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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Feb 10, 2009 12:38:01 GMT -6
I used to work in a retention department for the equity department...we would save business by lowering the rate in competitive situations, work with the customer and try to retain the business.
I recently tried to refi, as I estimate I could lower my rate by at least a full 1%. Unfortunately, in the last 2 years my house has not gone up in value (I financed 100%), so I was unable to. So, thinking back to my Retention days, I figured I'd try and call in directly to Citi and see if they could help out with my rate.
After calling in, and looking at my account, I disclosed I was possibly looking around to refi my mortgage for a better rate. The gal actually had the nerve to say that since I didn't have a late payment, there was nothing they could do.
I bought below my means, haven't made a late payment, there's nothing they can fucking do. I'm considering just letting my payment slide for the next couple of months...but it's just against my morals.
Meanwhile, I hear stories from OUR collections department about people who were two months late on their mortgage payments going out and buying $60k BMW's.
I'm starting to turn into a cynical fucking bastard....especially in addition to this I hear friends and family getting laid off of work. The economy is fucked.
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Post by Dr. Doofenshmirtz (Heywood) on Feb 10, 2009 12:49:41 GMT -6
I'm in the same boat. I am looking at a refi but I don't have enough equity. I still need to call GMAC directly to see what can be done but I have a feeling they will tell me that there will be nothing they can/will do since I don't have any late payments either. If that's the case I will let a month slide.
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Post by NotMyKid on Feb 10, 2009 13:32:18 GMT -6
You guys are having problems?
We just bought our house in August and our Loan guy said we would have no problem Refing and we would save a little over $200 a month, we are just waiting for the rates to get below 5% again.
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Post by Dr. Doofenshmirtz (Heywood) on Feb 10, 2009 13:34:29 GMT -6
I'm not having problems so much as I wanted to try lowering the rate on my 2nd mortgage since the other rates are lower. Since I don't have the 5% equity required I would have to call and talk to a rep about a loan modification.
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Feb 10, 2009 13:57:09 GMT -6
You guys are having problems? We just bought our house in August and our Loan guy said we would have no problem Refing and we would save a little over $200 a month, we are just waiting for the rates to get below 5% again. Did you put money down when you bought, Hoffa?
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Post by NotMyKid on Feb 10, 2009 16:06:51 GMT -6
You guys are having problems? We just bought our house in August and our Loan guy said we would have no problem Refing and we would save a little over $200 a month, we are just waiting for the rates to get below 5% again. Did you put money down when you bought, Hoffa? yeah, around 12-15%, and both of us have great credit. Even if we roll the cost to refi into the new loan we will still be saving over $200 a month.
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Feb 10, 2009 16:22:32 GMT -6
Did you put money down when you bought, Hoffa? yeah, around 12-15%, and both of us have great credit. Even if we roll the cost to refi into the new loan we will still be saving over $200 a month. That's probably why you're able to refinance...since you're around 85% CLTV, you're the perfect candidate to refi. I financed 100%, and since the house hasn't gone up in value, am still close to 100%. I'm in the 'high risk' category, but since I bought below my means and make my payments on time, I'm stuck until I get my CLTV lower. I remember a time when lender's rewarded customers who took care of their shit. Oh well, I'm over it...at least until I hear another story about some dipshit choosing to buy a new car instead make a mortgage payment...and how we are working with them to get him a better rate.
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Post by NOTTHOR on Feb 10, 2009 16:29:08 GMT -6
Don't the banks have a pretty strong interest in resisting refis right now? I mean, if you guys are up on your payments and have a 6% rate, you'd think the bank would want to do everything it can to preserve your high rate, fairly safe loans. Everything else in their books is shit, but your loans are probably actually worth at least par or maybe even a small premium.
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Feb 10, 2009 16:55:01 GMT -6
Refi's are about the only business going on right now. Many times underwriting is looking at it as risk mitigation...puts the bank in a better overall position. Getting paid less is better than not getting paid.
But I understand what you're saying to my particular situation. Why would they want to refi when I'm paying above par? It's just backwards, is all. In 04, working in retention, not having a late payment in the last year was mandatory for even considering lowering the rate. You received a competitive offer? Fuck you, take your late payment making ass to another lender (maybe that's why WF survived).
Now it seems opposite. You NEED to have a late payment in order to be considered for a lower rate. No wonder people's credit scores are fucked.
It won't be too long before I'm at 95% CLTV...then I'll finally have a little leverage. Now I'm just stuck between a rock and a hard place.
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Post by twinegarden on Feb 10, 2009 17:00:41 GMT -6
I hate to sound like a prole but what does CLTV stand for?
Sounds like a bunch of crap there, Itheus. Especially if what BTR says is true about keeping you at a higher rate because you are a good, responsible borrower and most likely to help the bottom line. That seems kind of illegal to me, especially if they are helping the people who can't afford their loans while you can and giving them the benefit of a lower APR.
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Feb 10, 2009 17:02:21 GMT -6
No prob Twine - CLTV - Combined Loan to Value (percentage of debt verses value of property).
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Post by twinegarden on Feb 10, 2009 17:04:00 GMT -6
I'm assuming ALOT of people are probably well over 100% these days then, right?
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Feb 10, 2009 17:07:41 GMT -6
I'm assuming ALOT of people are probably well over 100% these days then, right? Yes, especially in Cali, Florida, NY, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia.
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Post by NOTTHOR on Feb 10, 2009 17:32:21 GMT -6
Refi's are about the only business going on right now. Many times underwriting is looking at it as risk mitigation...puts the bank in a better overall position. Getting paid less is better than not getting paid. But I understand what you're saying to my particular situation. Why would they want to refi when I'm paying above par? It's just backwards, is all. In 04, working in retention, not having a late payment in the last year was mandatory for even considering lowering the rate. You received a competitive offer? f**k you, take your late payment making ass to another lender (maybe that's why WF survived). Now it seems opposite. You NEED to have a late payment in order to be considered for a lower rate. No wonder people's credit scores are fucked. It won't be too long before I'm at 95% CLTV...then I'll finally have a little leverage. Now I'm just stuck between a rock and a hard place. Yeah, it makes no sense, but from the bank's perspective, even though your CLTV is a tad on the high side, your loan at 6% is one of the best pieces of paper in their portfolio and they know there is likely no one who will give you a refi, so there is no way in hell they will, either. If you miss a payment, you trash your credit score, probably trigger some obscure cross default provision that will make all your student loans, car loans and credit cards become immediately due and then put you into the "at-risk" pool which might save you 1% on your mortgage - then you'll be a statistic that Citibank will trot out as someone who they "saved."
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Feb 10, 2009 17:45:59 GMT -6
Exactly, Citi knows no one will touch a 100% loan.
95% - I'm in the game.
Makes me wonder if I should adjust my priorities. Right now we have money from each check going towards savings...maybe we should pay additional principal on our mortgage instead, get to 95%, refi to a lower rate, and then restock the savings account.
I'll probably just keep the savings going. Always nice to have a safety net, especially in today's fucked up market.
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Post by NOTTHOR on Feb 10, 2009 17:49:03 GMT -6
Exactly, Citi knows no one will touch a 100% loan. 95% - I'm in the game. Makes me wonder if I should adjust my priorities. Right now we have money from each check going towards savings...maybe we should pay additional principal on our mortgage instead, get to 95%, refi to a lower rate, and then restock the savings account. I'll probably just keep the savings going. Always nice to have a safety net, especially in today's fucked up market. True, because God knows if you get shitcanned you won't be able to get a $60k HELOC for just signing a few sheets of paper. God damn Bush ruined the mortgage market.
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Post by thunderhawk on Feb 10, 2009 20:26:51 GMT -6
Exactly, Citi knows no one will touch a 100% loan. 95% - I'm in the game. Makes me wonder if I should adjust my priorities. Right now we have money from each check going towards savings...maybe we should pay additional principal on our mortgage instead, get to 95%, refi to a lower rate, and then restock the savings account. I'll probably just keep the savings going. Always nice to have a safety net, especially in today's fucked up market. True, because God knows if you get shitcanned you won't be able to get a $60k HELOC for just signing a few sheets of paper. God damn Bush ruined the mortgage market. I second the motion. Keep the cash on hand, because if you plow it into principal, your liquidity is shit. And if there is one thing you want to have in this clusterfuck economy, it's some liquidity. And maybe a cellar stocked with canned goods, water, and guns.
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Feb 11, 2009 0:42:53 GMT -6
True, because God knows if you get shitcanned you won't be able to get a $60k HELOC for just signing a few sheets of paper. God damn Bush ruined the mortgage market. I second the motion. Keep the cash on hand, because if you plow it into principal, your liquidity is shit. And if there is one thing you want to have in this clusterfuck economy, it's some liquidity. And maybe a cellar stocked with canned goods, water, and guns. bare essentials, and the rest on booze. may as well enjoy the end of days!
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Post by NOTTHOR on Feb 11, 2009 8:35:30 GMT -6
Yeah, I agree on the booze, you gotta have that. Our firm cut out the booze at our weekly Friday afternoon happy hours. Now they only serve beer and wine. Attendance has dropped and I suspect they will use the falling attendance to kill the happy hour, which was one of the nice things that differentiated the firm from the other firms. Me a few dudes are setting up a rotating Scotch provider system to make the most of the bad situation, but times are getting pretty tough.
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Post by scotthawk on Feb 11, 2009 8:38:04 GMT -6
Itheus - sorry if I'm being a dumbass here but if you bought below your means....why didn't you put 10-15% down when you purchased? Or was it that you bought below your means (you could afford the payments with no problem) but just did not have the 10-15% to put down at that time. Could you now put some extra cash toward the loan and then refi if the rates dip back below the 5% range?
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Post by Saggitariutt Jefferspin (ith) on Feb 11, 2009 9:52:02 GMT -6
Itheus - sorry if I'm being a dumbass here but if you bought below your means....why didn't you put 10-15% down when you purchased? Or was it that you bought below your means (you could afford the payments with no problem) but just did not have the 10-15% to put down at that time. Could you now put some extra cash toward the loan and then refi if the rates dip back below the 5% range? Not a dumbass question at all. Ratios - debt to income being the main factor as far as 'buying below our means'. We didn't have much in reserves or assets as first time home buyers. But we were approved for a house twice in value of what we ended up purchasing. It was tempting, as of course realtors were showing us houses that were on the higher end of the spectrum. After putting the pen to paper, we found a price range that would allow us to have some diposable income...that's what I'm refering to as buying below our means. In regards to putting more towards our mortgage...that was another post in this thread. I think I'm more comfortable to build up reserves in todays crazy market. Bite the bullet for a while.
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