Cheerful Frugality Refinances
- happy that you just refinanced at historic low rates
- in the middle of refinancing at historic low rates
- worried that you can't take refinance due to closing costs and/or appraisals.
- snug and unconcerned in your paid-for home.
Though I'd love that last option, we're in the middle of a refinance. I am thankful for the additional years shaved off our mortgage. However, I was surprised to learn we could have saved a little money without even going through the paperwork.
When I investigated rates at several brokers, I first called our mortgage holder, Wells Fargo. They offered to drop our existing interest rate by half a percent just to keep our mortgage.
So I would have saved $50 a month with a simple phone call?
I wanted to share that option for anyone who, for whatever reason, cannot refinance right now. The numbers don't always make sense if you will be moving soon or need to roll the closing costs into the loan. Don't count yourself out of all the savings without speaking to your mortgage holder first.
Have you refinanced your mortgage? Are you happy with the deal?
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14 Responses to “Cheerful Frugality Refinances”
March 30th, 2009 at 11:26 am
We refinanced a few years ago, and we’re pretty happy with our current rate. However, seeing as we have Wells Fargo like you, I’m now interested in calling to see if they’ll simply drop the rate, just because. I’m glad you posted that!
March 30th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Wells Fargo dropped our rate last year when we looked into refinancing. That is definitley more hubby’s area than mine, so I was very glad he looked into it.
March 30th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
We are in the middle of a re-fi it’s a pain,will be all worth it in the end though..
March 30th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I too have Wells Fargo as my mortgage holder. Since we don’t have the money to pay for a re-finance right now, I immediately called them when I read this post. The guy I talked to told me there was no way to lower the interest rate without refinancing the loan. Now I see in the comments that someone else had the same experience as Meredith. Any advice out there about how I might be able to get a better answer from Wells Fargo?
March 30th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I just wanted to throw that out there. I can’t find a specific link to this program, but it was the first option the Wells Fargo mortgage operator told me about when I called.
I think it may depend on what your current circumstances: what your interest rate may be in relation to the current rate and how much equity there is in the house. Ours was 6.5%, which is significantly higher than the current rate, and they offered to drop it to 6% without fees/paperwork/closing/apraisal.
March 30th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
we are in the midst of a refi too, combining our first mortgage (5.5%) with our 2nd (home equity loan that financed our addition, at 7.25%) into one loan at 4.75% and it will save us $500/month.
We have often done 80-15-5 loans to avoid mortgage insurance and we once had a 2nd mortgage that they dropped the rate on without a call from me or anything, that was nice. I just got a letter that said because we were valued customers they would lower our rate. It was also Well Fargo.
March 31st, 2009 at 8:05 am
What gives? We’re with Wells Fargo now, and when I called about refinancing they quoted us at over 9% – with excellent credit! Craziness, I tell you. Now I’m going to call them back to find out who is crazy: me or them.
March 31st, 2009 at 8:16 am
Isn’t that bizarre?
Here’s what I did:
Called the mortgage number on the website.
Said I was a current customer interested in refinancing, gave them my loan number.
He looked up our account and told me the deal about lowering our rate without refinancing. He was very polite and helpful.
I said that no, I knew I could get a lower rate refinancing at my local credit union.
He transferred me to the refinance department where they crunched the numbers and told me, yes, if you can get that rate locally, go lock it in now.
March 31st, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I have WF and I will call tommorrow. I have 5.8% right now. Here is another tip- apparently closing costs can be negiotiated! We bought our home last year for 365k and we were being quoted several thousand for closing. The WF agent we worked with did it for $700. It is worth a shot to shop your closing costs too.
April 1st, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I don’t have WF and when I called my mortgage company to see about a re-fi the rude guy looked up some comparable home sales in my area and told me that they wouldn’t approve a re-fi because the house wouldn’t appraise high enough. So we’re dealing with the problem that we can’t re-fi without paying out a lot that would negate the savings of the re-fi. Bummer. I think our house has gone down in value a little since we bought it in 2006. Maybe I should check with WF!
April 1st, 2009 at 10:18 pm
I called and they said they would lower ours from 5.8 to 5.0. They have to verify the application and then it will be locked in. Thanks for the tip!!
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:26 am
We had a Wells Fargo loan as well – in November they sent us a letter offering a “streamline refinance” to a lower rate with no closing costs, etc. as described above. That letter got me thinking. . . .I started looking into refinancing other lenders, specifically credit unions, and ended up moving from a 30-year loan at 6.375% to a 15-year loan at 4.75%. My payment increased a little, but I’m excited about the shorter term!
Susan in San Antonio
April 8th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Thanks so much for the information! I love this site!
For anyone else trying to contact Wells Fargo this is the number to call:
1-866-234-8271
and to get a lower interest rate is called a re-modification of the loan.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Thanks, Meredith! We have Wells Fargo, so this is really useful info. My dad, the former banker, was just encouraging us to look into refinancing. He thought it would be worth it if we could shave off at least a point and it didn’t cost us more than $4,000 to do.
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