Tina, I wouldn't take the ...

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:50:00 GMT

Tina, I wouldn't take the chance of waiting.

15 year fixed rates are pretty low right now. I wouldn't necessarily buy-down a 15 year just because the cost of the buydown will barely pay off in the long run.

Find a good broker, or lender, and ask for a good, wholesale par rate (you'll need to use a broker to get a wholesale par rate).

If you have a good equity position, and a higher than average credit score, you would be looking at about 4.500% to 4.625%, depending on your equity position, without a buydown, for a 45 day lock.

Buying down (with us, at least), paying about 1% discount to get down to 4.25% is pretty expensive, as that extra cost upfront will hardly lower your overall payment. You would need to see a comparison of a wholesale par rate vs. a buydown rate, with costs and payment differences disclosed so you can make a decision.

When rates start going up, assuming you wait another year, you will be behind the power curve... and will be taking a higher fixed rate over the next 14 years, should you wait and rates go up.

Just think about how much money the government is going to print, over the next 12 months... all of it borrowered... and how high the deficit is going to be. Once the country goes into recovery, inflation is going to be a huge concern, and fixed rates will have to go up along side of treasury yields.

I would refinance now, if I had a variable rate mortgage. When inflation starts going up, (and it will, sooner or later), you will be glad you have a fixed rate mortgage, and didn't wait.

Good luck.

You could actually "buy down" ...

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:27:00 GMT

You could actually "buy down" your rate even lower if you want to. This would pay off quite quickly for you since you do actually plan to pay off the mortgage. Many borrowers are not as long term thinking as you seem to be.

I guess the question is: What rate are you waiting for the market to hit? Because you can always pay down the principle early and reamortizing the difference would effectively be the same in the end as having a lower rate over the longer term. But if it's all about rate, then you should look at buying down the rate. I'm not sure how much lower they could go beyond what you could buy it down to.

Zillow Advice: Refinance - Ihave an ARM at 4.75.shoudl I refinance for a fixed 15 year or take a chance of waiting another year

Tina, I wouldn't take the ...

You could actually "buy down" ...