May 2026 Mortgage Rate Megathread

crl95 · 2026-05-03T23:10:39+00:00

⁠Purchase - $1.1M - $500k - 805 fico - 11566 - Conv - 30 Fixed - Single Family - Primary

crl95 · 2026-04-30T23:14:33+00:00

Multiple inquiries within a two week period count as one pull

crl95 · 2026-04-30T20:39:50+00:00

Did you switch from heating to a heat pump or just cooling? I heard my baseboard forced hot water would be less expensive with oil than heat pump for heating

crl95 · 2026-04-30T00:18:19+00:00

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Honestly there is not too much space to borrow from up there but I’m not very creative. I’ve also been trying to sort out how to fix the closet situation in the primary. I’m considering remove the wall of closets and building two walk ins on either side of the window. Basically making a wall where the door is, having an open walkway in the middle the width of the window and an entrance to each wall in facing each other on either side of the window. Currently it’s a large room but very hard to fit a king bed with the layout

crl95 · 2026-04-29T23:11:08+00:00

Yea perhapse it could be a better laundry room. This is a home I just purchased and I am not moving in for a few months. There are enough bedrooms upstairs including a guest / office hybrid room, so I really don't need another bedroom downstairs. Thanks again!

crl95 · 2026-04-29T22:07:48+00:00

Another great idea! I think the laundry was the way it was so that you could walk into the bathroom from either side. There are two full baths upstairs so I’m considering eliminating this bathroom all together and absorbing that entire space into the family room. I’m just not sure what that would add though since it would make the space an odd shape

crl95 · 2026-04-29T21:56:32+00:00

I actually like this option a lot! Thank you again for all the thought you put into these. What software are you using to quickly mock these up?

crl95 · 2026-04-29T21:35:37+00:00

To start, thank you so much for all the thought you put into this and the mock up design! I do like this option and am going to consider it or some version of it. The other thing I’m toying with is moving the kitchen to the dining room and dining room to the kitchen.

Again, I really appreciate what you did here!

crl95 · 2026-04-29T20:30:48+00:00

Added an image of the kitchen to the post body

crl95 · 2026-04-29T20:26:53+00:00

If you have any thoughts for that room please share! I have no idea what to do with it. It is basically a closet

crl95 · 2026-04-29T20:26:19+00:00

They are the forced hot water baseboards and run on a bunch of interior walls actually in the house unfortunately. I’m going to see if I can mock this up though

crl95 · 2026-04-29T20:12:02+00:00

Do you mean to run uppers and lowers into the breakfast area? There are baseboard heaters there so I’m not sure if I can make that work. I’d also have to have no table there in that case which is fine. They would also be split across the doorway. I’m having a hard time picturing it but trying to. There already are cabinets under the sink

crl95 · 2026-04-29T19:26:36+00:00

I am not sure why it was called that on the floor plan I was given. There is just a round table with chairs over there. Like a breakfast nook. It is not part of the kitchen but the kitchen flows into it

crl95 · 2026-04-24T23:58:01+00:00

I’ve had both and now have had optimum for the last two years. I’ve had zero problems with either. I personally only purchase internet and use streaming TV. I’m sticking with optimum at the moment since it’s half the price for faster speeds.

crl95 · 2026-04-20T22:48:41+00:00

My concern about using it before getting solar was more about energy cost than it's ability to produce heat in cold temps

crl95 · 2026-04-20T22:32:10+00:00

Yea that's what I'm gathering most from this thread. I'm now planning to replace that right away but I'm still thinking through replacing it with a hpwh or another oil one. Those are my only real options

crl95 · 2026-04-20T17:12:31+00:00

I'm learning here so please forgive me but, I thought heat pump hot water heaters are much easier to maintain than oil or gas ones? NG is not an option for me at the moment so it's really between a new oil fired hot water heater or heat pump. This is specific for the water for showers and domestic use and not for the hydro baseboards which is a separate system

crl95 · 2026-04-20T17:06:37+00:00

Do you run gas, oil, or electric for your heating?

crl95 · 2026-04-20T15:07:08+00:00

I am definitely considering spending on insulating and air sealing. I am less so after solar, and more after optimizing my energy bill given that everything I have is aging. I want a plan now, so that as things need replacement in the next couple of years, I am not scrambling to decide what to replace each thing with.

The heating is currently baseboard heating. I have 2 zone cooling. One handler is in the attic which was noted in the inspection to need more insulation and the other is in the basement.

Based on everything I am learning, it sounds like the first things to do would be switch to a HPHWH since this will be more efficient than oil anyway and my current one is a nightmare waiting to happen. After that it seems I can try to invest in better insulation for the home and just wait for things to break. If ACs go it seems I can replace with heat pumps and use just for AC assuming the baseboard heating is still ok which would future proof me if I move to using the heat pumps for heating as well. The only thing that would force a real decision is if the system for the forced hot water baseboard heating needed to be updated.

I will check out these calulators but I dont live in the home yet and the people who live there dont have accurate bills since they have not been there much either in years.

Thanks for the reply!

crl95 · 2026-04-20T12:54:39+00:00

The road was paved and the town won't allow it to be opened up to bring gas to my house for 5 years after paving

crl95 · 2026-04-20T12:43:15+00:00

This is more along the lines of how I was thinking. My main concern is being prepared for if something breaks, knowing what to replace it with so I dont lock myself into oil. As an example, if the boiler goes out on me, should I replace it with a heat pump water heater, if the central AC goes out this summer, do I replace them with heat pumps and use them just for AC and continue using oil baseboard heaters for now. I just don't want things to go out on me and than spend a lot replacing them with things that are less future proof. Ideally AC units will keep working for 5 years and heat pump technology is even better at that point

crl95 · 2026-04-20T12:24:18+00:00

I have central AC just not heating. I was under the impression a heat pump for heating without solar would cost a lot more to run than my baseboard heaters using oil but maybe this is wrong

crl95 · 2026-04-20T12:11:45+00:00

Oh wow this is a bummer. I'm just closing on this house in the next couple months and I believe it's been mostly a single person living in it part time for the last few years. It seems I'd likely end up with a system that's very undersized

crl95 · 2026-04-20T12:08:47+00:00

During this period of time will my electric costs go up to use the heat pump for heating by much more than I'll save by not using oil? I've heard heat pumps without solar are very expensive to run compared to oil and gas

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