Mortgage options

I had a meeting with my mortgage representative on Thursday evening. It was a pretty standard meeting where he went over what he could offer, what all these papers in the loan application were for, and what I could expect in the next couple weeks. It looks like my closing costs will be slightly higher than what I can get online, but my interest rate will be on the lower end of the spectrum.

I don't feel too bad about paying a bit extra though, for a few reasons. One, and least importantly, he's my dad's friend and they have a group lunch every third Thursday. Two, I will have someone to work with in person. Three, he told me about closing at the end of the month instead of the beginning to avoid what would effectively be an interest-only payment on the first month. Four, he claims to be keeping an eye on the rates and corresponding market, and that he'll call me and tell me when he thinks is the best time to lock in the rate.

So, I've moved up my closing date to April 30th instead of May 3rd. I've officially applied for the loan. I should be getting 6% or less. It's one of those situations where I hate how the market only adjusts in 1/8% increments. I'm not paying for any extra points, as it would take me 8-10 years of saving the monthly payment reduction to break even on the cost. Given inflation and the like, I think I'm better off keeping the cost of the points where it is - invested in various things.

I'm hoping to do an analysis soon of whether or not you should pay extra every month in order to pay down the mortgage faster. So, look forward to that.