Refinancing Guidance for 1 year old mtg.

[DesertLife]

Hello everyone,

I closed on a VA 30 Year Fixed Mortgage with BoA in July 2011 (1 year ago) $147,173 at 4.75% . I am seeing that with many banks these days, 15 year mortgages can be had for much less interest (rate of 2.875 @ Pen Fed w/ 0 points or rate of 2.75 (3.09% APR) with USAA). It seems it would only add $250/month onto the mortgage cost but save me almost $100,000 in interest. I look at amortization schedules....$129k in interest over life of loan. Looked at early payoff calc to see what keeping my current mortgage would do if I just added $250 a month, and I'd still be paying $71k in interest over the life of the loan, while taking out a 15 year loan with lower interest rate would have me paying around $37k in interest.

With the costs associated with a refinance, and beacuse the loan is only one year old can anyone give me guidance on my interest in refinancing. It seems like with the long term savings in interest costs it would be worth it. I just don't know what to expect in short term closing costs, etc.

[DesertLife]

::bump:: still looking for advice.

I've heard that it would be hard to actually get a 3.09 (2.875) loan these days. Is it? Do you think it would be hard to refi a 4.75 rate any lower or worth it?

[DesertLife]

Anyone? Did I get lost in the threads.

[Quips]

I think it is a great idea if you can afford the additional $250 a month - the interest savings are definitely worth it. Closing costs on the refi pale in comparison to the interest you save. I am closing on my refi monday on a 1 yr old mortgage (original was May 2011) and am reducing my payment by $500 - closing costs are around $6K so it pays for itself in a year. Good luck.