<p>Any good refis out there which do not require full financials?</p>
<p>We are like YDS, but with 6 years left (on a 15 year loan at a little over 5%). I know I could re-fi and just pay more in my payments to decrease the term, but I am afraid that I won’t. But interest rates under 3 are pretty enticing! Especially with 2 kids in college. I keep going back and forth. My thoughts are if I pay the house off in 6 years, and my last kid finishes college in 6 years, and I will be 55 and eligible to retire, life would be great. If, of course, I can make it through the next 6 years.</p>
<p>somemom – there’s a HARP program (if your loan is owned by Freddie Mac) where you don’t need to verify income or assets. Or there are still some “no income” check loans out there if you have equity.</p>
<p>
This doesn’t make sense to me.</p>
<p>If the interest rate is the same for both 15 year and 30 year, having a 30 year but paying enough extra to pay it off in 15 years is exactly the same as having a 15 yr. The extra amount in a 15 yr payment is 100% principal.</p>
<p>15 year rates are always lower, though. So paying a real 15 year with the payment of a hypothetical 15 year that uses the 30 year interest rate will take less than 15 years to pay off.</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<p>100,000 @3.75% for 30 years = $463.12/month
100,000 @3.75% for 15 years = $727.22/month</p>
<p>100,000 @3.00% with a payment of $727.22/month = 168.7 months, or just over 14 years.</p>
<p>Interest rates are from tdbank.com.</p>
<p>^ You’re correct. The only benefit is the 30-year allows you pay down the principal with more variability, which may be a significant plus if your income is less stable.</p>
<p>The 15 year is still front loaded with interest so if you take that extra $300 and apply to principal only, you pay down the loan faster, not a lot, but some. It also gives you the flexibility of NOT paying the higher mortgage payment if you should lose your job or have unexpected medical bills or whatever.</p>
<p>
This isn’t true, the interest you pay every month depends only on what the outstanding value is. The amount of interest is higher at the beginning (after the first payment), but that’s because the balance is higher since it doesn’t get paid down as fast.
If this is a concern, then it’s better to take the 30 year. It takes a lot of discipline to pay extra every month though.</p>
<p>Notrichenough is spot on again. Even if the interest rates were the same, you’d still lose out on the 30-year even if you paid down principal aggressively (assuming at the same gross amount on the 15-year, which pays down principal much faster through regular payments). Not by a lot, but you would. With a higher interest rate, it’s no contest.</p>