Our HEL is with Netbank, it had a total of $10 in fees and from what I understand, the $10 payment was optional. I think we paid more for the money order and shipping than we paid for the mortgage. There were no hidden fees and we don't even pay mortgage insurance. PMI is one of the big costs that the unintiated get slammed with. They paid for a drive-by appraisal and our house was appraised for twice what we paid for it.

Now the chances of anyone getting as good a deal is slim, this was several years ago. But the point is that the best deals are not advertised, you have to dig. There is no incentive to advertise the deals because brokers make no money off of them. If you just call your local banks or take the deal that you friends got or call an ad in the paper you will pay too much.

I think it is hilarious that people here get excited about cheap synthetic oil at Wal-Mart and call me stupid for saving many thousands on RE.

to the bank