http://www.calculatorweb.com/calculators/loanredcalc.shtml

Enter the loan amount, # of years and the interest rate then it will show the monthly payment. Add the additional amount per month and it will show you the reduced term.

It is easy to use. If it is really a NO COST refi and it is legit then there is no reason not to go for it. It is like having a lower APR credit card. Make sure the EXACT principle is transferred and not a ballooned loan, i.e. they add all the costs to the principle.

Good luck.

100% Correct

Since interest rates are so favorable now, regardless what Chase has offered you, you may want to explore a 15-20 year option to refi.

Or you can just refi and make two extra payments a year on the new 30, that will kill it in I beleive 17.5 years.

Kill it in 17.5 years with 2 extra payments?
 

I give you the benefits of the doubt as the payment amount is not specified.:confused:

You can kill it in 1 month if you pay ONE extra payment.

I think the math works out to that if you make two extra payments per year on a 30 year, I may be slightly off though.

That is correct. One extra payment a year will take a 30 year to 21 years, and two extra payments will bring it down to 16.5 years.

I pay an extra 1/12 per month and the above calculator says my term is 22 years. 2/12 only takes it to 20 years

It is the amount you write the check for.

I have a mortgage that is 998. a month, and I pay 1200. It works out to 2.5 extra payments a year.

That will get me down to about 16 years. (high interest rate)

The shortening of the payment term varies if you make an extra payment or 2. It depends on the interest rate. The calculator above will give correct results if you plug in your numbers. Paying 1/12 per month is slightly better than 1 payment on 12/31/xx as all the extra goes to principle and the principle goes down EVERY month. Less principle, less interest, shorter the loan term by a tiny bit.

That's the way to do it, that way if things get tight you can always revert back to the minimum payment.

spam alert

To make the books look better if the equity position is very low. May be a good ideal for the bank to attempt better recource positions the way things may shape up.

If dropping a point or so by the bank to secure a loan with a recourse position instead of non recourse. Is not that bad a move for the times. I would argue with the lender to leave the same terms basically intact on a refinance. I almost bet they will not bite.

I know if I was granting morgages I would really have a serious look at the portfolio about now. . Things are still pretty reasonable out there everything considered for the majority. It is just the reporting indicates there may be more difficulties ahead.

I have the exact same offer from Chase sitting on my desk... 5.13 to 4.5% and I am also around 3yrs into this loan... It is tempting...

A couple things to consider:

1. If you pay your loan off early, you lose the mortgage deduction from your taxes. If you keep paying for 30 years at, say, 5% but invest the cash and make an average above that 5%, then you'll make more money in the long haul.

Ric Edelman explains it a lot better than I can here:

http://www.ricedelman.com/cs/education/article?articleId=232

2. Are you sure Chase even owns your mortgage? They likely already sold up to Fannie/Freddie and only make money on the management of the loan. Thus, they don't care if you get a lower interest payment. They want to refi so that they can earn 3.5 more years of management fees.

In the mortgage business they can sell your note ,or loan to any other financial institution without your approval ,believe me its in your contract .Now having said that what would be the banks benefit in lowering your rate other than a financial gain. It could be that you have an older contract that doesnt have some heavily lawyered up verbage in it giving them a way for you to sign a newer,more up to date contract.They have either had some problems with other mortgages and have been advised to get a new contract signed with previous customers to keep these issues out of court.In the builders contract that I worked for the owner of the company had worked in a mandory litigation between parties if things didnt get compromised thru the builder and the buyer .Their is a reason ,let us know what happens.