NFCU Refi
Year built: 1986 (new when we had it built)
Mortgage: $304,000
Current market value: $425k-$450k
Downpayment: N/A
Applied for: 02/18/2018
Location: Northern Virginia
Property Type: Single Family
Type of Loan: Conventional 5/5 Adjustable (Middle 744)
Loan Rate: 3.5 locked until April 17th
Appraisal: 03/19/2018
Cleared to close: 3/22/2018
Closing Documents (HUD statement, etc posted online and scheduled phone call): 3/26/2018
Closing Date: 03/30/2018 (update, yes we closed on time and as scheduled 
)
We combined our first mortgage 5.875% with two equity loans one at 6.75% and an "interest only" larger one currently at 3.75% into a single 3.50% 30-year loan through NFCU. Of all the properties I've owned and or sold, this was by far the quickest and most painless lender/underwriter I've used. We applied 2/17 locked in the no points 3.5% rate on the 2/18 and submitted all the required documents within the first week. We delayed the appraisal for 7-10 days because we had a remodeling project in progress and of course, one needs to clean and declutter a home you have lived in for 30+ years (seems we never throw anything away). The loan is an adjustable one with 3.5% for 5 years, then up to a 2% plus or minus every 5 years with a cap of 8.5%. Even with the full 2% increase for years 6-10 we'll be back to our current rate before the refi and frankly, chances are we will retire and move out of Metro DC by then anyway so I'm not concerned about 10 years out. When we first purchased this house in 1986 we got a very good rate of 10% for a 30-year mortgage (rates at the time averaged 12% to 14% and peaked at close to 18%). We refinanced in 2003 to 5 7/8's so this new loan at 3.5% is sweet.
There are several "remodeling" projects in the works, I'll do some of the work, some will be contracted out but when we are through all bathrooms will be updated, new carpet and hardwood throughout, the kitchen will be refinished/remodeled, and a whole bunch of paint. We took a "cash out" as part of the mortgage to cover all this work. Bottom line is a completely remodeled/refurbished home with a 3.5% loan.
NFCU was super efficient, fast, friendly and easy to deal with in every way - we could have gone from app to close in 3 weeks had we not delayed the appraisal - can't say enough good things about the process through NFCU.