So we just opened up a new account at US bank because they offered us $130 to do so. Haha, we always take advantage of those deals because heck, free money is free money. Just in case you’re wondering it was a deal where you set up a free checking account with them, attach direct deposit to it and BAM! in like 4-6 weeks you get $130 dolla. Not a bad deal (: Anyways, while I was setting up that up the teller asked me about refinancing. I told him I wanted to but we didn’t want to pay a butt load in closing costs. Every time I’ve told someone that they just laugh inside, think I’m stupid, and then politely tell me there’s nothing in existence that will do that. But this guy had a different answer. He said that US Bank had a refinance option that absolutely had no closing costs or fees whatsoever. After the tables turned and I stopped laughing inside, I politely told him he was full of crap. But he said there was no fees, nothing but a lower rate. The only difference is it’s going to be a Home Equity Loan (HEL) instead of a traditional mortgage. We bought our town home at the absolute crappiest time to buy ever. RIGHT before everything went to junk. 2 months before the government decided to start giving everyone money for down payments for their houses, and right before the interest rates dropped. We got one mortgage at 6.5% and the other one WAS at 8% but we since put that one into a HELOC for 1% above prime. Anyways he told us that we could combine the two mortgages into one and have a 5.25% rate which saves us about $100-$150 a month with NO FEES whatsoever. Also you can pay however much you want on the loan, the only stipulation is if you pay it off before 2 years then there’s like a $500 pre-payment fee. Not too shabby is all I can say. We just filled out the paperwork today, they have to appraise our house (which is also free) and then we’ll know if it worked or not and if this is the coolest thing in the world, or if it’s a major scam that will make us hate our lives… Here’s the link to check it out if this is something that interests you:
I will also report back later and say whether all worked out or not. Chau people, chau (:
**UPDATE** So it would of worked if our loan to value ration wasn’t so high. We haven’t paid off our house enough to qualify so that sucked for us but still, it’s a good deal if you can get it!
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7 users responded in this post
I like the blog dude…I will keep reading it.
Heloc’s can be good…be careful though, a lot of time they have an adjustable rate. If you are replacing a mortgage that also has an adjustable rate then it can be awesome. If you are replacing a fixed rate mortgage with a variable rate then it could get a little scary a few years from now when the economy gets hit with huge inflation. Just be careful, you’ll make the right decision.
Hey Doug thanks for reading my blog (: We missed ya at the 10 year reunion ): It was actually pretty cool. Ya, we’re going for a HEL (Home Equity Loan) not a HELOC. It’s a fixed rate for 20 years at 5.1% We went down from a 30 year loan to a fixed rate 20 year loan and we’ll be paying less than what we’re paying now… that is if it goes through of course. We’re hoping to heck that it does. Hope all is well man. Chau. Oh also let me know if this emails you when I reply to your comment. This whole blog thing is new to me and I want to see how it works. Thanks man.
Yeah, I wish I could have been at the reunion.
(…I didn’t get an email when you posted)
It would of been amazing. Did you get an email this time? I installed a plugin that I think should take care of it. Let me know gracias.
Have you found out if you were approved? I just got a letter from US Bank advertising this. I’m interested in persuing it.
Hey Sam
No I wasn’t approved ): Our loan to value was too bad. It needed to be around 80% and since the economy is trash and our value of our house has dropped, we didn’t qualify. Sad day… Anyways hope it works out for you, its quite the deal if you can do it.
the US Bank SmartRefi is a Bank product that is higher in rate and generates more profit for the bank branch than what you can get through the US Bank Mortgage Branch. With rates around 4%, they can give you a rate of 4.5%, and still pay all of the same costs that the branch banker would pay, BUT YOU PAY 1/2% LESS IN RATE AND PAYMENT.
Also, if you are between 80-96.5% loan to value it might be posible to refinance on an FHA loan (or you might still get the 80% conventional 1st mtg, with a small 2nd behind it if the amount above 80% isn’t very high)
Also, any lender can CREATE a “NO COST” refinance by doing the same minor adjustment in the base mortgage rate…