The last post about refinancing my mortgage was about the home affordable refinance program. Wells Fargo decided to send over an incompetent appraiser who did not use any comparables inside my condo building. This goes against standard condo appraisal practices. The best way to determine a condo’s value is to use the sale of a condo unit from the same builder in the same building. To make a long story short, I was unable to refinance my mortgage at 5.375% because of an appraisal that was done improperly. The Wells Fargo mortgage specialist said that I would be able to refinance using the home affordable refinance program despite the poor appraisal. Once the program was approved, I received a packet in the mail to refinance. The only problem was that the rate was now 5.625%. After factoring in the closing costs plus the $375 I already paid for the first attempted refinance, my break even point was nearly 3 years. Since I only plan on staying in my condo for 5 years or so, it didn’t make sense to go through the hassle of a refinance. I made two phone calls and sent one email to the Wells Fargo mortgage specialist, none of which were returned. After this experience, I will never use Wells Fargo again. I am out $375. I was sent refinancing papers without even discussing it with me. The worst part is that the specialist told me to not refinance unless the rate fell below 5.4%. I will continue contacting Wells Fargo to try and get my $375 back as I was definitely not appraised fairly. I will most likely file a report with the BBB as well. On the bright side, I found a local mortgage broker who is offering me a rate of 4.875% with closing costs around $1500. This rate will save me $200 per month and my break even point is about 8 months, which is very low. The second appraiser, who actually used comparables in my building, found my unit to be worth $52,000 more than the other appraiser. So apparently, my condo gained $52,000 in about a month. The bottom line is I’m refinancing my mortgage and saving $200 per month from my mortgage payment. I’m hoping to continue using this mortgage broker for future lending needs and will recommend him to all of my friends. One more interesting piece of information that I learned throughout this whole process. I have some income tax money set aside in an escrow account. When you refinance, you get your money back from the old escrow account and put some away at the closing into a new escrow account. Why aren’t you allowed to just transfer your escrow account? That doesn’t make any sense to me, but apparently that’s how it’s done. Does anybody else out there have an interesting refinance story? |
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