Back in January I blogged here after reading a magazine article that explained how to know if you should refinance. It’s a tricky question for many of us. I’m personally on the fence about refinancing the condo we’ve had for five years. We’re *this* close to listing it for sale, but at the same time, if we hang out for another year or two we think we’ll gain back the $30,000 in value that the market in our area lost in the past couple of years. Decisions, decisions.
I’m working on an article for the Prosper Lending Review, which profiles a financial startup called SmartHippo Don’t confuse this with SmartyPig, another brilliant-banking-mammal.
SmartHippo.com does for mortgage shopping what Travelocity does for vacation planning. This clever Web site allows banks to post their mortgage rates, but also crawls the web for rates. Finally, it lets users add the rates that they got–and also invites feedback and comments on lenders. Talk about transparency!
I took it for a test drive this week and it helped me come to some decisions regarding if we refinance our condo or not. Here’s what I found helpful:
First, it allowed me to “window shop” mortgages anonymously. This means your FICO score won’t be pinged by a prospective lender.
Second, once I entered my info (Refi, what the property is worth, what amount to refi and what loan term I want) it spat back dozens of very attractive options. In order to sort them I had two handy little slider tools that allowed me to narrow my closing costs range and my interest rate range to what looked attractive to me.
In my mental calculations of if I should refinance or not, I’d underestimated closing costs by a lot. Until I can get a rate .25% lower than what I was seeing this week, I’m going to stay put. However, SmartHippo saved me the FICO inquiry for later–when I decide if I want to sell my condo or refinance it into a shorter-term-loan.
I’m making a note on my calendar to visit SmartHippo once a month for a while and keep an eye out for that slightly-better rate. I hope you’ll give it a try.
If you want to follow SmartHippo news, they’re on Twitter as @SmartHippo.
If you want my latest info and updates, I’m on Twitter as @Jessc098.
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Hi Jessica,
Thanks for writing a great example of how SmartHippo can be used to research a refinance. And I’m glad it was able to help you personally!
Kelly Rusk
Community Manager
SmartHippo
It’s such a tough position to be in, isn’t it? I know what you mean about your apartment. Assuming the market goes up, you want to hold onto it. But there are no guarantees!
Decisions, decisions.
It’s totally like that. We’re actually trying to adopt again (we have two adopted children). I met another child that I know belongs in our family back in September. Problem is, we’ve simply run out of real estate. We couldn’t squeeze another family member in this house if we had to. I’ve stepped on the cat three times already today. Would love to add this wonderful kid to our family but unless we sell our place, we’re out of room. Don’t want to sell in this market, but don’t want to refinance in the hopes that it’s short lived and we can sell.
It’s very much a rock-and-hard-place kind of situation!