Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Just a quick note on how we can benefit from the current economic environment. I mentioned in a previous post about now is a good time to lock in the lowest mortgage rates possible. It appears that even with the Federal Reserve buying US debt that rates are starting to move higher. Rates are still at or near all time lows. For those of us with a mortgage this is a good time to take advantage of this gift horse that the money masters have tossed our way. I don't believe that all this artificial manipulation will save the current economic system, but you and I can benefit from these low rates.

I just closed on my home refi loan over the weekend. We managed to lock in a rate of 4% fixed rate for 30 years. Talk about crazy low rates, but I am thrilled. It gets our house payments down to those at or below the cost of an apartment in the local area. So this is a huge deal in my mind. It reduces our monthly cost(improves our cash burn rate), it makes our home very competitive in the rental market should we need to rent out the home, and gets us locked in at very low rates. So it is a win all the way around. The down side with refinancing is the cost of the refi itself. You end up paying lender fees, closing costs, inspections, and regulatory fees. So it doesn't come cheap. So weigh your own personal situation to determine if it makes sense to refinance in your case.

If your in the market to refinance there are many mortgage search engines out there. The one I used with this refi was bankrate.com. I looked for their lowest rates, fees, charges, points and went with that lender which was offering the best rates for my area.

So don't look a gift horse in the mouth. If you have been thinking about refinancing your home now might be a great time to take advantage of the low rates. Nobody knows how long they can artificially hold these rates down like this so I would say don't miss your opportunity if it is the right thing to do for your own personal situation.