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Got a Home Loan in Virginia?
Get Low Refinance Rates From Just 2.12%.

Refinancing Banks

You might be considering refinancing your home mortgage loan with your bank or credit union to take advantage of today’s low interest rates. After all, what could be more convenient than simply transferring your mortgage payment out of your checking account?

Are bank originated mortgage loans really the best deal for your home mortgage? Here are several tips to help you avoid making an expensive mistake refinancing your home loan.

Refinancing Banks & Your Mortgage Loan

Banks and credit unions love to brag about their mortgage loans. Bank of America for example loves to flaunt its “no fee” mortgage loans… but are they really a good deal? I’d say be sure and read the fine print before taking out a loan from your bank or credit union; however, thanks to the banking lobby there is no fine print for you to read. What do mean by this? Allow me to explain…

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act

Also abbreviated RESPA, this is the legislation that required mortgage lenders to disclose their fees and markup. Note that I said “required” as the Banking Lobby spent millions of dollars lobbying congress to change this disclosure legislation to exclude banks…successfully. That’s right, your bank and credit union is exempt from RESPA laws that require fair and honest lending practices in the United States. Banks are simply not required to disclose their markup or profit margins on your mortgage loan.

Service Release Premium

Big deal you might be thinking, bank mortgage rates have to be good to compete with other lenders right? Nope…your bank doesn’t care about being competitive, and most homeowners don’t know the first thing about mortgage rates to understand how banks are making their money.

So how exactly do banks make money from mortgage loans? They just sit back and collect interest from my mortgage payments right? Wrong!

Banks make the majority of their profits selling loans to investors on the secondary mortgage market. The higher the interest rate on your loan the more profit the banks make when your loan is sold. This is why the bank will try and close your loan with the highest mortgage rate possible. Banks know what mortgage rate you could get in the open market from a mortgage broker; however, they mark this rate up create a profit when your loan is sold. This markup of your mortgage rate by the bank is known as Service Release Premium.

Does Service Release Premium Really Matter?

How much could your bank really markup up your mortgage rate and does it really make a difference? Well, suppose you refinance your home for $300,000 with a 30 year fixed rate loan at 5.5%. What you didn’t know is that you could have had a 5.0% mortgage rate from a wholesale lender. What does this markup by the refinancing bank mean for your mortgage payment?

At 5.5% on a $300,000 mortgage your monthly payment will be $1700 per month. If you had the mortgage rate you deserve at 5.0% your monthly payment would only be $1610 per month. That’s $1080 per year you’re flushing down the toilet just to boost your bank’s profits.

How to Get a Wholesale Mortgage Rate

You don’t have to be a financial guru to refinance your mortgage with a wholesale mortgage rate. First of all you should avoid refinancing banks and credit unions no matter how convincing the salesperson or your neighbor Bob. Secondly, you need to find the right person to arrange your new mortgage. This person needs to be a mortgage broker, but not just any broker. Mortgage brokers, like banks, mark up mortgage rates for a commission so you’ll need to find the right broker for the job.

It is possible to refinance your home loan with a wholesale mortgage rate and pay only a 1.0% origination fee to the mortgage broker for arranging the loan. You can learn how to do this for yourself while avoiding costly lender junk fees by checking out my free mortgage videos on this website.

Check out my Underground Mortgage Refinancing Videos today and you’ll get immediate access to videos that save the average homeowner $1,000 per year… Guaranteed!

Wishing you success with your next home mortgage,

Robert Regehr

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