Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I wanted to say thanks for making me aware of this offer. My own mortgage company did not want to refinance me and would have charged me extra points simply because I'm refinancing a condo and not a single family dwelling.
I just closed this week, exactly 45 days after the online application. I paid off $150000 (6.25% 30 yr fixed), and the new loan is $133,000 (4%, 5/5ARM). Total settlement charges, including prepaid interest, were ~$1468 of which I paid ~$750 after PenFed's closing cost credit. My condo dropped in value, so including the closing costs I just mentioned, I actually paid $18000 to bring equity up to 20%.
The attorney/notary actually came to my office to complete settlement, so I didn't have to take the morning off work. That was sweet.
Other points:
-PenFed decided not to escrow, which is nice. My insurance is less than $200/yr and taxes are about $800 which I can deal with on my own once a year.
-Since I would have to pay all costs if the loan did not go through, PenFed was willing to do the appraisal first so that if I chose not to continue based on appraised value, the appraisal fee would be the only cost that I would incur.
--I'm not affiliated with the military, so had to make a one time donation to the National Military Family Assoc to be eligible to join PenFed
-The only problem that came up was with my own credit union, which tends to have sticky fingers with my money. I went in person last week to explain that I would be transferring a large sum (for me) to my checking account, and would there be any unusually long hold periods. I was told no. Are you sure? Yes. So what happened when I went in this week to get a cashier's check? I was told that there would be a longer hold because the money was coming from ING and that this was the only bank they do this for, "as ING as the ability to remove money as well as deposit it."
In summary, I've basically decimated my savings, but I will save $300/month with the new mortgage. I've been living very lean for a while now, trying to accelerate payments on a $20000 HELOC on a rental property. The plan is to continue living lean, focus on rebuilding savings in 2010 then pay off the HELOC in 2011. So by 2012, I'll be able to spend a little more to improve my standard of living, prepay the mortgage by $300 and start adding to my taxable investments again.