nstein

Hi,

I co-own an apartment in New Jersy with my brother and we have been affected by a huge hike in property taxes in the area. We are currently on a 5.5% mortgage and would like to negotiate that this is locked in for a few more years.

We are currently with WAMU and would like to switch to another bank. Currently the apartment is rented out and will stay that way for the forseeable future.

Also, does anyone know if it is possible to contribute lump sums to the mortgage to bring the repayments down?

If any of you have tried to deal with a US bank from England you will understand why I am asking for advice on here.

Thank you,

Nick

neil

It is possible to make payments against principal on any loan in NJ (I think it's a state law or something). You should ask your bank about how to do it.

If there's enough equity in the property and there's no problem with your credit then it should not be a problem wherever you go to refinance.

nstein

I'm goning to ask a stupid question but does the same apply if the mortgage was secured in NY through WAMU?

nstein

Thanks for your help so far just have a few more questions.

Would you please let me know what that legislation is.

We got the place for $192k $60 of which we paid as a deposit and now we want to inject $20K more.

Is there a regulatory service in NJ that I can contact directly?

Also, how easy is it to transfer a mortgage from one bank to another?

Thanks,

Nick

farmerwife

Getting a new mortgage from another bank and paying off the current one - don't see why not? (Check contract for early payoff penalties).

The issue of prepayments against principle (lump sum as you put it), should be dealt with in your contract. Dig out the paper work and read the small print. If may be allowed, but with penalties, or not. Depends on the contract.

neil

You know what - I just read your post again and you want to pay it down to make your payment lower, not to pay down the principal. Sorry. Having said that, make the payment against principal (I did recently search for the legislation online but couldn't find it, but having said that I have never had a problem when asking any bank how to make payments against principal in NJ), then refinance and that will do what you need to. You may even be able to do it with the same bank if you combine it with the payment to reduce the loan amount.

I don't think it's complicated to switch banks at all - with the market as it is, if you have enough equity in the property and have good credit they will be falling over themselves to get your business.

Duncan Roberts

Maybe I'm missing something or I'm thick but you can't "transfer" a mortgage. You contract a new one which pays off the first one. You also didn't put a deposit down, that was payment for the property. As neil said, when you are arrange the new mortgage you tell them how much you want to borrow so you would put the 20k payment towards your original mortgage to bring the balance down and then the new one would be for that amount. So in your example, $192k with $60 down.

192k - 60k = 132k
so I assume your original mortgage was for 132k.
Lets say you paid 12k of that back by now
132k - 12k = 120k
So your remaining balance is 120k. You put your 20k towards that
120k - 20k = 100k
100k will be your new balance. You go to some lenders and say "I want a mortgage for 100k, what rate can I get?" They come back with some figures and you either sign up or walk away. Just remember you will have some closing costs which could run a few thousand. That's just basic and I don't know about any specific state issues or any bank issues with dealing with non residents.

nstein

Thank you for all the help so far but please do keep it coming.

Does anyone here have any dealings with a bank that is better with dealing with international clients? WAMU is not very good at it at all.

Thanks

fatbrit

[QUOTE=nstein;6498244]

You don't give half enough information:

Mortgage term is: 10/15/20/25/30 year.
Currently mortgage is _____ years old.
Interest rate is: fixed for life/variable after x years based on y/variable based on y/other.
There is/is not a prepayment penalty. If so, the conditions for this are: ________ .
The principal is $______ .
The property is currently worth (estimate) $ ________.

If you don't know the answers to these questions, call WAMU and find out. Without the full details, there's nowhere to go.

Tarkak9

[QUOTE=fatbrit;6499303] ....and why is this pertinent at this moment in time? Overkill.

fatbrit

[QUOTE=Tarkak9;6499562] Because it's the only way you can calculate whether it is worthwhile refinancing. If there's a $10k ppp on there, it throws the figures somewhat. If the interest is 30-year fixed, why bother refinancing? Everything else is pissin' in the wind.

Tarkak9

You might want to approach WAMU regarding somewhat of a loan modification... ie changing the terms of the current loan. (You want to make sure this doesn't affect anything like credit or anything - b/c some person there may mistake you as someone who is thinking you are in financial difficulties). If you don't have the partics on your loan, contact them and ask for a copy of the Promissory Note... that is the agreement btwn you and the bank. Often too, WAMU are just servicing your loan and may have sold the note to someone else - that shouldn't interfere with anything.. WAMU should be able to tell you if they still hold the note or not.. if not, the pay-off department may be able to help you, as part of servicing they may be the ones dispersing to relevent parties.... everything has a papertrail.

simply "transfering your loan" to another lender is going to be very tough - your only really option to achieve that is a straight refi - albeit not going to get the same rate etc as its really a new loan in their eyes. Ofcourse, if its not a primary residence, you rate may suffer too.

You can send in supplemental payments to pay down your principal - clearly state that on the payment.. 2. double check whether or not that constitutes part of pre-payment and subject to penalties... again refer to your promissory note.

Tarkak9

[QUOTE=fatbrit;6499617] yes, yes, that good and all but thats the discretion of the OP to do what he deems fit for themselves.... its their call and doesn't really answer his initial question at hand.

I want to change the spark plugs in my car, how best to do that? Well, that depends on what octane will it be used with... how many miles a day to you travel.. how many times have you started your car thus far? plz. Changing the plugs is something I want to do.

neil

[QUOTE=fatbrit;6499617] The original post indicates it's not fixed, as it says they want to lock in the rate for a longer period of time.

meauxna

Nick, this is called 'refinancing' in the business. You do not transfer a mortgage, you apply for and get a new mortgage and pay off WAMU. Since WAMU's getting out of the business, it's not a bad idea.
You should be able to get that rate; that's what is being advertised around here for a fixed rate 30 year.

What you need is a mortgage broker. He or she can help you do this from abroad.