[chrisandaaron]

OK, so my husband and I have been renting with a plan to buy my parents home. We have been paying down their mortgage and gaining equity in the home for a couple years. The plan was to buy them out in a couple more years. However intrest rates seem low, so we are thinking about doing the buy out sooner. We found a 30 yr fixed rate for 5.2% 0 points. Does that sound good? Does anyone think they are likely to get any better?

I don't really want to put much/any money down, but we are buying the house for significantly less than it is worth, so we will have equity in the home right off the bat. This is not our first home, so getting the best mortgage rates should not be a problem.

thanks for your help!
Chris

[aclee]

that sounds pretty good to me. Dh and I are thinking about a refi ourselves actually, but aren't quite sure it makes sense just yet. We are at 6.5 for our mortgage and 5.5 for our home equity.

Good luck...it's a great time to buy...I kind of wish we hadn't bought at the TOP of the market

[lovemy2boys]

I think that's a great rate, and even better with no points...

Like aclee, we are at 6.5...

I say go for it!

[DianeS]

Yes, that's a good interest rate for right now. I bought my house in October and got 5.5, which was great for right then. Now it's run of the mill.

Interest rates are very difficult to predict. Yes, it's possible they will get lower. But it's also possible they'll get higher. There is no reason I know of to expect a large jump either way anytime soon though.

One thing to consider, is that often you can get a lower interest rate if you have a shorter term to the loan. And some loan companies are willing to consider non-typical loan lengths like 20 or 25 years. You'd save a lot of interest that way, if you are certain you can afford a slightly higher monthly payment each month.

Good luck!

[luckyshamrock]

My husband told me the other day that interest rates were at the lowest since they have began keeping records (which was a long time ago).
It is a great rate. We are looking to move but if we stayed in house, we could refinance and do a 15 year mortage and our payment would only be $60 more.

[Nevada Jen]

Assuming that is not a teaser rate, that it is not an interest only loan, and that there is no prepayment penalty, I think its a great deal.

[DPline]

We locked in at 4.875% over the weekend, and actually had someone get back to us Monday AM with a slightly lower rate than that. I am heading out in a minute to pick up my kids from school, but PM me if you would like more information and I can fill you in when I get back

[smash_effect]

I'm a lender and I just locked a client at 4.75% with no points and no origination fee. So, check around!! Yes, they're record low!

[loveajax]

I am so bummed, because we were told we could not re-fi unless we had 20 percent equity in our home. Since the housing market here has crashed an burned, we don't have it any longer. I think that sounds like a good rate, but dang! anything under 5 is unheard of...good luck!!

[aclee]

Originally Posted by loveajax

I am so bummed, because we were told we could not re-fi unless we had 20 percent equity in our home. Since the housing market here has crashed an burned, we don't have it any longer. I think that sounds like a good rate, but dang! anything under 5 is unheard of...good luck!!

That is a good point. We were just reassessed by the town and lost 30K in home value. Good for taxes, not so much for resale or refi.

We have the home equity loan on top of that too...so really we've got about 50K more than the house is worth held against it.

See I think the housing slump will effect the adoption market in a major way because so many people use home equity loans to pay for the adoption till their tax credit comes through. That's what we're doing. When we get the tax credit we're paying off CC though, cause I have a feeling once we pay off the home equity line they will reduce it given the reduction in the housing market...

[loveajax]

that's why we can't adopt again right now, aclee. we used home equity last time and now there is no "there there!" it stinks because we clearly could afford to raise another kid, I just don't see a way to come up with $20plusK. I suppose I could ask my parents, but I really don't want to do that either.

any more research on fost/adopt in MA? I really need to get serious about looking into it.

[DPline]

Originally Posted by loveajax

I am so bummed, because we were told we could not re-fi unless we had 20 percent equity in our home. Since the housing market here has crashed an burned, we don't have it any longer. I think that sounds like a good rate, but dang! anything under 5 is unheard of...good luck!!

I know all too well how you feel. We had 50 percent equity in our house 3 years ago. Now we are just praying that the appraisal comes back that we have a least 20 percent and all this refinacing paperwork I am doing isn't for nothing. We could still refinance, but 17 years of marriage and 3 houses later I just can't go back to paying PMI again!

[loveajax]

Deb, I will keep my fingers crossed for you!!!! I refuse to pay PMI as well!!

[DPline]

Thanks!! I appreciate it! Really, even with PMI, it would still be worth it for us to refinance, but I just can't stand the thought! Silly I know, but it just bugs the bejebbers out of me!

[Whirled_Peas]

We just locked in for 4.5% with 1 point. I'd recommend calling around to mortgage companies in your area and see what rates they offer. We are going through a credit union. We checked other CUs and they were higher than the mortgage companies. This one was lower than the mortgage companies.