Link...


Well, this doesn't seem to help me at all. I actually thought about refinancing just to take advantage of the low rates. I can currently afford what I pay, but a few hundred bucks staying in my control every month would be nice. It looked good until I saw the estimated closing costs. Depending on the rate I wanted, it'd be anywhere between 6k and 7k. It was around 5k if I only wanted 1.125% off my current rate, but 1.5% is 6.7k. That makes it a little unreasonable. My monthly savings would be (with the 1.5% drop) about $240/month. That means it'd be roughly 28 months before I've paid myself back from the closing costs and actually started saving $240/mo. Plus, I'd either have to roll that into the loan, simply giving me a higher mortgage, or I'd have to write a check for that, giving me less money to invest and enjoy.

Of course, the closing costs could be less (or more), or maybe I could somehow work out having to pay less in points to get the lower rate. But, either way, I don't think I'd want to pay myself back for more than 10 or 12 months, and certainly not 28.

I wonder how the people who can't afford their homes will be able to pay any closing costs in a modification. Or, are there no closing costs? Or, is that what I'm paying for with my taxes? I'd be kinda pissed if I'm paying for someone's closing costs.