Mortgage company Goodwill?

[Anonymous]

Hello friends,

my mortgage company (Freedom) just called. I've been a new homeowner for about 7 months. They've offered me "a deal I can't refuse". I'm not sure if I trust this entirely and would like to hear some thoughts. 
To retain my business they would like to lower my interest rate on my FHA loan from 3.75 to 3.195. This would lower my monthly payment about $100 over the loan period which would be reset to 30 years. Their calculation shows a $35k savings in interest. 
As a customer they will extend this goodwill and waive all the fees except the FHA upfront mortgage insurance which they say I will also get a discount on, which such a deal expires after 3 years with FHA. 
now, resetting the clock 6 months isn't a terrible thing as the total cost of that would be $12,000 added to my loan balance of 276k but I would be saving 35k

....to my mind the value is in the lower payment. 
I've budgeted my current payment into my overall household expenses and if I keep it the same, more of my money pays down my principal. Are there any downsides to accepting this new interest rate and lowering my monthly payment? An extra $1500 in principal per year could increase that $35k savings to almost $90k over the life of the loan. Am I understanding this right?

Robyn

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

You've been offered what is called an FHA Streamline refinance.  I have a buddy who works for Freedom and his only job is to call existing customers and offer them this similar deal, but it's also the same deal you should be able to get anywhere else, not exclusive to Freedom, so you should shop around.

Questions... are you going to have this mortgage for the full life of the loan so you can realize the $35k savings in interest?  How long do you have to be in the loan for to save the $12k that you are tacking on to your loan amount?  It's 10+ years from my rough calculations, so if you don't see yourself in the new mortgage for at least that long then it's not a better deal.

Lastly, $12k in closing costs seems on the higher side, if you are interested in Freedom's offer then I'd request a Loan Estimate and then compare it to other offers before you make a decision.