« Know your price | Home | Viva la Vida »
Get a reduced mortgage interest rate and/or payment: Here’s How:
By Charles Martin | June 10, 2008
The Hothead got the final call yesterday.
“Your new payment will be X (12% less) and your new interest rate will be 1 and 3/4 points less” she said.
I got all this with one phone call and about an hour of my time writing a letter and faxing it.
I wasn’t late.
I wasn’t in arrears and I don’t have one derogatory mark on this loan.
The problem was my loan was always too high. The rate was on the higher side of average, but still average, for the amount of the loan.
A bit of background:
All I will say is that it is a jumbo loan (over $750,000). My bank, which I won’t spam now, is a top 3 mortgage lender and NOT a bank caught up in the free-wheeling practices of 2005/2006. You’ve heard of them. The namesake was in Lincoln’s cabinet.
So, not having a late loan and not being in foreclosure would make one think they should just refi right?
WRONG.
How can I refi when my loan is now upside down? I bought at a slim loan to value margin, sure. So did a lot of guys I know that aren’t deadbeats. Can’t refi.
So, I merely called the bank’s executive offices in New York and asked for their mortgage division’s president’s office. The team member there took my loan info, asked for a letter as to why I wanted the reduction, a list of my monthly expenses and I waited. (HINT — They are waiting for your calls folks! — don’t wait on some Congressional backed 1/2 as*ed handout from Mssrs. Bush & Cheney)
A week later I got a call from their Homeowner Assistance team member and she worked me through the steps to better loan payments. Usually, when you aren’t late and aren’t in foreclosure you’d find yourself out of luck.
Times have changed.
If you can honestly (and I only promote honest approaches) show your expenses to be past your income, you will probably have a good chance in getting a reduction. Not all banks are the same and many will have a few more rungs to ascend.
My annual savings will top $9500.00 AND my interest only mortgage is now going to be conventional. No closing costs. No fighting for the last dime. Thank you very much.
If you need help please email me at stinly at gmail dot com and I can outline my minimal fees for such. You still need to know how to write and what to say. It’s not as easy as I make it sound, but if you are dedicated to this, you will succeed. There are many non-profits doing this too and I applaud them. They may take longer than I would. Don’t pay someone high fees up front to do this.
I am working with another person with 10 year’s experience in the mortgage industry to capitalize on my success with my own loan. We hope we can help you.
Topics: Greats in business, Read this, Sales Acumen | No Comments »