Best option for me to refi student loans?

[nitrov]

Hi guys, this is my first time looking into refinancing my student loans, but I figure since I can't deduct my interest on my taxes anymore, I may as well try to save some money on interest with them.

I have 2 federal student loans currently through Navient totalling $36k at a 5.75% interest rate, about $14k subsidized and $22k unsubsidized. Right now I'm the income-based repayment schedule, but I casually perused some pre-approval rates through Credible and SoFi today and got some pre-approvals that were decent, 3.33% for 7 years variable, or about 4.75% for 8 years fixed were the two best ones in my opinion. I don't want my payments to be too high, I'd like them to stay under $500 if possible.

My credit score according to Upstart (TU) is a 734, per Amex (EX) is a 729, and EQ should be right around there as well. I just recently paid off about $10k in my debt so my DTI is improving, util is about 10%, and I have no derogs/baddies. 

I just wanted to see what success people have had with getting the best rate for a refi and where I should look to try and get something good. My income is good. Thanks, guys!

[Anonymous]

Never ever make Federal student loans private! There are financial hardship periods that the government will give you if you can't afford to make payments for up to a year at a time. Private companies will never do that, and they'll wreck your credit if you miss payments. Private companies also have no income-based payment options and won't subsidize your interest like the government does. So please don't "refinance" your Federal student loans with a private company. 

[nitrov]

Thanks for the reply. My income is great and I am trying to pay my student loans off as quickly as possible so I'd like something with a shorter repayment term and lower rate. I've seen variable rate loans in the 3.3% area for 5-7 year repayment which would save me thousands over the current 5.75% I'm paying with almost 10 years left. I have never and will never have a late payment or need a financial hardship waiver since I have fallback assets so I purely am trying to save money and get them paid off.

[Cellice]

Id refinance only if I was confident I could repay the entire amount within the next 2 years. If you plan to repay over the next 10 years do not refinance into a private lone. 10 years is a really long time. Anything can happen to your job, assets etc.

[QUAILMAN]

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@nitrov wrote:
Thanks for the reply. My income is great and I am trying to pay my student loans off as quickly as possible so I'd like something with a shorter repayment term and lower rate. I've seen variable rate loans in the 3.3% area for 5-7 year repayment which would save me thousands over the current 5.75% I'm paying with almost 10 years left. I have never and will never have a late payment or need a financial hardship waiver since I have fallback assets so I purely am trying to save money and get them paid off.

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I am in a similar situation.  Very stable job/income with a guaranteed backup plan through reliable family members.  Don't listen to everyone telling you about what you're "losing" by refinancing federal loans.  You clearly know what you're doing.  The only thing you're losing is a crappy interest rate.  I just did exactly what you did - refinanced the garbage rates I was stuck with at Nelnet.  I checked Credible, Earnest, SoFI, and CommonBond.  I ended up going with CordiaGrad, which I found through Credible.  I had never heard of them before, but they offered the best rate (which included a .5% rate discount for opening a checking account with Bank of Virginia) and they were also the most pleasant to work with.  Let me know if you're interested in applying with them, I'll get a referral bonus!