Your Mortgage Rate History

[UnrealizedPotential]

I thought it might be interesting to discuss what rate you started with and where you are now. How many times you refinanced and the rate. For myself I got my first mortgage in November 1999. It was 8%. I knew nothing much about rates or anything.
I refinanced maybe two years later at 6.625%. Not great ,but for being by myself not knowing much I did ok. Then early this year I refinanced again and the rate is 4.625% with about 14 years left. I plan on keeping it at 4.625%. I think it is a decent rate. Would anyone else like to share? All the rates were fixed rates.

 

[harley]

Well, it wasn't a single home, but my very first mortgage on my first condo was 15.75% back in 1980 or so, and my current one is 3.75%. Even in my current home, where we've only been for 8 years we've refinanced 4 times down from 6.5%. I'm planning on keeping this one for a long time, and expect to come out ahead on the loan over the life of the mortgage .

 

[athena53]

1979: 12.25% fixed.

1982: Moved in with BF (later first husband)- his was 16.5% ARM. It was a high interest rate environment anyway but his credit rating was probably pretty bad because he was terrible about paying bills. Every year at renewal the rate dropped a full percentage point.

1985: 8.5% or so. Weirdest mortgage I've ever seen. First year payment was X, next was 1.075X, increasing by 7.5% each year for 5 years then leveling out, paid off in 15 years, fixed rate. There was $1K negative amortization the first year. The lawyer who handled the closing was astounded when I pulled out a spreadsheet with an amortization table that I'd created, but I love compound interest calculations.


We refinanced to a 30-year around 1990 when my husband lost his job so the payments were manageable on one salary; I forget the rate.


1997: Bought house after divorce: 8.125%.


2002: Moved to KS, 3.675% on a 15-year, refinanced to 3.25% a few years ago.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

1982: 15.5% 30 year VA loan later refinanced to 9.5% 15 year VA loan
1993: different house 7.5% 30 year conventional loan refinanced in 2011 to 3.25% 30 Year 5/1 ARM

 

[Gumby]

All for the same house. All fixed rate. All zero points:

1993 -- 8.375% -- 30 yr

2001 -- 6.750% -- 15 yr

2002 -- 5.875% -- 15 yr

2003 -- 5.000% -- 15 yr

2010 -- 3.750% -- 10 yr

2012 -- 1.990% -- 5 yr

All but the last one were with the same local bank (which resulted in lower than normal closing costs). We never took any cash out when we refinanced, and we'll be free and clear in May 2017 -- 23 years and 10 months after we bought the house.

 

[aaronc879]

I've only had one mortgage. It was on a small condo in 2008 at 5.25%. I paid it off in 3 years and hopefully will never have a mortgage again.

 

[frank]

never had a mortgage. I bought the property and my neighbor was a carpenter, hired him for a summer and I was the labor, together we built a 1500 sq ft. ranch. paid cash for help and materials. property was purchased in advance on the idea of having a house built but took a summer off and did it our self, with no mortgage. best thing I could have done, but I had no money left when it was completed. total cost of labor and materials was 30k. it was an adventure, having to be the general contractor and the labor.

 

[pb4uski]

This has been an interesting trip through history.

First house.........1984...13.250% Ouch!!

Second house.....1986...10.000%
....refinance........1992.....8.750%
....refinance........1993.....7.125%

Vacation home....2005.....5.800%
....refinance........2009.....4.375%
....refinance........2012.....3.375%

We demolished and rebuilt our vacation home (paying cash) in 2010/2011 and it became our main home in 2011. I refinanced two weeks before my last day on payroll in 2012. The refis on the second home were straight refinancings (no cash out) just to get lower rate/payments. The two refis on the last home were cash out refis to lower rate with a byproduct of taking cash out for investment.

 

[KB]

1977: First house, paid 27,500 and had a 30 year mortgage at 9%

1993: Different house in a different town. I have no idea what the mortgage rate was but it was higher than 6%. 30 year term.

1994: Different house in a different town, 6%. I did re-fi this house down to 4.75% on a 15 year mortgage before selling it in 2003.

Paid cash for the current house in 2004. No more mortgages for me.

 

[dallas27]

2 7/8 on a 15 year


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[rodi]

First house 1991 - 9.75%, 30 year
Second house - 1993 - 6.25% - 30 year. I was able to get a lower rate because it was a work relocation, and work paid points.
Current house - 2003 - 5.25% - 15 year
Refi - 2009 - 4.25% - 15 year.
Paid off - 2014- forever.

My dad insisted we all purchase homes when interest dropped below 10%. I didn't have quite enough for 20% down - so he matched the bank interest rate and lent me the balance for downpayment money. When I moved in 1993 and got a better rate - I renegotiated that bank of dad loan to the new lower rate. (It only had 2 years left on the loan.)

 

[Niuatoputapu]

Great question.

1988 - First house (NY) - 9.35%, 30-year fixed
1993 - Second house (GA) - around 7% (I forget), 30-year fixed
2000 - Third house (CA) - 8.00%, 30-year fixed
2001 - Refinance at 6.875%, 30-year fixed
2003 - Refinance at 4.375%, 30-year, 7-year ARM
2004 - Added HELOC at Prime minus 101 bps
2010 - ARM adjusted to 3.375% (yes, down)
Jan 2011 - Refinance at 3.875%, 30-year, 10-year ARM
Oct 2012 - Refinance at 2.875%, 30-year, 10-year ARM

Obviously paid too many transaction costs, but I swear every refinance made sense at the time. California RE is a strange animal, but the falling rates have been equally strange.

 

[HFWR]

2000 - 8.25%, refinanced to 6.75, then to 5.5, where I assumed I'd stay, then to 3.75 in 2011.

All 30-yr fixed. Will likely never be mortgage free, but my PITI is around $700/mo, less than the rent on a 1BR apartment...


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[REWahoo]

It has been a decade since we had one and I don't recall what the interest rate was on it or any of our previous mortgages - except for the one in the early 80's which was 12.75%.

You'll never hear me long for "the good old days"...

 

[scrabbler1]

When I bought my co-op apartment in 1989, I got a 5-year ARM at 10.75%. Interest rates fell sharply in the next 3 years but my rate wasn't due to adjust until 1994, so I refinanced in 1992 into a 1-year ARM at 6%, cutting about 40% off my monthly payment! I recovered the closing costs in about 2 years.


But my interest rate adjusted every year and crept up a little bit until I paid off the mortgage in 1998, just before it was due to adjust again. By then, the rate was a little over 8%, still nearly 3 points lower than it had been in 1989.

 

[pjm-7]

I bought my first house in 1983. I was able to straight assume the seller's 12% VA mortgage. (I was never in the military). I had to put down about 20% to do this. My cost to close the loan was $45 to transfer the paperwork to my name. I thought that this was a bargain considering the times. (by the way you cannot do this type of loan assumption anymore).


I've had other re-fi's and loans over the years and the rates got progressively lower. The last loan that I just paid off was 3.25%. No more mortgages for me.

 

[Sue J]

Our one and only home -
1983 12.375% fixed 30 year
A few years later a refi to 9% fixed 25 year
A few years later a refi to 7% fixed 20 year

Sometime around maybe 2003 rates had dropped again and we asked our mortgage company about a refi. The mortgage balance was so small that they said they didn't do loans that small. They recommended that I look into a HELOC. Got a no cost HELOC at 3% (adjustable) and paid off the 7% mortgage. After a few years the HELOC adjustable rate was up near 7%.

By this time our balance was only around $20,000. I was always getting credit card offers with super low rates. One came from Capital One with no transfer fees and a starting rate of 2.99% for one year and then dropping to 1.99% for the life of the balance. I called and asked a few questions to make sure I understood everything and it really was exactly as described.

So we paid off our house with a credit card. We always made regular mortgage sized payments on that card. When DH lost his job and retired we paid off the remaining balance so that we had no debt in retirement.

So our range of rates was from 12.375% to 1.99%.

 

[2017ish]

Three homes in three states over the years....

1986, 9.875 on a small fixed 15 (?) year. I'm sure we paid some points to get it under 10%, and we thought it was a great deal (which is why this rate sticks in the memory).

1992-2004, various jumbos with 3 to 5 refinancings as the next house was renovated/added onto (while living in it) as rates fell.

Presently, another house/state and multiple reworkings with same lender, presently down to 3.25 midway through a fixed 10 year jumbo, after starting with a 10 year (but amortized as if 30) @ around 6% (??) in 2007.

DW won't let me pay this one off, loves the 3.25%....

 

[arky]

1982 - 13.5% fixed 30 yr.
A few years later (4 or 5, I think) refinanced to 9% fixed 15 yr.
Paid off in 1993.
None since.

 

[aja8888]

1976 (Conn) first house - 8.5%
1981 (Los Angeles) - 18% (10% covered by ARCO move plan)
1985 (Los Angeles) - 10% refi of same house
1987 (Thousand Oaks, CA - 7% new house
1994 (Texas) - 8.25% (Fannie Mae assumable)
2006 (Texas) refi of same house - 6%
2011 (Texas) - paid off note.

Clear and free of mortgage.

 

[W2R]

It has been a decade since we had one and I don't recall what the interest rate was on it or any of our previous mortgages - except for the one in the early 80's which was 12.75%.

You'll never hear me long for "the good old days"...

+1

I could probably remember the interest rates I paid if I tried really hard to do so, but I don't want to even think about it!

I paid off my mortgage in 2006; was just on the verge of it in 2005 when Katrina clobbered us down here, so I let things ride for a few months and just paid the regular monthly payments.

 

[Options]

Paid cash and won't get into the cash vs. finance debate. Best decision I ever made. This place is now worth 5 times what I paid for it. Highly desirable area getting more desirable each year. Fortunately, I strongly desire to leave in the next couple years.

 

[foxfirev5]

I just had to go into the basement files and look it up. In October 1981 we bought our first house - $38000 30 year mortgage - 17 1/2% rate. Fortunately we got relocated a couple years later from NY to Il where it dropped to 13 1/2%. In 1986 we got a 12% mortgage in MI. Moved one more time and finally got it down to 4 3/4% before paying off the last one in 2009 ( and it was a lot bigger than 38k).

 

[harley]

I bought my first house in 1983. I was able to straight assume the seller's 12% VA mortgage. (I was never in the military). I had to put down about 20% to do this. My cost to close the loan was $45 to transfer the paperwork to my name. I thought that this was a bargain considering the times. (by the way you cannot do this type of loan assumption anymore).

Ah yes, assumable loans. That's a memory that dates you. Like having used a typewriter.

 

[bingybear]

I don't remember the first rate... assumed a mortgage in 1984, believe it was above 10%. Bought a different house in 1987 with a 9.5% mortgage. In 1991 bought another house with an 8.5% mortgage. That was my last one so far. BTW, paid that last one off in 1993.. so 0% since then.. or at least that is one way to think of it.