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  • AustinBR

    Make your own luck
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    ...by refinancing my student loans leftover from grad-school. Rates are at all time lows right now and I finally bit the bullet and did a bunch of research into the best way to go about doing this.

    One of the options I came by is 'Credible' which compares rates from hundreds of different lendors and only does a soft-pull of your credit, so it shouldn't affect your credit score. The whole process took all of two minutes (and then I made Excel stuff to further crunch numbers).

    I ended up finding a lendor through them and was able to considerably lower my rate and term on the loan and will save around $20k over the life of the loan.

    Anyway, aside from me saving $20k, being super stoked, and buying fancy bourbon to celebrate, they also gave me a referral code where I can refer people to them and if you re-fi through them, we both get a $200 giftcard.

    Link here:
    http://refer.credible.com/xZJHmE

    If you go through and end up refinancing, I strongly urge you to use the $200 bucks on a bottle of bourbon or scotch...and I'll do the same (and then post pictures!). You could also use it towards guns, ammo, or training lol.

    If you have more than two years left on your loans, and a rate greater than 4%, I urge you to at least give it a shot as you may be able to save a good bit of cash.
     

    CatCam

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    Great for you AutinBR -- I'm an old-timer and graduated before all the big student loans.....I joined the military to help offset the cost of undergrad degree......then the military paid 100% for my Master's Degree.....then they sent me to all over the world....including such awesome places as Iraq & Afghanistan. BTW, I only gave those places 1 star on Travelocity!
     

    AustinBR

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    Congrats man, I hope you're educated enough now!

    If only Biden gets elected then you may can have the rest forgiven?
    Thanks lol.

    Unfortunately that was never an option as mine were private not public.

    Sent from my SM-G977U using Tapatalk
     

    AustinBR

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    No student loan but I’ve Been thinking about a refi on my home. Kinda waiting to see if the rates are really as low as they will go...
    They're pretty close to rock bottom

    Sent from my SM-G977U using Tapatalk
     

    Bangswitch

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    a location near you
    In the 40s from getting my MBA. None from undergrad.

    Sent from my SM-G977U using Tapatalk

    Dude I was never built for the classroom I finished what was a 5 year program by all advisors accounts in 4 years and ran like hell. To sit quietly and listen to other people talk was torture. I admire my colleagues who have their MBA’s but some how I’ve manage to make a decent life another 10 years and I’m partially retiring to manage investment real estate.
     

    Bosco

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    How do you know if it's worth it to refinance? Is there a calculator somewhere to put in the details?

    Bought my first house August 2015, took out a loan for $132k at 4%. Current Unpaid principal balance is 114k. People keep telling me to look at refinancing while interest rates are low but not sure if it's worth it for me only being 5 years into the 30 year loan.
     

    twinin

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    How do you know if it's worth it to refinance? Is there a calculator somewhere to put in the details?

    Bought my first house August 2015, took out a loan for $132k at 4%. Current Unpaid principal balance is 114k. People keep telling me to look at refinancing while interest rates are low but not sure if it's worth it for me only being 5 years into the 30 year loan.

    Mortgage rates have still been a little bit above 3 since I last check but should keep falling. A good rule of thumb to refinance a home is when it is 2 whole points lower.

    Once it hits 2 or lower, do it Bosco
     

    twinin

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    Austin I also have some grad school loans like and may think about doing it. Why do the rates have to be above 4? Because of the rates they were offering?
     

    DAVE_M

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    Mortgage rates have still been a little bit above 3 since I last check but should keep falling. A good rule of thumb to refinance a home is when it is 2 whole points lower.

    Once it hits 2 or lower, do it Bosco

    That’s the rule of thumb I’ve been told.

    I’m locked at a low fixed rate, so until someone can give me a much lower fixed rate I won’t budge.
     

    Bangswitch

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    Mortgage rates have still been a little bit above 3 since I last check but should keep falling. A good rule of thumb to refinance a home is when it is 2 whole points lower.

    Once it hits 2 or lower, do it Bosco

    Austin I also have some grad school loans like and may think about doing it. Why do the rates have to be above 4? Because of the rates they were offering?

    It’s worth noting that closing cost is part of most refi’s. In some cases it may be so high that it doesn’t decrease your note. Generally 5 years and a 2% drop should put you ahead of the game. I really wouldn’t consider it otherwise.
     

    DAVE_M

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    It’s worth noting that closing cost is part of most refi’s. In some cases it may be so high that it doesn’t decrease your note. Generally 5 years and a 2% drop should put you ahead of the game. I really wouldn’t consider it otherwise.

    People don’t think about that. Since my last refi was due to a screw up on my then mortgage company’s end, they waived the closing costs and still dropped my percentage slightly. If it weren’t for that, I would have been calling an attorney.
     

    Bangswitch

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    People don’t think about that. Since my last refi was due to a screw up on my then mortgage company’s end, they waived the closing costs and still dropped my percentage slightly. If it weren’t for that, I would have been calling an attorney.

    Yeah they probably ate the attorney and appraisal fees. Probably not in your instance but usually when they tell you it’s a no cost refi they pay the fees and bump up your interest rates. Also The points are just prepaid interest it’s I haven’t seen where it would have her benefited me enough to cough up cash for ‘points’. The old cash is king statement still rings true in my opinion.
     

    twinin

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    Yeah they probably ate the attorney and appraisal fees. Probably not in your instance but usually when they tell you it’s a no cost refi they pay the fees and bump up your interest rates. Also The points are just prepaid interest it’s I haven’t seen where it would have her benefited me enough to cough up cash for ‘points’. The old cash is king statement still rings true in my opinion.

    Oh yes, they will still charge you a loan origination and will pay the closing costs - with interest. Usually, you have to pay for appraisal up front first in case it doesn't appraise for enough. That's why you should wait until it's at least 2 whole points. If it is, you can save a lot of money or even just years on a mortgage.
     

    DAVE_M

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    Yeah they probably ate the attorney and appraisal fees. Probably not in your instance but usually when they tell you it’s a no cost refi they pay the fees and bump up your interest rates. Also The points are just prepaid interest it’s I haven’t seen where it would have her benefited me enough to cough up cash for ‘points’. The old cash is king statement still rings true in my opinion.

    This was the goofballs not adjusting the prorated escrow from our first few months in the house. They made the assumption that the prorated escrow was good enough for the next year, which resulted in a shortage. They asked me to pony up a few thousand and I told them to eat a fat one. When I am paying them to handle my escrow for property taxes and they messed up. I think my only saving grace was the fact that one of their auditors found it, which pretty much meant they admitted to screwing up. The deal we settled on was refinancing and correcting the escrow, dropping the interest rate, and them eating all fees.
     
    Last edited:

    AustinBR

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    Austin I also have some grad school loans like and may think about doing it. Why do the rates have to be above 4? Because of the rates they were offering?

    They don't have to be above 4%, but most of the fixed rates are in the 3 to 5 percent range right now, so just thinking about savings.

    In my case, my old rates were around 6% and my new rate is at 4.28%. I also changed the term and will be paying the loans off much earlier than before.

    Best bet is to just go plug your info into the website I linked above and it'll show you how much you'll save with various options. You also have the option of fixed and variable, just keep in mind that variable is tied to Prime or LIBOR and will go back up whenever rates rise.
     

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