Zero-Point/Zero-Fee Loans

Zero-Point/Zero-Fee Loans

Whatever happened to the conventional wisdom of waiting for the rates to drop 2% before refinancing?
You have a 30-year fixed loan at 8.5%. A loan officer calls you up and says they can refinance you to a rate of 8.0% with no points and no fees whatsoever.

What a dream come true! No appraisal fees, no title fees and not even any junk fees! Is this a deal too good to pass up? How can a bank and broker do this? Doesn't someone have to pay? Whose money is being used to pay these closing costs?

No, this is not a scam. Thousands of homeowners have refinanced using a zero-point/zero-fee loan. Some refinanced multiple times, riding rates all the way down the curve in 1992, 1993 and, more recently, in 1996. Some homeowners used zero-point/zero-fee adjustable loans to refinance and get a new teaser rate every year.

The way this works is based on rebate pricing, sometimes also known as yield-spread pricing, and sometimes known as a service-release premium. The basic idea is that you pay a higher rate in exchange for cash up front, which is then used to pay the closing costs. You will pay a higher monthly payment so the money is really coming from future payments that you will make.

You can also think of this as negative points! For example, a 30-year fixed loan may be available at a retail price of :
8.0% with 2 points or
8.25% with 1 point or
8.5% with 0 points or
8.75% with -1 point or
9% with -2 points

On a $200,000 loan, the loan officer can offer you 8.75% with a cost of -1 point, which is a $2,000 credit towards your closing costs. A mortgage broker can use rebate pricing to pay for your closing costs and keep the balance of the rebate as profit.

What are the benefits of a zero-point/zero-fee loan?
The main benefit is that you have no out-of-pocket costs. As a result, if the rates drop in the future, you could refinance again even for a small drop in rates. So if you refinanced on the zero-point/zero-fee loan to get a rate of 8.75% and if the rates drop 1/2%, you can refinance again to 8.25%. On the other hand, if you refinanced by paying 1 point and got a rate of 8.25%, it may not make sense to refinance again. Now, if the rates drop another 1/2%, a zero-point/zero-fee loan can drop your rate to 7.75%, whereas if you paid points, you may have to do a break-even analysis to decide if refinancing will save you money.

The zero-point/zero-fee loan eliminates the need to do a break-even analysis since there is no up-front expense that needs to be recovered. It also is a great way to take advantage of falling rates.

Some consumers have used zero-point/zero-fee loans on adjustable loans to refinance their adjustables every year and pay a very low teaser rate.

What are the disadvantages of a zero-point/zero-fee loan?
The main disadvantage is that you are paying a higher rate than you would be paying if you had paid points and closing costs. If you keep the loan for long enough, you will pay more since you have higher mortgage payments. In the scenario where you plan to stay in the house for more than 5 years, and if rates never drop for you to refinance, you could wind up paying more money. If, on the other hand, you plan to stay at a property for just 2-3 years, there really is no disadvantage of a zero-point/zero-fee loan.

Whose money is it?
Since you are being paid "cash" up-front in exchange for a higher rate, it really is your own money that will be paid in the future through higher payments. Investors who fund these loans hope that you will keep the loans for long enough to recoup their up-front investment. If you refinance the loans early, both the servicer and the investor could lose money.

To summarize, zero-point/zero-fee loans in many cases are good deals. Make sure, however, that the lender pays for your closing costs from rebate points and NOT by increasing your loan amount. So if your old loan amount was $150,000, your new loan amount should also be $150,000. You may have to come up with some money at closing for recurring costs (taxes, insurance, and interest), but you would have to pay for these whether you refinanced or not.

Zero-point/zero-fee loans are especially attractive when rates are declining or when you plan to sell your house in less than 2-3 years.

Zero-point/zero-fee loans may not be around forever. Lenders have discussed adding a pre-payment penalty to such loans, however few lenders have taken steps to implement such a measure.

P.S
~you are always going to pay someone...so it really doesn't matter, does it? So just deal with a Loan Officer you can trust! My advice as a Loan Officer is interview a few of them and see who gives you the straight answers to your questions.

Gioperation
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Bad Credit Loans (Yes or No)

A bad credit history is like having contracted an infectious disease. At least this is what most lenders perceive. Any requests for personal loans by people with a bad credit history are generally declined. They are charged an extravagantly high rate of interest, if advanced personal loans.

What these lenders fail to recognize is that the people who are currently rated as a bad credit case were sometimes having a good credit history. Some acts of the past, which were sometimes inevitable, became the reason for theirs being tarnished with bad credit.

It will be illogical to punish the people for acts of the past. Besides there are few means to guarantee that a person otherwise rated as a perfect credit case, may default on the loan.

Lenders have slowly started accepting the fact. The growing number of people falling in the trap of bad credit has brought home the fact that they cannot do without doing business with these people.

Besides opening practically every loan for people with bad credit, more and more loan products have come up to cater to the specialized group. There are similar options for the people with bad credit, as for the people with a good or average credit.

Bad credit personal loans are used for a variety of purposes like buying a car or going on a holiday. They are also widely used in debt consolidation.

Bad credit becomes irrelevant if the person has and is ready to keep some asset as collateral. The main idea behind the refusal to the people with bad credit is that they fear that the default will be repeated. With a collateral to back the personal loan, the lender is assured that the loan would not be defaulted. The borrower knows that he will have to lose the asset, generally home, if he defaults on the loan.

The requirement of collateral can be done away with in case of an unsecured personal loan. Lenders rarely offer such loans. A good credit history is a pre-requisite in such loans. But, there are always some lenders who take consideration of your case. Lenders accept borrowers with a bad credit history because of inevitable reasons.

Bad credit personal loans normally carry a higher rate of interest. This is because of the higher risk potential in such loans. One may also be overcharged on this account. The borrowers are asked to pay a hefty charge and have to face some inflexible terms of payment.

Nevertheless, there are lenders who charge reasonably lower rates of interest. Taking a loan is not a trivial matter. It puts an important asset to stake. It also affects the financial condition of the borrower. This makes a proper search for the loan a priority. Gone are the days when searching the loan market would have raised hackles of people. Today searching has become much simpler, thanks to the power of information technology.

The selection of the most appropriate lender is not that easy a task. Though made simpler through information technology, ones mental faculties are the best resort in the selection process. Lenders generally promise many features along with the loan. Borrowers take this bait and fall in the trap. Failing to maintain an optimum balance between an immediate comfort and a future comfort also leads to this trap.

Deciding the monthly repayments and the number of installments further strain your mental faculties. An expert advice from knowledgeable people will help in this decision. Being aware of ones financial condition, the borrower can decide the various details of the loan in a much better manner. Thus, the final decision is reserved with the borrower himself.

A bad credit personal loan has a positive impact on ones credit history, provided the repayments to the loan are made regularly.

James Taylor holds a Master’s degree in Commerce from JNU he is working as financial consultant.

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