The only thing they did for me is buy rates to match local CU’s offer, and counting that Amex credit to stay just bit under comparing to others in terms of total closing cost. Not a fan of that, I gave my business to the CU I’ve worked with and they closed within 4 weeks while Better.com was quoting like 5-6 weeks.
Maybe I was matching it to a out-of-the world rate as it was truly good a month ago or so.
me including many have been able to match rates easily. there is long discussion on SD
Just curious what rate your CU is offering. I see most of the CUs offer good rates but in turn they charge high origination fees plus appraisal fees.