Couple of Big things today

1. My cell phone quit working mid day. Charged it all day, still will not turn on. There is not a sprint store within 50 miles of Columbus.
2. Got back today from my meeting in Tuscaloosa, to find out that someone had robbed my home. Drove into the driveway and apparently they were still in the house. I walked in the front door and they went out the back door.
3. Had a meeting with my real estate agent and placed a bid on a home in Columbus.

That leads me to this, does anyone know what kind of rate I could see tomorrow when I go to the bank?
4.25 is the best I have seen lately.

Damn August has been a long month.

Got 3.25 not too long ago but was part of some rural FHA loan. Which is kind of funny because it's in Madison.

And I was robbed in Atlanta, shitty feeling to say the least.

damn. sorry guys.

What model phone?

I just closed today at 4.25 with points back to me. I didn't mind paying a little extra because the bank keeps all their mortgages in house.

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Originally Posted by Barking 13

I just closed today at 4.25 with points back to me. I didn't mind paying a little extra because the bank keeps all their mortgages in house.

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Can anyone explain what the heck points are? And why anyone would pay a higher APR if they get the points?

Samsung Note 3.

Go to zillow.com and get some online quotes. Refinanced with First Internet Bank last year. Yeah, it sounds sketchy, but they were the most competent people I've ever dealt with.

Points are basically just a fee to get a lower rate. You just have to do the math to see if it's worth it or not. Sometimes, you can even get a credit for a certain rate, which would be for a slightly higher rate.

I got 3.75% fixed for 15 years with only 5% down and it's a conventional loan with no PMI and just closed last month. knocked it out of the park.

you pay percentage points to get a better rate.. for instance: you could get 4.00% with 1.5 points if the going rate is like 4.12%.. Which means you pay 1.5% of the loan to get the better rate. In my case, they paid me 1.5 points of the loan amount (discount) to take the 4.25, which is not much worse than I found anywhere..

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Originally Posted by huffy

I got 3.75% fixed for 15 years with only 5% down and it's a conventional loan with no PMI and just closed last month. knocked it out of the park.

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Same here, but 30 yrs... I think the 15 was 4.13.. rates are trending up... I hope your loan doesn't get sold like my last one got sold to Nationstar, who was a 17n pain in the @$$ to deal with... glad I was able to pay that loan off before I started looking for another house.. I'm sure closing would have not gone this smoothly. we were in and out in an hour this time...

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Originally Posted by Barking 13

Same here, but 30 yrs... I think the 15 was 4.13.. rates are trending up... I hope your loan doesn't get sold like my last one got sold to Nationstar, who was a 17n pain in the @$$ to deal with... glad I was able to pay that loan off before I started looking for another house.. I'm sure closing would have not gone this smoothly. we were in and out in an hour this time...

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It hasn't been sold yet... but they said it would be. hopefully it will go to a decent bank/mortgage company. but the no PMI was huge for us. OP, just make sure you shop around. We applied with Quicken and used that as a baseline. we went to 5 or 6 banks and compared rates/closing costs/down payment/PMI. I'd stay away from FHA if I could. especially when you start adding up the mortgage insurance over the life of the loan.

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Originally Posted by huffy

I got 3.75% fixed for 15 years with only 5% down and it's a conventional loan with no PMI and just closed last month. knocked it out of the park.

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How did you avoid PMI with 5% down? High appraised value?

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Originally Posted by DapperDawg

How did you avoid PMI with 5% down? High appraised value?

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PMI is a cruel bitch. FHA loans now require you to pay it the life of the loan if you don't put 20% down.

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Originally Posted by huffy

It hasn't been sold yet... but they said it would be. hopefully it will go to a decent bank/mortgage company. but the no PMI was huge for us. OP, just make sure you shop around. We applied with Quicken and used that as a baseline. we went to 5 or 6 banks and compared rates/closing costs/down payment/PMI. I'd stay away from FHA if I could. especially when you start adding up the mortgage insurance over the life of the loan.

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Watch out for who buys your mortgage. Green Tree and Wells Fargo bought the mortgage for both our properties. Within a couple of months they both upped my mortgage and said they had to because they hadn't estimated enough withholdings for the escrow account. I never had that problem before. Seems like bullshit to me, since they both increased my monthly payment by more than 10%. I'm going to be hawking my tax bill this year and on their ass for a escrow reimbursement at the end of the year.

Green Tree also takes over 10 days to process payment. If they don't process it before the late period they try to charge me a late fee. Thank goodness I use Bank of America Billpay so I can track the payments. Everything about them has been shady as hell. I hope you don't have to deal with them.

(rant off)

I'm glad I bought a year ago. 15 year fixed, 2.875% with 0 down. No PMI. VA loan.

For one of your other problems, as an out of state student with Sprint for my carrier, you can get sprint stuff done at the Radio Shack in Leigh Mall in Columbus.

I have bought four homes in my life and in my opinion unless the house is 250K or higher I would not worry too much over 3.8 or 4.25, it just isn't going to make that big of a difference. What you really need to look for is closing cost and PMI and don't pay extra dollars down to buy points until you know how much that is going to save you in the long run. If you are paying 2000.00 for points and over 20 to 30 years that is saving you 4000.00 it's not worth paying those point's. Use that money to improve the house and make the value of the house more. I garantee putting 2000.00 into the kitchen will make you more money then then the 4000.00 you will save in interest payments. I sugest to do the math. Make the mortgage guy break it down for you so you can see for yourself what is best in your case. If you are not sure get outside help. Just shop around, look for the best deal and make them break it down for you in a way you understand what you are doing. Chances are you are not going to live there more then 15 years so think in those terms. Just my opinion so take it for what it is.

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Originally Posted by DapperDawg

How did you avoid PMI with 5% down? High appraised value?

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I'm not sure if they had a promotion going or what.... On the paperwork, it said the bank paid the PMI. I didn't argue when they threw it on the table.

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Originally Posted by EAVdog

Watch out for who buys your mortgage. Green Tree and Wells Fargo bought the mortgage for both our properties. Within a couple of months they both upped my mortgage and said they had to because they hadn't estimated enough withholdings for the escrow account. I never had that problem before. Seems like bullshit to me, since they both increased my monthly payment by more than 10%. I'm going to be hawking my tax bill this year and on their ass for a escrow reimbursement at the end of the year.

Green Tree also takes over 10 days to process payment. If they don't process it before the late period they try to charge me a late fee. Thank goodness I use Bank of America Billpay so I can track the payments. Everything about them has been shady as hell. I hope you don't have to deal with them.

(rant off)

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Noted. thanks for the heads up!

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Originally Posted by EAVdog

Watch out for who buys your mortgage. Green Tree and Wells Fargo bought the mortgage for both our properties. Within a couple of months they both upped my mortgage and said they had to because they hadn't estimated enough withholdings for the escrow account. I never had that problem before. Seems like bullshit to me, since they both increased my monthly payment by more than 10%. I'm going to be hawking my tax bill this year and on their ass for a escrow reimbursement at the end of the year.

Green Tree also takes over 10 days to process payment. If they don't process it before the late period they try to charge me a late fee. Thank goodness I use Bank of America Billpay so I can track the payments. Everything about them has been shady as hell. I hope you don't have to deal with them.

(rant off)

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I refinanced last year and Wells Fargo bought the loan immediately. They started withholding double of what I was paying in escrow before. They were using estimated property tax, as opposed to what I was actually paying every year. The guy acted like it was no big deal because I would be refunded after taxes and insurance was paid. He made it seem as if it would be a disaster if I came up short. I was like "You just loaned me $200,000, and you are worried if my escrow account comes up short by a few bucks? He wouldn't budge, and I felt pretty powerless. I ended up getting back $2000 from escrow overpayments.

I changed insurance providers recently to a LOWER rate. I to call WF because they haven't paid the insurance company. The lady said that I should be getting a check back for my former policy holder and that I need to send it in to them since they "took cafe of" the new premium. Ummm, it's my damn money. I took care of it. They also had just went up another $15 a month on my escrow.

It's frustrating to say the least, so avoid WF, if possible. When I called in, I had to enter my account # 3 times and my SS twice, plus a half dozen other press options before I got a real person.

I had BofA and Citi both royally screw up my escrow over the years. When I refinanced I went with no escrow - then I set up a direct deposit from my pay into an extra savings account that I use only to pay annual type payments. I get the bonus of controlling the money, getting a little interest, and not having to deal with those 17rs any more than I have to.

I'm an LO at local mortgage lender! Not a bank where the LO's are not licensed or schooled! You cannot eliminate PMI OR MI with 5% down payment! If you are in rural area you can do a USDA loan, however you will have a 2% upfront MI and .04 per month! On FHA Loans you never get rid if MI ! If your credit scores are good you can do a conventional loan with as little as 5% down with no "Upfront" PMI! Your Monthly PMI will drop off at the time your LTV (loan to value) reaches 80%! If you need to know more PM ME

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Originally Posted by rabbitthedawg

I'm an LO at local mortgage lender! Not a bank where the LO's are not licensed or schooled! You cannot eliminate PMI OR MI with 5% down payment! If you are in rural area you can do a USDA loan, however you will have a 2% upfront MI and .04 per month! On FHA Loans you never get rid if MI ! If your credit scores are good you can do a conventional loan with as little as 5% down with no "Upfront" PMI! Your Monthly PMI will drop off at the time your LTV (loan to value) reaches 80%! If you need to know more PM ME

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I can't tell if this is a spam bot! If it is, it is very excitable!

Are there any rules concerning opting out of an escrow account?

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Originally Posted by bulldogcountry1

Are there any rules concerning opting out of an escrow account?

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20% down or have 20% equity on a refi

on my new one I got a conventional 30 yr, to start and, may refi in a year or two, or either add to the principal every month or bi-weekly.. I was able to put almost half down from a HELOC at 1.75 %, which I will pay off and close when we close on our existing house next week. I didn't have to pay any PMI, but the closing costs stung a little... but I used the Heloc to cover that and just financed a little more on the loan.. I had the money in savings, but it caused too much confusion with the money coming from 3 accounts...

Bancorp South was really good on this one, and like I said, they will keep the loan in-house...

[QUOTE=rabbitthedawg;230667]I'm an LO at local mortgage lender! Not a bank where the LO's are not licensed or schooled! You cannot eliminate PMI OR MI with 5% down payment! If you are in rural area you can do a USDA loan, however you will have a 2% upfront MI and .04 per month! On FHA Loans you never get rid if MI ! If your credit scores are good you can do a conventional loan with as little as 5% down with no "Upfront" PMI! Your Monthly PMI will drop off at the time your LTV (loan to value) reaches 80%! If you need to know more PM ME[/

There is too much inaccurate info here for me not to correct it. I need to be the ED mortgage guru apparently.

1. Mortgage bankers are in fact licensed per federal law; just like a broker. They also have to take tests and continuing education.
2. You most certainly can eliminate PMI without putting down 20%. I do loans all the time with as little as 5% down and the borrower buys out the PMI on the front of the loan. It's called single paid mortgage insurance. We do the on refinance loans as well.
3. On the USDA, it's not called MI or PMI. the upfront 2% is a government guarantee fee to back the loan in case of default. The monthly factor is not .04%; it's actually .4%, which is a huge difference. This monthly factor is called a monthly annual premium. It will decrease every 12 months as it is recanted based on your principal balance every 12 months.
4. Your monthly PMI does not drop off at 80% on Conventional loans. It is actually 78% when it drops. The 80% mark is for the purchase or refinance loan to value.

If any of you every need to pick my brain on mortgages, shoot me a PM and I'll give you my cell or email. I'm licensed in 48 states.

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Originally Posted by bulldogcountry1

Are there any rules concerning opting out of an escrow account?

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Yes on the front end tell your lender. Fannie Mae requires a .25% discount point hit. I always waive that and never charge anyone. You also cannot elect to waive them if your loan to value is over 20%. Also any government backed loan (FHA, USDA, VA) will not allow it period, so Conventional would be the only option.