My mortgage is with Chase and they sent me an offer to lower my fixed rate from my current 5.6 rate down to 4.8. There are no closing costs and other than the rate change the terms are exactly the same, other than of course I am starting my 30 year loan from the beginning again. I am 4 years into my current loan so if I continue to make the same payment I will pay it off approximately 3.5 years sooner and save about 50k. Is this a no brainer or is there a catch I'm missing. According to Chase it is because I make my payments on time and they don't want me to go somewhere else since rates are going down. Any expert advice?

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1984 300TD 1981 240D

Are they still offering a fixed rate? Interest rates will go up once the Fed can no longer continue their profligate money printing disaster.

Are their really no costs? So their will be no change in your outstanding mortgage balance on the day of the rate change.

Sometimes banks load fees on the balance so you end up paying the fees off over time with interest.

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R Martin
Dallas, TX (Addison)

86 560SEL, 128K

A refinance just to grab a .8% drop in interest rate? Tell them you want your existing note amended to give you the interest rate and subsequent monthly payment decrease without any adjustment in any other terms, if they treasure your business so much. Just be sure to steel yourself for the possibility that they'll stop returning your calls...

It is a little hard to believe a bank would do something nice and use logic as the explanation. It has been my experience in the past that when rates went down and I was going to refi I would tell my lender and offer to just take a rate reduction and they told me to pound sand. So I refi'd and went somewhere else and they couldn't care less.

I would have a attorney or other expert look at it to make sure there isn't a cobra hidden in there. Might be true though, you never know...

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

It's a fixed rate. According to what I read and asked my balance will not change. I'm going to look at the good faith estimate of closing costs next week. I'm a skeptic by nature, so I will go over everything with a fine tooth comb. I'm quite familiar with the whole refinance/ mortgage process and from what I can tell this looks legit, yet I would appreciate any input from those in the know.

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1984 300TD 1981 240D

I'm not sure if I trust attorneys any more than bankers! The basics of disclosure laws are pretty simple- thats one of the reasons I don't have any sypathy for those who claim they were tricked into taking out a mortgage they couldn't afford. That being said- I will still delve deeper into any details I might have missed.

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1984 300TD 1981 240D

Are their closing costs involved? For a mere 80 basis point reduction the costs would have to be miniscule to make it worth paying any costs, in my opinion.

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R Martin
Dallas, TX (Addison)

86 560SEL, 128K

No closing costs.

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1984 300TD 1981 240D

If you can keep your payments the same, why not try and re-fi to a 15yr? That's what I did when I refinanced. My payment went up by about $20 and I got a lower rate with a 15yr as opposed to a 30 yr. My house will be paid off in about 8 yrs.

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Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

This.

But if it does turn out to be the real deal and you can pay your house off three years sooner, go for it.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

I have had the same experience of asking my lender to lower my rate after paying faithfully for some 8-10 years. Asked for a reduction to a rate actually higher than market. They laughed at me. I ended up refinancing with another lender at a lower rate than I had requested. However I did have to pay closing costs.

PS - when I bought this house Jimmy Carter was in the White House and my interest rate was 13.75 %. Still here after 28 years and not paying nearly as much in interest rate.

I'm surprised you can't get a better deal. I refinanced from 6% down to 4.25% over a year ago. Took 6 months to recoup the points and closing costs. The rest is free money.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

J.P.Morgan/Chase has Generations of Experience in screwing it's Customers.

They are THE most slick of all the Commercial Banks in CONUS.

I'll find it hard to believe ANY "Offer" from them results in benefit to You.

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

Were you shopping and contacted them or did they cold call you? If the latter is the case, it doesn't pass the smell test. Bankers are nothing but maggots who are smart enough to scheme.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Make sure you do a shop around so you can go back to them with some competitive data.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving