And I take shameless advantage of the national financial situation

[hrj]

Having done some preliminary research and number-crunching, today I set things in motion to take advantage of the current low mortgage interest rates by refinancing. My initial rule of thumb was that if I couldn't get at least one percentage point lower than my existing, it wasn't worth the hassle. It looks like I'll be getting slightly more than 1.5% better than my current rate, which is a nice chunk of change shaved off the monthly bill. I do feel just a smidge guilty that the reason I'm able to take advantage of this is precisely and exactly because I don't need to. (So I guess that "shameless" in the subject line is just a good turn of phrase.)

Comments

[baronsnorri.livejournal.com]

Well done! If your conscience twinges too loudly, you could always donate some of your gleanings towards a worthy cause--there should be one, or two, of 'em out there. : )

[ichseke.livejournal.com]

Our mortgage was brand-new as of last summer. A couple of months ago our loan officer called to say we could shave off about 1.5% by refinancing. I said I thought that since we were able to pay, we weren't eligible. He said that actually the bank was interested in lending to people who in fact could repay ... Peculiar, yet oddly clever, I thought.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I don't think you should feel any guilt whatsoever.

[hudebnik.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was thinking about refinancing just yesterday, when I heard about the Fed's latest trillion-dollar investment and its effects on long-term interest rates. Must investigate further....

[hudebnik.livejournal.com]

We originally bought the house at 7.125%, and refinanced a few years later for 5.654%. I haven't seen any refinance rates lower than 5.25%, which probably wouldn't be worth the trouble.