now all i need is the appraisal to come through at the golden number so i don't have to lay out any money to lower the loan amount. i am currently right at the borderline with the drop in equity and what i initially paid for the house 3 yrs ago...

but the rates right now are sick... anyone in the market i would highly recommend u consider putting some free money back in your pocket if you can...

rates i got today...

30yr fixed - 3.875%
7yr ARM - 3.25%
5yr ARM - 2.875%

my current ARM was at 5.25% and set to reset in two yrs, so i should see at least a $300/month savings with the most conservative option i take...

 

Hope it works out. Values are really soft in most areas. Did you put a ton of money down (%) by chance?

 

The Twist Proposal being introduced by the Fed may lower rates even further.

 

Hoping for 3.5% 30yr fixed.

 

If you're right at the borderline, won't you pay PMI after the refi? If you weren't before, hopefully that doesn't undo the gains from the lower rate.

 

when i first bought i put down 20% to avoid PMI...

that is actually pretty feasible as 30-yr fixed came in at 3.875 last week when i checked.. i could def see it dropping to 3.5 the way this market is going...

if the appraisal comes in at the number i expect it to, then it'll be just enough to have the refi at 80% so i won't have to go back and pay PMI... if the appraisal is crap, i'll have a few options..

1.) just keep my current rate at 5.25% and reevaluate when the ARM resets in 2013... hopefully by then the value holds and ill have more of the principle paid off... and rates don't go back up... i'll refi then...

2.) pay down the difference to get the refi to the 80% i need it so i don't go back to paying PMI... which i would only do if i knew that rates are planning to go back up, or my ARM was set to reset relatively soon...

either or, i think it is ok with me and i am not sweating it too much... oh yea for those of you that have done refi, whats the average closing costs?

 

I believe mine was $5-6k. The biggest items were title search and the escrow account. You should be able to recover some of that cost from getting cash back from your old escrow account once your old mortgage is closed out.

 

i asked because the broker had this deal where he would pay the closing costs items (not including prepays on the tax/interest) but it adds .25% on the rate... he also said what you mentioned about breaking even on the escrow since i get back the old one..