Refi through USAA

[bcdudley]

I bought a new car back in Oct last year for $20,000 plus a $6000 down payment. After all the dust setteled, I found out that the loan was purchased by Wells Fargo. I just came out of some bad stuff with WF and I wanted to get rid of them completely. I was somewhat dissapointed to hear that they were the ones I would be dealing with for the next 5 years. I would like to do a Refinance with USAA, but I am not sure if I should go ahead and do this, or wait another 6 months or so.I have a feeling the answer is going to be wait.

My current scores are stated in my sig. The only one I am sure of is Eq. I have several baddies, but they are all expiring by the end of this year except for 2. One of those 2 expires early 2013 and I have a Ford Motor Credit expiring 2015. It was paid in full, just with multiple lates on it includign some 60's.

I have a Wells Fargo Secured card that was paid perfectly for almost 3 years, then closed at my choice. I now have 3 other credit cards that are all 6 months or newer. I also have an ATV loan ($7800 through USAA) that is new.

Payments are not a problem at all for me and I have no recent negatives. When I run the report from this web site, it shows everything is good except the amount of new credit.I really like USAA's web site much better just for the simple fact that they give you the option to apply your payment towards the principal amount. I always pay about $100 extra per month to knock it down some. With Wells, they just apply it towards next months payment. They hav no options for applying it to the principal without mailing them a check.

My ultimate objective is to purchase a house in 2-3 years, and I would also like to go with USAA for that when the time comes. Should I go ahead and try to move it over to them now, or wait a little longer.

Just a little more history, the reason all my cards are new, last year, I tried to purchase a house. Financing fell through (Wells Fargo) and I was told that I was not approved becasue I did not have enough trade lines open. I got 3 new cards and dumped WF. We were waiting to get a new car until after the house purchase, but we could not wait 3 more years. The old car was falling apart and costing me more per month than a new one would be. The ATV loan was similiar, my old one broke down and pretty much became unservicable. My family has an 800 acre ranch that I help tend and an ATV or a horse are required.

So, my question after all that is, should I go ahead and try for the Auto finance now, wait 6 months and try, or just leave it like it is until it is paid off. I can pay it off about a year early if I switch to USAA now.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[haulingthescoreup]

What would be the difference in the monthly payments if you refi'd with USAA? (up X amount, down Y amount)

If you don't really care about the monthly payment, I'd tilt toward going with USAA. (And I'm a huge USAA fan, so please feel free to discount my advice because of this!) The fact that they would apply any additional payment to your principal instead of to the next month's payment is a biggie to me, and so is establishing a good relationship with them before apping for a mortgage.

Even if the APR/ monthly payment is a lot higher, if you're going to pay it off pretty quickly, the actual dollar amount might not be that big.

[bcdudley]

I have no idea what the difference would be. My current rate is $375 and I pay anywhere from $450 to to $500 per month right now.  I have no idea what my rate would be with USAA. I am also a big fan of USAA which is why I want to switch. I have only been with them for about 9 months now, but they have already made a great impression with me in everything they do.