I Got the Mortgage Interest Rate Blues

About a year ago, I received a letter from my mortgage company that offered me a free refinance.  No closing costs, no cost to me at all, and they would even send a notary to my house.  Take me from 5.5% to 5%, just because I have a perfect payment record.  I spent ample time on the phone with the Chase guy, and was assured there was no catch.  Really?  Is anything ever free?  But I proceeded; the notary came, I signed the papers, and suddenly had a payment that was $300. less.  Who wouldn't jump on that??!!  I thought it was a tremendous stroke of good luck!

Fast forward to now.  Could Chase have known over a year ago that interest rates would be 2.7% on a 15- year mortgage today?  Because now there is something called the HARP program.  And I DO NOT QUALIFY, because I closed AFTER 2009 (thanks to that free refinance).  With the HARP program, anyone can refinance, regardless of their income, if they closed BEFORE 2009.  My income has dropped so much, no one will refinance me now.  The mortgage companies want my mortgage to be no more that 50% of my income, and it is almost 90%.  They won't touch me.

So without HARP, I have no chance to refinance at these current, amazingly low rates.  Because I jumped on that free refinance from Chase a year ago, I am out of the running.  If I had not done that, my closing date would be recorded as 2005, and I would be a HARP shoe-in.

This is one of those situations where a crystal ball would have been just marvy.  At 2.7%, my payment would be about the same, but over a decade of payments would disappear.

 Oh that hurts.

 Everything happens for a reason, I truly believe that.  But right now, the reason for my having to pay tens of thousands more for my home eludes me.  I have to let this go, and writing helps me do that.  Thanks for listening......