This is a follow-up on my other thread asking if I should refinance. https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Mortgage-Loans/Should-I-refinance-my-mortgage/m-p/6365711/highlight...
I did some research and decided to seek offers from Better, Reali, Rocket Mortgage and GuaranteedRate. Better and Reali were pretty close, both offering 2.625% without points or credits but with different closing costs. Rocket and Guaranteed didn't even come close and Rocket didn't even reach out to compare. I bounced the offers from Better and Reali off of each other. Better offered to beat Reali's closing costs by $100, lowering the costs from $1,577 to $1,477. I shot that back over to Reali and they offered an additional $400 making the closing costs barely $1K on a $453K loan. I did that one more time and Reali got me all the way down to under $700 lender-controlled costs total. That's like 10% of 1% of the refinance amount and I'll be lowering my payment by ~$700 a month, I'm getting rid of the PMI too, so I'll recoup the cost in basically a month!!! I'm so excited this went so well!!!
Long story short: Always, always, ALWAYS!!! shop around and send the actual Loan Estimate you get from a lender to the other lenders. This shows you're serious and that they have to work for your money!
AU
Congrats!
Ok, now my stomach hurts as the two lenders won't stop making offers. Will update when this is all over.
@SEAlifer wrote:Ok, now my stomach hurts as the two lenders won't stop making offers. Will update when this is all over.
Sounds like a good problem to have, hope you can wring out some additional concessions 
Ok, seems like this is over now. I tried to tell Better Mortgage I was going with Reali who had knocked their costs all the way down to around $500 which was less than what I'd be saving in one month with the new P&I as well as getting rid of my mortgage insurance. Better replied and offered to PAY ME $290 to do my refi through them, so I guess they're really trying to earn that name. They have really good reviews online as well. Reali countered with paying me $245 to do it but since it's a bloodless financial decision I had to go with Better Mortgage. I saw I'm already conditionally approved and did some paperwork this weekend that they needed but I think I'm good to go. I'll be lowering my payment by ~$700 a month for less than nothing. Can't be beat.
@CreditFun wrote:Add up your fees in BOX A and B and scrutinize C (either use their preferred title partner or shop), the rest is out of lenders control.
I hope your Refi goes well. Rocket and better have some of the worst ratings out there and are known to have extended Refis.starting 8/1 the FHFA adverse fee is gone, so I'd expect better pricing for that loan size next week.
call a broker. They can shop 20+ lenders in 1 or phone call.
Yep, I understand the loan estimate and how it works. I can find no evidence at all of Better Mortgage having "the worst ratings out there." In fact, quite the opposite.
I'm lowering my interest rate by 1%, getting rid of my PMI and they're paying me $290 to do it. On top of that, I have up until 3 days after I close to rescind the mortgage as per the CFPB and the Right of Recission. So if I did find a better rate, I can't do better than getting this for less than nothing, I will.