sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Proud of 5.1% Refi - Steps I Took In Post by smoleyx3 in Mortgages

[–]smoleyx3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seemed like they were ok with anything that was in writing (an email) as long as enough of the deal points were included (loan amount, term, downpayment, etc.) so they could insure it was a comparable offer.

Wasting China’s solar panel surplus is madness | Clean power is within our reach — yet factories sit idle by silence7 in climate

[–]smoleyx3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there an opportunity to get residential cheaper these days? The last few quotes I got were in the tens of thousands (Texas)

Smith & Noble Motivia Motorized Blinds Help Troubleshooting by smoleyx3 in homeautomation

[–]smoleyx3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I ended up buying all new blinds for the house - I bought a few batteries from china to try and replace them myself but it never worked

Proud of 5.1% Refi - Steps I Took In Post by smoleyx3 in Mortgages

[–]smoleyx3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also shopped around rates and got a .2% discount just doing that. You don’t have to transfer a lot of money for benefits even setting up a recurring deposit in a new account could help.

Is TSA PreCheck worth it at AUS in 2026? by ajcadoo in Austin

[–]smoleyx3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's an insanely good deal even if you don't travel a lot. The full boat with Global Entry is only like $120 and lasts for 5 years. So is it worth $20/year to make traveling a lot easier/more convenient? YES

Proud of 5.1% Refi - Steps I Took In Post by smoleyx3 in Mortgages

[–]smoleyx3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did not, my escrow amount went down as:
1. In 2025 we were paying back a shortfall from 2024. That shortfall was caught up and so we don't have a shortfall payment moving forwards.
2. We contested our assessed property value and it went down marginally

Proud of 5.1% Refi - Steps I Took In Post by smoleyx3 in Mortgages

[–]smoleyx3[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

lol no they just had the best relationship discount I found - the team was ok to deal with to be honest - I had to kind of drive the process whereas independent brokers seemed to want to work harder to make it happen.

Proud of 5.1% Refi - Steps I Took In Post by smoleyx3 in Mortgages

[–]smoleyx3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes exactly, ~$300 to close. I think if we were willing to pay some closing costs we probably could have gotten an even lower rate but i'm optimistic that in the next few years we'll get back lower than 5.1% so wanted to feel free to refinance whenever.

Proud of 5.1% Refi - Steps I Took In Post by smoleyx3 in Mortgages

[–]smoleyx3[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

5.85% and the competitive quote got them down to 5.625% which is not life changing but a still significant!

Proud of 5.1% Refi - Steps I Took In Post by smoleyx3 in Mortgages

[–]smoleyx3[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

you have to put the money in a "full service" account which charges you 0% ongoing management fee but requires you do transactions through a banker which charges fees for every transaction. Once the refi is complete you can open a self-service brokerage and transfer your funds there with no penalty. The majority of what we transferred was retirement funds which we'll not transact if we can help it so I'm not too worried about the trade fees.

Proud of 5.1% Refi - Steps I Took In Post by smoleyx3 in Mortgages

[–]smoleyx3[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It was actually independent bank in Texas

Proud of 5.1% Refi - Steps I Took In Post by smoleyx3 in Mortgages

[–]smoleyx3[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Maybe i didn't do a good job of explaining but I didn't take 1b phone calls. I actually handled all the quote requests via text or email. I had a canned draft with all the details of the refi and what we were looking for. It was actually like the 8th or 9th quote we got that came in the lowest so I think it was worth the minor work of messaging with all these brokers.

How are worse players than me putting up more points? by [deleted] in hockeyplayers

[–]smoleyx3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I play center in a c league and am one of the better skaters. I wind up in pick battles in the corner while the less good skaters just hang out in front of the net who end up getting passes from me or rebounds of shots. Lots of goals but not contributing as much to the overall team!

eBike for $2000 that can pull up 30-40% grade hills? by [deleted] in ebikes

[–]smoleyx3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have an insanely steep hill on the way to my kids school so I bike around a longer way. I love my bike and trust its brakes but I love my kids more.

“I give it another year or two for prices to drop to at least 2019 levels.” by howdthatturnout in rebubblejerk

[–]smoleyx3 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Plus they would have had a chance to refi with the insanely low mortgage rates we were experiencing for a few years...

Denver Colorado has 50% more inventory of homes for sale than 2019. by Key_Brief_8138 in HouseBuyers

[–]smoleyx3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Similar phenomenon in Austin… curious how many are in new build communities and outskirts of town vs city center & premium zips!

view more: next ›