How low can we go? 30 yr fixed at 3.75% with no fees...

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
Angels_Baseball_2015 said:
Hi all, quick question, for the Services you can shop for in a Loan estimate, it's usually the title, notary fee and settlement fee, for Better.com, it's listed as:

Title - Lenders Title Insurance - $850;
Title - Notary Fee - $90;
Title - Settlement Fee - $450.
Total is $1390.

Does anyone have good contacts for LA area because I suspect there's probably folks who can do all this for less much than $1390.  Many thanks in advance!

Is this a no point no fee refinance? If so, it doesn't matter what the fees are for you. The lender is covering it all. If you think that you will pocket more money by finding cheaper services, you won't. The lender will just credit you less.
 
Cares said:
Angels_Baseball_2015 said:
Hi all, quick question, for the Services you can shop for in a Loan estimate, it's usually the title, notary fee and settlement fee, for Better.com, it's listed as:

Title - Lenders Title Insurance - $850;
Title - Notary Fee - $90;
Title - Settlement Fee - $450.
Total is $1390.

Does anyone have good contacts for LA area because I suspect there's probably folks who can do all this for less much than $1390.  Many thanks in advance!

Is this a no point no fee refinance? If so, it doesn't matter what the fees are for you. The lender is covering it all. If you think that you will pocket more money by finding cheaper services, you won't. The lender will just credit you less.

Many online lenders just provide a % fixed credit and you can shop for services to net more lender credit.  Better.com is one of them.  Use Radian for title.  Your total will be $900 for all those services.  Maybe more if you have a big loan amount. 
 
Just to give others some perspective about Better.com.  I've been very frustrated with Better.com.  Their refi process is much more complicated than it needs to be.  They appear to ask for a lot of information that is akin to getting a new home loan from the ground up.  And now they are changing the Loan Estimate in the middle of the game.  I would avoid them at all costs.
 
Locked with owning on 7/26 for 1.99%/15 years, signed on 8/5 and the they paid off my old loan on 8/12. So what is that, 17 days?

This was the fastest refi I?ve done.
 
I'm doing a cash out refi on a rental with Loan Depot with a 3.375% no cost rate, hopefully things will go faster since they have all my info and I provided all the newly requested info the same day it was requested.  No appraisal waiver so I'm waiting to hear from the appraiser at this point.  If rates stay around the same level, I'll do a rate/term refi in 6 months around 3% on the loan.
 
Angels_Baseball_2015 said:
Just to give others some perspective about Better.com.  I've been very frustrated with Better.com.  Their refi process is much more complicated than it needs to be.  They appear to ask for a lot of information that is akin to getting a new home loan from the ground up.  And now they are changing the Loan Estimate in the middle of the game.  I would avoid them at all costs.

I'm going through a refi with Better now and don't see the same issue (did one last year with them too).  I only provide the bare minimum necessary (ie. 1 single clean bank account).  I have a clean W2, low LTV, low DTI profile.  Maybe that's why. 

LEs change all the time.. the real question is WHAT is changing on the LE.  Better's website interface and updating process is the best I've seen for any online lender.  Everything is pretty streamlined as I would expect it to be in this day in age.     
 
Unless you're given the option to choose your third party services through the lender (rare, if at all), I'd strongly urge that you NOT shop your 3rd party service providers. Yes, could you save $100-$200 between one company's provider and First American, or Radian - to use a recent example? Sure. If for some reason the transaction is delayed, it's unlikely you will get any love from the lender - rate extensions, concessions, etc - because you're using an outside service provider. Yes, you have the legal right to use another company. Yes, also, it's deeply frowned on by on-line lenders and roadblocks/excuses will be ahead.

I've worked with First American for their closing services for years. They aren't my sole closing services provider, but one of a few reliable low cost resources. Had I used them for my own refinance - forgoing the lenders preferred service provider - catastrophe might have ensued. First American's Texas processing hub crashed and burned during last winters big storms. Closing timelines went from 30 days to 120 days because First Am wasn't prepared for a weather related issue of significance. The lender at the start had a different title and escrow company they recommended, and even though I could have gone outside and chose First Am to save a few $$$, I'm glad I did not in this case.

 
 
Angels_Baseball_2015 said:
Yes, I agree, we now live in a world where "less is more" is often the right answer, as folks have become beaten down by the overcomplicated process.

Seriously! There is so much bureaucracy involved in getting anything done (passport renewal, buying a house, getting a loan, changing an address, signing up for cox internet, enrolling a child in school, applying for financial aid, getting a permit to install an outlet, voting, paying off a traffic citation, filing taxes, etc, etc).
 
zovall said:
Angels_Baseball_2015 said:
Yes, I agree, we now live in a world where "less is more" is often the right answer, as folks have become beaten down by the overcomplicated process.

Seriously! There is so much bureaucracy involved in getting anything done (passport renewal, buying a house, getting a loan, changing an address, signing up for cox internet, enrolling a child in school, applying for financial aid, getting a permit to install an outlet, voting, paying off a traffic citation, filing taxes, etc, etc).
filling out class action settlement claim forms
 
qwerty said:
Locked with owning on 7/26 for 1.99%/15 years, signed on 8/5 and the they paid off my old loan on 8/12. So what is that, 17 days?

This was the fastest refi I?ve done.
Locked and filled out the application with Owning on 7/22 for 1.875% (rate/APR) 15 years, signed the paper on 7/31, and my old loan was paid off on 8/5.  14 days turn around.
 
Angels_Baseball_2015 said:
Just to give others some perspective about Better.com.  I've been very frustrated with Better.com.  Their refi process is much more complicated than it needs to be.  They appear to ask for a lot of information that is akin to getting a new home loan from the ground up.  And now they are changing the Loan Estimate in the middle of the game.  I would avoid them at all costs.
Good thing that I didn't go with them.  I went with Owning, because they were just a tad cheaper.
 
Good for you.  I think the problem with Better is that they are married to their automated program code, and if you veer off just a bit from their protocol, they seem to get a brain freeze and don't know what to do.  Reasonable, common sense human discretion seems to be thrown out the window. 

It's almost like how baseball has been ruined by computer analytics.
 
Angels_Baseball_2015 said:
Good for you.  I think the problem with Better is that they are married to their automated program code, and if you veer off just a bit from their protocol, they seem to get a brain freeze and don't know what to do.  Reasonable, common sense human discretion seems to be thrown out the window. 

It's almost like how baseball has been ruined by computer analytics.

Hence why the likes of Owning, Better, etc loathe to deal with self employed folks like myself.  haha
 
Thanks to a crappy appraisal (which I had to paid for), my breakeven point on the Better refi has ballooned to close to 3 years, which doesn't make much sense anymore.  I feel like I wasted my time and money on a pointless process now.  Hope others don't make the same mistake I did here.  Their $2000 AMEX "promotion" is similar to a used car dealership - it's simply factored into the price, there's not like you get an extra $2,000.  What a disaster.
 
Angels_Baseball_2015 said:
Thanks to a crappy appraisal (which I had to paid for), my breakeven point on the Better refi has ballooned to close to 3 years, which doesn't make much sense anymore.  I feel like I wasted my time and money on a pointless process now.  Hope others don't make the same mistake I did here.  Their $2000 AMEX "promotion" is similar to a used car dealership - it's simply factored into the price, there's not like you get an extra $2,000.  What a disaster.

Would be helpful if you added some context to your complaints about Better.  Since you had to have an appraisal, it sounds like you have a higher LTV which doesn't qualify for an appraisal waiver.  This would have been an issue with any lender.

I have one active refinance with them and about to lock on another refinance on another property.  I have no issues and their rates cannot be beat.  For example, my conventional refinance is 2.625% w/$4800 lender credit and $2000 AMEX credit after the loan closes.   
 
FHFA Suspends Second Home, Investment Loan Limits

This should help improve rates for second and investment homes now. Many lenders didn't apply additional LLPAs already because their portfolio had room to absorb this type of loan mix.
 
Cares said:
FHFA Suspends Second Home, Investment Loan Limits

This should help improve rates for second and investment homes now. Many lenders didn't apply additional LLPAs already because their portfolio had room to absorb this type of loan mix.

So are you saying you have good rates for investment props, most likely I'd do a cash out too on the refi. 
 
akkord said:
Cares said:
FHFA Suspends Second Home, Investment Loan Limits

This should help improve rates for second and investment homes now. Many lenders didn't apply additional LLPAs already because their portfolio had room to absorb this type of loan mix.

So are you saying you have good rates for investment props, most likely I'd do a cash out too on the refi. 

I did one with Loan Depot that will be closing on Friday, took about 3 weeks from start to finish. 
 
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