Haha, lenders really are the cable companies of finance... "Oh, you're leaving? Wait, let me talk to my manager..." 😂 I've had similar luck pushing back on random fees—feels like finding money in an old coat pocket. Totally worth the awkward phone call every now and then.
Interesting take, but I'm not entirely convinced that lenders are always as flexible as cable companies. I've tried negotiating down some fees myself, and while I've had a few small wins, interest rates seem like a different beast altogether. When I refinanced last year, I found that lenders were pretty rigid about their rates—especially if your credit score or financial situation hasn't significantly changed. Maybe it's just my experience, but it felt like they had less wiggle room than, say, waiving a random processing fee.
Have you actually had success getting them to budge on the interest rate itself, or just the smaller fees? I'd be curious to know if there's a particular approach or argument that works better. Because from what I've seen, refinancing with another lender has usually been the more effective route for lowering my rate.
"Have you actually had success getting them to budge on the interest rate itself, or just the smaller fees?"
I've found lenders rarely budge much on the actual interest rate unless you've got competing offers in hand. Mentioning another lender's better rate has sometimes nudged them slightly... but yeah, refinancing elsewhere usually gets better results.
I've had mixed luck with this. Have you tried directly asking them if there's any flexibility on the rate itself, or are you mostly hinting around it by mentioning other offers? In my experience, lenders usually have a bit of wiggle room built in, but they're not exactly eager to advertise it. They'd rather toss you a bone by waiving some minor fees or something small like that.
One time, I was refinancing and had two competing offers—one was clearly better on the interest rate, but the other lender had lower closing costs. When I brought this up directly, the lender with higher closing costs actually budged slightly on the interest rate to keep me from walking away. It wasn't huge—maybe 0.125%—but hey, every little bit counts over 30 years.
But honestly... unless you've got solid leverage (like another lender's written offer), they're probably not going to move much. They're banking on most people not bothering to shop around or push back too hard. Have you considered getting a formal quote from another lender just to use as leverage? Even if you're not seriously thinking about switching, having that concrete offer in hand can sometimes make your current lender reconsider their stance.
Also curious—are you dealing directly with a bank or through a broker? I've noticed brokers sometimes have more flexibility because they're juggling multiple lenders and can shift things around more easily. Banks tend to be more rigid unless you're bringing significant business their way.
Either way, good luck... interest rates are such a pain to negotiate down these days.
"But honestly... unless you've got solid leverage (like another lender's written offer), they're probably not going to move much."
Gotta slightly disagree here. I'm a first-time buyer and didn't have another formal quote handy, but I still managed to nudge my rate down a bit just by being persistent and friendly. It wasn't huge, but it made me realize that sometimes just clearly expressing your interest in a better deal—even without concrete leverage—can actually pay off. Worth giving it a shot, imo.
