I made the mistake of going with Wells Fargo since they already held my mortgage. I thought it would make it easier. I thought I could trust them. I thought wrong.
I gave them $341 out of pocket to do the appraisal. After being confirmed that the loan refi would be no problem, all my numbers were excellent, great credit, LTV ratio was perfect, income was good, everything was in order. I was approved and awaited the closing date. Then I got a denial letter. Something about "not being a benefit to borrower". I asked numerous banking professionals what that meant and not a single one could come up with an explanation. And of course it was impossible to get anyone at Wells to talk to me. To add insulet to injury, they weren't going to refund my money. Luckily one of my customers is a real estate lawyer and talked to someone at WF and got me at least my appraisal fee back ($325).
But the joke ended up being on them in the end. I got a better deal elsewhere and just gave WfF the official boot!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Wells Fargo Will Let You Refinance For No Closing Costs Online
If you're saddled with a Wells Fargo mortgage, now would be a good time to slash your rate and payment through little effort by hitting up the bank's streamlined refinancing program, which under certain circumstances lets you refi without being gouged for closing costs.
You can find lower rates elsewhere, but you'll probably have to shell out upwards of $3,000 in fees to nab them. Granted, in most cases it's probably worth paying the closing costs because if you find a low enough rate you'll make up for the upfront fees in the long run, but paying that much only makes sense if you're sure you'll stay in your house for a couple more years.
I used the offer and shaved an eighth of a percentage point off my rate, dropped my payment by more than $200 a month and rolled less than $200 in administrative fees into my principal.
To get a streamlined mortgage refi, you need to (among other requirements) have no home equity lines of credit, owe less than what your property is worth and not have changed the names on the title since you closed the first time. Access your current mortgage through WellsFargo.com, click on the link to the right of your balance that says "refinance your mortgage," fill out an online application and if approved you'll be asked to send in your tax forms, pay stubs and bank account statements. Next you'll be sent a contract you'll need to have notarized, which I recommend doing at a Wells Fargo branch because they'll do it for free even though they'll also try to upsell you some new credit cards and savings accounts.
You can find lower rates elsewhere, but you'll probably have to shell out upwards of $3,000 in fees to nab them. Granted, in most cases it's probably worth paying the closing costs because if you find a low enough rate you'll make up for the upfront fees in the long run, but paying that much only makes sense if you're sure you'll stay in your house for a couple more years.
I used the offer and shaved an eighth of a percentage point off my rate, dropped my payment by more than $200 a month and rolled less than $200 in administrative fees into my principal.
To get a streamlined mortgage refi, you need to (among other requirements) have no home equity lines of credit, owe less than what your property is worth and not have changed the names on the title since you closed the first time. Access your current mortgage through WellsFargo.com, click on the link to the right of your balance that says "refinance your mortgage," fill out an online application and if approved you'll be asked to send in your tax forms, pay stubs and bank account statements. Next you'll be sent a contract you'll need to have notarized, which I recommend doing at a Wells Fargo branch because they'll do it for free even though they'll also try to upsell you some new credit cards and savings accounts.
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