Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
Those are posted rates. The banks will almost always deviate from those and provide you with a 5 year fixed at a 4 year rate if you bargain.
Another thing that baffles me is that people are unaware you can haggle on mortgage rates. I've had to tell at least 4 people (all professional types with decent financial knowledge) to do so, and they all saved .5-1% on their rates doing so. It's a pretty easy process, you just bring in a quote from somewhere else offering a better rate, and they'll typically beat it.
The other alternative is to use a broker, which depending on your relationship with the bank, may or may not put you ahead.
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Sure, but if you start at the 4, you can bargain even lower. I always did.
Always start your bargaining several months before your renewal is up, as it gives you more time to work them, and the rate gets guaranteed for awhile so if they happen to go up, you are still covered. But if it is dropping, you can keep hammering them. When you bring in other rates, they'll typically play a line like "the conditions are different, those rates wouldn't apply to what we are offering". It's usually a lie, so sometimes it's good to have a list of what that rate offers, just to cut them off on that one. But you can also throw a "well, I think you can do better than what you are offering, check with your manager and get back to me. No rush."
It also helps to get a really junior person who doesn't know the computer systems, and may type in the negotiated discounted rate in the original rate box, then add -1 or whatever in the discount box as well. This may not happen often...