Couldn't agree more with this. When we bought our place, I was so focused on getting a bigger down payment to lower monthly payments, I totally overlo...

Yeah, definitely noticed this too. Had an appraisal recently and the guy was super thorough—checked every little detail. Felt a bit nerve-wracking, bu...

Went through something similar last year—survey quotes were crazy high, felt like I was paying for gold-plated stakes or something. Ended up borrowing...

Good points, but honestly, if paperwork was already a headache for your friend, I'd be cautious. Sometimes the savings aren't worth the stress—especia...

I get what you're saying—paperwork headaches alone shouldn't be the reason to write off HARP completely. From my own experience, it wasn't exactly a w...

Great points here, especially about factoring in how long you'll actually stay put. When I refinanced a couple years ago, I was so focused on the lowe...

Totally agree—it's easy to obsess over tiny rate differences, but at some point, sanity has to win out. A couple things I've learned from my own mortg...

Honestly, I think you've nailed it right there. I've been through this process twice now—once with a big national lender and once with a smaller local...

Totally get your point, but ARMs still make me a bit uneasy. A few friends jumped into them thinking they'd refinance or move within five years, but l...

Good points, but honestly, I've had better luck with online lenders lately. - Rates were surprisingly competitive (saved me a good chunk). - Paper...